A month by month overview:

Many notable things happened this year. I’ll go month by month…

1. Started the year out cold. Very cold. We were in Keystone Colorado planning to do a couple of days of skiing but lasted just one. A single run left our hands and feet frozen. It was only supposed to get colder too and having a 2 wheel drive truck in the mountains was not going to be a fun experience as a snowstorm was supposed to happen the next day. Instead of skiing the next day, we made our way back down the mountain into Denver where we spontaneously went to a Nuggets and Pelicans game. Craziest thing was we were randomly walking by a hotel and my brother got to meet Zion Williamson and the Pelicans (Zion didn’t sign his card). Also one of my college roommates was randomly at the game too. All round fun and unexpected trip.

2. In February I completed my first ever Marathon! It was an incredible experience but man, the Austin hills were brutal. I got to run it along with a good friend while our friends and family cheered us on as they followed us throughout the race. It was the longest runners high I had ever experienced. Every stretch of the race had something going on whether it was a Star Wars band playing eye of the tiger or a lady holding a Super Mario golden brick you could tap for a power up. I plan on continuing to do big races like this one.

3. Started March off by getting kidnapped by my girlfriend for a good ole picnic in the park. She outdid herself with an assortment of goodies. I also randomly won a tennis racquet at the TAMU women’s match from a raffle, went to the Houston rodeo for the first time, tried eating vegan for a week, volunteered for the big event, fished with my grandpa, and went on a weekend mountain biking trip with my dad to spider mountain and Reveille Peak Ranch. Solid month.

4. School started to pick up in April. Everyone was staring at the sun April 8th as the eclipse began. My roommate and I did the One Army Gladiator dash (a mud run obstacle course). We also got to go see my brother in Arkansas where we did some golfing, mountain biking, and relaxing with our grandparents. I ended April off by volunteering at the MS150.

5. May 2024 brought me my first ever MLB game, courtesy of my girlfriend’s grandma who won the Golden Ticket. Such a cool experience. Other than that, May was relatively quiet with a few trips back home to Austin and Houston after classes ended. We also had to fix our mailbox after someone smacked it with a bat and then proceeded to run it over. Felt very college.

6. June was a very lonely month as I started my summer classes. However, I filled that void with reading, running, working out, creating, and a whole lot of thinking. Towards the end it got better as I got to visit my mom, fish a little more, and even do some rock climbing.

7. July was surreal. I got to work at BPN in the warehouse helping out with their 4th of July sale. I also got to meet Nick Bare, work out in the BPN gym, and meet/talk with a bunch of interesting people all who were all trying to figure out life. Then I was off to Abilene TX to work with dad on his new project for a month. Early mornings 6 days a week, 11 hour days. I learned how to cut rebar, use a sledge hammer, build a concrete mock up pad, drive a skid steer, and all that goes into setting up a jobsite. I got to meet some more people, speak a lot of Spanish and learn about where some of the guys came from (Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Mexico). Overall, super cool to see what my dad has done all his career and everything that goes into his projects. Ended this month off with a trip to Tennessee. Gatlinburg is such an insane place. Saw King Kong scaling a building, a Bugatti, 918, and some other crazy cars. There’s a putt putt course, pancake house, or some amusement ride every 3 minutes, and its all in the middle of nowhere. Never got to see a wild black bear yet grandma somehow saw 3 of them. Solid month.

8. August was another month of construction work and lots of driving. Driving for good reason though. I had 2 birthdays to celebrate this month. We started the first one off by competing on Family Feud (off brand one in Austin). The whole thing was such an enjoyable experience. Then it was back to work for a couple days before driving 5 hours to Houston and then 10 hours the next day for a quick trip to Seaside Florida for my girlfriend’s birthday! Got to eat lots of delicious food, enjoy the water, and take a break from work. I also had my first interview of the year with Fox Alliance thanks to London and his amazing mom! Ended August heading back to College Station for school where I got to experience College Gameday in Aggie Park after having watched it growing up for years.

9. September was a special month. Got to celebrate one incredible year with my girlfriend! She made me an incredible scrap book that now sits on my piano stand :). I also got to go to the Fort Worth stockyard and the Arkansas vs Texas A&M Southwest Classic. My reading picked up tremendously too after I got my hands on a kindle! This month was also stressful as I began to start going to career fairs, doing Hire Vue’s, and ultimately dealing with a lot of rejection.

