Welcome back to the Real Conversations Newsletter!

My name is Jacob O’Connor and I’ve interviewed 300+ high performers for my podcast, Real Conversations. Every Tuesday I send out 3-4 of my biggest takeaways from that weeks podcast episode. Short, concise, and never spam.

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Today’s newsletter post is from this weeks Real Conversation’s episode with Jon Peterson, where we discuss our [ambitious] 2024 Goals. Know someone who you think might be interested in this newsletter? Forward this email to them (we’d appreciate it 😉).

Our 2024 Goals

In 2023, Jon and I recorded an episode on our goals for the year. Though it was uncomfortable, we realized it was a good accountability measure (sharing our goals publicly). We’ve decided to do the same thing for 2024. Here’s 3 of them:

1. Open our Restaurant

Jon and I recently announced via the podcast and LinkedIn, that we would be partnering (again) on a new business. In 2024 we will be bringing an upscale brunch concept, called Another Broken Egg, to Wichita, Kansas.

The agreements have been signed and the money has been wired. We’re hoping to open mid-to-late summer. We’re super excited about this brand and the food is incredible.

We’re confident we’ll achieve this goal, but we wanted to set it because it was more about the amount of work it will it takes to get this off the ground (hint: it’s been a lot). Goal one is to get it open, goal two is fast-tracking our path to profitability.

2. Build in Public

I want to share, in detail, what I’m working on. What’s working for me, and, what’s not.

When I was 16-17 years old, I had a lot of frustration because I knew I wanted to do something meaningful with my life, and I felt like business was the right path to do so, but I didn’t know where to start. I felt like there wasn’t anyone online that was just getting started that I could learn from. Alternatively, I didn’t want to just follow the folks who were 40-50-60 years old and had made a lot of money but weren’t in the trenches, living the 80 hour weeks anymore.

So I’ve decided that in 2024, I’ll build in public, for my younger self and for the people who have reached out to me over the past year sharing they feel how I did when I was younger.

I’ll do this through the podcast, my new YouTube Channel, my Instagram, and LinkedIn. I started a YouTube Channel for the video component— there’s a cool shot from my video two weeks ago of Jon and I in the shell of where our restaurant will go. It’s just the floor, support beams, and unfinished walls. In the moment. Real.

There’s consequences to building in public. It’s scary. I have no clue if the restaurant will be successful or if the podcast will be either. But I think the net impact will be worth sharing the journey.

3. Complete a 100 Mile Ultramarathon

If you’ve been following the podcast for the past year, then you know I started running in 2023. Last year, I did my first ultramarathon and was hooked.

By the end of the year, I had done a marathon, two 50 milers, a 60 miler, and an 80 miler. I had attempted to cross the 100 mile threshold twice (hence the 60 & 80 milers) and failed.

This year, I’m determined to complete 100 miles.

You can watch / listen to the episode here.

You can follow me on Instagram here.

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-Do Hard Things & Live a Meaningful Life-