I didn’t read many books in 2016. The number of completed books ended up at 15. Prior years it reached as high as 82.
I also didn’t blog much this year. I wrote a measly ONE blog post. In the past (obviously), I once had a six-month stretch where I published a blog post daily.
What happened?
The guilt got to me. That is, the guilt of consuming (mostly books) without producing anything. So in 2016 I took a break from reading to do more doing of the things I’ve been learning. Since 2012, I’ve binge learning one topic at a time which has always lead me to a new topic. The more I learn, the more I see how most things are connected.
A few of the topics I’ve been binge-learning include:
- How the brain works
- The human condition
- Learning how to learn
- Storytelling
- Writing/copywriting/persuasion
- How to play piano (using the app SimplyPiano)
- Photography/videography/editing
2016 was the year I binged on video/photography. I filmed more video in 2016 than any other year. I got a few freelance gigs that had me flying to Canada and San Francisco. I got to make videos for big food brands that I love. Almost daily, I share something on Snapchat (if you’ve read either of my books you’d enjoy following me on Snapchat). My problem with reading is that it became a distraction and a productive way of not actually doing something.
So here are a few things I did in 2016 besides reading…
2016 Highlights
GoPro Award – One of my goals for 2016 was to win a GoPro Award. Watch the video below to see how it happened. Also, another highlight is that GoPro shared one of my photos.
Life Highlight Video – How do you summarize 99 years of one man’s life in 5 minutes? I had this task when creating the slideshow for my Grandpa’s funeral in October. My advice: Look for themes and find photos (and ideally videos) that support those themes. If you need to convert VHS to digital, here is what I used.
Mixergy Courses – I’ve been working with Mixergy for a few years and got to visit Canada and San Francisco to film/produce a few courses.
2017 Goals
I have goals for 2017 but I’m not sharing them publicly due to the reasons below.
Why Most New Years Resolutions Fail
If you have plans to start a new diet, workout consistently, or build any new habit, this one word will help you understand what you’ll experience: homeostasis.
The human body seeks balance. When you start any new habit, for better or worse, your body wants to revert back to the “normal” of before. Because people seek comfort + they have the irrational belief that what they are feeling now they’ll feel forever, people resort back to their “balanced” life pre-change. But, if one ignores the feelings of discomfort, eventually their life will become balanced once again with a new normal.
So if you have any habits you’d like to drop or replace, know that now does not equal forever, and within a month you’ll feel normal again. Also, tell yourself that any change you make is only for 30 days. Then you can go back to “normal.” It’s a small trick for persuading yourself into making better decisions.
Also, the insight about things seeking a balance also applies to trends in society. Society takes one thing too far and then people seek the opposite, which they eventually take too far the other way.
What’s next for me in 2017?
I’d plan to continue making movies, but I’m also bothered by my lack of publishing, specifically books. I know a lot more about writing now than when I published my first two books. Can’t guarantee I’ll publish a book this year, but I will for sure finish writing something humorous (to be very vague).
Look at that, I’ve already published as many blog posts as I did last year!
