Every year between Christmas and New Year’s, I spend time planning and setting goals for the year ahead.

First, I pick a word for the upcoming year.

Then, I update my vision board collage that hangs on the inside of the door to my bedroom closet.

Next, I bring everything together in a Google Doc where I draft my personal objectives and goals. This doc includes space to journal about important dates and to-do list items. It has tables to jot down Highlights and Lowlights, quarter by quarter.

Along the way, I use apps like Daylio to track my moods and habits. I take lots of photos and “favorite” the ones that match up with art in my collage.

At the end of the year, I have a clear picture of how I did against my goals along with a clean list of all the things that made me happy. If I want to, I can get super “woo woo” about everything I manifested with magic and intentions.

My “Fire” Year

2023 was a particularly rough year for me. It was heavy with loss and grief. I suffered a deep crisis of faith and purpose that zapped my motivation. I sought out professional assessments, hoping for an explanation that my brain is just wired differently. Instead, I got diagnosed with “burnout.” By the time I started planning for 2024, I felt desperate for renewed energy and focus. I chose “fire” as my word of the year. Fire as in find your fire again.

I plastered my vision board with photos of roaring bonfires, fireplaces tall enough to stand up inside, sunrise yoga, and mountain landscapes. I included a photo of the Flight Paths installation and a sky lit up with aurora. I cut out colorful images of open doors, sliced grapefruit, chunks of cabbage, and red head-on shrimp. A dart board. A tiny computer with a built-in monitor and keyboard. A beach ball. Phrases like “Think yourself lucky,” “Do better,” and “Enjoy life!” A tiny sliver of the word “passport” to remind me that I needed to renew mine.

I set two objectives: Light up your heart and Live better with less. I wrote SMART goals around physical activities, increasing my net worth, and embracing minimalism at home.

So, how did I do?

When it came to hitting my personal OKRs, it was split 50/50. I blew half my goals out of the water without even trying. On the other half, I made some progress but got nowhere close to my targets.

For example, I wanted to attend 150 yoga classes in 2024. I only made it to 53. (boo)

What about all those visions?

Again, this came out about 50/50. I definitely found my fair share of fires (even lava!) along with snow and sweeping mountain landscapes.

The view of the mountains from the Grove Park Inn.

There were certainly some coincidences that seemed like manifestations. For instance:

Over the summer, I updated my vision board and added a blurry photo of a merry-go-round, solely because I thought it looked cool. A week later when I was taking a new route on my long walk (step goals) I noticed a neighbor’s backyard had an entire set of carousel ponies propped up next to a tree house. Spooky.

But the sunrise yoga program I tried to organize over the summer was a total bust. I couldn’t get folks to commit to a class schedule.

We still haven’t caught the aurora, despite some major solar storms that made them visible from places closer to home.

There were a lot of challenges and disappointments in 2024. It was a year of big misses and tough feedback to process. I caught Covid again, which knocked me offline for a full week. I spent an unacceptable number of hours brain-rotting on TikTok.

But when I zoom out and look at the year on the whole, it was mostly happy surprises. Even with significant setbacks, I tracked 30% fewer “bad” or “awful” days vs. last year. Quantitatively, I came out of this year 5% happier.

Here’s what made my personal highlights reel, along with some of my favorite things from 2024:

Highlights

• Celebrated my Nana’s 90th birthday with family at the Grove Park Inn
• Celebrated eldest niece turning three at her mermaid-themed birthday extravaganza
• Welcomed arrival of bebe niece #2 who is very beautiful and very squeaky
• Finally got passports renewed and went to Iceland
• Saw a volcano erupting
• Trekked a glacier and stepped through ice caves
• Tried out some winter sports, like snow biking and cross-country skiing
• Learned how to go sailing

