2024 Manifesto

💡 To succeed, you must plan. To improve you must measure.

Themes to live by for ‘24

Last year I experienced a lot of pain. The unglamorous side of entrepreneurship that you hear less about.

A failed company after 3 years of effort & +$1.5M invested into it.

A failed relationship because I got too caught up focusing on what I didn’t have as things were spiraling rather than focusing on things I do have/have control over.

But out of these experiences came my biggest life lessons and realizations that I needed to have in many ways to live a better life.

I have put these key lessons in my 2024 Manifesto focused on the art of living better.

Here are the key themes…

Health is Wealth

“A healthy man wants many things. A sick man only wants one thing.”

There is no higher form of self respect than taking care of your health and fitness and following through on what you say you are going to do.

The Juice

• The best exercise is the one you will show up for every day. Find what works for you. Consistency is better than intensity.

• For me that’s training full body 5-6 times per week, 30-60 minutes per session & doing 1-2 cardio sessions per week. Find yours, follow it, no excuses.

• Track what you eat. You can use free tools like My Fitness Pal but you need to be conscious of what you are consuming. Calculate your BMR. Learn basic macros/nutrients

• Nutrition doesn’t need to be complicated. If you want to lose weight, be in a calorie deficit. If you want to gain weight, be in a calorie surplus.

• Consume enough protein. Aim for 1g per pound of body weight daily. Rest can be made up of fats/carbs. Find what your body responds best to. Eat more fresh meat/veg. Eat less processed foods.. simple.

• Try to get some sunlight daily. Get 7+ hours of good quality sleep.

Consistency over Intensity

The thing that gets you to show up every day, is the thing you should be doing.

Georges St Pierre, arguably the greatest UFC Welterweight of all time was well known for his systematic training practices. During his fight years he would train 6 days per week, 2x per day at a moderate intensity. The theory is the person who spends 36+ hours on the mats drilling whether striking or wrestling is natually going to out perform the person going in 25 hours per week at a high intensity that needs more recovery days. Over the course of a year that is 1800 hours per year vs 1250 hours.

The Juice

• Forget setting goals. Focus on setting habits.

• The surest way to fail, is to set too many things you want to achieve. Focus on one main thing in each of your personal life pillars (health, finance, relationships). The less focuses, the more time you can dedicate to it without the overwhelm

• Small consistent actions over long periods of time net the greatest results

Live better with less - Escape lifestyle creep

These two quotes I heard in ‘23 have stuck with me;

Everytime I have chased quick wins it’s almost always lead to losing money or a painful lesson.

The Juice

• People with the biggest margin between income and spending feel the wealthiest

• Study stoicism - Peace & happiness are internal. As long as you are chasing desires, you are a slave.

• You must budget - set up different accounts

• 33% of my income is automatically saved. 17% is put into an account for health/education/self improvement or things that will help me to progress in life. 40% is for living expenses (rent, essential clothing, food etc). 10% is for experiences (nice dinners, getaways)

• The best life hack is to have less desires. Focus on the 1-2 things that would improve your quality of life the most and say no to the rest.

Spend on things that matter

I just had my first non-work related holiday in 7 years! (not proud of this)

June/July ‘23, I shut down one of my businesses and lost a relationship that meant everything to me. Through that pain I had some profound realisations of what is really important in life and as a result have shifted many of my lifestyle choices/beliefs around work/money.

My goal is no longer to make lots of money, but to do things that make me happy/fulfill me. Sounds simple, took me 35 years to get there…

My aim is to have a level of discipline with my spending and when I don’t waste my money on silly shit, I have more to spend on things that are meaningful to me.

Relationships, health, education, experiences. These things all give an outweighted ROI.

The Juice

• A powerful frame of reference is having conversations with an older wiser version of yourself. When I talk to 70 year old me - he makes it very clear whats important. He thanks me for focusing on my health practices early because he is still mobile & sharp mentally, he talks about the trips I took with people I care about, not the ones I didn’t take to grind out an extra week in the office.

Invest in your own stock

Do things now that future you will thank you for in all areas of life important to you.

There are basic things that you can learn that will drastically improve your life.

Financial literacy, being a better lover/partner, understanding your health/nutrition, learning new skills to increase your income… Pick one thing to improve in each pillar of your life.

This could be due to missed opportunities, poor investment decisions, or other mistakes that result from a lack of knowledge or understanding.

The Juice

• Eat well, train hard, wear sunscreen, read books

• Find people who have done what you want to do and relentlessly seek advice from them until you get it

• Both hard skills & soft skills are equally important (knowledge & relationships/communication)

• Don’t pray for an easier life. Pursue a life worth living and increase your own value of character to be worthy of one. You get what you deserve.

Be bold. Take big swings.

It takes just as much effort building a $1m/year business as a $50m/year business. In both scenarios you’re going to be working 60+ hour weeks (at least for the first few years)

In the first 4 years of BYS we were thinking BIG. Wanted to take over the coffee world.

