Year in Review - 2025

Is it already the end of 2025? Wow.

Last year, I wrote a Year in Review with time to spare. Not so much this year - I've been working on projects in Claude Code before the new year starts and time just got away from me.

So this post will be a far lighter effort than the one before.

But I knew what theme this year would be about even before it was over.

Last year, I said it was clarity.

This year, it's been connection.

And I have a feeling I know what next year's theme will be, even before 2026 has arrived.

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For a year marked by connection, it hasn't been as networking focused as last year's. I still did met new people - I joined Sidebar, completed the Time Well Spent productivity bootcamp, co-authored a book, and met more people on LinkedIn.

But for me, this year was about connecting to myself.

I had a strange sense of missing everything in a senseless blur that I knew I wanted to get a handle on. When days start to feel like they never happened, was I really even experiencing anything?

I mentioned last year we're planning on starting a family. I didn't want to miss out on being a parent because I didn't know how to be present.

So I went to therapy. Better Help, and somatic embodiment coaching through Spring Health. I met people online in private groups who were all struggling with issues they thought they were alone in.

But the bigger conversations I've had with people this year didn't have much to do with career or personal challenges. They were all about AI and whether we as a society were really building towards a future worth pursuing. And the general sense that something's rotten in the state of Denmark (the Hamlet reference, not the country).

If you happened to pick up a copy of AI: Thriving in a World with Smart Machines and saw my chapter, you're probably not surprised by the topic I chose. I'm concerned about AI accelerating problems that already exist in the US, like extreme wealth inequality, the loss of trust in institutions, just to name a few. Turns out I'm not alone in this.

I won't spend this article getting into those details, I plan to write more about the topic in the future.

I can say though, that this year my journey towards inward connection has been a great success, albeit through paths I didn't expect to.

Thanks to coaching and therapy, my mind was ready for a downshift when I traveled abroad this year. It was in Greece that I realized I'd be prouder of myself for building something of my own than chasing the career ladder.

It was in Japan that I experienced what it felt like to be a member of society, to know what sacredness felt like, and how to really stay present. I joke that Japan was like a bootcamp on presence and mindfulness, and it's something you'd have to experience for yourself to feel it.

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This year has also been a lot of building. I haven't been great at sharing what I've been working on behind the scenes, and what I have shared so far are only a fraction of all the projects I've started in learning how to use tools effectively to vibe code (I've written a few posts about the experience).

It's amazing how far vibe coding has come in a year. I don't think we fully appreciate how much power this gives us as individuals to not only work more efficiently, but to make a difference in the world. There's quite a few projects I've come up with over the holidays to address problems like:

• Helping job seekers ID which companies to work for

• Determining if your congressmen are representing your values

• Finding engaging social media content without endless scrolling

• Co-creating knowledge docs with cohesive logical consistency

Things I plan on sharing a bit more about in the future, as I make more progress.

There's been one project though, that I've been nursing since last year. The more I vibe code the more I realize how hairy and difficult this product vision is to execute, but I haven't given up on it yet.

I wanted to make it easy for anyone to brain dump their thoughts, notes, transcripts and have it automatically organized, sorted, entered into planning tools, setup reminders, synced across multiple project and planning views, pulling knowledge from process documents that are auto-generated and auto-maintained - so nobody has to do it all.

But after Japan, I realized there was no way to finish everything on your to do list.

And it was the wrong goal for the product to begin with.

What I think we need isn't another productivity tool - we need a tool to help us sort out the patterns from our lives, track and celebrate the intent and kindness with which we live our days, and help us see meaningful progress with patience and encouragement.

I think of the people I've met over the past few years, and how our career journeys always start the same way - what is it that you're reaching for? Is it even the path you actually want or just the one you think you're supposed to?

Without being connected to ourselves and how we live our days, how can we expect to know how to live our lives?

I'm hopeful I'll really get to tackle this revitalized product vision next year.

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Wow, how can I forget?

I met Tracy Otsuka and was on her podcast, ADHD for Smart Ass Women this year.

I haven't shared this out widely - I haven't even listened to my own episode. I figured I already know everything I shared. But it's really because I'm a little embarrassed about being interviewed.

I'm not sure what possessed me to apply to be on Tracy's podcast - it was a spur of a moment reaction to one of her guest's comments that set off a number of exciting thoughts and chain reactions. And all of a sudden, I get an email saying I'm in.

Impulsivity, anyone?

Tracy's an amazing host. If anything, it was really great getting to meet someone who's had such an impact on my own life.

Edit: I remember now that I claimed I was a ChatGPT user in the interview. These days, it's been Claude Code and Perplexity for a majority of my workflow.

That's all for this year, for now.

Next year, I'm predicting it will be all about change.

I'm hopeful they're positive ones.

Happy New Year's.