Happy New Year

The holidays are finally winding down. The Christmas trees are on the curb. It’s 2016.. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

How was your 2015? How do you measure? Do you sit quietly with a cup of coffee and reflect? Do you still have your list of resolutions from last year? Did you manage to make any of them stick?

I’ve been thinking lately how best to compile everything I’ve learned into a format that’s both fun and useful. I’m not sure if this is the best way, but I have an idea I want to test.

Personal Annual Report

One thing some of you might know about me, is that I love studying business and investing. So, I’m borrowing something from that world. Every year, all publicly traded companies publish annual reports to their shareholders, informing them of the company's overall performance, management changes, future plans, etc. While most of these reports are notoriously dry, they don’t have to be.

If you want to read an entertaining report, check out Berkshire Hathaway’s annual letters to shareholders. Written by the “oracle” of investing, Warren Buffett himself, these letters are regarded among the finest in the investment community, providing clarity, humor, and wisdom, to what’s typically a boring formality.

My Annual Report

That’s why I’m going to compile my own annual report, except instead of a company, I’ll be reporting on my life. Instead of financial figures, I’m going to give you some stats from my year. I’ll share this information objectively and honestly, to the detail level appropriate for my blog.

I hope to have it ready for you next week. Sorry I don’t have it for you today, but I wanted to let you know I’m working on it.

2016

I’m so excited for 2016. I’m a firm believer that if you take life day-by-day, and just focus on making really good days, the future will take care of itself. It’s great to be writing to you in the new year. I look forward to sharing my annual report with you soon. Until then, thank you for reading and Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas

As you read this, I’ll probably be 30,000 feet in the air, on my way to join my family in New York City, for a few days of fun and celebration. The holidays are the favorite time of year for so many people, and it’s not because of the weather. No, often at this time of year we’re scraping ice off the windshield and stuffing screaming kids into the back of the minivan to drive nine hours in a blizzard to grandma’s house.

The real reason people love this time of year, is because for just one day, a week, maybe even the whole month if we’re lucky, holidays take our attention off the “Big Me” for a while and shine it on our loved ones. We feel wealthy when we give. We feel complete when we’re grateful. We feel a sense of purpose when we serve others.

For me, it’s about the tradition. The camaraderie. And that feeling of reprise on Christmas morning, when our important busy lives get briefly put on the shelf, because there’s actually something bigger going on, something that doesn’t involve ME.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you, readers for bringing me so much joy and purpose throughout the year. This blog is one place where I truly feel surrounded by love. Every visit, comment, share, means more to me than you’ll ever know.

So today, drink a cup of tea, hug someone you love, sit by the fire, read a book, solve a puzzle, drink your wine, have a feast, and Merry Christmas.