27 Years Old! This was my third year of making these lists, let’s get to the results!
I Only Completed Three of My Goals
Proposed to Alexis
Four years ago, I didn’t think I would ever talk to Alexis again. She was dating another guy and wanted nothing to do with me. A combination of a chance encounter and dogged persistence on my part led to this moment.
100,000 Views Lethal Engineering
I only created one video this year, but my rocket launcher video really took off! My channel accumulated 415,000 views, a significant increase from the 34,000 views last year. All those views netted me $200 in revenue.
Read 30 Books
I read (or listened to) 32 books this year. My favorites included Sam Walton: Made In America, Thinking Fast and Slow, The Entrepreneur Mind, Rich Dad Poor Dad, and the Elon Musk biography.
Partial Completion
Exercise Goals
Run: 589.57 / 2000 Miles (Last year: 654.60 miles)
Bike: 1935.53 / 10,000 Miles (Last year:: 2042.82)
Swim: 69,311 / 1,000,000 Yards (Last Year: 154,868 yards)
A Year Without Fast Food
My fast food habit was bad. I would eat Taco Bell, Burger King, and McDonald’s 10 to 12 times per week. I went almost the entire year boycotting any restaurant with a drive thru and then gave in with one month to go. I came to the realization that I was finding other unhealthy foods to eat. The first time I went back to Taco Bell, the lady working the drive-thru said, “I was wondering where you’d gone. Thought you might have moved”.
A Year Without Sugar
The first two weeks were awful. I was surprised at how addicted my body was to sugar. I never completely eliminated sugar, but for the first 6 months I’d say I removed 95% of it from my diet.No soda, no candy, no ketchup. Sugar is added to almost all processed foods making it difficult to completely eliminate. My willpower held strong even with visits to the Jelly Belly and Ghirardelli factories (100% Cacao Chocolate is disgusting, FYI) . My downfall came when I had a stressful time with work in December and gave up, consuming a soda. I can see why people stress eat.
And Then We Had The Big Month
Alexis Graduated Medical School
What an accomplishment! I thought getting a bachelor’s degree was tough, but it pales in comparison to the effort required to become an M.D.
We Got Married
What a fantastic day! I told Alexis “You know, this turned out even better than I thought it would”, to which she responded, “Well, that’s because you didn’t plan any of it”. Fair enough
We Completed An Ironman…On Our Honeymoon
Alexis says our next vacation will be of the all-inclusive, do nothing but lay on the beach variety.
We Moved To Milwaukee and Bought A House
Buying a house was on my 25 Before 25 list. We visited Milwaukee after Alexis matched for residency and looked at 17 houses in one day, putting in an offer on the same day, and having the home inspection the following day. Big thanks to Mike Wrobel and Mark Bowder for helping us move!
We Got A Puppy
I told Alexis if she matched in a city where we could buy a house, and if she came up with the money herself, then she could get a puppy. It’s amazing how much cash someone can make selling stuff on Craigslist when they are motivated. Little Zucc (short for Zucchini) is a Vizsla and we picked him up in Iowa on our way to Milwaukee.
You Only Completed Three Goals. Why Do You Keep Doing This?
It would be easy to call this year a failure. 3 for 27 is a pitiful 11% success rate. The goals I set are ambitious and I fail a majority of the time. I started making these lists because I was unhappy with the track my life was on, and three years later I’m pretty psyched where I’ve ended up. Next year, I’m going to change up how I do my goals. Instead of 28 somewhat difficult goals, I’d like to have four or five major goals with specific sub-goals for each of them.That will mean giving up on some of the crowd favorite goals (see below). 28 Before 28 List next week!
Lethal Tri 
So what’s the van about, john?