2025: Year In Review

Video Description

🚨 For 15 years, I've published an annual reflection every January. This year, for the first time, I'm sharing it as a video. Here's what I learned in 2025 and what I'm building in 2026. BTW, this isn't a typical Hello Tomorrow episode. It's more personal, more vulnerable, and a heckuva lot longer. But if you've ever wondered what annual reflection looks like for someone who thinks deeply about systems, identity, and the future, this is it! In this episode, I share my 2025 goal reflections (with star ratings on what worked and what didn't), the most notable moments of my year (including filing bankruptcy, launching this podcast, and a trip to D.C. with my daughter), and my 2026 goals built around three aspirational identities: Health Guy, Share, and In Service To Others. This is what optimistic rebellion looks like in practice — showing up imperfectly, naming the hard stuff, and designing a better tomorrow anyway. What you'll hear in this episode: * Why I've been doing annual reflections for 15 years (and what I've learned) * My 2025 identity-based goals and how effective each one was (with honest star ratings) * The bankruptcy story: why I filed Chapter 7 on my birthday and why it was a gift * Health scares at 44: the "biological cliff," VO2 max warnings, and what I'm doing about it * My 2026 word: SHARE * Book 2 announcement: working title reveal and how you can be part of the journey * My strict time-blocking experiment for 2026 (and why I'm closing my email all day) * Why I'm posting more unfiltered video even though it terrifies me * How I'm integrating my Enneagram 8 energy toward healthy service to others 🏴‍☠️ The uncomfortable truth: Most annual reflection posts are performative. They hide the messy parts, skip the failures, and present a polished version of growth. But real transformation is messy. It involves bankruptcy filings, health scares, communities imploding, and waking up one day feeling fatter. It involves setting goals, rating yourself honestly, and admitting when an identity frame just didn't stick. Growth isn't linear. It's seasonal. And sometimes the most important thing you can do is just keep showing up... even when you have no idea if anyone's watching or listening. 🚀 The optimistic rebellion: My word for 2026 is SHARE. Not because I've figured everything out, but because I haven't. I'm sharing imperfectly, vulnerably, and consistently — because that's what building a better tomorrow actually requires. If you're setting goals for 2026, try identity-based framing instead of outcome-based. Don't ask "What do I want to achieve?" Ask "Who do I want to become?" Health Guy. Someone who shares. Someone in service to others. Then let the goals flow from the identity. And when you inevitably miss a day or fall short, you just remember: a [insert aspirational identity] just keeps trying! If this resonates with you, I'd love to know: what's YOUR word for 2026? Drop it in the comments! 🔥 TIMESTAMPS: 00:23 - Intro: 15 years of annual reflections 02:28 - 2025: The year of death and rebirth 05:23 - How I think about goals 06:41 - Reflections on 2025 Identity #1: Be a Health Guy 10:31 - Reflections on 2025 Identity #2: Be a Time-Traveler 13:00 - Reflections on 2025 Identity #3: Be an Ally 15:52 - Reflections on 2025 Identity #4: Be an Experience-Bringer 17:01 - The cool things you get in the Article version of this episode 17:53 - 2026: Three aspirational identities 18:42 - 2026 Aspirational Identity #1: I Am A Health Guy (again) 24:25 - 2026 Aspirational Identity #2: I Share 25:32 - Book 2 announcement! (and Early Reader / Patron program) 31:27 - 2026 Aspirational Identity #3: I Am In Service To Others 33:15 - Closing reflections 📄 Read the full written version with photos and links: https://joshallan.com/2026/01/05/2025-year-in-review/ 📖 Want to support Book 2 as an Early Reader / Patron? Learn more here: https://wwkua.joshallan.com/ CONNECT WITH JOSH: 🛜 Official site: https://joshallan.com 🎙️Podcast: https://hellotomorrowpodcast.com 📝 Newsletter: https://joshallan.com/blog 🏢 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/joshallan 📺 YouTube: YouTube.com/joshallandykstra 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/joshallan/ 🕺🏻 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joshallandykstra 🦋 BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/joshallan.com #YearInReview #2026Goals #AnnualReflections #OptimisticFuturist #PersonalGrowth #GoalSetting #IdentityBasedGoals #HelloTomorrow #Vulnerability #GrowthMindset