Reflecting on 2025 (and an unexpected email that made me smile)
2025 was one of my toughest years in the business.
I wrapped up 2024 knowing something in my approach wasn’t right, though I couldn’t put my finger on it. A challenging client experience only deepened the wobble, so I started 2025 less sure of myself.
Well, it took me a good 8-9 months to finally arrive at some answers or work up the headspace to gently prod at the root of the problem.
In short, I was not creating.
All my creative energy went to client work. As soon as I submitted the deliverable, it was “close laptop” and go off to do something else. Also, LinkedIn gave me the ick. I didn’t feel confident enough to keep putting my ideas out there.
As a result, the act of creating became painful and annoying.
Not good when it’s your livelihood, huh?
Unsurprisingly, earnings-wise, it’s one of my lowest years since 2021.
Given that I disappeared from the internet for 2/3 of 2025 and was barely present on marketing, this is expected. HOWEVER. I still had a steady income and could meet my needs. That’s a win, too, given how crazy the year has been for tech and content, and all the existential challenges I’ve been dealing with.
I also stopped trying to do things alone. I started working with a coach again, and investing in communities has helped me feel less alone.
More importantly, I’ve found a creative expression loop that seems to work for me, and I need to guard it with my life, LOL. (I’ll expand on this in another newsletter.)
Other wins that I’m putting out there to celebrate despite this doozy of a year:
Completed a 30-day daily posting mini challenge on LinkedIn, which really helped me get over that hump of imposter syndrome and lack of confidence. I’m going to be more active there!
Moved my business newsletter to Substack after humming-and-ho-ing on it for so long → this is a move that’s aligned with how I want to show up in 2026
Raised my rates with an anchor client (and they said yes). I also got a bunch of nice testimonials from past and current clients, which was pretty cool!
Standing up for my work in the face of constant scope creep with a client and saying no to projects that didn’t feel aligned
Saying yes to new types of work outside of my usual offerings because a client needed help.
AI has been a constant presence (an obsession?) in the tech world, but now I can finally say I’ve experimented with, learned from, and used the software enough to recognise its strengths and limitations. More importantly, I now have a clear POV and a solid understanding of the technology that keeps me grounded.
And one of the best things that happened to me this year wasn’t even a client win. It’s receiving this unexpected email from a school in Switzerland asking to use an article I wrote on Medium in 2018 for an English exam.
How cool is that! I first saw the email, thought, “Oh, hey that’s pretty cool,” and never thought about it again. But actually, it’s a big deal! And I’m going to celebrate that.
Goes to show you never ever know who’s going to see what you put out there — even 7 years later.
Other non-work related things to be thankful for this year:
MTV. I’ve discovered SO MANY new artists (like Wolf Alice and other J-rock/K-pop groups) that I wouldn’t have if not for them. Sad to hear it’s closing this year, but it was a good run.
Another lovely year with my dog, Luna. She’s already 7, and I’m thankful for any more years I get to spend with this adorable smol Corgi. One of our favourite corgi Instagram accounts is going through hemangiosarcoma i.e an aggressive cancer of the blood vessels, and I’m remembering to treasure every day with Luna (and all her weird-ass sleeping positions)
My wife, as always, for being an awesome partner. And I’ve unfortunately turned her into someone who can have full conversations in the morning. Whoops.
My intentions heading into 2026
The words groundedness and ease keep coming to mind as I reflect on the year, along with a whole bunch of nature-related metaphors and imagery. Roots? Trees? Hmm.
Some of the intentions I’m approaching the new year with.
1. I use what I’ve got first, before buying new things
I have a ridiculous number of unread books, courses, and unplayed games.
So there’s no point in my trying to buy new things when I haven’t even looked at the things that I already have.
This isn’t only about being more careful with my spending; I’ve basically gone full throttle on buying what looks interesting to me for about 1-2 years now, but now it’s time to slow down and focus on using what I’ve already bought.
2. I take care of my body, mind and spirit
I’ve spent 2025 disconnected from my need to create, and it’s led to so much bitterness and apathy. Now, I am discovering that focusing on fulfilling this need for creative expression makes me feel lighter and more fulfilled, and helps me approach my work with ease and joy.
When you focus on thinking and creating daily, you need to find a way to nurture that creative energy. For me, that’s exploring curiosities and rabbit holes, building my own collection of ideas, and connecting things together.
I realise I enjoy exploring digital culture and connecting it back to the B2B tech world (since that’s also the air we all swim in), so I’m curious to see how that develops in 2026.
Also related, I wanted to make Substack my main distribution channel for my newsletter while I explore how to ‘own’ my content and be less dependent on platforms. Maybe it’s back to the 2000s era of blogging?
3. I am active in community
This year has shown me that I cannot do this alone. And I’ve mostly lurked on social media too. Social media and community are at their best when I’m engaging, not just lurking.
Saying yes to contributing my voice in community, helping others, setting aside time to soak in the community, engage with ideas and discussions, and most importantly, REPLYING THOUGHTFUL COMMENTS. Given how terrible I am at replying to messages, this is going to be a stretch, but I’ll keep trying.
4. I advocate for myself, and I feel grounded in the value I provide
This is already off to a good start, with regular posts on LinkedIn and in this newsletter. I’m curious to see where this goes
I also need to remember I can stand my ground with clients and say no to projects that don’t feel aligned. Although I need to differentiate this from projects that feel uncomfortable, but are actually a stretch.
2025 is the year of transitions for me
While I didn’t ‘grow’ my business in the traditional sense — i.e, more revenue (even though I had the opportunity to work with some pretty cool clients this year!), there’s been a lot of internal shifts in the making. And while I ended 2024 feeling extremely uncertain about where to take this business, December 2025 finds me a little more grounded and at ease.
A good start, hopefully! Above all, I’m happy I’m still here!
One of my favourite quotes when I was putting this together comes from this piece from A Slow Living Path:
The second pillar I’m carrying into the new year is trust. Trust that growth doesn’t need to be rushed. Trust that the right people arrive when you work in a way that feels honest and sustainable. Trust that what’s meant for you doesn’t require constant pushing.
Or this excellent reminder on transition years posted on Instagram by Jessie Leong @howifundthis
“Here’s what we need to remember: big milestones take years to work towards. Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither were our big lofty goals”. “These are transition years. The ones we spend working away on something, and where we set habits and discipline to reach our goals. The years where surviving is enough. We probably have more transition years than we have big milestone years.
—
Writing these reflective pieces always feels deeply uncomfortable. But they also help me sort through all the feelings that I end up processing at the end of the year. Which I also realise I didn’t do at the end of 2024. Huh. Interesting.
—
If you’d like your B2B content to build trust and attract the right customers, that’s exactly the kind of work I do with martech, e-commerce and fintech content teams.
Schedule a discovery call, and we’ll explore what that might look like for you and your team next year.
Thanks for reading and being here. I appreciate you!
Joshua
