Monthly Archives: December 2023

What Do I Want from 2024?

On this journey we call life, it’s important to have a compass. Wandering endlessly day-by-day will leave us in the same spot we started (which is unacceptable). As Tony Robbins says, “progress = happiness” and who doesn’t want more happiness?

So what am I thinking about or pursuing in 2024?

Health

My number one pursuit in 2024 is to find remission from my auto immune disease…by any means necessary!! Recently in November I started a new trial drug (Zeposia) which is designed to better regulate, or down regulate my immune system to trigger fewer flare ups or responses by my body to fight itself, and in so doing, cause harm. In evaluating options, the next choice of treatment was: a pill, a bi-monthly shot, or infusion every 8-weeks. We chose the daily pill.

But over the holidays, I flared again on the new drug. Talk about a downer!! Today, I’m currently taking about 3-4 different pills a day to combat symptoms and I’m in a desperate pursuit to bring this number to ZERO!!

I’ve grown tired of the ups and downs from the unpredictability. I’m tired of the anxiousness of the disease impacting my movement patterns, sometimes limiting travel (which I love) and just overall life. In early January I’m headed to Mayo Clinic for a second opinion on how to best rid myself of these symptoms and hopefully dial back on medication.

I’m attacking the disease from many angles: diet, fitness, and overall mental well being. I tell myself I know how the disease was initially triggered. It’s lovely cocktail mix: A great deal of hard living in my 20’s accompanied with amplified stress from being a tireless overachiever likely sent my body and immune system into a tail spin in the late 2000’s. But is this true?? Or is this story??

Fact vs. Story. That’s what I’m really looking to explore. I’m not looking to only treat symptoms, instead I’m Indiana Jones in search of the root cause. I’m told there is no “cure” per se to Ulcerative Colitis. I don’t buy it. I’m somewhat convinced the medication doesn’t work, otherwise why would I continually experience flare ups a few times per year, which are then resolved by steroids? So what’s the answer?

Is Diet the Answer?


I don’t know this either. Here’s what I do know. I know in 2023 I ate better than I have in my entire life. I consumed more vegetables, smoothies and pounds of spinach than I ever have. I consumed less alcohol than ever and I’m on the verge of calling it quits entirely. But still the symptoms. Is diet the answer?

Is Fitness the Answer?

I’m in better shape now at 41 than I was at 31. It’s not even a comparison. My body composition is better and I’m even hitting the golf ball further as a result. In 2023 I completed over 250 workouts and cycled nearly 8,000 minutes this year. In a quest for 10,000 pull ups, I completed 14,000. I am no iron man, but I am in good shape…but the symptoms remain. Is Fitness the answer?

Am I too type A?

I can only imagine being a reader of this post and reading my thoughts. Zac, of course you think simply changing the variables noted above (or by simply doing more) you’d step into remission and all would be well. It’s not that easy, and I’m coming to grips with that. So what’s the next phase?

Is the next phase Surrender?

In listening to recent sermon from Orchard Hill Church, the pastor spoke to surrender, and a season of waiting. I must admit, just hearing those words send me into toxic shock. I suck at waiting…and yet maybe that’s the larger lesson in all of this? I’ve tried searching for solutions via the mechanism of control. And yet, that’s not working. So maybe surrender is?

In almost every year in my adult life I’ve thought about goals and planning for the following year. It’s exciting, it’s ambitious, it’s challenging!! Every single year these include financial targets to hit and investments to make. While 2024 will likely include these goals, my #1 concern and focus will be on getting truly healthy.

You can have all the riches and success in the world, but if you don’t have your health, you have nothing.

Living a Rich Life

Ask me when I was 12 what I wanted to be when I grew up, and short of naming a career, I also likely enthusiastically stated, “I want to be rich!”

Notice, I did not wish to be “wealthy”…but that’s another topic for another day. Youthful ignorance at it’s finest.

Who doesn’t want to be rich? Especially at a young age. Here’s the thing though, I don’t think the desire goes away as you grow older and I’ll make the argument “a rich life” evolves over time. But what does being “rich” really mean?

