It’s always amazing to look back on your life and see what you have done in the past 12 months. That is probably what I love most about the new year. It’s not the aspirations to make my life better, but taking the time to think about what my family and I have done, and how we can keep making our lives and those lives around us better.
2011 brought a lot of greatness to my life. Great friends, great memories and great opportunities as well. None of this is designed to be bragging, if you know me you know that is not my strong suit. And you will also know that one of my weaknesses is a terrible memory. This post is mostly for me. I want to remember all of the things I have done. So with that, let me remind my self today of 2011…
Fitness
Staying in shape, finding new friends…
Ran the Fangtastic 5k with Matt, Rachel, Matt & Nick
Cycled Over 1,000 Miles & Raced a 100 Mile Race
Battled (and Beat) the Warrior Dash with Amy and Nick
Ran the Cinco in the Gulch 5k
Friends & Family
The ones I love, and the things we did…
Sold our Country House, Bought a City House
10 Years Strong of Being Married to My Best Friend
Watched My Sister Get Married in Salt Lake City
Celebrated the Life of Eli Witt (RIP 2011)
Celebrated the Life of Tim McGovern (RIP 2007)
Visited Mexico, 1 Week, No Technology
Visited Florida with Matt, Rachel & Nick
Built Furniture for Rail Yard Studios
Entrepreneurship
Managing Director of the JSF, Launching 6 Companies
Raised the First Round of Funding for Checkd.in!
Built Amy and Nicks First Startup – EverydayBetter.com
Invested in 6 Kickstarter Startup Companies
Attended TechStars Demo Day in NYC
Learned Tons About My Grandma Southworth
Funding and Growth (Doubled in Size!) for Change Healthcare
Season Tickets to the Preds with the CH Nerds
What’s in the Future?
I can only hope I continue to be blessed with great friends, a loving family and good fortune. I know not every moment can be glorious, as I found out in the past year. We remembered Tim on the four year anniversary of his death, donated oars and planted a tree for Eli Witt after his death from battling Lymphoma, and then finding out that my grandma has pancreatic cancer just to name a few moments.
But find the good in the bad. I realize over and again how important friends are. How important family is. And how important it is to try to live every day to the fullest. I’ve learned how to listen, how to help and how to care. I have also tried to teach more and more as I met with 100’s of startup entrepreneurs and mentors in Nashville and across the country helping them work on their companies.
My number one lesson in 2011?
Live life, appreciate your friends and family
& love what you do.