After navigating a profoundly challenging period marked by personal loss and introspection, J.D., the founder of the personal finance community Get Rich Slowly, has announced a major shift in focus. Two months after the passing of his mother, J.D. shares that the emotional fog has finally begun to lift, restoring his motivation to pursue productive endeavors and prompting a deliberate, values-driven reset for the upcoming year.
In a candid update to his readers, J.D. revealed that extensive soul-searching—supported by his partner, Kim—made it glaringly obvious that he needed to prioritize his own well-being above all else. For the foreseeable future, making 2023 "The Year of Me" is job one.
The concept of thematic years is not entirely new to J.D. More than a decade ago, he regularly assigned themes to specific blocks of time, finding great success and enjoyment when dedicating deliberate spans to pursuits like fitness, writing, or dating. However, that productive habit eventually fell by the wayside as other responsibilities and distractions took precedence.
Reflecting on his routine, J.D. noted that he has spent far too long placing himself second, third, or even ninth on his own priority list. Admitting that the shift feels initially uncomfortable, almost akin to a violation of selflessness, he recognizes that prioritizing his mental and physical health is a necessary course correction. For too long, excuses and external interferences have derailed his health goals. By stepping up as his own primary focus, J.D. aims to break that cycle, operating under the long-standing truth that taking care of oneself ultimately makes a person better equipped to support others.
For the regular readers of Get Rich Slowly, the transition is expected to manifest primarily as an internal change rather than an abrupt departure from the site’s core mission. J.D. anticipates that this renewed self-focus will naturally generate fresh material for future articles and finally bring closure to the long-standing site redesign project.
However, as part of this deeply personal year, J.D. is deliberately abandoning any rigid publishing or production schedules. Moving away from forced productivity, he plans to write organically—sharing thoughts when inspiration strikes and refraining from pushing out content simply to meet arbitrary deadlines. This flexible approach was precisely how his latest update came to be, following a self-reflection exercise from the book Designing Your Life and a brief window of free time before a scheduled call.
The Courage to Be Disliked
The thematic groundwork for J.D.’s personal reset was heavily influenced by recent experiences, including a Thanksgiving road trip to California with Kim and her family. During the long drive, the couple listened to The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga, an audiobook that introduces readers to the psychological worldview of Alfred Adler. Describing the work as a book that might more accurately be titled The Courage to Be Happy, J.D. found it packed with profound insights, though its Socratic dialogue format made certain concepts difficult to digest without the accompanying explanations.
Intrigued by the underlying philosophy, J.D. plans to revisit the material in a digital format to selectively review the standout passages. He has also hinted that a full review or comprehensive summary of Adler’s principles could eventually find its way onto the Get Rich Slowly platform for his readers to explore.
A Values-Driven Life
The broader motivation behind J.D.’s upcoming year is deeply rooted in reclaiming control over personal agency and realigning daily actions with core principles. Highlighting a passage from Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People via his Readwise highlights, J.D. emphasized the stark contrast between reactive and proactive living:
"The ability to subordinate an impulse to a value is the essence of a proactive person. Reactive people are driven by feelings, by circumstances, by conditions, by their environment. Proactive people are driven by values—carefully thought about, selected, and internalized values."
Recognizing that he had drifted into a reactive state where impulses dictated his schedule and core values were sidelined, J.D. has already begun taking tangible steps to flip the script. Recent actions include the removal of distracting applications, such as Reddit and Hearthstone, from his iPad.
While the tone and format of his writing may occasionally shift toward shorter, more conversational reflections rather than exhaustive, long-form guides, J.D. remains fully committed to the community he has built. For now, embracing a values-driven life and stepping into the Year of Me represents the exact path forward.
