My 2017 Annual Review

The year of turning 38.

Cover photo: @jerrysilfwer

Time for my 2017 annu­al review.

In this blog art­icle, I’ll do my best to answer these three ques­tions:1This format is inspired by James Clear’s annu­al reviews.

What went well this year?
What didn’t go so well this year?
What am I work­ing toward?

Here we go:

1. What Went Well This Year?

Photography. Since my wifey’s into pho­to­graphy, I’ve also explored this interest. It’s a great way to spend time out­doors. It’s a cre­at­ive pur­suit involving tech­no­logy, soft­ware, and social media. I’ve stud­ied the sub­ject quite extens­ively, and the more I learn, the bet­ter I get (which isn’t always the case). I’m not a “great pho­to­graph­er” by any stretch, but I’m get­ting to the point where I at least start to know what the heck I’m doing. I at least feel like I’ve got­ten past mount stupid!

Jack. I’ve spent much qual­ity time with my son due to my wifey’s odd work hours. It feels like it’s been pre­cious for both of us.

Career change. I felt like my pro­fes­sion­al learn­ing curve stalled, so I had to take action and do some­thing dif­fer­ent for a while. So, I aban­doned my oth­er­wise cher­ished life as a freel­an­cer to pur­sue anoth­er entre­pren­eur­i­al chal­lenge togeth­er with oth­ers. I learned tons of video pro­duc­tion and pro­gram­mat­ic advert­ising in the pro­cesses, two oth­er­wise weak spots in my pro­fes­sion­al toolbox.

Supporting my wife’s career. Wifey is a tele­vi­sion host for a daily live format on Swedish crime. She’s remark­able, I think, and I’m proud to have pri­or­it­ised her career over mine this year. And it hasn’t been a sac­ri­fice; it has instead been grat­i­fy­ing to sup­port her in her pro­fes­sion­al development.

2. What Didn’t Go So Well This Year?

Midlife crisis. Throughout the year, I couldn’t fig­ure out my place in life. Maybe I’ve exper­i­enced an early onset mid-life crisis? I had dif­fi­culties updat­ing my social media chan­nels simply because I had trouble believ­ing why any­one would care about my life and what I had to say. And I star­ted second-guess­ing my motiv­a­tions for hav­ing a “per­son­al brand”—who am I try­ing to impress and why?

Entrepreneurial stress. Building a brand is tre­mend­ous fun, but most of the admin­is­trat­ive work that goes with it is mind-numb­ing. And start­ing a brand new agency (with a new dir­ec­tion) with four seni­or con­sult­ants requires a lot of new busi­ness from day one to cov­er all expenses. It takes a lot of energy, for sure.

3. What Am I Working Toward?

Getting back into health. Sadly, I came out of 2017 in worse shape (men­tally and phys­ic­ally) than I entered it. My num­ber one pri­or­ity in 2018 will be to take bet­ter care of myself. I want to live a long and healthy life with my wife and son, so I’m tak­ing steps to get my pri­or­it­ies straight.

Figure things out. My inner drive is a large part of who I am, and I’m com­pletely lost. If this is a mid­life crisis, it can’t last forever any­way. I have unique skills and believe my best pro­fes­sion­al years are still ahead.


Please sup­port my blog by shar­ing it with oth­er PR- and com­mu­nic­a­tion pro­fes­sion­als. For ques­tions or PR sup­port, con­tact me via jerry@​spinfactory.​com.

ANNOTATIONS
ANNOTATIONS
1 This format is inspired by James Clear’s annu­al reviews.
Jerry Silfwer
Jerry Silfwerhttps://doctorspin.net/
Jerry Silfwer, alias Doctor Spin, is an awarded senior adviser specialising in public relations and digital strategy. Currently CEO at KIX Index and Spin Factory. Before that, he worked at Kaufmann, Whispr Group, Springtime PR, and Spotlight PR. Based in Stockholm, Sweden.

The Cover Photo

.

Grab a free subscription before you go.

Get notified of new blog posts & new PR courses

🔒 Please read my integrity- and cookie policy.

Uncover my experiences and lessons in this 2022 annual review! Discover the year's successes, challenges, and aspirations for personal growth.
Most popular