My 2014 Annual Review and What’s In Store For 2015?

My first annual review in 2013 was so well-received that I decided to do it again this year.

The purpose of this yearly report is to reflect on the previous twelve months and write an honest review of what went well, what could have gone better, biggest takeaways, and what I'm working toward.

I will answer 4 questions in my 2014 Annual Review

1. What went well this year?
2. What didn't go so well this year?
3. What have been my biggest takeaways this year?
4. What am I working toward?

Let's get into the details...

What Went Well This Year?

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Finances. 2014 has been my best year ever financially. I've always been making good living on the internet since 2010 but the big numbers only hit earlier this year when I discovered Teespring.

Money alone definitely can't buy happiness but making more money really allowed me to have the freedom to pursue other things that make me happy.

Being Healthy. I haven't kept track of how many workouts I did this year but I've been pretty consistent, as I made my health the 1st priority.

I did miss some workouts and ate not-so-healthy foods while traveling to a new place but I always got back to my routine quickly after getting home.

I also got my blood checked in Thailand on October and had my friend Alexis (she's a naturopathic doctor) read through it and gave me good advice on improving my health.

I highly recommend you to consult with her, as she really knows her stuff.

Yoga & Meditation. I meditated for 250+ days this year and this definitely helped to improve every aspect of my life.

I'm now doing 20 minutes a day with the help of an app called Headspace. Try it once and you will see how easy it is to meditate daily.

I was always thinking that yoga was boring and only for women until I tried it for the first time (thanks Will).

In my opinion, yoga is not a workout; it's a practice that helps you become better mentally, physically and spiritually.

Adventures. I've been traveling for the most part of the year. I visited 3 countries and 11 cities in 2014. The experience and lessons learned were amazing.

Some highlights:

Scuba Diving in Koh Tao

Relationships. I feel fortunate to have supported parents and a loving girlfriend. They're always there when I needed them the most and I'm trying my best to do the same.

Me and my girlfriend are celebrating our 2-year together in 11 days 🙂

Our 1st vacation to Mui Ne

I'm super proud of her because she was able to start and generate profit with her local ecommerce business in only 3 months. We already have plans to take it to the next level in 2015.

I also made a lot of great connections with friends all over the world this year mostly through my blog and the DC. They have been contributed greatly to my successes.

What Didn't Go So Well This Year?

Being productive. I was super productive in the first 4 months of the year until I started traveling. I hardly got anything done on the road and that was why my business staled since.

Making the most out of the opportunities I have. I could have made a lot more money with Teespring if I stick with it this year.

After the initial success, I got distracted with shinny projects and frequent traveling for about 7 months.

However I'm not regretting as I did have amazing adventures and lessons learned in that period.

Writing regularly. I only wrote 21 articles this year, which averaged 1.75 post a month. Fortunately my traffic did grow by 160% due to some well-received posts. I'm working on a system to help me produce more articles without taking too much time so I can focus on my main business.

Socializing. I worked mostly at home and hotels and didn't really talk much with people. I really need to get out more to improve my verbal skills.

Fitness. I've always wanted 6-pack abs for years but never achieved it. I'm healthy and in a good shape now, but I know I can do better.

Doing charitable work. I didn't focus much on giving back this year. I'm gonna change that in 2015. I feel fortunate to have a really good life at this young age and I want to give help to people who need it.

What Have Been My Biggest Takeaways This Year?

I'm not a digital nomad. I don't like frequent travel at all. I prefer to settle in one place to work hard and get fit then take vacation once in a while. I have high respect for people who are on the road all the times and still achieve success with their businesses.

Consistency is the key to success. This applies to everything. Whether you want to build a profitable business, get fit or achieve anything significant, you need to consistently work on it to get the wanted results.

You don't need much to be happy. We're often caught up in thinking about the things that we don't have and don't realize that we already have everything we need to be happy. Really, if you're reading this, you're definitely happier than most people.

What I'm working toward?

I no longer set goals, but below are the 2 areas that I will be actively focused on in 2015.

Doubling down on Teespring. I just got back to it for about a month now and already saw positive results. I'll write more about this business as I learn along the way.

Growing the blog. I've built a good community here and I honestly don't want to see the traffic drop every month. I already changed some lives through the blog and I want to see even more success stories.

Settling down and taking mini-retirements. I want to focus on building a profitable business and get a 6-pack, which means that I have to travel less. That's okay though. Any success requires trade-offs.

The Bottom Line

I have said many times that I'm not an expert and don't have it all figured out. I'm still young and have many years ahead.

The only thing for sure is that I will keep working hard to become better in every aspect of my life.

And of course I will be sharing what I learn along the way.

Thanks for following my journey. Hope you have a great 2015!