2024 Look Back
highs, lows, and buffalo's
Estimated Read Time: 4m 43s
Every year I reflect on what happened and every time I do, my experience is positive. Something about looking back on your year is cathartic.
More often than not, I’m focused on what I can do more of, how to do it better, and where I can improve. I struggle to celebrate the wins, the growth, and the progress.
Doing this end of year recap reminds me everything happened exactly as it was meant to, and there’s nothing more I can do. Acceptance is what I want more of in 2025.
I ran into a lot of obstacles this year, more than I’d hoped for. The plus side is I’ve overcome them all and I’m hopeful things will go up from here.
Here’s a look into the highs, the lows, and the buffalos from 2024 — the buffalos being any random, silly, and unexpected moments which shaped my year.
Highs
Training for The Hennepin Hundred was the most transformational experience of 2024. The 27+ hours I spent running through rural Illinois was a gauntlet of pain that reshaped my perspective on what’s possible. I spent over 450+ hours working out, ran over 1,800 miles, and exercised about 300 days for the year (nearly 5.7 out of 7 days each week).
Working out has become an automatic habit. I feel so much better moving my body for each day compared to the many years I let my physical health decline. Whenever I’m in top shape, life feels much easier and quality of life is no longer a metric I want to compromise on. My top 3 lifts are ending around a 355 lb squat, 315 lb deadlift, and 225 lb bench.
I launched a self-improvement community which I grew to 20+ people, started a podcast, dabbled in Instagram reels and video content, wrote countless blogs and posts on social media, and rolled out a formal 1:1 coaching offer. While many of these projects ended and some are still new, the experience showed me what I want to be doing over the next few year — community, coaching, and content.
I went to 5 retreats, numerous community events, met many new people, and surrounded myself with more entrepreneurs, athletes, and high achievers than I ever have. Doing so was a humble reminder of how extraordinary humans can be and how the energy of other people can influence mine.
Many of the lessons I learned from these multi-day immersions were foundational to shaping my vision, learning more about myself, and seeing what areas I could still grow into — things I couldn’t learn in 1:1 coaching, therapy, courses, and local community events.
Lows
I overloaded myself with projects earlier in the year and told myself I didn’t care about the results — which was a lie. I set ambitious targets for 10 different projects and felt overwhelmed pushing in all directions.
I ended up burning out, questioning myself, and as shown by the nice graph above, went dark from May to July. While I didn’t post from July until September either, I was building back my confidence to put myself back out there again.
Reinventing yourself is a hard journey. Doing it in public is even harder. I ended up attaching myself worth to goals that weren’t realistic even though, I did my best not to. Lesson learned: Focus on the inputs in my control and share wins when I stack them. Don’t share unreasonable goals unless I’m committed to achieving them.
While I met a lot of great people, joined a lot of community events, and have some good friends around Denver, I do wish I had more of a local group of pals I met up with on a regular basis.
I spent more time alone in boredom, isolation, and loneliness than I would have liked. While I created a better relationship with former vices (drinking, video games, social media, shows, etc.), I’d like to continue replacing these old patterns with other behaviors, thought loops, and environments that align with my values.
Buffalo’s
Wyatt Ewing, the Founder of Ice Barrel, was nice enough to send me the Ice Barrel 300 for my balcony. Ice baths have been so helpful for my mental health, performance, and recovery. The practice has never been comfortable and is a constant reminder to do something even when I don’t feel like it.
9 times out of 10, I don’t want to get in sub 40 degree water, but doing so reinforces the mentality of — ‘I choose to do hard things because they’re good for me, even when I don’t want to.’ I sit in this frigid ice chamber about 4x a week for 2-3 minutes.
A big off leash dog park opened up by me which I take June-bug to most mornings and evenings. Seeing her romp around with her furry friends has been a great way for me to start and end each day. Watching dogs have fun has been a great reminder for me in: 1) how much playing gives us energy and 2) how a small change in environment can make a drastic change in your (and your dog’s) quality of life.
I recently started a once month burger ritual with my friend Spencer where we talk through our highs, lows, and buffalo’s over at Cherry Cricket in Downtown Denver. The regular cadence of meeting up is a small step towards creating deeper connections. I’d love to have more of these rituals heading into 2025, surround myself with more people, and stack more of these ‘small win’s’.
Takeaways
A big theme that’s been cropping up for me this past year is this concept of light and dark. The message I’ve been receiving is ‘don’t be afraid of the dark’ and ‘go into the light’.
2024 is the year I learned to sit with, and embrace, some of my tougher emotions. I gave love to many parts of me that felt lonely, insecure, and unworthy for a long time.
I find it easier to talk about who I am, what I want, and what I struggle with — and I also know this is an area I still want to grow more into.
The world is experiencing a loneliness and mental health epidemic — and I believe we all have the power to live happier, more productive, and more fulfilling lives.
I hope by leading with vulnerability, especially as a man, many of us men can find the courage to do the same, and we can normalize a painful, and difficult topic for many.
My mission is to be a light in dark places and the most powerful thing I can do is to start with me. I strayed from this path in 2024 and I want to get back on track in 2025.
Stay tuned for the 2025 Look Ahead and for more of the real stuff. ✌️