I set some ambitious goals last yea. Looking back at my notes, I realized I wasn’t as thoughtful about how I reflected on the year or set goals. Part of it was due to circumstances, but it resulted in me setting goals that, in retrospect, didn’t make much sense. My goals last year were to:
- ❌ Grow Omniscient’s revenue 67% – Didn’t grow this much but the business did grow in terms of top line revenue and headcount. Now we have the capacity and systems in place for growth.
- ❌ Host a meetup once a quarter – I attempted a few of these over the years and either it’s challenging or I just don’t have the pull in Boston or both, but they haven’t worked well. I may stick to one-on-one coffees and small dinners instead.
- ✅ One personal project and/or high-quality leisure time activity each month – I didn’t do one a month, but considering circumstances, I’m glad I made time to do activities and see friends each month.
- ❌ Join the 900 club – Didn’t make it, but made progress.
- ✅ Take 2 vacations, at least a week off each time – I did this, but the trips weren’t very relaxing.
Overall, work took a lot of my time this year. I had less time for play and managing my mental state. I often felt stressed and/or anxious because I got caught up in everything. I didn’t give myself enough space to zoom out, process, reflect, prioritize, and move forward with clarity.
Keeping that in mind, the good news is I think I did well creating space for my relationships despite feeling like work was demanding more of my time.
I’ve been reflecting on this dynamic a lot and am prioritizing more space and time for relationships going into next year.
Annual Playlist
Friends & Family
Got engaged.
Definitely the biggest thing that happened this year (:
Relationship workshops with my partner
This year, my partner proposed that we do these couples workshops to help us plan a future together. We’re both big planners, so it made sense. Through a series of workshops, we aligned on our goals, what we want out of life, discussed finances and timeline for life events, and reflected on how we communicate with each other. These workshops were a highlight of my year.
Partner graduated business school.
My partner also got her MBA! It was about her, but it also required a lot of adaptability on both our parts and me being able to support while running a business. It wasn’t always smooth, but we learned a lot.
Friend’s weddings.
Two of my closest friends got married this year so it felt like a big reunion of friends I don’t see often. I also went on my first bachelor’s party.
Regularly seeing friends.
A friend told me that “friendship is an imposition,” and it stuck with me. I’m not comfortable “imposing” myself on others. What I consider “imposing” may not be considered that by others. So I’ve been working on this. I’d say we get together with friends 1-2 times a month, not as frequently as we’d like, but with work, family, friends, and the messiness of life, I’m glad we’re able to have that time.
Fun
Tried new activities.
I tried a few new things this year to test out my interest: Archery, pottery, music production. I enjoyed them but not enough where I felt myself thinking about it a lot. Music production felt too close to work: I was sitting on a laptop with headphones on. I decided the type of hobby I needed had to be physical. That’s how I landed at…
Back at Muay Thai.
I’ve been going to classes 3-4 times a month. It was still the first thing to go once work got busy, but I still went 1-2 times a month. I’ve started sparring, which has been really fun. I’ve been watching ONE Championship fights regularly as well. It’s been great to have something that takes my mind completely off of work.
Joined a new gym.
I went to the same gym for about 5 years. It was no-frills, literally underneath an H Mart, and had a powerlifting culture. But it was often inconvenient due to the location. I had to drive there and parking was often a pain. My partner suggested I try out another gym that had opened up called Republic Fitness. It was double the price, so I was hesitant, but I really enjoyed my trial. The gym is well-lit, the shower and locker rooms are clean, and they have high-quality equipment. Their recovery spa (sauna, jacuzzi, steam room, and cold plunge) was a massive selling point.
Travel
Did a good amount of traveling, mostly for work, though I think this was less travel than last year.
- Aruba – For a bachelor’s party
- Austin – Spryng conference
- Belgrade, Serbia – Omniscient team offsite
- Budapest, Hungary – Vacation
- Chicago – Omniscient leadership offsite
- Ljublana, Slovenia – Vacation
- Miami – A mid-year reset, relax on the beach, and have a couple’s workshop
- New York x2 – For a business partner offsite one, and the second time to support a friend who ran the NY Marathon
- San Francisco – Mercury Spheres conference
- Washington DC – Work trip and client visit
Health
Making progress toward 900lb club.
