There are only a few more days in 2023. The time flies by, doesn’t he? As we close out the year 2022, I want to share with you a few thoughts I’ve had, some goals for next year, as well as a quick Q&A. Let’s start.
A Big Personal Shift for 2022
Between August 2021 and August 2022 I only wanted to run. I didn’t really know where I was going or what I was trying to escape, but I just wanted to run. It’s amazing what 18 months in the bedroom can do. Thanks, Covid. So, I quit my day job, packed a bag with clothes, and traveled through 20 European countries within four months. Along the way, I met some interesting people.
In 2022, I started in a similar way: I flew to Argentina on a whim with my friend Mike and lived there for a few months. The trip was followed up by another Europe tour that took me to Italy and Spain, Greece and Portugal before I moved to New York to attend business school.
But life is nothing but a series, of mean reversions. My life for 12 months was defined by the desire to move. To escape. To explore. My desire to explore started to revert to the norm in November this year.
I flew to Medellin in Colombia to spend eight days with friends. By day five, a strange feeling began to form at the back of my head.
Do I miss my home? Did I look forward to my return to New York? How soon is this?
First time in my travels around the globe, I felt ready to return home. New York City was my home.
I love New York.
Every morning I look forward to seeing my friends on the underground train that runs from Times Square up to 130th street. We have made it our school bus. I love that I have friends in New York, Philadelphia, India, Colombia, Nigeria and Argentina. Every Wednesday, I enjoy going to Jake’s Dilemma Rugby Happy Hours. I love the energy in the streets of Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea and West Village. I love the hive of activity. I like how well dressed New Yorkers are. I enjoy going to Sullivan Street Bakery for coffee every morning and Citibiking into Times Square to save time.
One year ago, my desire for adventure drove me to travel thousands of miles away from home. What about now? New York is my backyard adventure.
I haven’t finished traveling. I am writing this sentence at 2 AM from a London hotel, and I already have a lot of travel planned in 2023. It’s nice to live somewhere that feels like home.
If there was a theme to my 2022 it would be that I had found my home in New York City.
A Few Not-So Personal Things from 2022
There were many other events in 2022.
Russia invaded Ukraine. Tom Brady divorced, retired, and then unretired. Tesla dropped 70% and Elon’s biggest supporters turned against him. Crypto died. SPACs died. Growth stocks died. NFTs have been sent into the shadow world. The AI technology is eating the world. Twitter’s CEO Office became a hot topic. Sam Bankman Fried stole $10B and is now chilling in his California parents’ home. Argentina lost the World Cup to Saudi Arabia. Will Smith slapped Chris Rock, Queen Elizabeth died and Will Smith killed Chris Rock.
This is just a small part of the story.
It’s been a pretty busy year, isn’t it?
I’d like to make a few predictions for 2023. It’s possible that none of my predictions will come true, and I’ll have a score of 0/9 by the end of next year. But that’s what makes making predictions so fun.
Here they are.
- Tesla shares will drop below $40 per share
- Biden is the frontrunner in the next election
- The AI bubble will burst by Thanksgiving
- Metastock outperforms S&P 500
- A real “recession” doesn’t hit
- As people move away from Twitter, Linkedin is overloaded with mid-content
- Bitcoin drops below $10,000
- Ten times as many people are trying to “build audiences online” than
- Musk to re-IPO Twitter following cost cutting
A few goals for 2023 and beyond
Here are three that I like.
The goal of is to become fluent in Spanish.
The idea of being bilingual has always appealed to me. Flying to another country and switching tongues is a great way to communicate with locals. What about learning a new language? It’s an humbling experience. Imagine being able picture an idea, but not be able articulate it because you can’t grasp the word. It’s infuriating. What’s more humiliating? You have dozens of friends that can speak fluently in 2, 3, or even 4 languages, but you only know English.
I have doubled my efforts to learn Spanish. In an effort to speed up my learning curve, I listen to Spanish podcasts at 80% speed (, of course). I also read Colombian financial news daily. It’s going great so far. Maybe I’ll write Young Money in Spanish by 2024.
Goal: Reach 100,000 Young Money Subscribers
It’s amazing to think that we are now close to 28,000 readers. Last year, I had fewer than 2,000 readers. I don’t even want 28,000 subscribers. I want 100,000 subscribers. Since I started this blog, that has been my goal. It may not be in 2023 but I want to make this dream a real before I graduate business school in 2024.
Goal: Write a book (or 2)
It’s not a thing for 2023, but my North Star is right now. It’s one of the most prestigious accolades to be a published writer, and I would love to be one. But I’m not just interested in writing a book. I also want thousands of people reading it.
It is much more difficult to write a book than it is to simply create one. You can’t guarantee that 100,000 people are going to buy your book. But you can increase your chances by building a big distribution list. I think the success or failure of an imaginary book is tied to this blog. This goal is linked to the first. Continue to write, continue to grow, and sooner or later see if you can’t come up with a bestseller.
Reader Q&A
What is your preferred niche?
From a writer perspective, I believe that niche is an outcome of publishing volume. You can see that I was all over the map in my early writing. Some of the pieces I wrote were about personal finance, while others were more philosophical. After 4-5 month, I found my voice and rhythm.
Write about your varied interests. Over time, the interests that you return to most often will become your “niche”.
Has the economic recession affected the newsletter business/ad revenue?
Simple answer: Companies, and especially startups, pay less for ads because money is tighter. Ad slots that cost $2,000 last year are now likely to be $1,300 (this is a rough estimation). Profitable companies still allocate a lot of money for marketing.
Are people who have unique talents and skills indispensible to society (or to themselves) obligated to develop their successors so that their contributions can continue after their death?
This is a very interesting question. I don’t believe that people who have unique talents are obligated to develop and find their replacements. But I think the best in any field, whether it’s sports, art, writing, or cooking, can be of immense value to the next generation by sharing their knowledge. This could be through direct mentoring, publishing a book, or documenting the work of these greats.
In the next decade, which company will have a market capitalization of $1 trillion?
Amazon ( It is only worth $850B now).
In a serious vein, I don’t know. If TikTok was to be banned, and the metaverse wager actually paid off, Meta could easily surpass $1 trillion. Will these things happen? I don’t really know. This argument can be made for any stock.
What is the vibe that you would like to see 2023 embody?
I want to have the best year of my entire life in 2023. What’s the point of living if you’re not having fun?
