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.