Tiago’s 2019 Mid-Year Review

The following are the results of my Mid-Year Review, which I do every year around the beginning of July. It is a simple process of reflection and journaling I did over two evenings about a week apart, in about 2 hours for each half. I hope you find it valuable for any review process you do for yourself. For each section, I free-journaled whatever came to mind in response to the prompt, and then recorded a concise summary of my conclusions in a Google Doc, which is copied here:

What is my intention for this mid-year review?

• To reorient and check in with myself, to step back from the headlong rush and reflect on my true priorities, to listen to my heart and intuition, to feel into the future that is calling me, to love and forgive myself for what I have done and not done

How do I want to feel at the end?

• On track, with purpose, with pleasure, and learning to love myself and others

Free journaling on [redacted]:

• What I’m feeling
• What’s not working

How do I want to spend my days?

• In focus, working through difficult ideas, exploring frontiers, creating new things, building new capabilities
• In play, trying and testing things with no purpose in mind, just for its own sake
• In community, being a contribution to others, giving and receiving, being known and accepted

What do I want to take out?

• Phone calls

  • Make them shorter, 30m by default
  • Limit to 3 days per week (Mon, Wed, Fri)
  • Take them while walking
  • Say no unless it resonates

• Admin stuff

  • Hire an assistant for Forte Labs work

• Travel

  • Say no to non-essential travel (crypto conference in Oct.)

What do I want to add in?

• Focus

  • 2 weekdays dedicated to writing (Tues. and Thurs.)
  • New filter for what to take on: is this essential to making BASB reach its full potential?
  • Create revenue and profit goals
  • Weekly check-in with David on Mondays 10-10:30am

• Balance

  • Evening and morning meditation
  • Call family more
  • Hobby time (documentary, cooking class)

• Excitement

  • Weekend trips in Mexico

• Clarity

  • Try intermittent fasting for 30 days

Make a Gratitude list [redacted]

Goals

COMPLETED

• Get married
• Complete 40 personal training sessions
• Partner with another creator and launch a new course
• Pay off all debt
• Move to Mexico
• Finish Mailchimp course
• Deliver live workshop in NYC
• Publish OneNote resource guide
• Deliver talk at Refactor Camp
• Work with editor on book proposal
• Palm Beach training delivered

NOT COMPLETED (WHY?)

• Video coaching: no urgency, no deadline
• Wedding followup: no deadline
• Second Brain Summit: waiting to hire PA
• Daily yoga: bought blocks and roller
• Morning meditation: started scheduling calls between 10-11am
• Maintain YNAB: conflicting transactions with Lauren’s card

What are my intentions for the rest of 2019?

• To resolve the tension between focus and community, ambition and ease, sacrifice and pleasure in my life
• Focus, Play, and Community as top priorities
• To become someone my children will be proud of
• To focus on BASB as my destiny and calling
• To cement a true partnership with David
• To immerse myself in Mexico and its culture
• To feel deeply into pleasure as an organizing principle
• To intentionally design a life that we love living
• To be able to show my family the full depth and breadth of my love for them
• To have deep and true friendships with men and women who care for me deeply and are working on excellence
• To build a financial future for my family

Next actions

• Cancel Lauren’s linked Chase card
• Leave 10-11am free of calls (for morning meditation)
• Retire JITPM/TOC book projects
• Increase payroll to prepare for house buying
• Talk to Lauren about Japan trip
• Plan ayahuasca experience with Max
• Schedule vipassana retreat in Mex
• Have 1 dinner party per month
• Make a plan for SB Academy
• Schedule next call with Joshua for video coaching
• Reserve Tues and Thurs as focus days
• Hire an executive assistant
• Schedule Oaxaca trip in Sept.
• Try 16/8 intermittent fasting for 30 days
• Retire sailing trip, int’l competition, Mexican cooking, and chocolate projects