After navigating a challenging period marked by the loss of his mother, J.D., the voice behind the prominent personal finance blog Get Rich Slowly, has announced a major shift in his personal and professional focus. Following two months of mourning and a subsequent phase of intense introspection, he has declared that 2023 will officially be the "Year of Me," signaling a deliberate pivot toward prioritizing his own mental and physical health above all else.
Reflecting on the heavy emotional fog that followed his mother’s passing, J.D. shared with his readers that the haze has finally lifted, restoring his motivation to pursue productive endeavors. However, the weeks of soul-searching that accompanied his grief brought a stark realization to light: for far too long, he had relegated his own needs to the back burner, allowing external pressures, habits, and distractions to interfere with his fundamental well-being. Recognizing this pattern, he determined alongside his partner, Kim, that reclaiming his health and agency required a radical shift in perspective.
This decision marks a revival of an old habit. More than a decade ago, J.D. frequently employed the practice of "theming" his years and months, dedicating specific spans of time to singular pursuits such as fitness, writing, or dating. Those targeted periods consistently yielded positive results. Yet, somewhere along the way, that structured approach fell by the wayside, and he fell into the habit of putting himself second, third, or even ninth in his own life.
With the launch of this new initiative, J.D. aims to break that cycle. Acknowledging that the concept might initially sound selfish or uncomfortable, he emphasized that placing his own needs first is a necessary step toward becoming a better person for others, including his readership. For the foreseeable future, personal well-being takes absolute precedence. While he suspects the internal shift will ultimately generate fresh material for Get Rich Slowly and finally push the site’s long-delayed de-design across the finish line, he is intentionally releasing himself from any rigid publishing schedules. Moving forward, he plans to write organically, driven by inspiration rather than obligation.
The Courage to Be Disliked
The thematic groundwork for J.D.’s new outlook was reinforced during a Thanksgiving road trip to California with Kim and her family. To pass the miles, the couple listened to the audiobook The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga. The book, which explores the psychological worldview of Alfred Adler, focuses heavily on themes that challenge conventional thinking about interpersonal relationships, self-acceptance, and personal happiness.
J.D. noted that the book, despite its somewhat provocative title, is better understood as a guide to achieving genuine happiness through the lens of Adlerian psychology. Although the Socratic dialogue format of the book made certain philosophical points elusive during a first listen, the underlying wisdom resonated deeply with him. He plans to revisit the material digitally, skimming through Kindle highlights to extract the core insights, and has hinted that a full review or summary of the book could eventually make its way onto Get Rich Slowly.
A Values-Driven Life
The internal transformation J.D. is undergoing also aligns closely with principles of proactive living. In a recent review of his digital reading highlights via Readwise, he revisited a passage from Stephen R. Covey’s foundational work, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The quote emphasizes that the essence of a proactive person lies in the ability to subordinate a passing impulse to a deeply held value, whereas reactive individuals are driven entirely by fleeting feelings, environmental conditions, and external circumstances.
Recognizing that he had inadvertently lost control over his impulses while drifting away from his core values, J.D. has already begun taking concrete steps to realign his daily life. These preliminary actions include eliminating digital distractions by uninstalling time-consuming applications like Reddit and Hearthstone from his iPad. By reining in these impulses, he intends to create the mental space necessary to put his carefully chosen values back into active practice.
For the readers of Get Rich Slowly, the immediate impact of the "Year of Me" will likely be subtle rather than sweeping. While the tone of the blog may shift toward shorter, more conversational reflections reminiscent of his recent updates—breaking away from the pressure to produce monolithic, highly structured articles—the core commitment to sharing his journey remains intact. As J.D. embarks on this deeply personal chapter, he does so with the conviction that true service to others begins with caring for oneself.
