Looking Back at 2025

in   4.3 minutes read

The years seem to accelerate, and 2025 was a year of stark contrasts.
At the close of 2024, I wrote about rediscovering what truly mattered — family, health, career, and personal fulfilment.
A year later, those same pillars were tested in ways I didn’t expect.

Looking back at posts from 2018 and 2019, I used to write about “optimization.” Back then, I was optimizing for growth and getting ahead. In 2025, the stakes changed. The measure of success became less about output, and more about the weight — and balance — of my roles: leader, husband, father.

It has been a year of hard-won clarity (or is there? :p), often learned through small failures and uncomfortable friction.

Health: The System Crash

This was the year I learned that you can’t “vibe code” your way out of physical neglect.
In the first half of the year, work demands quietly ate into my running and gym routines.
When I tried to make a comeback in August, I pushed a cold engine too hard.

A back injury in October was followed by a bad fall in November — and then a recurrence of a stubborn skin rash, likely a continuation of the Pityriasis rosea that first troubled me in 2024.
Each setback became a reminder that health isn’t a variable I can tweak on demand.
It’s not the performance layer — it’s the operating system.
And when the hardware fails, the code doesn’t matter.

Family: Strength in My Absence

The toll of overwork didn’t just register on my body — it quietly showed up at home.
I wasn’t present enough, not fully. It wasn’t just about hours lost, but attention divided.
Work took its share, and I found myself missing the small, everyday moments with the kids.

Yet, in my absence, they grew stronger in their own ways.
My son tackled his school challenges with quiet determination, and my daughter found new bits of confidence.
Their resilience both humbles and inspires me.

I’m learning that life isn’t managed like a single-threaded process; leadership at work, fatherhood, and partnership each deserve independent focus and context switching.
Balance isn’t just about time — it’s about presence.

Wealth & Tech: The Automation Win

Amid the chaos came an unexpected victory.
I finally automated my financial expense tracking — a small dream realized.
Using my “vibe coding” workflow, I built a system that ingests spending data directly from PayNow, PayLah, and my credit cards, feeding into an AI-driven dashboard that categorizes and visualizes everything automatically.

It’s satisfying not just because it saves time, but because it quietly represents a larger shift.
The goal isn’t to automate life — it’s to make space for life.
Reducing friction in repetitive systems gives room for higher-value presence: time with family, room for reflection, and peace of mind.
Maybe automation, in this sense, is a form of self-care — freeing mental cycles for what (and who) truly matters.

2026 Strategy: The Operating Rules

The “marathon” of 2025 ended up more like a crawl, but the direction remains true.
To navigate the transition from a difficult 2025 into a more balanced 2026, I’m setting up a framework of Operating Rules — my system for balancing leadership, fatherhood, and personal health. It’s less about resolutions and more about sustainable configurations.

1. The Role Guardrails (Compartmentalization)

  • The Shutdown Sequence: A 15-minute buffer at the end of each workday to log final thoughts and physically reset. This marks the end of the Leader role and the beginning of the Father/Husband role.
  • The No-Device Zone: From 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM, the phone stays on the charger. Presence isn’t optional — it’s a requirement.
  • Weekend Recovery: At least one day a weekend is “Non-Technical.” No coding, no dashboards — just family.

2. Physical Rehabilitation (The Hardware)

  • The 1% Recovery Rule: If the back is bad, don’t aim for a run; aim for 10 minutes of physiotherapy. Prioritize consistency over intensity.
  • Stress Signals: The recurrence of my rash is now treated as a System Alert. When it flares, that’s a mandatory sign to delegate work and prioritize rest.

3. Technical Leverage (The Software)

  • The 80/20 Dashboard: Not every number needs to be perfect. 80% accuracy on AI expense categorization sustains the Wealth pillar without drowning in edge cases.
  • AI for Documentation: Let AI handle the “plumbing” of leadership — summaries, specs, and transcripts — to reclaim time for high-level thinking and mentoring.

4. Family & Education

  • The Support Role: My kids are strong in their own right. My role isn’t to micro-manage their schoolwork, but to provide the stable environment — the server — where they can safely run their own processes.

5. Personal Wisdom (The Kernel)

  • Acceptance: Acceptance isn’t giving up; it’s acknowledging the system’s current state so I can debug calmly.
  • Documentation: Continue writing here — documenting both the wins and the fails keeps the ego in check and the discipline sharp.

2024 reminded me of my priorities; 2025 forced me to defend them.
Now in 2026, the goal is to run a stable build — one that prioritizes balance, recovery, and presence.
The marathon continues. One step (and one rehab session) at a time.