Craft your character this year
In 1983, U2 released a song called New Year’s Day that begins with the line “All is quiet on New Year's Day.”
That line captures a sad reality: New Year's Day is the wet blanket of the holiday season. New Year’s Day has no well-defined food or traditions. It is a day more known for recovery than celebration.
I view New Year's Day as a chance to reflect and prepare.
That is why I made it a tradition here at This for That to greet readers on the first morning of the New Year with an uplifting message to start the year:
This year, I’m offering you a quote from one of my favorite writers. I hope it spurs you in 2025.
You'll also find a collection of my favorites from 2024 below.
Craft your own narrative
Michael Lewis, the bestselling author of non-fiction books like Moneyball and The Big Short, has spent years interviewing people and turning them into characters in his books. He listens carefully to the narrative they craft about themselves to inform the the character they become in his book. In doing so, Lewis understands how the stories we tell ourselves come to define us.
Michael Lewis said this during an interview in 2020:
“As I got older, I could not help but notice the effect on people of the stories they told about themselves. If you listen to people, if you just sit and listen, you’ll find that there are patterns in the way that they talk about themselves. There’s the kind of person who’s always the victim in any story they tell – always on the receiving end of some injustice. There’s the person who’s always kind of the hero in any story they tell. The smart person – they deliver the clever putdown. There are lots of versions of this. And you’ve got to be very careful about how you tell these stories because it starts to become you. You are, in the way you craft your narrative, kind of crafting your character. And so, I did at some point decide I am going to adopt, self-consciously as my narrative, that I’m the happiest person anybody knows. And it is amazing how happy-inducing it is.”
There is so much I will not be able to control this year, like the economy, my health and the behavior of those around me.
But, as Michael Lewis points out, I can craft the story I tell myself about who I am. I can define my own character.
You can too.
Top TfT Posts 2024
Based on pageviews, the top This for That posts this year:
My Favorites from 2024
TV shows:
Industry (Max)
Black Doves (Netflix)
Movies:
Drama: Whiplash (Amazon), 2014
Comedy: Hit Man (Netflix)
Animated: Inside Out 2 (Disney+)
Books:
Fiction:
Non-fiction:
Songs:
Hip-hop: They Not Like Us, Kendrick Lamar
Country: Bar Song, Shaboozey
Podcasts: too many to list but here are a few standouts:
Newsletters:
Economics & policy: Noahpinion
Technology: Lenny’s Newsletter
Fun: 5 Tweet Tuesday
If you have any suggestions for TfT posts in 2025, including partnerships you want to see covered or partnerships challenges, please reply and let me know.
