As we close out 2024, I spent part of this last day of the year driving around St. John, the least populated island of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and a place we've visited this time of year five years running.

This may not seem like much of an accomplishment, but I assure you that some of the roads around here are quite treacherous -- the hills can be very steep, so you'd better hit that accelerator, and as you approach the top you can't see the road in front of you anymore because you're about to be going down again, and you're too high up to see the road that's about to be beneath you.

Oh, and you're also driving on the left-hand side of the road (but unlike in places like the U.K., where they also drive on the left, the steering wheel is also on the left), so you're defying all your usual instincts, as I'm doing in this picture from today:

Out of the corner of my eye I caught my wife praying several times.

On a lighter note, we had to pause for some donkeys in the road:
 

This is the message I sent my adult children from here just hours ago:
 

My dear girls:

Another new year is nearly upon us. I'll reach it an hour earlier than you, because of the St. John time zone. I'll let you know how 2025 is going!

I have wonderful memories of 2024, thanks to you -- the Iceland trip perhaps chief among them.
 

Now when I was your age, I thought the hoopla about a new year was kind of silly: what, after all, is the difference between December 31 and January 1?

But as I've gotten older, I no longer think it's so silly.

I now think: how many new years will I welcome in during my life? Not very many.

And I've also become much more reflective. When I was younger, time seemed infinite. There'd always be time to get to those things I wanted to do.

But now I realize: I'm going to need to take decisive action if I want to reach my goals.

So now I'm telling you what I wish my older self had been able to tell me.

I would never urge you to be a workaholic, or to begrudge yourselves relaxation or simple pleasures. That isn't my point.

But if you should want to learn an instrument, or another language, develop a new skill, or prepare for the next stage in your life, there's no time like the present.

I've got some goals for 2025 that I'll share with you when I see you, because the more trusted people in my life who know about them, the more likely I am to accomplish them.

The easiest thing to do in life is drift. Unless we make a conscious decision to fight against apathy and inertia, that is what we wind up doing.

More challenging, but more fulfilling, is to captain that ship of yours, and direct it toward where you want to go, so that you wind up with the fewest possible regrets and what-ifs.

And a new year is an opportune moment to take stock, think ahead, and formulate a plan for getting where you want to be.

I've been telling people on my mailing lists: bend that new year to your will. Good advice!

Thank you for the happiness you all bring me, and here's hoping for great things for you all in 2025.

Love,

Dad

So we've reached the moment when one year turns into another, which means the clock is hitting zero on my Crusher goals program.

No matter how pleased we are with our lives, there's always another challenge, something more, we can strive for.

And no matter how unhappy or frustrated, the right kind of plan and determination can make all the difference.

My special is about to end. I hope you'll break with the pack and join me in doing something new and different and exciting in this new year:

https://www.2025Crusher.com

Tom Woods