An honest reflection on my 29th year of life
A year of Twos, trips, and self-care
Every year, I set goals. I used to write them on notecards, then Apple Notes, and now I write them in Twos.
Since I started doing this 9 years ago, I’ve worked at a startup in San Francisco, read hundreds of books, got a job at Google, launched products on Product Hunt, and started my own company. These all started as goals.
I don’t always reach them within a year, it may take two or three, many I’m still working on, but setting goals helps me take action in the right direction.
Reflecting on year 29
29 was great. It wasn’t perfect, I wasn’t perfect, but I accomplished a lot, learned a lot, and I am extremely grateful to wake up and do what I love every day.
I spent the majority of the year focused on building Twos. I went on a few trips with friends and family, and tried to prioritize my health with meditation, exercise, healthy eating habits, and getting enough rest so that I could be consistent and productive working on Twos.
I don’t do as many social and entertaining activities as a “normal” person, but that’s not where I find fulfillment and that is okay. I do enough for me.
Goals I accomplished
Meditate every day
This was the first year I meditated every day. We’re all busy these days, always in a rush, and our minds are always running. It’s hard to take a break. I really enjoy taking time to be present and meditate.
Read 25 books (28/25)
I read 28 books (finished my last on my birthday). I’m going for 50 this year :). My favorite books from the year were Letters from a Stoic by Seneca, The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone, Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz, Willpower by Roy Baumeister, Titles Ruin Everything by Aubrey Graham, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Comer, Masters of Doom by David Kushner, and Zen to Done by Leo Babauta.
5 trips with friends and family (7/5)
I went on 7 trips with friends and family. San Diego for Thanksgiving, Scottsdale for Christmas, Denver from Grandma’s 90th, Vancouver with my brother, Beaver Creek in the summer with my parents, San Francisco with Joe, and San Diego with Joe. It was a bit more than I’d like, but they were full of amazing experiences.
Make our first hire
We made our first hire, a designer, but they didn’t work out. You live and you learn.
Lots of Twos improvements
We made a lot of improvements to Twos. We added Twos World search, publishing *things* to Twos World, launched the desktop app for Mac, Windows, and Linux, improved Android and added payments, added Siri, widgets on iOS, additional import functionality, and we launched on Product Hunt and got #1 Product of the Day.
Things I failed at
20k followers on Medium
I didn’t hit my 20k followers goal on Medium. I started around 5k and I’m now around 7.7k. Based on comments and feedback from readings, I’m learning how to add more value and gain more followers.
Guest blog on a national media site
I didn’t guest blog on a national media site. I think if I focus on adding value to the world and working on my writing, that opportunity will present itself.
Prioritize my mind, body, spirit, and soul
I didn’t prioritize my mind, body, spirit, and soul like I should have. Mainly it has to do with smoking and unhealthy eating habits. These leave me regretting my decisions. I feel worse, I don’t sleep as well, and the loop continues. If I can quit smoking, I will eat better, I will sleep better, I will love myself, and I will make better decisions.
Inspire people to be their best
I didn’t inspire people to be their best like I know I can. It starts with me. This year, I am committed to being more disciplined, so I can perform at my best and inspire others to do the same.
50k DAUs
We didn’t hit 50k DAU for Twos. We’ve been around 2k some weeks, mostly we’re around 1.5k. I think it all comes down to discipline, consistency, confidence, and belief.
Get national publicity
We didn’t get any national publicity. We haven’t gotten our messaging and product down yet and did not focus on getting it out there and build relationships like we should have.
Raise our seed round
We didn’t raise our seed round. We raised our pre-seed round right before my birthday last year and we knew we had longer than a year runway so it wasn’t something we needed to do.
Go viral
We somewhat went viral in March, but that was Joe. I didn’t do it so I didn’t count it.
Grow Twos Baller and Twos Joe social followings
We didn’t really grow our following too much. Joe has about 1k on Instagram, I have 7k on Medium, but we didn’t post enough to justify a big following.
Any regrets?
My biggest regret was not going to my friend Luke’s wedding in New York in September. It was a busy time, I had a few other trips around it, but I wish I had made it work.
Other regrets are the same, just not eating well enough, being sober enough, and taking good enough care of myself.
I also don’t think I pushed myself hard enough. I don’t exercise very really hard. I let my fears stop me from putting out content or taking specific actions. This is something I will improve at.
Changes for the next one
The biggest changes will be in my diet and lifestyle. I will spend more time pushing beyond my comfort zone and focus on spreading the word about Twos. I will spend less time smoking and more time reading and taking care of myself.
I want to be more open, authentic, and real. Show people what it is like building a company and forming real relationships with the people I am close to. Learning more and more about myself and the world every year and I love it.
Here are my goals for this next year:
What are your goals for the year? Make a list in Twos and share it in the comments :)
Write, remember & share w/ Twos: https://www.TwosApp.com?code=baller
Personal website: https://www.parkerklein.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twosballer/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TwosBaller
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parkeraklein
Medium: https://parkerklein.medium.com/
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