• Enjoyed lots of fun work trips: Colorado (twice), New York City (twice), Seattle (first time), and Raleigh (first time in a long time)
• Traveled up to Asheville twice in the spring, which feels especially precious in light of the devastating hurricane that hit in September
• Got to hear a keynote from Monica Kaufman Pearson
• Made it out to RenderATL and All Things Open
• Went to see Joe Pera in Atlanta and ended up sitting next to friends!
• Caught up with a friend from out of town to celebrate her engagement!
• Reconnected with old coworkers and friends over Zoom rooms, matchas, and cookbook clubs
• Gave out 285 pieces of candy to 57 Trick or Treaters
• Got lots of practice baking Granna’s Cheese Wafers
• Made the Twitter-famous Butter Chicken recipe
• Ordered a pretzel date night kit and twisted some decent knots
• Sliced up a comically perfect eggplant from my Aunt Pennie’s garden

• Ate an absurd number of tamales at Season, our new favorite brunch spot in Marietta
• Melted with happiness at Spring’s preview of Second Branch, and got super excited when they scored their much-deserved Michelin recognition

• Whipped up a big batch of Christmas Eve gumbo for the fam
• Recorded a podcast episode
• Tinkered with some websites
• Led three major launches, including a huge brand refresh
• Got to witness a big 0 to 1 moment, turning on self-serve revenue for a product
• Did a ton of writing and ghostwriting, publishing more than 20 blog posts
• Participated in a coaching cohort and refreshed my GTM skills with an online course
• Got our front porch steps replaced and painted (thank you, Alan!)
• Observed a number of charming outside animals: a blue heron, rabbits, coyotes, duck, geese, and a humpback whale along with the usual squirrels, birds, deer, hawks and neighborhood cats
• Enjoyed over-the-top hospitality and unforgettable uni at Hayakawa with Alan for his birthday!

Favorites

Things that brought me joy, are worth recommending, or otherwise felt “of the moment” in 2024:

MOVIES

• Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu: Gorgeous, gorgeous girl summons Death and hilariously horrifying hand shadow acting.
• Heretic: Hugh Grant plays God in a squirmy scary flick with satisfying twists.
• Will & Harper: I’m not crying, you’re crying.
• Martha: A weirdly disjointed documentary proving her continued relevance.

SHOWS

• Mr & Mrs Smith: What wouldn’t you do for a luxury kitchen in a Brooklyn brownstone?
• Shogun: Honor. Friendship. Betrayal. Power.
• The Bear, Season 3: Tina’s backstory and the Ice Chips episode both broke me.

BOOKS

• What I Know for Sure by Oprah Winfrey: Recommended in a video by Arlan Hamilton, currently reading from the comfort of the sofa in front of my Christmas tree with a good cup of chai
• Reboot by Jerry Colonna: A poetic business book about pain and self-discovery with journal prompts, h/t Good Work by Barrett Brooks
• Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten: Lighthearted read by a childfree icon and queen of dinner party hosting; the included recipe for Emily’s English Potatoes truly works
• Ambition Monster by Jennifer Romilini: An engaging account of how we try to heal our wounds through our work and what real life feels like when a career takes over

LISTENING

• MGMT’s Loss of Life
• Belting along to Chappell Roan while running errands in suburban weekend traffic
• Thomas Newman movie soundtracks on repeat during virtual brainstorming sessions

DOPAMINE DRESSING

• Chili pepper earrings, aka food as fashion
• Damson Madder “Rafe” pants in leopard print; trendy but excellent cost-per-wear because these stretchy-waisted jeans are the only pants I want to wear outside
• Green sequin paillette skirt, mermaid-core for the holiday season, hope the sequins are a hit with toddler niece on NYE

LITTLE HAPPY THINGS

• Deleting Twitter
• Sardine toasts with Calabrian chile butter
• Flowers in the vase near the window

What’s next for 2025?

Right now I’m deep in the process of planning and setting new goals for 2025. I imagine this next year is going to be a doozy with big unknowns. I’m thinking about doubling down on self-care and creating space for risks and inspiration.

Until next year, my priorities are as follows:

1. Cleaning the house from top to bottom
2. Procuring some decent collards and a tin of caviar
3. Remembering to soak my black-eyed peas

Everything else can wait—