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    My 2016 Annual Review: 1. What Went Well This Year?

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    Arjun Middha
    James Clear conducted his annual review for 2016, summarizing the year's successes and failures. Some highlights included hiring an executive assistant to help grow his business, publishing 28 new articles and gaining over 200,000 new email subscribers. He also traveled extensively, lifted weights consistently, hosted writing retreats, and took a family trip to England and Scotland.

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    My 2016 Annual Review: 1. What Went Well This Year?

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    Arjun Middha
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    James Clear conducted his annual review for 2016, summarizing the year's successes and failures. Some highlights included hiring an executive assistant to help grow his business, publishing 28 new articles and gaining over 200,000 new email subscribers. He also traveled extensively, lifted weights consistently, hosted writing retreats, and took a family trip to England and Scotland.

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    James Clear conducted his annual review for 2016, summarizing the year's successes and failures. Some highlights included hiring an executive assistant to help grow his business, publishing 28 new articles and gaining over 200,000 new email subscribers. He also traveled extensively, lifted weights consistently, hosted writing retreats, and took a family trip to England and Scotland.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    45 views4 pages

    My 2016 Annual Review: 1. What Went Well This Year?

    Uploaded by

    Arjun Middha
    James Clear conducted his annual review for 2016, summarizing the year's successes and failures. Some highlights included hiring an executive assistant to help grow his business, publishing 28 new articles and gaining over 200,000 new email subscribers. He also traveled extensively, lifted weights consistently, hosted writing retreats, and took a family trip to England and Scotland.

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    My 2016 Annual Review

    By James Clear | Annual Review


    Well friends, 2016 is in the books. Before we turn the page and start a
    new chapter in 2017, I'd like to share my Annual Review with you.

    I conduct my Annual Review at the end of each year. The process


    reminds me to look back on the previous twelve months, celebrate my
    victories, evaluate my failures, and hold myself accountable in public. I
    hope that you'll find my stories, stumbles, and insights useful.

    My 2016 Annual Review will answer three questions.

    1. What went well this year?


    2. What didnt go so well this year?
    3. What am I working toward?
    You're welcome to use a similar format for your own Annual Review.
    1. What went well this year?
    Alright, let's cover the fun stuff first. Here's what went well this year.

    Hiring. My biggest win this year was making my first full-time hire.
    Lyndsey joined the team in June as my Executive Assistant / Master of
    Many Things. I spent years suffering from Superhero Syndrome and
    I tried to handle every major aspect of the business by myself.
    Eventually, I realized that while this strategy allowed me to run the
    business my way it also prevented the business from growing beyond
    my limiting beliefs.
    When you're the only person in the company, your mindset is also the
    company's mindset. If you have a bad day, the company has a bad day.
    If you have a mental block with sales or marketing, the company has a
    mental block with sales or marketing. Thus, hiring has taught me an
    important lesson: The fastest way to get over your limiting beliefs is to
    hire someone who doesnt have them.
    This is a decision I put off for years and I'm glad that I finally cleared
    this hurdle. One great employee is worth ten mediocre freelancers.
    Lyndsey, you're the best.

    Business growth. I made a lot of mistakes this year (more on that


    below), but thanks to the addition of Lyndsey and the groundwork I
    laid in previous years, JamesClear.com continued to grow despite my
    blunders.
    Here are some quick stats

    28 new articles published this year (browse my best


    articles)
    210,623 new email subscribers this year
    373,938 total email subscribers as of December 31,
    2016
    7,956,860 unique visitors this year
    16,794,628 unique visitors since launching on November
    12, 2012
    Almost eight million people visited JamesClear.com this year. When I
    think about that number for more than four seconds, two things
    happen. First, I experience a paralyzing fear that my ideas aren't good
    enough to share with that many people. Second, I remind myself that
    nobody cares that much and I start to feel the same awesome sense of
    excitement and possibility as when I first began writing.

    The truth is, it doesn't matter if you're writing to one person or one
    million. The responsibility of a writer is always the same: if you're
    going to interrupt someone with your words, you better be damn sure
    you have something good to say to them. For my part, I promise I'll do
    my best to write things worth reading.

    Travel. Exploring the world continues to be one of my top priorities


    in life and I was fortunate enough to make it to some great places this
    year. One of those places was Vietnam where I was stopped at least 17
    times per day to get a photo with a random stranger. (It turns out that
    tall bald men are considered a rare and important species there.
    America should take note.) I also updated my Ultralight Travel
    Guide, which includes some of my favorite new travel gear.
    Travel highlights for 2016:

    7 countries (2 new): Bahamas, England, Iceland, Peru,


    Scotland, United States, Vietnam.
    12 states (1 new): Arizona (2x), California (3x), Colorado,
    Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, North
    Carolina, Ohio, Texas (2x), Utah.
    Weightlifting. I try to strike a balance between training hard and
    having a normal life. I love weightlifting, but not in the I-use-protein-
    powder-as-deodorant sort of way. Anyway, I have been slowly
    increasing my training volume over the last three years. In 2014, I
    exercised 113 times. In 2015, I bumped that up to 122 workouts. In
    2016, I switched my training style and completed 178 workouts for an
    average of 14.8 workouts per monthmy most consistent year yet.
    Currently, I lift for about 45 minutes to 1 hour on Monday thru Friday.
    Workouts per month in 2016:

    January 15
    February 17
    March 16
    April 9
    May 12
    June 22
    July 18
    August 19
    September 17
    October 9
    November 9
    December 15
    My best lifts of the year were:

    Back Squat 415 lbs (188 kg) for 1 rep


    Bench Press 295 lbs (134 kg) for 1 rep
    Deadlift 501 lbs (227 kg) for 1 rep at my first official
    powerlifting meet
    500m row 1 minute 27 seconds
    These were all personal bests for me, so I guess we could say that I was
    in the best shape of my life in 2016. (Although I doubt I could run a
    mile very well right now.)

    Retreats. After thinking about it for years, I finally pulled the trigger
    and hosted a retreat for fellow authors in 2016. I also attended two
    other retreats with fellow entrepreneurs where I wasn't the host. Each
    one lasted 4 days. All of the deepest, most useful, and most inspiring
    conversations I had with fellow entrepreneurs and authors in 2016
    happened at these retreats. Even in our digital world, the best
    connections still happen in person. I'm planning to host two of them in
    2017 and I can't wait.
    Travel with family. In the fall, I joined my family on a trip to
    London to see my sister, her husband, and my lovely newborn niece.
    My parents had to get passports for the trip as it was their first time
    traveling abroad. We explored England and Scotland together and it
    was one of the highlights of my year.

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