How I Changed My Life In A Year

Everything—about a company or a life—can change in a very short window of time. In one year, we:

• Nearly 10X’d our sales at Bolt
• Launched Conscious Culture
• Wrote the Fundraising Book
• Started my dream dance nonprofit The Movement
• Wrote the Recruiting Book

There are no accidents. These were intentional approaches to changing my life—and here’s how I did it:

1/ Morning Yoga

Yoga is 5,000 years old, meaning that this sacred practice has stood the test of time.

This year, I figured out why: It’s because unlocking and unblocking your body through yogic stretches does the same to your mind.

If you can do 20 to 30 minutes of yoga every morning, the rest of the day feels like you’re playing with house money. You feel like you’ve unlocked and unblocked your mind—with very little up front investment.

2/ Nightly Reading

I used to read to look cool. I stopped that entirely in 2021, and I started reading things that would make me a better person. I read widely in self-care, mindfulness, health, and spirituality.

Instead of reading cover-to-cover, I focused on the concepts that stood out. And I was able to take and apply those gems to improve my life. If you can read even a few pages every night, that habit will compound to your benefit—fast.

3/ Karmic Cleansing

In 2021, I apologized to those I hurt. I forgave those who hurt me. I showed gratitude to those who helped me.

Anything weighing down the mind has a cost—whether that’s wounds you haven’t healed or apologies you haven’t delivered. Free yourself from those psychic chains by doing the necessary cleaning up you need to do.

4/ Nontoxic Food

You are what you eat. In 2021, I learned this lesson deeply—and cleaned up my act.

Most foods in America are processed and stuffed with countless chemicals, so instead of consuming those chemicals with every meal, I sourced my food from local farms. I strived to only eat ingredients I could spell.

The change—to my mood, my energy, my outlook—has been profound. I recommend cleaning out the toxicity from your food as a way of cleaning out the toxicity from your life.

5/ Nontoxic Water

Do you use plastic water bottles? Then I suspect that when you drink water from those bottles, you can taste the subtle residue of plastic.

That taste has no place in your body. Whenever possible, drink spring water not transported in plastic. If you can, choose glass bottles, or drink highly filtered water. You will notice an immediate change in your body and energy, simply by shifting something you’ve probably taken for granted.

6/ Daily Dancing

This might be my best kept productivity secret: I dance every day. Dancing is primal, fun, and energizing. It brings out parts of our creative lives, and it keeps us both grounded and joyful. No one has to be around. Just dance and see what it does for you, in the privacy and comfort of your home.

7/ Listening to Myself

This is a broader lesson, but it begins with an admission: I used to listen to way too many people. And by taking so many inputs and so many fragments of advice, I killed a part of who I was.

In 2021, I committed to never feeling this way again. I still sought out advice, but I would only follow my gut for the final call. Following that intuition has made an enormous difference, and I recommend it without reservation.

8/ Following the Energy

As a part of rethinking the people around me, I found new mentors who energized me—and did that by paying attention to energy. How did this person make me feel? How did my body react around them?

If someone has your best interests at heart, you’ll know—not because the rational part of your brain tells you so, but because your body can feel it. That applies to teammates, partners, and everyone else.

Do not chase shiny objects and glittering resumes. Chase energy instead—and you’ll find that it brings people into your life who dramatically improve it.

9/ Moving into Nature

A big shift in 2021 for me: I got out of my apartment, and I moved to a home surrounded by nature. More than that, I spent every possible second outdoors.

Bolters can typically find me on zoom with my backyard as the backdrop. I find that fresh air is king, and that being outside has improved my work, my thinking, my health, and my stress levels. There is nothing wrong with your day that can’t be slightly improved by just a bit more time outside.

10/ Ending Alcohol & Caffeine

These are almost obvious, but deserve to be underlined: Cut out alcohol and caffeine.

Alcohol is poison. Caffeine doesn’t sound like poison—and isn’t considered so by society—but it is. Caffeine is tricking you to think you need it. But it really just helps you get back to baseline. The more you consume, the more you need, until you’re on a vicious cycle in which only coffee gets you through the day.

Phase these out, and you’ll find yourself resetting your body to its natural state. Think of it as a “reset mode” for your body.

11/ Firing Friends

This one sounds brutal, but it’s necessary: Anyone who’s not adding to your personal journey is not worth the time.

We often accumulate friendships unthinkingly. Maybe we went to school with someone, and they stuck around in our lives. Maybe we worked together with someone, and they became a fixture. But maybe those same people aren’t providing fulfilling, nourishing, growth-producing moments in our lives anymore.

You can end unfulfilling relationships with kindness‚ but you must end them. Life is too short for unfulfilling friendships.

12/ Learning thru Teaching

I found that in 2021, I was learning by way of teaching.Conscious.org teaches companies how to build with humanity. The Fundraising Book teaches founders how to raise. The Movement teaches people how to dance.

By embracing the teaching part of each of these ventures, I also had to learn: How to build a non-profit, how to write a book, how to dance. In each case, the teaching and the learning blended together in a wonderful mix, but it left me with a powerful conclusion: There’s no better way to learn than to teach.

And that’s it! I hope you embrace some or all of these, and that they make your 2022 a glittering success. I look forward to sharing this year ahead with you—and to sharing more in 2023 about what made this year the best one yet.