I love the start of a new year.

The desire (and energy) for positive change; the ideas that become goals (and eventually reality); the seemingly limitless opportunities that beg us to step up to the plate, at least to give it a try...at least this once...

The beginning of every year is a time when aspirations collide with unconquerable optimism in a beautiful, chaotic, hopeful cluster bomb of goals, timelines, and determination.

There's something palpable about it for me, and I love surrounding myself with people who lean into this energy and funnel it into their projects for the new year.

That's why I love reading year end reviews of my favorite personalities, brands, and people, like:

• Noah Kagan's review of AppSumo, which hit 1 billion customers (!)
• John Lee Dumas' year-end review of Entrepreneur On Fire and how he made over $2 million this year from live webinars (!)
• Or Brennan Dunn’s incredibly transparent look at a successful – but hard fought – year (well done Brennan)

I’ve found that transparent, in-depth year end reviews have serious gold buried in them – the kind that can help the rest of us take our personal and professional goals to the next level.

That’s why today I wanted to share my own year-end review, or what I like to call the 2014 After Action Review. (more…)