2021: A Past Year Review
I did a horrible job at my Month of Gratitude posts in November, so let’s review the past year instead!
I’ve never been a fan of “New Year’s Resolutions” because:
I can never stick with them long enough to build a habit,
I found myself picking the same things resolute over and over again, and
I want to strive to be a better person every day and that shouldn’t be predicated on the start of a new year.
Recently, I listened to an episode of The Tim Ferriss Show where Tim discussed doing a past year review rather than writing down a list of New Year’s Resolutions. You would think my Type-A personality would allow for me to be meticulous in my notetaking of everything that happened throughout the year. Usually, my notetaking appears in the form of tweets or my #DadLunchNotes entries. I need to be better about taking notes that I don’t outwardly share throughout the year.
I have said this so often that I may sound like a broken record, but 2021 was kinder to me than I expected, or I deserved.
If you are familiar with my story, then you know that I began writing daily notes to my daughter Addison when she started fourth grade in August 2017. That first year of notes was put together into a book published in September 2018 titled, Lucky Enough: A Year of a Dad's Daily Notes of Encouragement and Life Lessons to His Daughter. By summer of 2019, there had been a few local stories about me and Addison, including a Father’s Day, spread in the New Orleans Advocate and an appearance on the Kidd Kraddick Morning Show. I thought this was the pinnacle of my book’s success. I would sell a few hundred books and go back to obscurity as a boring dad who wrote notes to his daughter.
As the calendar flipped to 2020, a few more stories came out on our #DadLunchNotes journey, including Twitter’s Goodable account. Around this time in late 2020, I almost didn’t re-sign my publishing contract with my book distributor which would have effectively ended the printing of my book in 2021.
But, an email the week of Thanksgiving 2020 changed everything. An email from a producer with TODAY wanted to do a story about us with NBC’s Craig Melvin. Craig’s “Dad’s Got This” story in January 2021 was the first of 21 national and international stories about me and Addison and how the last five years have changed our lives for the better.
Review Our 2021 Media Stories
I am so incredibly grateful for this year. While the pandemic continued to rage on, the words I wrote my daughter brought smiles to the faces of people I’ve never met. Three different times in 2021 I briefly became a bestselling author on Amazon. First, in two categories in January 2021 after the TODAY interview (Fatherhood, Parenting) and peaked at No. 444 on Amazon’s top books list. Then, in the same two categories again between June and August. The crazy thing is when I became a foreign language bestseller…in JAPAN…in October. My book was No. 1 in family relationships, No. 4 in parenting, and No. 7 in motivational self-help.
Say what?
In the end, not only did Addison and I make it on national TV with appearances on TODAY and The Kelly Clarkson Show as well as a story on GMA.com, but we also found our way to Southern Living, PEOPLE, Upworthy, Now This, and our story reached Sweden, France, Spain, Japan, Canada, Hungary, and Korea. We became so popular in Korea that I signed a book deal to reprint my book in Korean.
If you would have told me all of this would happen in 2021, I would have said you were crazy.
2021 did have a few down moments, including not reaching my goal of walking 500 miles. Instead, a foot injury in early March derailed my plans and made me festively plump in time for the holidays. Now that my foot injury has healed, I am easing my way into a healthy 2022 in time for my 40th birthday in June.
*****
To top this all off (yes, there’s more), I changed jobs in the middle of a pandemic. In late 2016, I was unemployed after being unceremoniously let go from my job as Assistant Athletic Director for Communications at Georgia Tech. After a move from Georgia back to Louisiana, I was unemployed for six months, save a six-week stint as a seasonal worker at Target. In January 2017, I finally found a job - while it paid 50% less than my previous job and I was grossly overqualified for it… it was a job that allowed me to provide for my family.
After finishing my Ph.D. and having maxed out my future at this job, a chance phone call from a friend put me in contact with a state agency with a job vacancy. This one fit my skill set much better and after four years of personal growth, I did the crazy thing and switched jobs during a pandemic. I have never been happier in a job than this one. I feel like I finally found a place where I belong.
*****
So, what’s going to happen in 2022?
While I no longer do New Year’s Resolutions, I do have three goals for 2022:
Earn my APR (Accreditation in Public Relations). I failed my exam in September after Hurricane Ida. I probably should have postponed it for more time.
Successfully pitch a second #DadLunchNotes book. The first one was a lifelong dream, but after the past 20 months of a pandemic, I think the notes I’ve written and the lessons I’ve learned as a dad would make for a great book. Of course, since it’s not about politics or reality TV stars, I will have an uphill battle for sure.
Buy a house. This one will probably happen before #1 or #2. I’ve been commuting 150 miles roundtrip 2-3 times per week since March. It takes a toll on me, but we didn’t want to uproot our kids again until we had a new home.
Aside from these three goals, I will continue writing notes to Addison and Jackson. When they return to school in January, I will have surpassed 800 notes to Addison and 100 to Jackson.
I hope these words bring peace and happiness (or a good laugh) to those who read them. 2021 was fun and I don’t expect to receive any more attention in 2022 (except in Korea). This past year didn’t change me. It made me more aware that maybe I do have the ability to impact the lives of others when I didn’t think I could.
May you be happy and healthy and that 2022 brings you hope for better days ahead.