If I asked you, “how much would it take to be rich (monetarily speaking), what would you say?” Would the answer be the prototypical…One million dollars!!! Ok, that will last all of 10-20 years based on basic lifestyle choices. So maybe that’s not the right answer…

Right, double it! Two Million Dollars!!!!

Nope. Wrong again.

Rich isn’t about a million, or your second million, or your tenth million, although I’m all for these things. Rich is a definition of lifestyle and it’s entirely in the eyes of the beholder. When I was little I wasn’t thinking of Scrooge McDuck swimming in millions of coins. I wanted the lifestyle choices richness would provide.

A few years ago I read Ramit Sethi’s book, “I Will Teach You to be Rich” and I highly recommend it. While Ramit teaches many things on financial security and is definitely a [numbers guy] in every sense of the word, the #1 takeaway I had from the book was Ramit’s definition of, “A Rich Life”. Ramit recommends spending aggressively on the few things that bring you great joy. [note I said few, not everything]

I’m going off memory but here are a couple Rich lifestyle choices from Ramit:

  • Fly business class
  • Indulge in the nicest of sweaters (Ramit loves a great Cashmere Sweater)
  • Supply travel to family for large annual getaway

What is a Rich Life?

Ask yourself that question. What is does my “rich life” consist of?

  • To one person, it’s the ability to own their own an acreage on the outside of town, to have a family they care for deeply, and the ability to hunt & fish whenever they get the opportunity.
  • To someone in their 20’s free of commitment and short on responsibilities, their rich life is full of travel, living near or with close friends and experiencing all the world has to offer. This might include indulging in the hottest new restaurant, a great apartment and some hip fashion choices.
  • To someone in their 70’s, a rich life might look like complete financial freedom, escaping to warm weather in the winter, closeness to grandchildren and their ability to give endlessly to local charity via their time and accumulated wealth.

My point is you can make $50,000/yr and be rich. You can make $500,000 a year and be miserable in empty pursuits of “things” you think will make you happy.

Putting a holiday bow on this post, here are the elements of my Rich Life:

  • I wanted to live on a golf course (check)
  • Travel multiple times a year with wife & family. Minimum (1x to the ocean, 1x to the mountains) – it’s good for the mind & soul
  • Freedom with Income – This one is a work in progress, but I need income to show up every month regardless of employment. With the ultimate goal of financial freedom by 45. It’s not that I won’t work. It’s not needing the income to live. This creates flexibility to explore endless opportunity!
  • Experiences with Close Friends – I want to play golf and attend sporting events with those closest to me with unfailing consistency. Maybe top each off with a great meal and glass of wine!
  • Being in G-R-E-A-T physical health to have the energy and vitality to live a life free of restraint due to health limitations.

Notice what’s not on here. What I wear. What I drive. It’s all ephemeral.
~Merry Christmas all

None is Profound, Because There is So Much

Last week I was flying back from Boston and a recent business trip. While doing so, it’s quite common for me to catch up on a podcast or audiobook.

I happened to be listening to The Tim Ferriss Show and a recent podcast with Morgan Housel. This was of interest to me as I just wrapped up reading his book: The Psychology of Money. I love Tim’s longer form conversations as they get much deeper into a person’s feelings and beliefs.

Later into the podcast, Morgan said something profound. So profound in fact, that I stopped, hit rewind and listened to it again as I transcribed the thoughts into my notebook. Then I rewound again to ensure I heard it right!

What did he say?

He said, “None of it is profound, because there is soooooo much of it.” Now what was he talking about? Without me telling you directly, I decided to think about what could be on this list…and it’s rather long.

