I'd be curious to hear about how others' 2025 went.
What wins did you have (overcoming fears, business became profitable, etc)?
What did you do poorly or fail at (marketing campaign didn't go well, didn't stick to a diet, etc)?
What lessons can you take away from the year, and what do you hope to do in 2026 (be faster in business, stop putting so much emphasis on others' opinions, etc)?
Overall for me 2025 was a major success, even though much of the success I've experienced is intangible to others.
What wins did you have (overcoming fears, business became profitable, etc)?
- I left my high-paying corporate career, one in which most people get stuck at due to the pay. The slow drip of comfort and complacency is tough to break yourself free from. On my way out I had so many people confiding in me that they wish they had the courage to do what I was doing. I realized how much fear prevents people from doing what they truly want to do.
- Totally overcame my lower back pain, and am sitting around a 275 bench, 385 squat, 435 deadlift at 178 lbs. Not winning any competitions, but at one point, I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to lift again like this. I totally restarted from 0 and built from the ground up. As someone who has been lifting for ~10 years it was a humbling experience to go back to the weight I lifted when I first started.
- My business isn't profitable, but I completed the app and have users. I've realized how much I actually enjoy it, and it's becoming a habit to me in the same way going to the gym is.
- Started posting on social media. Truthfully had a fear of looking like a fool by doing this, but I've embraced it and found I actually enjoy the creative process.
- I stopped talking to friends who were bringing me down. It was long overdue, but better late than never and there's a certain sense of peace that comes with making this decision. Rather go at it alone than with negative people. Fortunately, I'm already meeting more people with a similar mindset and outlook on life (in part due to this forum).
- Stopped caring as much about what others think, and more about what I want to do and who I want to be.
- Joined this forum! Thank you, @MJ DeMarco for creating it.
What did you do poorly or fail at (marketing campaign didn't go well, didn't stick to a diet, etc)?
- I think like most people I tend to lose focus or spend too much time on social media/my phone. This was easier to avoid when I didn't have to be on social media for marketing my app, but it's definitely something I did poorly at.
- I spent way too much time overthinking things in the initial stages of building my app. Also spent too much time doing engineering work that didn't have to be done (tests, CI/CD).
- I could've called my parents more.
- In the beginning part of the year, I had my hand in too many cookie jars so to speak. In the latter half I shifted my focus to be on one thing primarily, the app.
- Rejected from Stanford, Harvard, and Wharton MBAs (this, I feel, will be a blessing in disguise).
What lessons can you take away from the year, and what do you hope to do in 2026 (be faster in business, stop putting so much emphasis on others' opinions, etc)?
- The biggest takeaway this year for me was how much fear prevents people from doing what they want in life, and how that same fear is more of a mirage than reality.
- Consistency is crucial to achieving just about anything. Be patient.
- How different it feels to have more control over my life. In my corporate career, each day I felt like I was putting my life on pause for the amount of time I was working. Yes, I work more now, but it feels like a part of my life, not distinct from it.
- Business, to an extent, feels like the ultimate form of self-improvement, and I feel as if I'm a more well-rounded person than I was starting this year.
- Even if the app fails, I have learned so much that I will feel more confident in the next venture, regardless of what it is.
Looking forward to hearing how the year went for others!
What wins did you have (overcoming fears, business became profitable, etc)?
What did you do poorly or fail at (marketing campaign didn't go well, didn't stick to a diet, etc)?
What lessons can you take away from the year, and what do you hope to do in 2026 (be faster in business, stop putting so much emphasis on others' opinions, etc)?
Overall for me 2025 was a major success, even though much of the success I've experienced is intangible to others.
What wins did you have (overcoming fears, business became profitable, etc)?
- I left my high-paying corporate career, one in which most people get stuck at due to the pay. The slow drip of comfort and complacency is tough to break yourself free from. On my way out I had so many people confiding in me that they wish they had the courage to do what I was doing. I realized how much fear prevents people from doing what they truly want to do.
- Totally overcame my lower back pain, and am sitting around a 275 bench, 385 squat, 435 deadlift at 178 lbs. Not winning any competitions, but at one point, I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to lift again like this. I totally restarted from 0 and built from the ground up. As someone who has been lifting for ~10 years it was a humbling experience to go back to the weight I lifted when I first started.
- My business isn't profitable, but I completed the app and have users. I've realized how much I actually enjoy it, and it's becoming a habit to me in the same way going to the gym is.
- Started posting on social media. Truthfully had a fear of looking like a fool by doing this, but I've embraced it and found I actually enjoy the creative process.
- I stopped talking to friends who were bringing me down. It was long overdue, but better late than never and there's a certain sense of peace that comes with making this decision. Rather go at it alone than with negative people. Fortunately, I'm already meeting more people with a similar mindset and outlook on life (in part due to this forum).
- Stopped caring as much about what others think, and more about what I want to do and who I want to be.
- Joined this forum! Thank you, @MJ DeMarco for creating it.
What did you do poorly or fail at (marketing campaign didn't go well, didn't stick to a diet, etc)?
- I think like most people I tend to lose focus or spend too much time on social media/my phone. This was easier to avoid when I didn't have to be on social media for marketing my app, but it's definitely something I did poorly at.
- I spent way too much time overthinking things in the initial stages of building my app. Also spent too much time doing engineering work that didn't have to be done (tests, CI/CD).
- I could've called my parents more.
- In the beginning part of the year, I had my hand in too many cookie jars so to speak. In the latter half I shifted my focus to be on one thing primarily, the app.
- Rejected from Stanford, Harvard, and Wharton MBAs (this, I feel, will be a blessing in disguise).
What lessons can you take away from the year, and what do you hope to do in 2026 (be faster in business, stop putting so much emphasis on others' opinions, etc)?
- The biggest takeaway this year for me was how much fear prevents people from doing what they want in life, and how that same fear is more of a mirage than reality.
- Consistency is crucial to achieving just about anything. Be patient.
- How different it feels to have more control over my life. In my corporate career, each day I felt like I was putting my life on pause for the amount of time I was working. Yes, I work more now, but it feels like a part of my life, not distinct from it.
- Business, to an extent, feels like the ultimate form of self-improvement, and I feel as if I'm a more well-rounded person than I was starting this year.
- Even if the app fails, I have learned so much that I will feel more confident in the next venture, regardless of what it is.
Looking forward to hearing how the year went for others!
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