Lessons that showed up through writing, work, and paying attention.
One of the best parts of the holiday season is the inevitable slowdown between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.
Emails slow down. Replies become rare. Even the boss feels a little less grumpy.
That pause creates space to notice patterns.
The ideas you returned to.
The beliefs you tested.
The lessons you finally stopped arguing with.
Everybody loves a good list. BuzzFeed built an entire business on them in the 2000s. So I decided to put one together of my own, focused on the 12 Things (get it?) I learned this year.
There was no master plan or spreadsheet waiting for me at the end of 2024. These lessons surfaced through writing, conversations, and moments that stacked up over the past twelve months.
As the year closes, here are twelve things 2025 taught me.
“Change isn’t a threat. It’s the baseline. The skill is learning how to move with it.”
“Our attention isn’t shrinking. It’s sharpening around what matters.”
“People who last stay curious, keep learning new tools, and stay willing to experiment.”
“Talking about failure while it’s happening builds a different kind of trust.”
“Involuntary kindness shows us who we are before we have time to explain ourselves.”
“The laugh only comes after the idea lands clearly.”
“A single goal rarely holds a life together. Direction does.”
“The cure is to aim for a life, not a job.”
“New tools don’t remove responsibility. They raise the bar for how we think and decide.”
“Trust forms when people see how you think over time, not when things look perfect.”
“When everything ties to a single outcome, growth gets fragile.”
“Our instincts reveal what we value before we explain ourselves.”
New tools were added.
Old assumptions were deleted.
The fundamentals held.
Learning mattered.
Clarity mattered.
Being human mattered.
As Christmas arrives and a new year begins, one lesson rises above the rest. Progress comes from holding onto what works while everything else moves.
Thanks for reading and for spending a little time here each week.
I will see you in 2026.