  • The News. It used to be once a day. Now with cable news it’s 24/7 and delivers the value of empty calories. Morgan asks, how profound would the news be if it was 1x per year? Rather meaningful right?
  • Luxury. If you think about it, luxury in America is all around us, but we’re so spoiled we don’t see it.
  • Rest/Relaxation. The goal isn’t to rest 24/7, although some think it is. Rest and relaxation are to be earned to be appreciated. A life without struggle isn’t worth living.
  • True Connection – Today it’s easier to connect with someone across the world than it’s ever been. And yet, true connection in society is more distant than it’s ever been.
  • Christmas Gifts – Yes, it’s that time of year to bless those around us with gifts. But do so with dozens, and they lose meaning. Chose wisely.
  • Information. There’s never been more information available. We don’t have an information problem. We have a discernment and action problem. When all information is important, we become paralyzed in execution.
  • False Beauty. Open your phone and you can find millions of photos perfectly posed and manicured for distribution and “likability”. Shredded men. Bikini clad babes. Everyone with a phone is a model.

More for the sake of more, leads us down a dangerous path. One I know I can be guilty of. Like a rich kid with infinite resources and a cocaine habit. Every hit, more unfulfilling than the last…but the chase must go on!

Where does this take us?

For me, it’s a reminder to do my annual retreat into the book Essentialism. Less but better. Fewer choices, well-executed create real value and meaning. Rid the mind of more for the sake of more, and instead be in a search for impact and vitality.

Crushing 10,000 Pull Up Goal by +30%

Why would anyone do 10,000 Pull Ups, or set a goal for 10,000 anything for that matter?!?!? I think it’s a really fair question and one I half-assed tried to answer the last two years.

You see in 2021 I initially set the goal. But derailed by some health swings, I honestly just lost momentum…and momentum is everything! So I gave up trying. My efforts netted me somewhere in the 4-5,000 range. Not bad, but nowhere near my target. But I was committed to get back on the horse.

2022 yielded better results, but no completion. I was north of the 5,000 number achieved the year before, but again just lost momentum and daily focus.

Easy to Do, Easy NOT to do

Below is a powerful image of the Slight Edge principle. Small efforts, magnified over large swaths of time = BIG RESULTS. But as with anything, it’s easy to do, easy NOT to do. In 2021, and in 2022, I fell the path of Easy NOT to do.

Just How Easy Is It?

Let us look at the 10,000 reps two ways. The first is proximity. I’ll label this one incredibly easy as I “work from home” most days and my pullup bar is in my basement storage. Easiest of Easy. The second is the math and here’s how I thought about it when I initially laid out the goal. In a 365 day year, I figured for a few days off as the calluses do build up. So I rounded to the easy math of pull ups for 300 days a year.

10,000 pull ups/300 days = 33.3 per day. Rounding up, could I do 34 per day?

A set of 10 was hard, but doable at the start of this journey. So completing 34 pull ups per day wasn’t a monumental struggle. Doing it for 300 days in a year, that’s different! The challenge isn’t completing the reps. The hardest part is sometimes remembering to do it because a day missed, meant the next day was owed 68, or 102, etc. Lose a week and lose 238. This really starts to add up and is such a microcosm for life.

Aristotle said: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” 

So Why Do It?

I’m not good at finishing things. I’m unreal at starting, ideas, concepting, strategizing and knowing exactly what it takes to get there. And then I get bored!!! I wanted to achieve the target to prove to myself I could push through the boredom and see it through to the end. I needed to FINISH.

Where are we now?

As of the time of publishing this it’s early December, and I’m past 13,000 reps headed to 14,000+ reps before the end of year hits. After I hit 10,000 back in September, I reset the challenge and started adding weight to the reps for added difficulty [Momentum building and harnessing at it’s finest]. By the way, lets do a quick check on the math noted from above. 14,000/300 days = 47 day. So only 13 more reps per day…but EVERY, DAMN, DAY!

What did I learn?

Big goals become achievable when broken down into manageable pieces and pursued with unwavering determination. Consistency is the key to success, as it leads to momentum. Like an object in motion, once you start, you keep going!

Just making the effort to show up is 90% of the battle. Even when I was traveling, I made it a point to find a few minutes in the hotel gym to get the job done for the day. Yes, I did this several times while traveling.

What will the pursuit be in 2024?

Great question and I’m working on that 😉

PS – If you’re the type that wants details, here is the pull up bar I used. My first bar cracked in mid-2023. So after some research, I purchased the link below on Amazon as I found the bar to be really sturdy (I’m 170-175 lbs.).