Thoughts I'm taking into 2019

2018 was a tough one for many.

In the markets. In keeping tabs on any vestige of normalcy. In finding a poised space in the midst of such a cacophonous stream of grating and debilitating news cycles.

Yet personally and professionally, it was a surprisingly good year for me, catapulting forward with a great deal of optimism and momentum.

Last year, in the process of bridging 2017/18, I made a large shift in focus.

I pushed aside predictions. Ignored market trends and centered on me as a person. And what I had to do in order to find a better, more productive poise towards life and work.

By prioritizing the necessity of compartmentalizing my time and focusing on my personal health and mindfulness as goal number one. On the very aspect of my professional relevance as my career history became longer and the future more unchartered. And an embrace of the diversity of my interests, as crazy and as many as there most certainly are.

You can see my goals in last year’s post here.

They simply worked for me and delivered demonstrable benefits.

I see a lot of posts coming out about slowing down. About finding an analog center in a digital world. About stepping away from social media.

My interpretation of this is to start with me and where I add value to market change, not the other way around.

For 2019, my work at the start of the year settle into three thematic categories:

–>Doubling down on compartmentalizing my personal activities around individual habits that drive the greatest results.

The more I focus on myself—my physical well-being and my mental poise–the better I succeed with my clients, my understanding my true value add, and my friends and family.

This includes more focused exercise, more aggressive embrace of nutritional regimens, and a dedicated renewal of being present and open, as blocks of time each and every day, regardless of schedule, regardless of travel.

The truth is that the I’m more valuable to others, the more I am in tune with myself and optimized to listen to new ideas.

–>Reinvigorated acceptance of my response to the political state of the country.

I’m exhausted by the deep anger I’ve felt over the political status of the county. Yet I simply need to embrace the anger and accept it.

I took my leave of a number of long-term friendships last year, deciding to turn away from people and orgs that justified the means—any means—by the end result alone.

This was dramatic as it rejiggered some long associations.

I’m at peace with this completely.

I believe that diversity is the only answer to a different tomorrow. I don’t believe the ethically bereft, morally compromised people are part of a diversity I need to let in my inner circle of my life.

After ten years of posting these resolutions, this is the second one where politics entered as a critical driver. I don’t see this changing anytime moving forward.

–>Focusing on specific platforms of change where I bring the most value.

Crypto as a change agent for greater good in ways unique to the platform itself.

–PoS solutions

I believe in staking as a change agent within the space, not only for the benefits of Green Mining, but also democratizing broader participation as incentivized nodes can be slotted and invested in as a dividend model, that extends through Masternodes, as well as connections to the Lightning and Plasma networks.

–NFTs as a tool to reimagine charitable giving

Coming out of the success of the Honu the CryptoKitty auction last year, I am more convinced that innovations around NFTs will provide a way to make intent transactional and continuous, building community through the very acts of committing to ecological and social change.

–New models for artisanal driven social and agricultural systems

In a world where everything is scalable and digital, we value the artisanal endeavors yet have not found a way to economize it in creative ways. There are possibilities of both building high value markets that create accountability and brand, and support artisanal and indigenous cultures and product on the supply side of the chain.

–>Communications paradigms to mirror how the definition of work is changing.

There are two opposing realties at play pulling towards our behaviors in the middle.

On one side, work is changing with larger, more diverse, more distributed groups as the norm. On the other, the reality that the larger the group, the less dynamic, the less engaged, the less the ability to communicate effectively or gather consensus in dynamic ways.

A new tool set for communications and engagement is needed.

–>Health and Wellness, Cannabis, CBD and payments in a great brand mashup.

This is already in motion and will change the world in its wake.

Meditation meeting supplements meeting exercise meeting a whole new world of CBD innovation that is uncharted and unbanked, crazily economic and game changing for new brands, new payment gateways, and new possibilities for health and wellness.

I am really looking forward to this year and excited that it is starting with a burst of out-of-the-gate momentum.

Happy New Year to all!