I started this year in a dark place.

Nothing felt right, but I had this one belief I kept coming back to: "A crisis is a terrible thing to waste." Arnold said that.

I moved. I built. I didn't stop.

This year, my art was movement - running, lifting, playing sports, showing up for my body every single day. In parallel, I built better systems, systems that removed friction and rewarded consistency. beehiiv was part of that.

Some days I was out there surfing; some days I was on the shore, prepping.

Let's dive in.

Some days you surf, some days you prep.

Most people think progress is linear; you either win or you don't.

But the best builders know: some days you're catching waves, and some days you're on the shore, waxing the board.

This year taught me that the prep days matter as much as the performance days.

I worked on things that won't pay off for years: systems, writing loops, audience foundations. It didn't feel exciting every day, but that's the point.

Long-term wins are built on short-term patience. You don't abandon the shore just because you're not surfing.

In the early days, Paul Graham told founders something simple: make something people want.

It was months—sometimes years—of quiet iteration. Talking to users. Shipping small changes. Being wrong. Repeating.

Most of that work never looked like progress. There were no waves to surf. Just long days on the shore, fixing things no one would notice yet.

The companies that survived weren’t the ones with the biggest moments. They were the ones that stayed in prep mode long enough for the moment to arrive.

That’s the part people skip.

They want the surf without the shoreline.

The payoff without the patience.

But the wave only matters if you’re ready when it shows up.

Move first, think later.

When you're stuck, your instinct is to sit and figure it out.

Don't. Move your body first.

Go for a run, lift something heavy, or play a sport.

Clarity doesn't come from thinking harder; it comes from breaking the mental loop.

This year, every time I felt stuck on a decision or a direction, I ran. By mile three, the answer was usually there. Your body clears the fog faster than your mind.

Movement became my baseline.

Every single day, I moved. I ran, lifted, or played a sport.

It didn't matter how I felt or what the day looked like.

Movement became my non-negotiable because when everything else felt uncertain, this was the one thing I could control.

Your body is the only vehicle you'll never trade in. Treat it like it.

A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.

2025 started dark, but it ended strong.

I'm taking the same energy into 2026: fewer excuses, longer timelines, more movement.

The surf days and the prep days both matter, and I'm showing up for both.

I am yet to reflect on the year, but see you in 2026.