Happy New Year, folks!
I know we are 3 weeks in, but I swear, I got really busy with a bunch of things.
2025 has been a phenomenal year for me. It was a year of self-realization.
In December 2024, my wife and I were in San Diego to celebrate our wedding anniversary. During one of those nights in the hotel, I thought to myself about being more intentional in life with the things I do. I felt good and confident about the idea.
So, on the 1st of January 2025, I concluded my yearly blog post saying –
I think 2025 will be an exciting year and I can’t wait to see how I evolve as an individual and take on what’s ahead. I’m excited and looking forward to it.
I set my intention out for the year and I’m happy to report that I succeeded. Here are some of the things that I did last year, in no particular order.
Sabbatical
Last June, I took a Sabbatical and it was exactly what I needed. During this time, I learned a lot about myself and what mattered the most to me. This changed everything, for the better. This was the first time in my career that I took a sabbatical and I’m grateful that I got to.
Social media
I deleted all the social apps on my phone and got off of social media platforms. I don’t check any socials except for Instagram; even that’s once every other day, in the phone browser. The downside to this is that I miss out on knowing about some of the important things happening and I’m OK with that trade-off. However, the biggest win is that I don’t follow random things on the internet that add 0 value to me.
Digital devices usage
As a side effect of lowering my social media consumption, my digital device usage has significantly gone down. I used the Opal app for this and it worked well for me. By the 3rd quarter of 2025, I even deleted the app since I didn’t need it anymore. My screen time went from 8h to ~3h.
I stopped using my most beloved device, the Apple Watch. Initially, I just downgraded it to a fitness tracker, but now I don’t even use it for fitness tracking. I literally just use it for sleep tracking.
I even lowered the usage of my personal MacBook Air, significantly. Knowing this makes me so happy.
Reprioritizing relationships
Last year, I also had the opportunity to evaluate my time investment in relationships with people around me. This had an unsurprisingly positive impact on me. I felt highly unburdened and relieved.
Travel
Internationally, I traveled to Japan, India, and Mexico.
Domestically, I traveled to Texas and New Jersey.
10th Wedding Anniversary
My wife and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in December. We had a lovely relaxing celebration.
Hobbies
I picked up new hobbies and put in a decent amount of time towards them.
Blogging
The last time I posted on this blog was on July 9th, 2025. In the recent years, I think that’s the longest I went without posting. This was right after I completed my sabbatical, went on a trip with my buddies and got back. After that, I got really busy and worked on several drafts and never finished them. Some of them were reactions to events that happened, but now it’s too late and don’t make sense anymore. So, I deleted them.
Miscellaneous
- I spent a good amount of time to improve my health and I can see it helping me
- Moved to a new city after 4 years
- In 2025, I didn’t turn on my PS5 even once
Overall, I’m grateful for a year full of learning and new experiences.
Hope y’all had a lovely 2025. Here’s to a positive, exciting, productive, and healthy year — Happy New Year 2026! 🎉🍻
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