The Essential Zen Habits of 2021

As 2018 comes to a close, I have to say … it’s been a year of depth but also chaos and blessings for me and Zen Habits.

I’m grateful for the wonderful readers I have had for more than a decade now (all of you!), and for the journey I’ve been on and will continue in the coming year.

Personally, a lot has been going on for me … here are some of the headlines from this year:

• I launched a new mission: my Fearless Training Program. This is my laboratory for the new kind of training I’m doing with people, the mission I’m on for at least the next couple of years. And it’s been going incredibly well — not only have I set up the training, but we’ve launched a community on Slack with small groups and accountability and support and more. We have more to do, but it’s off to a great start with incredible people who have joined me. Join us!
• We moved to Guam (temporarily). Yeah, I didn’t really announce this publicly, but in August we packed up our house (sold stuff and put the rest in storage) and moved to Guam. It’s temporary (we’re moving back to California in the spring), but I wanted to be here with our family, including my grandma who is turning 90, mom, siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews and many other great people who we miss dearly. It’s a gorgeous tropical island that we still think of as home. I’m especially enjoying the warm, humid winter, along with lush tropical greenery and fruits, and warm ocean water. And being with my grandma.
• I went deeper into mindfulness. I’ve been training for years in the Zen tradition, and have also been embracing Tibetan Buddhist practices wholeheartedly … but this year, I joined a program by John Wineland where we did deep men’s work. It was a challenge for me, one of great growth.
• I did a bit of traveling. I did a couple of conferences — Wisdom 2.0 in San Francisco and the World Domination Summit in Portland — and loved both experiences, meeting some great people. I also did an around-the-world tea trip with my friend Tynan, an around-the-world trip with Eva and our friends Suraj and Heena that included my first visit to Africa (amazing), a couple trips to Japan, and a planning retreat with Eva in Mexico. Honestly, it was a bit too much travel, but I’m not complaining — I loved it all.
• I launched the Mindful Focus Course and did monthly challenges in Sea Change. I launched a 4-week video course called Mindful Focus Course in the spring that was one of my best courses ever, and really loved working with the participants. In my Sea Change Program, I did monthly challenges, and have launched a new Slack community for Sea Change members that is thriving. Join us!
• I published the free Eat More Plants! cookbook. Well, it was mostly done by my friend Jules Clancy of Stonesoup. It’s got my best vegan recipes, along with even better ones from Jules, and articles on shifting your diet to a plant-based one. Get it for free here.
• I simplified. To get my finances straight, I’ve cut back on spending, both in my business and personal spending. It’s great to return to simplicity when you notice things haven’t been as conscious as they could be.
• I’m getting ready to grow. That said, I’m ready to grow my business to take my mission to the world. I’m about to hire a Director of Operations, who is going to slowly build a small team for Zen Habits so that we can have as big an impact on the world as possible. Stay tuned.

A lot of other things happened as well — my 19-year-old daughter Maia moved to Japan, my oldest daughter got a new job with Guampedia, my grandmother has been in the hospital for a couple weeks (she’ll live, but she’s in a lot of pain), I’ve been taking yoga classes taught by my beautiful sister Kat, and more.

The Best Zen Habits Posts in 2018

To wrap up this year, here are my favorite Zen Habits post from 2018: