Every December I flip into reflection mode. I actually love that part… Zooming out and looking at the year as a whole. Seeing what worked, what didn’t, and what’s got me excited about another year in business.
2025 was one of the busiest and most successful years I’ve ever had. But when I tried to list what I actually accomplished, the list was surprisingly short. Three or four big things came to mind. But after that? I’ve been drawing a blank.
It doesn’t make sense though. I hit my goals. I worked a ton. I kept busy.
But busy is sneaky. It fills our calendars, eats up the hours, and makes us feel like we’re making progress.
But, if I’m honest, there were too many days I’d finish work, walk upstairs, and when my wife asked me how my day was, I genuinely didn’t know how to answer. Good? Bad? Productive? A waste of time? Pick one.
When my day is full of effort, it’s all a blur. But when my day had something meaningful, it was a lot more clear.
So, I started a new experiment.
I keep a little Field Notes notebook on my desk. Every morning — before I open email, before meetings, before the noise starts — I write done one thing (sometimes two) that would make today a win.
Not the biggest task. Not the hardest thing. The thing that actually matters.
What’s surprised me isn’t how much more I’ve gotten done (it’s not really a “productivity hack”) — it’s how my days have ended.
When things don’t go as planned (as they almost always do), I could still say “Today wasn’t perfect, but it counted because I _____”. And I think this matters a whole lot more than we realized.
Those small wins stack up quickly and quietly… but they’re powerful.
I can tell you more about what I’ve accomplished in the last week than I can the last year — and I don’t think that’s just recency bias. It’s because I defined what success looks like before the day starts instead of after I’m tossed out of the whirlwind.
It’s something I’m going to carry with me going into the new year. One of the biggest things 2025 taught me is that I don’t need more busy days—I need more days that count.