$1B company was the goal. Do what Quest Nutrition had done for protein bars but with coffee.

In 2020 we hired a CEO/Management team and the following year instead of doubling our revenue figures like every year prior.. we went backwards.

Once we took back control, unconsciously we were focusing on making small incremental changes, rather than big moves that put us on the map in the early years. Last year we had this realisation and started swinging for the fences again… All I can say now is just watch what we do in 2024.

This rule applies for more than just business. Just go big! You could be 1 decision away from a completely different life.

Monitor your energy

You know what’s great about being an adult? You get to make your own decisions.

You literally do not have to do anything you don’t want to do. Not everyone in the world is so lucky and that is something I never take for granted.

The Juice

• Monitor how things make you feel, simple.

• Spend time around those that give you energy and avoid those that drain you

• If you don’t want to do something… say no. More no’s = more happiness.

• There is no better life hack than having a healthy sleep routine. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even weekends. No less than 7-8 hours of good sleep every night.

• If certain foods or amounts of foods make you feel sluggish.. don’t eat them, or eat less (don’t be a fat c**t) 🙂

• Need some alone time? Schedule it. Schedule time to do nothing too, no messaging, no scrolling. Give your monkey mind rest

• Movement creates energy, so do new environments

• Limit time on social media

Develop your faith

This is something people close would probably last expect to hear from me…

I have been an Athiest my whole life - went to a catholic school but never bought into religion.

Now call it what you like - The universe, God, a higher power… I thought it was all culty/hippie shit. I didn’t think it served me. Call it ignorance if you will. As of recently I have decided to open my mind to it.

I used to have an unwavering self belief. But when you start stacking losses, you start to doubt yourself. When you lose self belief and everything in life seems to be going against you - It can pay believe in something bigger in those moments.

Call it divine timing, or just a different awareness because of my situation but the question came up; “What are you benefiting from not having God in your life?”

I didn’t have a good answer.

Now I’m only a few months into this journey so I don’t have all of the answers but choosing to believe that there could be something bigger at play, and the universe does have a plan for me has served me. Many spiritual/religious beliefs & practices in different cultures are foundational behavioural traits that determine how people act and treat others and its something I plan on learning more about this year.

Don’t be a coward

This has got to be one of my most simple principles to live by this year, yet could be the most uncomfortable. Now I’m pretty good with conflict and am a direct communicator so I might find it easier than others..

I can probably summarize it by saying speak up for what you believe in and don’t just follow the crowds.

I believe the world is becoming too passive. That’s not something I want to be a part of.

Having uncomfortable conversations are some of the greatest character building opportunities.

The Juice

• If you see/hear something you feel is wrong - stand up for what you thing is right

• Question your beliefs - have reasoning behind them rather than just agreeing because everyone else does

• It’s super uncomfortable so actively pursue opportunities to give your view point or go against the grain to practice

• Just don’t be a lil bish

Relationships Matter Most

The quality of our lives is determined by the quality of our relationships.

I spent years isolating myself to focus on work, yet looking back any of my best memories in those periods where when I would occassionally spend time with friends or family.

What you do is less important than who you are doing it with. You will get more happiness with the right partner doing the smallest things, than living a life of material success alone.

By the time you turn 18, 90% of the time you will spend with your parents is over. If you see your parents only 3 times per year and they live for another 20 years.. that’s only 60 times you will ever see them again… 💔

As you grow up you get ‘busy’ and forgot about the important things. Do things now so that you have less regrets later.

The Juice

• Spend time planning your catch ups for the year with your family & friends.

• Losing a relationship is way more painful than losing a business. Act accordingly.

• Good communication is the key to every successful relationship

Always have something to look forward to

I spent the good part of the last decade wishing I was further along. Missing so many possible moments along the way. Business doesn’t always work out. Imagine working on something for 5-10 years, not enjoying the journey and it not working out. That’s time you will never get back and it will be all for what?

It’s fine to want big things, but don’t let it rob you of the present.

Having big things to look forward to is great, but I’m talking about small things in the near future.

Especially when things aren’t going to plan, moments with people you care about make it a whole lot more manageable.

The Juice

• Set small things to look forward to frequently so that you’re actively creating ‘moments’. Dinner with a friend every two weeks. A beach day etc.

• Set 1 bigger thing per quarter - weekend away, an event or competition

• I just had my first vacay in 7 years… never again will I go that long. I don’t want to go longer than 12-18 months without a holiday or planned experience.

Final Note

Your quality of life is determined by the questions you ask yourself, the people you spend time with, the information you consume and the action you take.

Fast forward to Dec 31st, 2024. Looking back at the year, what happened?

What did you do that made this the best year yet?

Who did you spend time with?

What are you proud of that you did?

Where did you invest your time to give you ultimate joy and fulfillment?

Now make a plan, and go do it.

JT