My 2012 Annual Review

I’m sitting in my old idea workshop (read: bedroom) in Montreal, between prepping the stuffing and a Skype call with my girlfriend. I slipped away from the holiday madness to take a moment and write to you.

The past year has been incredible– the best year of my life (though they just keep getting better). I’ve been reflecting a lot since Jason departed and left me in a bit of a post-achievement slump. Always happens after a big project ends, I was expecting it. But with the end of the year approaching, I turned to reflecting and spent a few weeks thinking over my intentions for the new year.

I like Chris G.’s end/beginning of year rituals and thought I would participate again this year. For the annual review, you simply ask yourself two questions:

1. What went well this year?
2. What did not go well this year?

Let’s do it.

What went well in 2012

2012 started off with this wacky idea I had to start a membership site for serious multipotentialites. Articles like this made me feel like it was too soon, like the community at Puttylike wasn’t big enough for a membership site to work. But I had this feeling deep down that I could pull it off. That I may not have had thousands of subscribers at that point, but that the multipotentialites in our community are so passionate and engaged, that they would be all for it.

Luckily, I trusted my gut and moved ahead on the project despite my fear of failing.

I spent the first few months running free huddles and populating the Puttytribe with small groups, until the public launch in mid-April. I learned how to be a leader through running the huddles, which later helped me with my speaking goal. I hired my first team-member, Jon (our Director of Tribe Happiness), and got together a team of volunteer Ambassadors, who continue to impress me with their thoughtful replies and support to their fellow puttypeeps.

We’ve opened the doors 5 times since April, and the community has grown to nearly 200 multipotentialites. There have been member-initiated huddles, workshops on everything from nutrition to investing to typography, 24-hour Puttython events, businesses launched, and major breakthroughs. Our retention rate from month-to-month hovers around 85-90%, which truly lights me up inside because it means that people are really benefitting from the community. That is all I want. To create neat projects that allow me to express my many sides and also help multipotentialites thrive in their lives.

In May, I got the schnauzer puppy I had been dreaming about for years. My life was finally at a place where it could accommodate a dog. I moved into a beautiful apartment in Northeast Portland. No more roommates!

In August, I went to music camp with my mom, which sparked a renewed interest in musical theater, violin and performing.

Probably my biggest accomplishment in terms of work stuff, was putting on my first live seminar in Portland, on October 16. I spent about a month preparing for this, and we had a sold out room. But I DID IT! I set a date, booked a room, wrote a speech, and plastered the city with flyers. Got a bit of help from Mike with the flying, homemade silly putty, and set up. Meanwhile Jon, went all out with the online PR (this is why I only work with multipotentialites. That is not the job I initially hired him for).

I have since been contacted by two high schools in Portland, and will be speaking to their students in the new year. My first presentation is to an entire high school in mid-January.

Health-wise, I’ve made real strides this year. After a three year battle with health challenges, I was finally able to get my health in check, mostly through a Paleo diet, lots of bone broth and later increasing carb intake from <50 grams per day to +100 grams, primarily in the form of sweet potatoes. Also, cutting out every. single. possible source of gluten from my diet. I got really strict after discovering I was celiac (likely the underlying cause of my health woes). This involved swapping shampoo brands, because yes, that shit can seep in through your scalp.

In November, I hosted a friend and apprentice and got to experience an intense co-working set up, plus help someone else go from finished book, to finished and LAUNCHED book. It was an incredible experience.

It’s also worth mentioning that this year I got into the best relationship I’ve ever been in, which feels like a massive accomplishment for me. 🙂

I also made a lot of new friends in Portland, and began to feel that sense of community I was longing for.

What did not go well in 2012

Well, I failed at a bunch of book-writing attempts.

NaNoWriMo was a fail. The book on confidence stopped in part two. The book on multipotentiality also stopped mid-way through.

Now, I don’t consider any of these projects to be dead. They all just got usurped by other tidal waves. The confidence book was overtaken by the Puttytribe, the multipotentiality book by the seminar, and the novel was overtaken by my month with Jason.

I think writing in general has become less exciting to me as a medium. I’ve become more interested in trying out new formats, and as a result, writing tended to take the back burner when something bigger came along.

It would be easy for me to be hard on myself about this (I have in the past). But I know that it’s just a part of my multipotentialite rhythm. Interests, media, projects, they come and go. When I feel that the time is here to finish some of these books, I will jump back in.

While I made serious progress with my health goals, my exercise goals were another matter entirely. I was not able to sustain a yoga practice, meditation, the gym, or body weight exercises (boring).

My 2013 goal setting (or anti-goal setting, we shall see) post is coming soon, but I can guarantee you that working out is going to be a big part of it. Going through health challenges for a few years can make you feel out of control, since things are happening TO you. It’s important for me to feel powerful again, physically. So that is going to be a major area of focus in the new year.

All in all, 2012 was an excellent year, I hit many of the goals from my 2012 New Years goal-setting post, and I can’t wait to see what 2013 has in store.

Your Turn

What went well for you this year? What did not go well this year?