there’s just over 1 week left in 2025.
whether you had the best year of your life, the worst one, or something in between, it’s still not too late to make the progress you want.
here are 3 things to do ASAP:
commit to the thing you’ve been putting off, or let it go.
you probably have ideas in your mind that are just begging you to act on them.
it could be a passion project, a class, a place to go, a person to visit, a hobby to try, a newsletter to start — whatever it is, if it only exists in your mind, it’s causing you stress that you don’t need to feel.
Chris Williamson has this concept of anxiety cost which feels relevant here:
‘the longer you take to do a thing, the more you’ll think about having not yet done it.’
in other words, all the pain you feel when you have an open loop in your mind can be removed instantly if you just do 1 thing:
make a decision.
are you ever going to do the thing?
if the answer is yes, start right now. stop reading this & take the first tiny step towards making it real before you talk yourself out of it.
if you’re not willing to do that, let it go & accept that the ‘perfect’ moment is never gonna come.
either way, get rid of your anxiety cost by doing the thing now, or letting it go.
anything in the middle is what kills you.
make 1 more memory to last a lifetime.
the year hasn’t even ended yet, & you’ve probably forgotten 99% of it.
all that remains are a select few moments that your brain decided were worth holding on to.
what do those moments have in common?
generally, it’s stuff like:
completely new experiences
unexpected twist(s) on a plan
shared with people you love
reconnected with something from your past
forced you to grow (hard but doable)
outside of your comfort zone
work that deeply matters to you
what can you do in the next week that checks 1 or more of those boxes?
why not grab a coffee with an old friend?
or you can go downtown for a day without your phone.
or maybe try walking 100,000 steps in a day (shoutout to BBK for doing this).
life is just a series of moments that we look back on like a highlight reel.
why not give yourself another one?
decide who you want to be in 2026.
that language is intentional.
it’s not what you want to achieve — it’s who you want to be.
goals are great, & i still set them for myself every year, but identity is deeper.
it’s the foundation of everything you consider ‘you.’
so before the year ends, ask yourself:
what kind of person do i want to be known as?
what do i want to be true about me that isn’t true yet?
if i could only work on 1 character trait, what would it be?
another helpful trick is to look at the people you admire & check for any patterns.
what do you like most about them?
chances are, those things are traits you wish you had more of.
pick 1 of those traits, & before the year ends, do something small to prove to yourself that you’re already becoming that person.
want to be more consistent? go on a short walk every day until the year ends.
want to be braver? talk to a stranger next time you’re in public.
want to be smarter? pick a book that seems interesting & try reading it.
it doesn’t have to be big. it just has to be real.
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with 2026 around the corner, you might already be mentally checked out of 2025.
i’m urging you not to fall for that trap.
you’d be surprised at how much you can do in such a short amount of time.
use the next week or so to get a head start — your future self will thank you for it.
some things i learned
data centres are not really causing water problems
sure, you probably shouldn’t put them everywhere. but even if they tripled in the next few years, they’d use just 8% of the water consumed by US golf courses. there are a lot of things to critique about AI — i’m not sure if this is one of them.
i think exercise is basically a miracle drug that helps you with everything ever. it’s not even a debate at this point. exercise more!!!!
the richer a man is, the less likely he is to marry a much younger woman
turns out that guys like DiCaprio are the exception, not the norm. hat-tip to Macken Murphy for the reference to this!
cool stuff i found
i bought a flip phone
i’ve spent years trying to figure out how to use my phone as a tool, rather than being used by it — the CAT S22 is my latest attempt. it’s a smartphone in the form factor of an old school flip phone. check it out:
the idea is to still have the apps i need on a daily basis, but without the addictive, frictionless experience that my iPhone gave me. we’ll see how well it works, but the early signs are promising!a good gift to help you take better photos
if you’re sick of balancing your phone on the table or being the awkward guy on the edge in group selfies, this case might be helpful. if i was staying with my iPhone, this would definitely be something i’d buy.
the most valuable financial skill, according to billionaire Sharran Srivatsaa
it’s simpler than you think: not needing to impress anyone.
this reminds me of advice i heard a while ago, ‘people go broke to look rich.’
in my experience, the wealthiest people i’ve ever met are the ones i would’ve never guessed have so much money. it’s admirable, & that’s how i plan on being when i get there.
that’s all i’ve got for you this week!
if you haven’t seen it yet, i released a video that people really seem to love.
i’m also releasing my next video in the next couple days — 26 lessons for 2026.
the growth of this newsletter & my channel so far has been humbling, & i can’t thank you enough for being here to support my dream of creating for a living.
it feels like a matter of time before that dream is a reality!
now go make your dreams happen — a lot can happen if you just get started.
~ liam (:
PS — Merry Christmas! even if you don’t celebrate, find an excuse to get together with family & friends. life is better with people you love.
“It is your job to disappoint as many people as it takes to avoid disappointing yourself.”