Happy New Year everyone! 2023 was a pretty good year for me (much better than 2022). Here are some of my highlights (by the numbers):
9: The number of times I provided special gifts to people for “Make a Friend Smile Day”. That’s the special occasion I created 20 years ago as the perfect excuse to offer guilt-free giving to people going through significant financial difficulties and hardships but are just too proud to ask or accept this help. The only catch is the friend must smile when using the gift because, well, there’d be no reason to have a “Make a Friend Smile Day” if the friend didn’t smile. I bought someone a computer, bought someone a smart phone, paid someone’s rent, and gave out several Publix gift cards and prepaid credit cards this year to people!
$68k: the amount I added to my “Beneficiaries Reserve Fund” due to my investment gains and budget projections based on these. This is the fund I use to help others. Most people who know me understand that whenever I have a good year in the stock market, I always set aside some of the proceeds to share with others to contribute as my gift to them – it’s a promise I make every year to God, higher power, the universe, or whatever it is you believe in (I happen to believe in all the above). You can read more about that here: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/a-guilt-free-way-to…/
21: The number of poems I wrote and published throughout the year. The ones people seemed to resonate most with were: To Ignite a Life (A Determined Drive): https://www.facebook.com/joe.brennan.1806/posts/pfbid0QNUBeFVm9Jw6Gtp943UsnXD4AzEjHCtnwXSTtTgM4Nq6D1gZZPZ6CGbtAaNeT8nhl , The Wingman: https://www.facebook.com/joe.brennan.1806/posts/pfbid0dsPxyBC4dGeCbouj1Q5HXigmr6saJHMHS3K4HigYauRzdnt4Uj5eHecfzuc4trfBl , and Regret Sings Relentlessly (The Haunting Tunes of Truth): https://www.facebook.com/joe.brennan.1806/posts/pfbid08ynYbeHxehSAGsNdqtdRfoSDKik4Q3cSsnmgZFYMUiXd4TWVbU48hy9AJrTNdMHxl
4300: The number of photos I took on travel this year. My biggest trip was my summer road trip (1400 miles, 3 weeks which, 13 places). My favorite places during this year’s travel were Dunedin FL, Tarpon Springs FL, and Sebring FL.
391: The percentage gain of my best performing stock this year: Coinbase (COIN).
279: The total number of places I have explored and spent quality time in to date (including the above road trip).
57: The percentage I gained in the stock market this year which more than made up the 24% loss I experienced last year (2022 was my first down year in 11 years). Over the past 12 years my average annual gain is 35%. So, that’s not too bad. This is about a 5 year gain on average for every year over the past 12 years. I improved my investment strategies this year as I try to do every year. https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/how-to-lose-your…/ and https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/a-break-in-the…/ are two notable examples. You can learn about all of my investing techniques via my “Invest Like a Pro in 10 Minutes a Day!” series of 4 books where you can learn the “end to end” process to investing. So, use any downtime you might have to your advantage by gaining this knowledge and learning these skills and techniques (https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and…/). Also, you can read all about my stock market activities here: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/stock-market-activities
34: the number of people I helped live happier lives throughout this year.
59: The number of times I posted about my stock market activities and strategies to offer others a chance to capitalize on these. You can read about most of them here: https://www.brighterdayslifecoaching.com/stock-market…/
93: The number of posts I wrote and published, throughout the year, focused on helping people live happier, offering hope and inspiration, keeping people informed, and making people more successful in life.
12: The number of books I read and shared my notes on throughout the year. These were primarily in the areas of self-help and self-improvement. Each of these were towards the top of the “100 Best Self-Help Books of All Time” list I’ve been reading from (So, over the years I’ve currently read the top 89 books on this list of 100 so 11 more to go!).
212: The number of days I spent on Duo Lingo learning and practicing Spanish and Portuguese throughout the year. I’ve been learning various languages on Duo Lingo for 10 years now including Spanish, Portuguese, and a tiny bit of Italian.
11 – the number of hours I spent on fitness activities in a typical week between weight training, running, stretching, and yoga.
So, 2023 was a pretty good year overall. Going forward I plan to focus on creating an electronic version of my first book of poetry (“A Farewell to Reason”) which has been out of print for several years now and some of the poetry I’ve written since then.
I’m looking forward to seeing what 2024 brings! Happy New Year Everyone! May 2024 be the best year of our lives EVER!