𝟲 Lessons Learned in 2022

and a NEW YouTube video (below) is now live.

2022, Whoa. The best year of my life!

Let’s break it down into three parts:

1. 7 things that went well.

2. 6 Lessons I learned in the last 12 months! 

3. 5 goals for 2023 that I plan to make happen!

7 Things That Went Well This Year. 

This whole thing started December 11, 2022. And the truth is, I didn’t know what was about to happen. 

All I knew was…

1. I loved playing pickleball and wanted to see if I could become a pro. 

2. I loved content and wanted to see how that might intersect with #1. 

So I decided…

Let’s do it and see what happens. 

It’s been a little over a year since that moment and as I reflect on it all, I’ve realized…

It was the best year of my life. Here’s some of the highlights:

1. On December 11, 2022 I posted on Instagram that I wanted to become a pro pickleball player and would spend the next 12 months working to get there. For all intents and purposes, I’ve accomplished that. 

2. In the last year, I brainstormed, filmed, edited, and posted 284 videos that reached more than 10 million people. And by making all those videos, I’ve amassed an audience of more than 16,000 followers across all platforms.

3. I wrote my first newsletter edition on December 16, 2021 So what you’re reading now is edition 54 — all in a row. For the first 17 weeks, I sent my newsletter out to 71 people. Now, I have more than 2,000 subscribers receiving this email. I am grateful to everyone who reads this on a weekly basis!

4. Meeting awesome people. Famous people. New playing partners. New friends. It’s been wild!

5. NFL legend Larry Fitzgerald told me (last week), I make the best content in pickleball. That was awesome!

6. I stepped away from my full-time job to go full-time in pickleball. I have been training for tournaments and creating content!

7. I started a YouTube channel, that in the last 13 days, has already amassed 1,630 subscribers! 😳 Here’s the latest video that I published today. The backstory behind the two Tyson McGuffin Impersonation videos I did.

Six Lessons Learned In The Last 12 Months

Some of my major lessons from this year include: 

1. When inspiration strikes, act.

   1. Ideas are precious. I can’t tell you how many times I had an idea when I was on a walk or in the shower. Then, five minutes later I was writing a script, calling a friend, or filming a video. Do this enough times and you’ll strike gold a few times. 

2. Whatever you do, find good people to do it with. 

   1. Yeah this one’s kinda obvious, but wow was I reminded how great this is to share the good and the bad with the people you enjoy most! I met other guys also making pickleball content, and we bonded immediately. I met other guys working to become pro players, and we bonded immediately. And I have my core community of friends in Phoenix who’ve followed my journey, and even started playing themselves. Our lives are better when we’re living in a community of like-minded people.

3. To get good, you have to suck first. 

   1. No one watched my first videos. No one read my first newsletters. And no one saw my first pickleball matches (they still don’t watch). 😂. But you see what I’m getting at here. Most people don’t do something new because they know they’ll suck at first. And sucking is usually a feeling we avoid at all costs. But here’s the thing. Sure it’s fun to be great at something, but in my opinion, what’s even more fun is the journey to get there. It makes being good that much more satisfying. I’m excited for the day when in my mind, I truly get good at pickleball and good at making content. 

4. When your heart is pulling you (hard), listen. 

   1. I left my full-time job to go full-time in pickleball. I loved that job. The work I was doing was fun and inspiring, and the people I worked with alongside me are some of my close friends. But, (and you knew there was a but coming), my heart was pulling me hard into this new direction. And that was something I couldn’t ignore. So whatever your heart is pulling you toward for 2023, consider listening. It might just change everything.

5. You don’t improve by just wanting to improve. 

   1. We all fall into this trap. We say we want something, but the actions we have don’t always align with the words we say. So to truly get what we want, we must change. And I had to do that multiple times throughout the year when what I said I wanted wasn’t quite in line with how I showed up each day! Let’s both change that headed into 2023.

6. Try a lot of things so you can find your thing. 

   1. Most have no clue what they want in their life. But they know what they’re currently doing isn’t it. Here’s some advice from someone, who at 29, feels like they truly found “their thing.” Try a lot of stuff. See what you like and don’t like. I always wanted to start a business, so six years ago, I started this little business selling hats. Then I wanted to be a comedian, so I pursued that. Then I wanted to be a videographer, so I pursued that. Then I wanted to become really good at playing the guitar, so I tried that. The point is, try a lot of stuff until you find the thing you really want so you can go all in. Trust me, it’s out there if you look hard enough.

5 Goals For 2023 

1. Medal in an official pro tournament and be good enough to get drafted into Major League Pickleball in 2024.

2. Become a top 50 player according to DUPR and World Pickleball rankings by the end of 2023. 

3. Build the most informative & entertaining pickleball course that exists to help players improve. 

4. Share interesting pickleball stories of good people doing cool things. 

   1. I’ve already started experimenting working on this in partnership with my mom, who’s a talented freelance writer. 

5. Invest in one pickleball company.

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2023 is going to be an awesome year and I plan to continue sharing as much about the game as I can on a weekly basis. 

Except for next week. ha!

I’m taking one week off to relax a little bit and transition to a different platform that will give me more ability to create fun and helpful stuff for you all!

See you in 2 weeks!

Happy Holidays, 

Kyle