Every January 1st, going back four years now, I have a tradition in this newsletter:
I review my previous year and I make some plans for the coming year. Well, last year I tried to skip it, but then a long-time reader called me out on it. This year, I’ll walk the line.
My “theme” last year — theme being a kind of fuzzy goal — was ambition.
Was I ambitious in 2024? Did I live up to the year’s theme? And what was the result?
Well, in 2024 I did a bunch of stuff:
I launched a group coaching program… started a continuity offer… ran a dozen promos… put on some live trainings… had a job for the first time in I don’t know how many years (coaching in Shiv Shetti’s mastermind)… partnered with a couple people on side projects… came second in an affiliate contest for a Dan Kennedy offer that I only wrote about tongue-in-cheek… got on stage once to talk in front of a sizable crowd… appeared on a handful of podcasts… delivered a couple trainings inside other people’s private masterminds… almost finished writing my new book… launched a community… and overall had my best year in terms of income.
Sounds like I done a lot! But it sure doesn’t feel like it.
Early in 2024, I wrote down a list of a dozen+ items of what ambition means to me.
Looking back on that list now, I see I didn’t get anywhere close to achieving any of the dozen+ items.
And not only that, but stuff I did achieve back in April or August doesn’t feel like it counts for anything today. “What have you done for me lately?” some devil inside me is asking. Who knows, maybe that’s what ambition sounds like.
The natural conclusion to all this — not achieving my goals, for the third year in a row — might be to stop setting goals and to learn to be happy with what I got and what I’m doing now.
But I’m not a natural kind of guy. In fact, I’m a rather contrary kind of guy.
Plus, I have a sneaking suspicion that humans need both, goals AND acceptance, cow-like satisfaction AND ambition and yearning.
Besides, it would be kinda boring if I ended this email and simply said, Michael Corleone-like, “Dear reader, you can have my answer now. My goals for 2025 are this… nothing. Not even to make a million dollars, which I would I appreciate if you would contribute to my bank account personally.”
No, I won’t do that. Instead I got some real live themes, or goals, of whatever, for 2025:
#1. Recurring income
After 10+ years of learning and in some ways practicing direct marketing, I’ve finally accepted that most basic direct marketing truth, that recurring income is where it’s at.
At the tail end of 2024, I launched a little continuity offer, and I happily offered people long-term payment plans to get them to take me up on some of my more expensive offers.
I’ve also started keeping track of what share of my income is recurring income. In 2025, I will be looking to grow that.
#2. Less of me
In 2025, I wanna make more offers that are less about me, my results, my authority, my charming personality, and more about, “Does this sound sexy and credible?”
This isn’t about “Taking myself out of the business” or a fantasy about scaling to cold traffic.
Rather, it’s a desire for competence. Frankly, it’s fairly easy to create an offer that sells well to people who are basically buying YOU. It’s much harder to create an offer that sells based on its own merits. I just wanna get better at it. (Like I said, I’m a rather contrary kind of guy.)
#3. Tech
I’m a luddite by nature, though at some point in my life I was a good software programmer. I wrote code for a decade or more and I even enjoyed it much of the time.
I don’t wanna go back to my old career. But like I’ve been saying lately, it’s never been easier to get little tech tools created for you with the snap of your fingers.
I’ve ignored technology for a long time. But in 2025, I wanna do more of that finger-snapping for my own benefit, and who knows, maybe even build something that can be useful to others.
So there you go, my three new themes for 2025. Let’s see how I manage to live up to them in the coming year.
There’s one final January 1st tradition around here. This is the only day of the year that I remember to link to my “Store” page, which lists all of my currently available offers.
Over the 6+ years of running this daily newsletter, I’ve written and created many courses, books, and trainings.
Here are the ones that have stood the test of time and that I continue to proudly sell every day: