Reflecting on 2024

This year has been incredible. I’ve experienced some major milestones in my life and some crucial realizations over the last few weeks. I want to take a moment to reflect on these.

Highlights

I had many wonderful moments this year; looking back, these really stand out:

• Getting Married - I finally married my high school sweet heart. I told her I liked her in Central Park, and I married her and took pictures there. It was the happiest day of my life.
• Traveling the World - My wife and I went to Morocco, Argentina, Spain, Vermont, Boston, Atlantic City, Connecticutt, and The Catskills. We got to see more of America, and we got to see more of the world. These adventures were truly special.
• Connected to God Through Nature - My relationship with God grew stronger in Atlantic City by the water, under the Moon and Stars in the Sahara, on the slopes in NY, in the Oasis in Morocco, and many other places.
• Spending Time with Friends and Family - I got to cook some terrific meals for my loved ones this year. I enjoyed improving my skills, but more importantly, I enjoyed bringing people together and sharing a meal.
• Working Out and Training - I’ve got some fond memories at the gym. Mostly while training Muay Thai and hanging out with my friends.

Lessons from My Many Endeavors

Looking back, I realize I spent much of my year not doing the things I love. Instead, I spent a lot of time working. This year, I spent a lot of time working on some of my entrepreneurial endeavors and exploring business ideas.

I learned a lot by doing this, and I feel very proud of myself for making the effort. But with that said, I spent some time reflecting to see if it’s worth it. When I broke it down, the main driving force for my entrepreneurial endeavors was doing something that would make me a lot of money. Once I have financial freedom, I can finally focus on doing the things that I love.

But this is a backward way of thinking. I can currently do everything that I love. With my current career, I can hang out with my friends, hike, travel, train, and live a life I love doing what I love. For so long, I have dreamed of financial freedom so I can do the things that I love, but in reality, pursuing the dream of financial freedom has come at the sacrifice of doing what I love.

I want to live a life of meaning and purpose. I don’t want it to pass me by because I was too busy trying to build a business so I could finally start doing the things I love. I want to live a life full of the things that I love, and I can work my ambitions around that.

Building a Business

That’s not to say I don’t want to start a business. When I work on my next endeavor, however, I want to keep the following in mind:

• Don’t Run Away From Your Job - I sometimes find my work at Messari to lack meaning; for a while, it hasn’t excited me. So, I would pour my heart into a business endeavor so that I could feel a sense of purpose. In the future, if I am not excited about my work, I should find a new job, regardless of what I have cooking on the back burner.
• Motion is Not Progress - I wrote a lot of code and worked really hard, but the truth is that’s my comfort zone. In the future, I want to spend more time validating my business ideas, making sure they’re something people want to pay for and that there is a real opportunity. Writing code should come after I know there is a path to profitability.
• Something That Excites You - One of my endeavors this year was on a skincare platform. I don’t love skin are, but I thought the idea could be profitable. In the future, I will only pursue a business that excites me. Something I can pour my soul into.
• Don’t Burn Both Ends - I shouldn’t sacrifice doing all the things I love for this endeavor. I can’t work 40-50 hours on my day job and 20-30 hours on a business idea. I need better balance and more runway. Build something slowly, enjoy your life, and find a healthy balance.

I am hopeful that this maturity and reflection will serve me well in my future endeavors. But one of the most important things to keep in mind is that I might never have a successful business, and that’s okay. I live an awesome life now. I like working in tech, I love the life it has provided for me and my family, and I can build wealth with what I have. I might not be rich, but I will hopefully always be comfortable.

My Resolutions

I don’t want to waste my life 10xing my earnings at the expense of cutting out the things I love. I don’t need to be in the 1% of finance; I want to be in the 1% of happiness and peace. I’ve been working backwards for the last 2 years, but in 2025, I am going to make some changes.

These are my resolutions for 2025:

1. Find work that I genuinely love. Something that excites me, something I can pour my soul into.
2. Spend more time with my friends and family. It’s practically free and the thing that brings me the most joy.
3. Spend more time in nature and connect with God.
4. Compete in some combat sport.
5. Coach Wrestling.

This year, I want to slow life down and enjoy it more. Make the memories, have the laughs, be grounded, and be connected. My life doesn’t need more money. It needs more living.