John's yearly January letters to himself: a look back and goals for the new year
story · status: told 4×, last update 2025 · last event: update (2025-01-07)
Told alongside: Hank's Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis and chemotherapy (2023)
| date | event | what | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-01-02 | update | John finds it nerve-wracking to talk about goals not yet accomplished, but thinks it can increase accountability. (hedged) | BRING IT IN 2018 00:03:27 |
| 2019-01-01 | retold | Instead of resolutions, John writes himself a yearly letter looking back and ahead, about the trade-offs and changes he would like to make. | How to Make Goals, Not Resolutions 00:01:13 |
| 2020-01-07 | retold | Every January John writes himself two letters, one looking back at the year and one setting goals; over ten years they have become a big deal to him, helping him reflect and choose consciously. | Endings · Beginnings 00:00:00 |
| 2023-01-03 | retold | Every year John writes himself two letters, one looking back at the past year and one looking ahead, to understand his choices and be intentional, usually setting goals. | TAKE IT DOWN A NOTCH 00:00:29 |
| 2023-01-03 | update | John says sometimes you need to take it down a notch, and that is his only goal for 2023. | TAKE IT DOWN A NOTCH 00:01:27 |
| 2023-01-31 | update | In a channel comment John apologizes for the video's inconsistent lighting, which he did not fix because he is taking it down a notch in 2023. (playful) | I'm Going Back to College? creator comment |
| 2023-08-08 | update | John replays a clip of his January 2023 video in which he said his only goal for the year was to take it down a notch. (playful) → refers to TAKE IT DOWN A NOTCH | TAKE IT UP A NOTCH 00:00:00 |
| 2025-01-07 | retold | Every new year John writes himself two letters: one looking back on the year, one looking ahead and stating intentions rather than goals. | The Format but it hurts to stand up 00:02:36 |
| 2025-01-07 | update | John says he used to set specific, measurable goals, but the year Hank got cancer showed him that telling a year what will happen is a fool's errand; now he has only hopes, prayers and intentions. | The Format but it hurts to stand up 00:02:59 |
What is said about it
11 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).
- 2019-01-01 · How to Make Goals, Not Resolutions — recommendation: John tries to make SMART goals; after garbling the acronym ('Roll Tide', 'Rob Thomas'), he settles on SMA goals: specific, measurable, attainable. (playful) — 00:01:27
- 2019-01-01 · How to Make Goals, Not Resolutions — announcement: John: This year (2019) most of John's goals involve doing less. — 00:02:12
- 2020-12-29 · Looking Back at My 2020 Goals — John: Making goals helps even when it seems silly, especially now: a good goal sets out what you want and a path toward it, and though circumstance can wash paths away, it is nice to think there might be a way forward. — 00:03:08
- 2018-01-02 · BRING IT IN 2018 — ask: John asks viewers for feedback on any of his ideas, since there is still time to change all of them. — 00:03:32
- 2018-01-02 · BRING IT IN 2018 — ask: John invites viewers to leave a goal of their own in the comments, so they can return in 12 months and say they did it. (hedged) — 00:03:37
- 2018-01-02 · BRING IT IN 2018 — John is going back to writing about the astonishing history of Diet Dr Pepper. — 00:03:46
- 2020-01-07 · Endings · Beginnings — John says the letters have helped him achieve many goals, from running half marathons to writing novels. — 00:00:16
- 2020-01-07 · Endings · Beginnings — announcement: John: This year (2020) John is thinking about the letters differently, focusing on beginnings and endings: what he wants to begin, and what to end or finish. — 00:00:21
- 2023-01-03 · TAKE IT DOWN A NOTCH — John's past goals included exercising 150 minutes a week and finishing The Anthropocene Reviewed book, and he has a pretty good track record of meeting them. — 00:00:58
- 2023-01-03 · TAKE IT DOWN A NOTCH — John says most of his goals turned it up a notch (write a book, start a channel, make a podcast, produce a movie), and often pushing himself is what he needs. — 00:00:58
- 2023-01-03 · TAKE IT DOWN A NOTCH — John: In 2023 John wants to keep advocating for global health equity and better funding of health care systems, but without yelling at strangers online. — 00:01:56