Another year has rolled around and it's now the beginning of 2017 (where the hell did 2016 go??). The common consensus these days is that 2016 sucked. I agree for the most part, but I kind of have to think 2016 was equally awesome because I got engaged and married with the most amazing person alive....so 2016 couldn't have been that bad, right?
It was a tough year for me mainly because of Everest. More specifically, because I wasn't able to summit on my 3rd attempt. I wrote a pretty thorough blog post that outlined my summit attempt and how I came to terms with it, but almost a year later, I still have regrets and massive amounts of disappointment. Does that mean I'm going back? Well, not this year, that's for sure. Doing back-to-back years of Everest expeditions would be rough. But maybe 2018? Maybe 2019? Let's see. The bottom line is that I have to summit. I know I can do it and I know I won't be satisfied until I do. That summit has been a fixture in my mind since 2007 and it's not bound to just go away.
On the memory front, 2016 was quiet for me. Mainly because I had a lot of other things going on. I did a small stint of memory events in November, winning a gold medal in Names and Faces at the Memoriad competition and getting silver in the UK Memory League Championships - both great achievements for me. But no championship wins. I didn't get to compete in the USA Memory Championships either, since I was out climbing. So my main goal this year, is to win back the USA Memory Champion title and win the title for a 5th time. It won't be easy with Alex Mullen being the reigning champ, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve still, so let's see...
As per usual, I love the new year. New beginnings, clean slate, new you, all that stuff. I love it. I've gotten back into hardcore daily memory training again, getting into the swing of things with my new systems, and I'm motivated to remember the names of everyone I meet for the 2017 year (always a tough challenge, which I attempted in 2015 but only did for the first 3 months). So things are feeling good.
Add a few climbs, a bunch of travel, my first year of marriage, learning some new skills, and working on some more video content, and I've got myself what could be a pretty solid year!
On top of that, lots of exciting projects in the works that might finally come to fruition this year...so stay tuned for news on that.
Have an epic 2017!