After spending the past several months navigating a period of profound grief and intensive personal reflection, J.D., the founder of the prominent personal finance blog Get Rich Slowly, has announced a major shift in his personal and professional trajectory. Following the death of his mother two months ago, the fog of mourning has finally begun to lift, leaving him motivated to reengage with productive pursuits. However, rather than diving immediately back into the relentless pace of digital publishing, he has made the conscious decision to declare the upcoming period as "The Year of Me."
In a candid update to his readers, J.D. explained that the recent weeks of soul-searching revealed a stark reality: both he and his partner, Kim, recognize that he needs to prioritize his own physical and mental well-being above all else. For a creator who has spent decades dispensing financial wisdom and life advice to a large audience, putting himself first represents a challenging departure from long-standing habits. Yet, it is a change he views as fundamentally necessary.
The concept of structuring his life around distinct themes is not entirely new to J.D. More than a decade ago, he regularly adopted themes for his years and months—a strategy he found both fun and highly fruitful. Whether he was dedicating a specific span of time to fitness, writing, or dating, these focused periods yielded impressive results. Over time, however, this habit fell by the wayside.
Reflecting on how he reached this juncture, J.D. noted that he has spent far too long placing himself second, third, or even ninth on his own priority list. Starting recently, his explicit aim is to put himself first for the next year or more. Acknowledging the initial internal resistance to this mindset—noting that it feels inherently selfish and wrong—he emphasized that external obligations and daily distractions have interfered with his pursuit of holistic health for far too long. Excuses, he says, are officially off the table, signaling the commencement of an intentional focus on his own needs.
Despite the self-focused nature of this shift, J.D. reassures his readership that the core experience of following Get Rich Slowly will remain largely unaffected. In fact, he argues that by finally addressing his own well-being, he is almost certain to become a better person for those around him, including his readers. It is advice he has frequently offered to others over the years, though he admits to struggling with putting it into practice himself until now.
Readers can expect some internal evolution to translate into fresh content for the site, alongside the long-awaited completion of the platform’s ongoing redesign. At the same time, J.D. is deliberately stepping away from rigid publishing schedules and production pressures. Moving forward, he intends to write only when he genuinely has something to say, choosing authenticity and spontaneous reflection over forced content generation.
The Courage to Be Disliked
This renewed emphasis on personal autonomy and mental health has been heavily influenced by recent media consumption. During a Thanksgiving road trip to California to visit Kim’s family, 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 resonated deeply with J.D.’s current frame of mind.
Although structured as a Socratic dialogue that requires careful listening to fully appreciate its nuances, the book provided a wealth of philosophical insights. J.D. noted that the work—which he believes might be more aptly titled The Courage to Be Happy—offered valuable perspectives on personal responsibility and social relationships. Planning to revisit the material in a digital format to harvest its key passages, he has left open the possibility of publishing a comprehensive review or summary of the book on Get Rich Slowly in the future.
The insights gained from Adlerian psychology tie directly into J.D.’s broader philosophical framework regarding intentional living and personal accountability.
A Values-Driven Life
Reinforcing this internal pivot, J.D. recently highlighted a passage from Stephen R. Covey’s foundational work, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, via his Readwise feed. 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 people are driven by fleeting feelings, environmental conditions, and external circumstances.
Recognizing that he had somehow lost control over his impulses while drifting away from his core values, J.D. decided it was time to flip the script. He has already taken concrete steps to curb reactionary habits, such as uninstalling distracting applications like Reddit and Hearthstone from his iPad. The broader mission now is to align his daily actions deliberately with carefully considered and internalized values.
As J.D. settles into this new chapter, his approach to blogging will mirror this philosophy. Rather than forcing out traditional, highly structured articles, he anticipates sharing shorter, more conversational updates whenever inspiration strikes. While long-form content will not disappear entirely, the immediate future belongs to a more reflective, self-prioritizing rhythm—one designed to honor the values that matter most.
