Greetings, Reader!

I hope all is well!!

I wanted to write this email as I have been negligent in keeping you updated due to various excuses. Yes, perhaps that is somewhat valid -Being busy with work and personal activities had made posting fall to the bottom of the list. Regardless, I am happy to be sending out an email as I travel to Georgia (the country in Europe!). How has your year been going? I know most of you are not the typical person, but have you been able to complete any of your New Year's resolutions?!? Personally, I think New Year's resolutions could be done anytime as goals can be set any time of the year, but the new year's gives a good excuse to start again and prompts most people to try again as the new year is a restart.

Starting the Year Strong!

I've spent my New Year in Mexico as a great way to open the year as we focused on building a better/stronger self. The self-development was hard and intense, but coming out of it, we felt refreshed and new, which was beautiful 😍. The deep inner work we did at this retreat was life-changing. I viewed last year as my year of renewal. After my injury in September 2020, as mentioned, I have nothing but the opportunity to grow and become a better person. I am taking this as an opportunity to grow! Instead of being down on myself, I KNOW this is a chance to change who I am!

Last Year

I have changed myself last year that and laid the foundation for building myself better. Since last year was the year of renewal, this year I have given the word of growth. This year I will be working on improving how I approach the world. I have begun, in earnest by committing every day to take a retrospective of the day by stopping and taking a few breaths. I can better understand how I am doing in whatever I'm engaged in. Be this work or personal endeavors, I am taking a year to grow and understand where I need to grow.

Last year, I began the year by focusing on finding cool happenstances - God winks, so to speak. After that, I tried to have conversations that would allow me to get deeper with others. I sort of failed at this because I didn't realize that everyone would be different and regressed in the 3rd quarter to focus on how to interact with specific people to get deeper as everyone is different. I found this to be amazing as I was able to pinpoint who I wanted to associate with more and how I could perhaps do less. This was followed by seeing where my heart led me and finding things that made me happy or lit me up. This was important due to my heavy travel schedule at the end of last year.

Going FWD

All this being said, I discovered a lot of amazing things and, importantly, who to associate with that would light me up. This dovetails perfectly into my focus this year on growth. I love where I have begun and will continue to take retrospectives every day that allow me to grow next quarter!

Last year was an amazing year for all the reasons listed above, but I also had the beautiful opportunity to do some cool travels. This included Florida, Paris, New Orleans, and Mexico! Of course, this included some great local trips, which were highlighted by visiting Grayson Highlands with my brother and seeing some ponies! Additionally, we were able to visit my brother's new digs in Columbus, Ohio, and my cousins in Indiana. I am incredibly grateful for all the travel I got tyear,last yyear and I know that most people do not get to do this!

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Please see the included pictures and shoot me a reply to let me know where you've been. Where are you at with your goals this year? Do you want to grow or be different like I did last year? Remember, we can all change, and never forget that you can too! As humans, we spend too much time thinking about where we went wrong. We need to focus on how we can get better so that we are better humans!

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How is it going?

I would love to see how you're doing. I know Tri for Travel has kind of taken a back seat lately, but I still love interacting with you and this fitness/nutrition work is my passion. Know, like I've said in the past, that making simple changes is the way to go. Too often we focus on trying to do too much instead of doing something that we are at least 8/10 confident we can do. Simple example - you want to eat more vegetables, so you say you will eat them every day. Instead, ask yourself how much vegetables you are eating. If none at all, start with adding them into one meal a week. Make it super easy!

I'll get off my soap box and wish you the happiest year ahead. As always, if you ever need anything, contact me in any way you see fit! I would also love a reply with your BHAG & your word of the year!

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Yours in travel and nutrition,

Joe