2025 Phrase: Less but better

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

I knew a guy once who seldom drank, but when he did, it was single malt scotch. His motto was, “Drink less, drink better.”

Going into the new year, that is my guiding phrase: Less, but better.

Fewer, better projects. Fewer, but better, articles published. Fewer, but better, income streams.

Less, but better, work.

On this first day of 2025, here is what I’m thinking about: What do I want to do more of? What do I want to do less of? How do I want to show up in the world? What are things that, if I did them, I would be glad that I did?

Here is an incomplete list of intentions I have for 2025 (That’s the first time I’ve typed that - how wild is it that we are a quarter of the way through this century?)

• I want more of my life to revolve around writing and publishing.
• I will shift most of my writing away from social media and toward my blog, newsletter, and membership site.
• I will prioritize generating income this year - preferably via my membership team and direct sales of products I create, such as books.
• My writing currently generates the income of a good part-time job. This is in-spite of, not because of, my business missteps. This year I will treat my writing like a business.
• Last year we had our first real vacation in 16 years. I intend to make doing that a priority again this year.
• I’m going to bring my full self into spaces - less codeswitching, less posing, less specialization. Expect this space to have content about wildlife, writing, meals, the US South, cats, being an independent businessperson, social justice, depression and neurodiversity, and more. Oh yeah, and probably even more cats than you previously thought.
• I’ve never been very good at resting - I want to learn how. Less, but better, work.

Less, but better.