01/03/2026
OK, here’s my obligatory end-of-the-year reflection post.
I’ve definitely earned the gray hair in this beard. Funny thing was, I shaved it clean a couple weeks ago and the boys told me that I looked like I was 30 years old. They then told me to grow it back because they prefer a dad who looks like he’s 50 over a dad who looks like he’s 30.
If you would’ve asked me at the end of November what this year would’ve been from 0 to 10, I would’ve said it was a 2. But as of January 8, I would rate 2025 as an 8 out of 10.
It was one of the most difficult years of my life. Up there in the top 3. Up there with losing Adam in 2005. And with losing Danielle in 2016.
The gift in this year wasn’t money or business success. The gift was liberation. Freedom. Truth. Integrity. Honor.
This year tore me apart. This was the year when I realized that rock bottom has 4 basements.
But it was also the year that I realized who my friends really were. Who I could really talk to. And most importantly, who I really am.
I thought I had a good grip on who I was, but this year everything changed. I went through a major identity death the first week of December and basically felt like 40% of me died and was reborn in five days.
I’ve never felt so grounded, clear, present, strong, and masculine in my entire life. It’s shifted everything for me.
I’ve reached a place where life is about presence, truth and impact.
My mission is expanding in 2026. It’s going to be my biggest year ever.
But the greatest win is not that the heaviness I’ve felt (in the world) most of my life is gone.
And the greatest gift is not breaking major generational patterns in career, self-respect, and relationships, that my boys will now not have to deal with.
The greatest win is having a tighter connection with my four boys and becoming the best father I’ve ever been.
And now I am living curiously as life brings the next amazing woman into my life. I can feel her presence is near. And I can tell this next chapter is going to be, oh my God, so good.