Out of all my 23 years of living, this year was incredibly good to me, and for that I have to thank you, the readers and supporters and friends who empowered me to continue to write and create art.

3 years ago, I would have never thought I’d be where I am today.

My entire focus for this blog was to help people help themselves — to realize the untapped power within their own minds, to become the master of their lives, and to live simply. With the feedback and emails received, it’s been an incredible first year.

I want to share my journey because you’ve been a part of this as much as I have:

* From December 2011 going into 2012, I battled with Guttate Psoriasis. It affected my entire body, demolishing my self-esteem. During that time I was making progress in writing and getting my life together, but once the Psoriasis hit me, in a way, I fell apart only to learn how to put myself back together. I learned how powerful our minds really are, and how much untapped power remains. The dermatologist told me the best medication is meditation and light therapy (there’s no cure for Psoriasis). I did both, but I truly believe that meditation had a profound effect. I learned to be still. Silent. To direct my thoughts and not wander. To tell myself a different story. After that experience, that’s when I decided to ditch my old blog and create the one you see today.

* Motivated Mastery launched around February.

* After launching MM, I shipped Building An Empire With Words, my first eBook, which sold 3,000 copies in a matter of two months. Not bad for a first-time self-published book, right? My friend Jeff Goins wrote the foreword and really set the tone; he also empowered me become the writer I am today.

* I had guest posts accepted on amazing blogs such as Copyblogger, Dumb Little Man, Tiny Buddha, and was granted access to be a contributor for Lifehack, and more. I even did an interview with Andy Traub, an incredible podcaster and overall great guy.

* I shipped Reignite, a project that I was working on right after I shipped Building An Empire With Words. It took 7-8 months, but I shipped it. The analytics are messed up on it, or I just did it incorrectly, but I’m sure it has been downloaded over 4,000 times, maybe more.

* I had the honor of meeting and learning from Seth Godin in his 3-day intensive seminar, which I wrote about my experience here. It was simply life-changing. I would call that a Defining Moment in my life. When I’m old and write my autobiography, I’m sure I will mention this specific moment in my life. Words cannot express my gratitude for what happened during those 3 days, the people I met, the times we enjoyed. Thank you, Seth.

* I met amazing bloggers and writers and entrepreneurs, which opened up more opportunities to share my work, create, learn, take part in projects, and grow.

* I am going to be writing for a fitness startup called MarinoFit — a program used by a trainer Marv Marinovich, who trains all kinds of professional athletes. I will be the head of content and anything blog related.

* My friend Idil, who leads a loving tribe of 1 million twitter followers, is finally writing a book. Her and I are working together, plus many more projects in 2013.

* I am going to be redesigning the blog. The site doesn’t look too bad now, but I strive for excellence; I want better. I care about my readers, so I want the platform to be remarkable, friendly, engaging, educational, and beautiful. It’s amazing what design can do… it really is.

* I rediscovered the power of reading. I read over 45 books this year — more than I’ve ever read in my whole life combined. Needless to say, I’ve learned more than I thought my brain could handle. And there’s still more to be learned.

* I received an incredible amount of emails from people all over the world — from India to China to California to the Cayman Islands, Japan, Australia, London, and more — thanking me for sharing my work, providing value, and being of service. That fuels me. I had many conversations where people shared their story and if they had a specific problem, I helped them figure it out or pointed to resources.

I am so humbled, so honored to be doing what I do. This was just the first year!

Reflecting back on all of this, it just goes to show you that life is a journey, not a destination. At first, self-doubt was present, but this time it was different: I leveraged that self-doubt and transmuted it into fuel to give me the spark that I needed.

My promise is this: I will continue to work harder, exercise my craft relentlessly, provide value, be of service, relentlessly learn and grow and connect. I have to thank you and my friends who helped me get to where I am today.

I hope I made a difference in your life and provided something meaningful — and I strive to continue to do so.

Most of all, I hope that when you do figure things out and learn on your own and find your way, I hope you share it with someone else and help them as well. We all need it.

Thank you for your attention, trust, and time. 2013 will only be better.

The best is yet to come.