After months of navigating grief and personal reassessment, J.D., the founder of the popular personal finance blog Get Rich Slowly, has announced a major shift in focus. In a candid update to his readers, he declared that 2023 will officially be "The Year of Me," a deliberate and much-needed period dedicated entirely to his own physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
The announcement comes roughly two months after the death of J.D.’s mother, an event that plunged him into a heavy period of grief and introspection. Now, as the emotional fog begins to clear, he finds himself rediscovering the motivation to pursue productive endeavors once again. However, rather than immediately diving back into the relentless pace of content creation and digital entrepreneurship, he has chosen to prioritize self-care—a departure from years of putting his own needs at the bottom of a long list of obligations.
Reflecting on his past habits, J.D. noted that he used to regularly theme his years and months, a practice he found both enjoyable and remarkably fruitful. Whether he was channeling his energy into fitness, writing, or dating, dedicating a specific span of time to a singular focus consistently yielded positive results. Over time, however, that intentional habit fell by the wayside.
For more than a decade, J.D. admits, he has routinely placed himself second, third, or even ninth in his own life. Beginning this year, he aims to reverse that trend entirely. While he acknowledges that prioritizing himself feels unnatural, uncomfortable, and even occasionally selfish, he recognizes it as a necessary step. For the foreseeable future, personal health and mental clarity take precedence, a change he believes will ultimately make him a better person for those around him—including his partner, Kim, and his loyal readership.
For the readers of Get Rich Slowly, the shift will likely be internal rather than disruptive. J.D. has explicitly given himself permission to put his own needs ahead of everything else, though he anticipates this renewed self-awareness will naturally generate fresh material and insights for the blog. Among other long-awaited milestones, he hopes to finally complete the long-overdue site redesign.
However, as part of this new philosophy, J.D. is intentionally stepping away from rigid publishing schedules and production pressures. Moving forward, he plans to write organically: if he has something meaningful to say, he will publish it; if not, he will refrain from forcing content. This approach reflects his ongoing exploration of lifestyle design, including exercises from Bill Burnett and Dave Evans’s book Designing Your Life, which he has been working through during quiet moments.
The Courage to Be Disliked
A significant catalyst for this mindset shift came during a Thanksgiving road trip to California with Kim and her family. To pass the hours on the road, the couple listened to the audiobook The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga, a work that explores the psychological framework of Alfred Adler and advocates for radical personal responsibility and freedom from the expectations of others.
J.D. noted that the book, which he jokingly suggested ought to be titled The Courage to Be Happy, is packed with profound insights. While the conversational, Socratic dialogue style of the book made certain philosophical points difficult to digest initially without its broader context, the core message resonated deeply with him and Kim. So profound was the impact that J.D. plans to revisit the text in Kindle format to skim for its standout lessons, and he has hinted that a comprehensive review and summary of the book may eventually appear on Get Rich Slowly.
The themes of the book tie directly into J.D.’s broader realization that he has spent too much time allowing external circumstances, distractions, and minor impulses to dictate his daily routine.
A Values-Driven Life
To anchor his new direction, J.D. highlighted a passage that recently resurfaced through his Readwise highlights, drawn from Stephen R. Covey’s foundational work, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey writes: "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."
Reflecting on this quote, J.D. recognized that he had somehow lost his ability to govern his impulses while simultaneously drifting away from his core values. In response, he has already begun taking tangible steps to reclaim his focus, such as uninstalling distracting applications like Reddit and Hearthstone from his iPad. The overarching goal is to transition away from reactive habits and begin putting his carefully chosen values back into active practice.
While this new chapter may usher in shorter, more conversational blog posts—reflecting the spontaneous style of his recent updates—J.D. assures readers that he is not abandoning long-form or focused writing altogether. Instead, for the duration of his "Year of Me," he is embracing an authentic, lower-pressure approach to blogging that aligns more closely with his current state of mind and personal growth.