10. October was packed full of travel. Started the month off going to Galveston for the weekend, then Indiana for my cousin’s wedding the next, and capped the month off with going to Formula One! I also got my offer letter for Fox Alliance after having applied to almost 70 jobs. Very thankful for that. Also got to watch Marcel Reed run all over LSU which was an incredible game. Not a shabby month.

11. November was a big month of school and football for me. Thanks to the golden ticket again, we got to go to a Texans football game (my First NFL Game) where we met a wonderful man named Joseph. I also got my lip busted during a basketball game, which led to an ER visit that took 3 hours just for some simple glue. Then we had the all mighty A&M vs Texas ticket pull day which we planned poorly for. We took shifts throughout the previous day and I spent 9 hours that night waiting to pull tickets the next morning. Unbeknownst to me, the line started to form around 2am. We didn’t get in that line until 5:30am and then had to wait until 3:30pm to finally get our tickets. Ended the month going to that game where A&M lost (lol) and having a nice thanksgiving.

12. Now here we are, December. My birth month. Finished the Semester off with some rough classes (Got 2 A’s and 3 B’s). I also have spent a lot of time in Aggie gardens reflecting, reading, and writing. That is partly why I am writing all of this and sharing it. I’m not sure where it will take me or if anyone will ever read any of this and that’s okay.

Random activities: salsa dancing, country dancing, TAMU bball games, journaled since February consistently, saw a dirt devil, more time in nature, completed 68 runs totaling to 239 miles, read at least 9 books, painted pumpkins, cooked more, went to the country music hall of fame museum, I ended my Neurohive newsletter, ate a lot of chipotle, spoke with the person behind Austin FC’s brand, I did a Patt Walls webinar, listened to 13,764 mins of podcasts (MFM, Modern Wisdom, Lex Friedman, Nick Bare), became the management executive for my school org, watched an ai mower in action,

Some Things I learned:

Be present and authentic:

• Be where you feet are at — don’t dwell too much on the past or worry excessively about the future. Everything will work itself out.

• Put your phone down. Step away from all the noise online and find some solitude. It helps with clarity and connection. I found this through running, walking, and spending more time outdoors (with no headphones).

• Keep things simple. Find what matters to you and stay true to your values.

Have a strong bias for action:

• Do hard things. Specifically, things that seem just out of your reach. You’ll be surprised how much more capable you are. Comfort Crisis was a good read on this

• Focus on habits (systems) over goals. Setting up a good foundation will help everything else fall into place. Atomic habits was a good read

• Lean into your curiosities. Who knows where they might lead.

Value relationships and Perspective:

• Quality over quantity in relationships leads to far better connections. Pour into your family, friends, and loved ones. Check in, even if all seems well. People can be good at hiding things.

• Everyone’s worldview is shaped differently. Understanding this opens you up to new ideas and more fruitful conversations. LISTEN with intent. One conversation can change your life. You can always learn something

• Happiness is a game of comparison. “I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.” — Saadi Shirazi, h/t Lionel Page

• We have the ability to be whoever we want to be so long we fully believe it. Maybe this idea of false confidence can go a long way.

Reflect often:

• Writing down what you have seen, heard, and felt makes you more aware of what your true values are.

• Question your habits, biases, thoughts, and actions often. Have difficult and uncomfortable conversations. Try and be self-aware.

• Regularly stepping back to assess what works and what doesn’t can help you reset priorities and make smarter, intentional decisions.

• Don’t let tiny “insignificant” things that happen in your daily life disturb your peace. There is a lot to be grateful for.

Closing remarks and thoughts on the future:

2024 was a year full of stress, anxiety, uncertainty, and a little bit of chaos but I learned a whole lot. I loved it and without these types of years, I believe it would be hard to enjoy the great ones to come? Going into 2025, I have a lot to look forward to. There are four main items that I want to focus on…

1. Write and share my thoughts once a week in a newsletter

2. Develop one app or webpage (learn to code)

3. Complete a Iron Man 70.3 

4. Don’t over complicate things

“At the end of the day I want to make a difference, experience life while I’m young, travel, spend time with my family, meet interesting people, do hard things, finish an ironman, be present in the real world, get off the phone, be a more thoughtful person, become a better gift giver, read more, continuously learn, have difficult conversations, be a great brother, son, friend, devoted partner, and just be a kind and less judgmental person. We’re all doing life for the first time together and I don’t think anyone ever really has it all figured out so why should I expect to have my life figured out at 21…” - From my journal 7/1/24

I’m very lucky and grateful for my life.

— CM