2014 in Review

Hey Guys,

Well it's that time of year again, time for the annual review!

This year I am going to combine both personal and business into one post so I apologise for the length of this before I start! In this post I will be looking at what worked great for me in my personal and business life plus a close look at all the things that sucked (and many did).

I will say straight away that 2014 was probably one of (if not THE best year) of my life. Major things happened to me that not only made me a lot happier but also will make me happy in the long term. The things that sucked were all things that I can learn from and not anything that impacted my life in the long term. This is something I am truly grateful for as there aren't many that can say it.

Ok so here we go!

Personal

2014 was an amazing year for me personally with so many cool experiences and life changing decisions that benefited me. I also had a few set minor set backs that I am still paying for.

I'm going to keep this in bullet points for ease of reading but I will happily elaborate on anything, just comment below :)

So the positives!

• The biggest and by far the best thing that happened to me this year was that I proposed to my long suffering girlfriend Kelly and she was daft enough to say yes. Being an obsessive, workaholic maniac isn't something that is easy to live with, never mind want to spend the rest of your days with. But she wants to... Which in turn makes me a very happy and lucky man. Kel is my number one supporter in everything I do and is absolutely relentless in her passion for supporting me with everything I try. I really am so lucky to have her in my life.
• I saw some pretty cool places and met some amazing people. Travel is always something that's fun to do and it always reaffirms my belief that people are essentially good as individuals, it's large groups that seem to cause all the problems. Travelling is something that I hope to do a lot more of in 2015, not necessarily to other countries but just seeing new places.
• Training wise, 2014 was pretty good for me. I set out this year to increase my absolute strength to a semi respectable level and improve my over all explosiveness while still focusing on BJJ. It went well and while I didn't compete in BJJ as much as I originally wanted to (more on that in a bit) I still exceeded all the strength goals I set for myself. This alone has made an absolutely massive difference to not only how I perform but how I feel. I would strongly recommend anyone to spend a chunk of time making themselves as strong as possible (within your weight class etc if that is something that you need to focus on). In 2014 I used the programme Wendlers 5/3/1 for the entire year. I will be using it again all the way throughout 2015 as I feel that not only is it effective but is also extremely flexible.
• BJJ. I'm pretty happy with the progress I made through this year on the mat. I managed to get my blue belt and start to find my way a little bit. I think that it's really hard to gauge your performance in BJJ. Not simply because how much of a grind the sport is, but that everyone around you is also progressing. Therefore you always feel the same. In 2015 I hope to keep plugging away and putting time in on the mat. I don't really want to get to caught up in the desire to improve as i think it's to short sighted. I simply want to focus on having fun while training. As long as I'm training hard and smiling, I'm going to be very happy.

Ok, so what sucked?

• I sometimes really suck at being a good friend and family member (and future husband). When I get involved with a project I generally only see that and don't make time for anything else. While this is certainly sometimes needed, it's not something that I need to be like all the time. I can definitely spend more time with family and close friends. More importantly I can be present when I'm doing it. Sometimes I am 'that guy' who is always checking and responding to E Mail when at social gatherings. While being connected to clients and giving them a response is vital for my business, it doesn't need to be all the time.
• I failed to learn a forgiven language for about the fifth year in a row. I just need to book a course and do this as it's something that really interests me.
• Training wise I really slacked off on a couple of things. Those things being flexibility and mobility work (especially foam rolling). While I certainly did all of these things I didn't do them with any kind of regularity that would really be beneficial. Towards the end of the year I really improved on this eliminating all pain in my rotator cuff and stretching every session. This is something that I hope to continue!
• As previously mentioned I didn't compete anywhere near what I wanted to (about half in fact). While this does bother me as it is a goal that I failed to hit, it is not something that I will lose sleep over. As I have stated numerous times, competing isn't something that I particularly enjoy but it does help me improve immensely. I'm never going to be an all out competitor as it just doesn't motivate me. However I can certainly do better!

As you can see the things I list are not earth shattering by any means however it does help me a lot to put all of this down on paper (well, digital paper). Hopefully you can gleam something from it all as well. If not, don't feel guilty by clicking away :)

Onwards!

Business

What went well,

• This was my first full year being self employed full time and I have to say it as been awesome. I've met and connected with to many awesome people to mention and every single one of them has enriched my life for the better.
• Over all Unorthodox Nutrition has grown in every aspect. each month more and more people come to the site, read my ramblings and ask for my help. This is still mind blowing to me and I can't thank everyone enough for the support!
• Education and reading still continues to be a massive part of my business and it is something that I think is vital to achieving the results that me and my clients get. This will certainly continue this year!
• I was very touched to be asked to speak to students a number of times this year. Not only giving guest lectures and classes but also to be involved with great Youth projects and Q&A sessions. I love this and hope to do more!
• I am really privileged to continue to meet very smart, creative and passionate people that I regard as colleagues. Some of the people in this crazy industry are really amazing and I'm very lucky to be a part of their projects and pick their brains when needed. Thank you.
• The writing side of the business continues to grow with more articles being featured in more magazines and the launch of 2 ebooks (including the free Unorthodox Fat Loss). I hope to continue this and write another 2 books this year (even possibly co author a few). I also want to write more for me. This might be on here or just random stuff that never sees the light of day. I said that I was going to do this last year but never did :(
• No section on what went well would be complete without mentioning all my fantastic clients. Together we have achieved goals, travelled the world, won world championships and changed lives. Without you all my job would be nothing and you make it what it is. I can't wait to help you all in 2015. Thank you.

Now for what sucked,

• Admin. I hate doing it. I do a little bit (basically just enough to stop my office being a pile of papers and receipts), but I must do more and do it better in 2015 if I want the business to keep growing.
• I've had quite a few failed projects over the year that I thought would be massive but didn't do anything. I think this is simply due to me creating stuff that I want to do rather than stuff that there is a market for. It's against my nature to wait but research must come first moving forward.
• I've trusted people who I shouldn't have. These people have either not delivered what they said they would, backed out, been unprofessional or simply just stole my work. This is unfortunately an on going process. Thankfully I gained more great people than bad ones this year.
• Networking. While I love talking to people and travelling, networking just for networks sake I can't stand. However this industry (like any) is about who you know. I'm hoping to find a better way to do this in 2015.
• Writing. While I certainly wrote quite a bit in 2014 I didn't do it anywhere as near as much as I wanted. Writing isn't something that comes easy to me and while I enjoy it, quite a lot of the time it is a complete struggle. This year I want to write everyday, whether it is to be published or not. Hopefully this will get me a bit closer to my 10,000 hours.

That's it really. I do a more detailed analysis for myself that covers figures and goals for this year etc but I choose not to share that. I put them up in my office and look at them everyday. In my experience people seem to just hate on peoples goals when put on the internet (no idea why). I hope that you do something similar to this yourself whether it be in regards to your personal, professional or passionate life as I really think it helps.

As always comments and questions that are in a constructive manner are welcomed :)

Thanks for a great year!!

Stay Healthy,

Mike