2023 was a year of deep internal growth and learning.
From the latter half of 2020 through 2022, I told myself I would be adamant about adhering to a very strict morning routine. Waking up in the morning, doing a meditation, writing down the previous days’ gratitudes and goals for the day to come. After ebbs and flows of doing this routine throughout the week, only on weekdays, only on important days, and not at all, I found myself falling into a rhythm of checking the boxes. The goals I would write down were wide ranging - from business-specific day time goals to fasting - but more and more I found myself writing down accomplishable goals, but ones that weren’t contributing to a true overall mission. The gratitudes were something, but not necessarily things that truly moved the needle (could argue pressing for too many in a day would lead to this). I would go through this routine when it was easy, I would occasionally challenge myself with a more difficult daily goal or digging deep for a gratitude with a deeper meaning, but much of the time, I would complete this “routine” simply to get it done, not truly with an intentional effort.
During this same period, I had a series of highly repetitive jobs, doing the same things day in and day out, over and over, with little satisfaction to show for it.
After nearly three years of this monotonous repetition, I decided to free-ball it in 2023. I wanted to give the “obligation” of the routine a rest to reset and rebuild the value I had initially assigned to the routine. As I saw it, over the course of the previous couple years, the more I felt forced to get these minor obligations done, the less inclined I would feel to truly give it the thought and attention they deserved. So, last year I gave myself a little more lenience and see how that might change the way I go about certain things.
Throughout the early part of the year, I would intermittently write down my goals and gratitudes, when I truly felt an inclination and intention to do so. Internally, little by little, I went from viewing the goals and gratitudes as “obligations” to seeing them as privileges. I began to focus more on items that would contribute to those around me and my own growth as an individual. Cliché? Yes, but making a difference? Definitely.
This trend coincided with another significant change. As I reached my second year at CBRE, I begun to realize I was falling into corporate oblivion; my own freewill clouded by expectations of what I needed to do to get to climb the ladder. But more and more, I found myself chomping at the bit, hungry to accomplish things that were not under my purview or within the realm of my job’s responsibilities. I constantly felt as though I was being forced to accomplish minor, non-issue tasks that weren’t contributing to any greater mission – not my company’s or my own. If my values are community, sustainability, and adaptability, why would I be working towards none of those?
I had fallen into a routine of being comfortable with the expectations laid out for me, accepting of the structures implemented around me… I had succumbed to the mold.
After reframing my daily gratitudes and goals to my own mission, I began to regain sight of the bigger picture. As I began to dig up the buried parts of myself, I realized I needed a true change and by April, I was ready to break free. Having been working on a project in the background for the six months prior, it was time to transition to make that project a priority.
After leaving CBRE in May, I leaned all in on Nomadiq. I decided I needed to truly understand the industry in which I would be operating, so I dedicated three months to living the life, getting my hands dirty and feet wet, staying at a variety of properties by different operators around the globe. Although I’d be working side consulting jobs, I would be forgoing most of my income to uncover the innerworkings of the digital nomad hospitality industry to best position my company.
The three months on the road gave me great insight on the business side of things, but not mentioned in my blog posts was the introspection traveling by yourself provides. Those three months helped me regain consciousness after being lulled to sleep by corporate America for years. I began to come-to and continued to uncover more parts of myself lost.
I LOVE bringing people together. I LOVE learning. I LOVE the natural world around us. And most of all, I LOVE giving back. I can’t imagine a world where we don’t have access to nature. I can’t imagine a world where we become so polarized, we forget the reality of how lucky we are to inhabit this planet we call home. I can’t imagine a world where people aren’t able to see and experience different cultures, different ideologies, different perspectives. I can’t imagine a world where people become so detached from reality, they find more enjoyment in the virtual.
I came back to America energized, ready to give back, ready to connect, ready to contribute, ready to build.
If you’d known me before college, you would know what a happy-go-lucky human I was. Yes, times got tough, but seemingly my cheeriness would still overflow. Walking around with my bubbliness, I would find it hard to keep in a smile. Walking on the street, down the hall, in the supermarket, I’d find you, lock eyes, and smile. Somehow, no matter what, I was able to maintain that same incredible optimism.
In the latter half of 2023, as I refocused on who I am and my mission, I finally reunited with that joyous version of myself.
As we turn the page from 2023 to 2024, I could not be more content. As I fundraise for Nomadiq and move to New York, I know there are tough times ahead, but more than ever, I know that my heart, mind, and mission are all in the right place, eager to make the world better and help those around me. My morning “routine” is no longer that... it’s become a ritual, one I cherish to daily, no longer seeing it as an obligation, but a treat (only one gratitude a day – keeps the meaning behind it).
Some of my goals for this upcoming year:
Open up three Nomadiq Locations by June
This is a work in progress that is inevitable, but I want these up and running ASAP. From fostering the community to enabling the lifestyle, I could not be more excited for these to get up and running,
Foster two new, deeply meaningful relationships this year
Whether romantic or platonic, I’ve made several connections over the past few years of people I greatly appreciate and will continue to build relationships with, however, this year, I want to dive deeper. Moving to a new city, I’m ready to develop an inner circle of friends.
Organize a Junto Retreat this year
I love you guys. Connecting and chatting over Zoom is awesome, but as we’ve all matured (both personally and in our careers), more than ever I appreciate seeing you in person. I’ve seen each of you one on one throughout the past year, but when we powwow in person as a group, everything changes. There’s a different electricity that flows. There’s more opportunity than what lies on paper. I can’t wait to have our next retreat.
Cook for More People – host dinners at least once a month
If you know-know me, you know I love to cook (cough cough, Chef Stryke). But over the past year, as I’ve been busy with job transition and travel, I haven’t been the best host. So, in 2024, I strive to host dinners, large or intimate, at least once a month. I already love connecting people, so why not serve some food while we’re at it.
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