Minute With Mallon: Gratitude and Growth!

Welcome to Minute with Mallon!

Dear valued subscribers,

As we close the chapter on another year and step into 2025, I want to pause and share my heartfelt gratitude with each of you. Thank you for your support, your engagement, and for being a part of this community. Your commitment to reading and applying the ideas shared here is what makes this journey meaningful for me, and I'm deeply thankful.

Over the past year, we’ve explored tools, insights, and strategies to help you grow as leaders and individuals. My hope is that these resources have not only been useful but have also inspired you to lead with greater clarity and purpose. As we move into 2025, I pray that you continue to embrace challenges, seize opportunities, and lead boldly.

Wishing you a year of continued growth, success, and fulfillment in every aspect of your life!
On the last newsletter of the year, I want to hold myself accountable to you.  Below you'll find a couple of accountability items that I made to myself at the beginning of the year and that I'd like to share with you.  I know that I'll have to report to you each year so this helps me say yes when I want to say no.  These go along with Pearson's Law which we discussed earlier in the year:

Something I Learned:

Well, this is part of how I chose to learn this year!

I committed to reading 35 books, and ended up with 44!  The ones that I rated 9's or 10's I'd fully recommend if you're looking to explore some great reading.  I do my best to investigate books before reading them, but as you can see, sometimes a "not great one" slips through. 📖

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body."

Joseph Addison

 My 2024 Reading List:

1. The Things We Cannot Say.  Kelly Rimmer. 1.4.24. (7) A

2. Be Useful. Arnold Schwarzenegger. 1.11.24. (9) A

3. The Prince of Tides. Pat Conroy. 1.25.24. (10) A

4. The Terminal List. Jack Carr. 2.13.24. (10) A

5. The Psychology of Money. Morgan Housel. 2.18.24. (9)

6. The Tattooist of Auschwitz.  Heather Morris.  2.20.24. (9)

7. As a Man Thinketh. James Allen. 2.20.24. (10)

8. Justice Redeemed. Scott Pratt. 2.8.24. (10)

9. The True Measure of a Man. Richard E Simmons III. 3.15.24. (10)

10.  Stay Sane In An Insane World. Greg Harmon. 3.31.24. (8)

11.  Field of Bones.  JA Jance. 4.1.24. (5)

12.  Water is Wide.  Pat Conroy.  4.9.24.  (10)

13.  Big Two-Hearted River. Ernest Hemingway.4.23.24 (4)

14.  All the Broken Places.  John Boyle.  5.3.24  (10)

15.  The Women.  Kristin Hannah.  5-4-24.  (11)

16.  If You Really Want to Help. Kurt Chandler. 5.11.24.  (10)

17.  The Effective Manager. Mark Horstman. 5.16.24. (10)

18.  The Glass Castle. Jeanette Walls. 5.21.24. (8)

19.  My Plan For Living to 156. Dan Sullivan. 5.22.24. (10)

20.  South of Broad. Pat Conroy.6.2.24 (9)

21.  The Inmate. Freida McFadden. 6.5.24 (6)

22.  Get Out Of Your Head. Jeannie Allen. 6.10.24 (8)

23.  Kitchen Confidential. Anthony Bourdain. 6.11.24. (10)

24.  Fields of Gold. Andy Stanley. 6.26.24. (9)

25.  Talking to Strangers. Malcolm Gladwell. 7.7.24 (7)

26.  Will The Circle Be Unbroken. Sean Dietrich. 7.9.24. (10)

27.  The Dream Manager. Matthew Kelly. 7.16.24. (10)

28.  The 6:20 Man. David Baldacci. 7.20.24. (8)

29.  Putting Out Of Your Mind. Dr. Bob Rotella. 7.25.24. (9)

30.  The Lonely Silver Rain. John D MacDonald. 8.10.24. (10)

31.  The New Testament. God. 8.12.24. (100!)

32.  Good Morning Monster. Catherine Gildener. 8.17.24. (9)

33.  Life’s Too Short. Darius Rucker. 8.20.24. (10)

34.  Home Front. Kristin Hannah. 9.2.24. (6)

35.  The 80/20 CEO.  Bill Canada. 9.5.24. (7)

36.  5 Types Of People Who Can Ruin Your Life. Bill Eddy. 9.20.24. (9)

37.  The Wife Upstairs. Freida McFadden. 9.24.24 (7)

38.  A Calamity Of Souls. David Baldacci. 10.13.24. (8)

39.  The Teacher. Freida McFadden. 10.21.24 (8)

40.  A Deadly Shade of Gold.  John D. MacDonald. 10-29.24. (7)

41.  The Hunger Habit. Judson Brewer. 11.9.24. (10)

42.  Never Lie. Freida McFadden. 11.18.24  (6)

43.  The Power of Purpose. Bruce R. Witt. 11.29.24. (8)

44.  Die With Zero. Bill Perkins. 12.20.24. (10)

My 2024 Exercise Goal:

Also, since 2006, I have diligently tracked my workouts. For the past 6 years, I have consistently achieved the goal of completing 300 or more exercise sessions each year, including this year, which I accomplished once again on December 23rd. 🚀 Probably going to end up with 305-306. 

These consisted mainly of lifting weights, Pickleball (PB), Disc Golf (Purple with numbers) and other assorted things.  If you'd like a fresh copy of this worksheet, you can download it here: Annual Workout Tracker 

My 2024 Time Off Goal:

One final goal I’d like to share is about taking time off and prioritizing rest. My target was to take five week-long vacations and four 3-4 day weekend retreats throughout the year. I’m grateful to say that Sandy and I surpassed that, taking six full weeks of vacation and eight weekend retreats!  

Something that may help you: We always schedule these between Christmas and New Years the year before.  We usually have no idea where we’re going but we block off time on our calendars to make sure they happen. Maybe an idea you’d like to incorporate!!!    

Hope you have a wonderful New Year and look forward to connecting again the first week of January!  ❤️🎉💪🏻

Robert

Want to share this issue of the newsletter via text, social media, or email? Just copy and paste this link: RobertMallon.com/Newsletter