Welcome 👋
I’ve postponed this first post on my blog, for years. Now, I think it’s quite suiting that I start it with a review.
The end of last year and the start of this one has been quite eventful for me. I made a few life-changing decisions in both my professional and personal life.
Decisions that I believe were painful, but ones I feel were necessary.
Looking back to 2023 as I whole, it has been quite interesting. I read some good books. I visited some nice places.
I learned about myself, a lot!
My 2023 Reflections
Experiences
I started 2023 in oriental Istanbul and later visited destinations like Miami and Malta.
These trips always give me a grand feeling for life and equip me with fresh inspiration.
Hagia Sophia in Istanbul
We had a lot of fun in Istanbul. I’ve always wanted to visit Aya Sofia, the almost 1,500-year-old museum, now a mosque.
You get this weird feeling when you enter it, and you realize it’s 1,500 years old!
We also visited the Sultan’s palace – Topkapi.
The beautiful Lummus Park in Miami Beach, FL
Miami was out of this world! Heaven on earth. We were there promoting Beyond Transport, met some new people, and had a lot of fun.
The Blue Lagoon - Comino, Malta
Malta was also amazing. After years of postponing a proper holiday, I went there with my brother. Malta has the clearest water I’ve ever seen. The Blue Lagoon was an amazing place to go for a swim. I also had some time to read The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy. All in all, it was a refreshing and an inspiring holiday for me.
Favorite Books
My favorite books from 2023 were:
- Do The Work
- The Compound Effect
- Success Habits
These books helped me identify some of my bad habits, and the reasons for my procrastination and ignited me with ideas for financial independence.
Things
Some of my favorite additions in 2023 were:
- My Daily Timeboxing template to define my days
- My Pomodoro timer to better focus my energy
- A weight set for more energy and a clearer head
These tools directly enabled me to better myself and become healthier and more productive.
Highlights
These were my highlights of 2023:
- I got a 10-year US visa, and finally went there
- I read the most books in a year: 10
- I visited Germany and Malta for the first time
- Optimized my GTD workflow
- Started learning Chinese
I improved by a little both professionally and personally.
My 2024 Master Plan
Like most people, I start the year pretty hyped up about new possibilities, ideas and successes. And like most people, by February, I’ve forgotten most of what I’ve planned.
These last few years, things have changed. I’ve been practicing the Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology. Implemented it in Evernote. Established a unified system for taking notes daily. Integrated multiple tools into this system. Customized the GTD system to fit better for my needs.
Yet, despite all this planning and note-taking: I didn’t DO anything. It was another form of procrastination.
But, this year, I plan to change that. I will DO more, and plan less. I will READ more. I will WRITE more. I will make sure I PUSH THROUGH to success.
Habits
I would like to incorporate into my daily/weekly routine, the following habits:
- Exercise daily (>= 20 mins)
- Read daily (>= 10 pages)
- Writing daily (>= 1 hour)
- Journal daily (>= 5 mins)
- Deep work daily (>= 3 hours)
- Meditating daily (>= 10 mins)
I have designed a simple Habit Tracker to track all of these.
Goals
My cornerstone goals for 2024 include:
- Write 100 articles on this blog
- Read at least 25 books
- Create a side hustle
- Provide a service as a consultant
- Launch a product of my own
- Create my own company
- Lead a team
- Get 1,000 true fans
To store these and track their progress, I use GTD in Evernote. I have implemented a whole unified system for Personal Knowledge Management (PKMS). Book a meeting with me, if you’d like me to help you do the same.
If you feel you’d like to join me on this journey of growth and self-improvement, subscribe to my newsletter below.
Let’s win together 🥇
–
Sasho Najdov