2025 Year End Review

This year I had the luxury to get away from everything and fly into Shonai, Yamagata and stay there for 3 days. (Min fly away from Haneda)

I dedicated the 3-day fully to 2025 Year End Review.(besides tasting various nihonshu at night)

This was my fifth year doing the review, and over the years I feel this process has become essential for me to improve my overall well being.

So, here is how I did it.

<1>Balance Sheet of POSITIVE and NEGATIVE

(Mainly in line with how the author of 4 hour work week, Tim Ferris does it)

1.Grab a notepad and create two columns: POSITIVE and NEGATIVE.

2.Go through your calendar from the last year, looking at every week.
- Since I had the time this year, I also went through all my diary entries and photos taken from 1 Jan 2025.
- While going through the diary entries, I took note of a few key messages to my 2026 year self.

3.For each week, jot down on the pad any people or activities or commitments that triggered peak positive or negative emotions for that month. Put them in their respective columns.

4.Once you’ve gone through the past year, look at your notepad list and ask, “What 20% of each column produced the most reliable or powerful peaks?”

5.Based on the answers, take your “positive” leaders and schedule more of them in the new year. Get them on the calendar now! Book things with friends and prepay for activities/events/commitments that you know work. It’s not real until it’s in the calendar. That’s step one. Step two is to take your “negative” leaders, put “NOT-TO-DO LIST” at the top, and put them somewhere you can see them each morning for the first few weeks of 2019. These are the people and things you *know* make you miserable, so don’t put them on your calendar out of obligation, guilt, FOMO, or other nonsense.
I usually edit my obsidian:s daily entry template to have the NOT TO DO LIST at the top.

[RESULT]

To share some key parts of the results
<1>Balance Sheet of POSITIVE and NEGATIVE
POSITIVE:

• Continue the practice of hospitality, and connect with people.
  My wife and I had so much fun hosting 20 plus events for a small group of friends throughout the year. Mostly home parties with fun games involved but also outdoor activities.

Practicing Hospitality for me extends to work as well. Towards both colleagues and customers.

• Continue writing and sharing.
  2025 was enriched with 175 diary entries, 40 linkedin posts and 40 blog posts. Writing as been continuously helping me to become a better version of myself and sharing the writing led to many pleasant surprises and unexpected connections.

NEGATIVE:

• Phone out of the bedroom
  I purchased a ebook reader (like kindle but that can run various ebook apps on AndroidOS) and an alarm clock. Which I hope to help me remove my phone completely from the bedroom.

<2> Message to my 2026 self.

While going through the diaries, I created a separate note to jot down messages I would like to emphasize to my 2026 self.

James Clear
“Optimize for your desired lifestyle, not your desired title."

Fwd: 3-2-1: On finding your desired lifestyle, a simple rule for life, and working with what you have

Chris Williamson
You can slow down time by saying yes to more novel experiences. Routines are great, but life filled only with routines seem to be so much shorter than the life filled with new expeirences.

<3> Health

Review the Health related data you have.
For me this was the weekly weight change, workout logs. Yoga class attendance.

11 yoga classes

102 workouts

I use the app 'Strength' to track the workouts.

<4> Asset Allocation

Review the current asset allocation. Take into account that the recent market has been performing exceptionally well and that this is not a given. Considering the past black sheep events such as dotcom bubble, subprime mortgage bubble, COVID would you be mentally prepared for a similar drop with the current allocation?

This year my wife and I decided to introduce gold as new asset category in our portfolio.

<5> Writing

Throughout 2025,

I have written 180 diary entries, 42 blog posts and 45 linkedin posts.

Writing has become one of the best ways for me to summon the better version of myself. Sitting down on a blank screen, and looking back on each day or pouring myself. Either negative or positive after spending some time writing I feel better. I have something that I can 'work on'.

[Question]

Do you also conduct reviews each year? Any specific way you found interesting or helpful?

Hope you all have a peaceful time filled with love through the year end holidays.