One of my favorite podcasts to listen to is called No Laying Up (NLU), a golf-centric (sometimes more golf-adjacent) show recapping the goings on in the sport. NLU also produces video content on YouTube that is often more entertaining than week-to-week professional golf. The “Strapped” seasons are a favorite of mine as Neil and Randy set out to play local munis and public tracks on a shoestring budget with D.J. along for the journey to capture on video the golf and the banter of two friends.
An installment of the podcast I annually await is the goals episode (actually found on The Trap Draw feed, a separate feed published by NLU). During the goals episode, the guys Soly, TC, D.J, Neil, and Randy grade their goals from the prior year and put forward new targets for the upcoming twelve months. In addition, they collectively decide on a word for the New Year that encompasses the overall vibes towards which they’ll strive. For example, this year, the group boldly chose “The Year of Reaping.” After acknowledging the many years of metaphorically sowing and tending to the seeds they’ve planted, the guys want to reap this year. It’s time for them to harvest some of the great bounty that’s been growing. This brings me to why I’m writing this post — I want to coin my own “Year of….” that describes my goals and direction for 2024.
I started workshopping a few ideas. An obvious choice might be the Year of Fatherhood, or the Year of Parenting. Even though this is a huge part of my life as a new dad, it doesn’t feel quite right. I thought about the Year of Opportunity or the Year of Building. But in the end, I decided that 2024 will be the Year of Action for me. I’ve written in the past about my tendency to overthink and overanalyze to the point of idleness. This year, in 2024, I want to be intentional about choosing action including shipping my written work (even if it’s not perfect) and defaulting to movement over intellectual scrutiny. At the end of the year, I’ll come back with a recap of my actions and set a new objective.
Thank you to the entire No Laying Up team for all of the great content you create and the inspiration for this post.
So long for now.
Felix