Are You Fired Up For 2024?

Every year I get fired up around new years. Over the holidays life slows down and my brain starts firing up with ideas. This year though I’m the most fired up I’ve been in almost a decade!

As the new year was approaching I was already excited about 2024. The past year I had been making gains and getting closer to where I want to be in life. I had good feelings that 2024 will be an even better year of further growth.

And then in December I read the book “Choose Your Enemies Wisely” by Patrick Bet-David, and this book multiplied by enthusiasm by ten!

It’s a business planning book that really helped me strategically pick my targets and find my blind spots. Now going into 2024, I am so ready.

The key to success this year is FOCUS.

2022 was the year of letting go.

2023 was the year of realignment.

This year I’m focused. I've been running a marathon for the past decade and the finish line is now in sight. I’m keeping a straight line and not letting anything distract me off course.

How about you? How are you feeling about this year? Do you have exciting plans?

While I’m stoked for my plans for this year, I’ve noticed there seems to be a lot of people who are feeling pretty apathetic about the new year. There’s no "new year, new me". No resolutions. People are saying something like, “well every year I’ve failed so I’m just not going to try this year.” People have just given up on improving their life.

Maybe it’s the craziness of the past few years and the increasing difficulty of life that has wore people down making the world more apathetic and pessimistic. Every year the craziness seems to be ramping up, and people wonder how is this year going to get worse?

Yes I think the world is going to get crazier in 2024, but if you're focusing on the things that matter then you won't be concerned about the craziness. What matters is what you can control. If you feel like you can't control anything then you need to fix that.

The one thing you can control regardless of what happens in life is your attitude.

A movie I recommend watching is “Life Is Beautiful” directed by Roberto Benigni. The film is #26 on the IMDB top 250 list and it won three oscars including best foreign film. This Italian film is all about attitude in dealing with one of the most horrifying conditions people have faced in history - the Holocaust. Despite being imprisoned, the main character Guido doesn’t lose his sense of play and imagination.

And a book you can read about a real life story is Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl - a psychiatrist who survived the Holocaust. Through his experience in a concentration camp, he figured out that what helped people survive was staying positive and finding purpose. When things look darkest, our imagination is our greatest friend or our greatest enemy. How you imagine the future has a profound effect on your life.

So what’s your attitude is going to be about this year?

Is this year going to be a stinker? Or is this going to be a wonderful year?

Stay tuned. Stay curious. Stay positive.

-Zach

PS: This song “Feels Good” is the attitude I’m harnessing this year.