I didn’t hit the 900lb club but I’m feeling good about my progress and see a path there. I weigh 155lbs and currently at:
- Deadlift: 315lb – Broke 300lb for the first time
- Squat: 280lb – Planning to break 300lb in 2026
- Bench: 210lb – Broke 200lb for the first time
- Total: 805lb
Mindset management.
I naturally have a desire for control. It’s not great. My partner knows it, my business partners and best friends know it, my family knows it. It has gotten in the way at times, fortunately, not as bad as I’ve seen for others.
I’ve intentionally worked on this with my coach over the last 4 years. There were moments when I wasn’t sure why I reacted a certain way and later had to admit it had something to do with trust. I’m continuing to let go and trust others more. It has been challenging, but necessary for me to allow myself, my relationships, and the business to blossom.
Did a weekend getaway.
I used to do these quarterly but they’re more like 1-2 times a year now. Went to Lumen Nature Retreat in New Hampshire for a night. It was less than 48 hours, but it gave me a much-needed reset.
100 days of no alcohol.
Felt great. I don’t care to drink alcohol much anymore. It wasn’t difficult. I realize I just like having a tasty beverage and restaurants and bars offer plenty of non-alcoholic beverage options now.
Business
Grew Omniscient about 15% top line.
We were hoping for more growth but realized we had to build some more infrastructure before we could scale. We maintained profitability, gave the team raises, and the partners got small raises. The team is about 30 employees now.
Brought on operations help.
We brought on a COO consultant who previously helped build a competitive agency that we admire. He has helped us leap frog a lot of mistakes, leveled up how we think about scaling, and our role as leaders.
Built the org for scale.
We brought on back office support like a Talent Lead to own end-to-end recruiting, a Financial Controller to help us scale responsibly, a Project Manager to keep things moving forward, and our first Account Manager to help manage our largest client accounts. We also brought on more senior team members who bring experience to their respective roles. We also had to update our processes with AI in mind. It was a lot of change that the business is still digesting, but we’re in a better spot now.
Brought on massive enterprise and public company logos.
We can’t share who they are, but it was a big point of celebration for us.
Favorite Books
I didn’t read many books this year, but the ones that stood out are:
- The Paper Menagerie
- eBoys: The First Inside Account of Venture Capitalists at Work
Favorite Shows, Movies, & Series
I watched fewer shows this year as well:
- The End of An Era
- House of Guinness
- Wednesday
- The Bear Season 4
- Severance Season 2
- Pluribus
2026 Experiences & Goals
My goals continue to be very simple and straightforward and can be summed up as: build a life with my partner, invest in relationships, build a business, stay healthy, and have fun doing it.
- Two “big” vacations, including a Muay Thai retreat
- Go skiing at least 3 times
- Wedding planning
- Hit 900lb (deadlift: 360lb, squat: 315lb, bench: 225lb)
- Quarterly reset retreat
- Grow Omniscient’s top line revenue 76%
2026 Theme: Grace and space.
I put a lot of pressure on myself this year as the business grew and as life became more complex. My partner and I have integrated how we plan for the year including personal and work trips, time with family and friends, personal goals, relationship goals, etc. What already felt ambitious for just myself has now more than doubled in complexity. It has been a learning experience.
I’ll need to give myself some grace this coming year. Life will continue to be busy. The business will continue to grow. The universe will throw random challenges our way. But I have to remind myself not to get caught up in the chaos.
I must create space to zoom out, process, reflect, prioritize, trust, delegate, and focus. That’s a lot of verbs, but I’ll need a combination of all of that, perhaps with different weightings depending on circumstances, to avoid getting tangled up in stress and anxiety throughout the year.
Giving myself that grace and space, will enable me, my relationships, and the business to blossom.
Those things cannot happen under stress and they cannot happen if I inadvertently fight against them by trying to control things.
Grace and space.
Previous reviews:
- 2023 Review
- 2022 Review
- 2021 Review
- 2020 Review
- 2019 Review
- 2018 Review
- 2017 Review
- 2016 Review
- 2015 Review
- 2014 Review
- 2012 Review
