By Duane Rollins — 31 Dec 2025

2025 - The Recap

2025 was fun, right?

RIGHT???

(Note: It wasn’t fun.)

This year has been chaotic, and I can't remember a time with this much uncertainty since I became a professional. It felt like every week brought a new crisis. This year has made me loathe other humans at times, and I’ve developed a permanent “disappointed dad face” because of it.

In short, the world sucked.

Except for all the times it didn’t.

Because the truth is: the world has always sucked in some moments and been incredibly beautiful in others. Those two realities coexist every day.

Problems are a feature, not a bug, of life. Things happen. Things break. We fix them. We move on. And hopefully, we learn something meaningful along the way.

So, to kick off my now-annual year-end recap, let’s start with what I learned this year.

My Important Learnings From 2025

You are what you consume. What we ingest impacts everything in our lives. And I'm not just talking about food. I'm talking about anything that we let into our ears, eyes, spirit, thoughts, and heart. The first step in any healthy reset is changing what you're taking in. You'll be pleasantly surprised that this always works.
You don't make time for anything, you commit time to it. I used to say things like, "I can carve out space" or "I can find time to XYZ." Stop doing that. Start saying, "I can commit to ___." This changes everything because if you think of time as a commitment instead of a renewable resource, you'll be more intentional about how you spend it and follow through on the things you're spending time on.
You don't have what you want out of life because you're a liar (bring some math to your life to change that). You do what you track. And if you track, you'll quickly realize you were lying to yourself and everyone else about what you were actually doing. The moment you start to track the key activities in your life daily will be the moment that you magically develop consistency and discipline (and start moving the needle on those outstanding items). You'll like yourself more too because you'll be living with integrity (doing what you say you will do).
Consistency and discipline are NOT emotions, they are systems. You can't feel consistent or disciplined. You either are or you are not. Your consistency and discipline are determined by the environments you create around them, the incentives you put in place, and the triggers you have to start them. Make it easy to start and commit real time to them.
You're stressed because you're doing too much shit. Every good and positive thing you desire to do for yourself should also come with a subtraction of something else. Most people want to de-stress their life by doing more stuff. "I'm going to be super stressed AND add 30 minutes of meditation to my day." That doesn't work. You must rid your life of something if you're adding something in. No one has ever felt lighter by adding more weight. Do less, and only do more when you have more capacity. (Note: a sign that you're ready for more capacity is that you've become bored.)

Wins From 2025

It was a tough year but a great year. I'm super proud of myself and my family as we continue to shift into a new gear. Some highlights:

Expanded the business to be about 4x larger this year. It came with a ton of effort but also learning how to copy expertise (the true way to be efficient). It's been good to see my team grow as I've added client support, a tax strategist, and a jr. advisor to what I'm building. Expect more growth in 2026 as we dive deeper into the business owner market. Also, thank you to everyone who trusted me with helping them improve their financial future or introduced me to someone they cared about. More good news to come soon about the business at the top of the year.
Took the family on an incredible trip to Spain where we got to spend time in Madrid and Valencia. Highly recommend Valencia as a place to check out the next time you're in Europe.
Finished up my tenure as a finalist judge for the Industrial Design Excellence Awards. Loved being in community with designers again for a weekend. It was an honor to serve.
I did a little bit less on Broadway this year by design but still managed to be part of Othello, The Wiz National Tour, Hell's Kitchen National Tour, and Hunger Games: On Stage in the UK. It's been so much fun to help build out this community.
Health. I'm back to being strong again. I've spent a ton of time lifting heavier weights this year and it's always good to see improvement. I hit 255 on the bench press, 275 on deadlift, and put up 315 on the squat rack. I still have a ways to go but it's nice to pack on some extra muscle on the cusp of my 40th.

News That Mattered (to me at least)

Sinners. Name a better duo than Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan? The movie was excellent and the movie experience was top tier. But what really stood out was Coogler’s deep, insightful breakdown of how the film was shot and the differences in film formats. That was better than the movie to me.
Chiefs got stomped in the Super Bowl. Bad day for Chiefs nation but a really good day for Philly, especially Jalen Hurts. Leadership matters, and he was a bright spot compared to so many men who let me down this year.
Black men who let us all down this year: Diddy. Dame Dash. Shannon Sharpe. Sherrone Moore. Drake. Kanye.
- Also, not a man, but Nicki Minaj.
- And let's also throw Cardi B in there because getting out of a toxic relationship just to have a baby by another toxic guy is... a choice to say the least.
50 Cent vs. the opps. 50 sat down with Robert Greene and wrote The 50th Law of Power. He put it on full display in 2025. May your get-back at the people you loathe be as fulfilling as 50 Cent’s was. The Diddy documentary was just plain good, and getting that Puff shot and using it against him was next-level. Revenge was sweet this year. Never mess with him or Kendrick.
Pablo Torre. His reporting on Aspiration and the Clippers was one of the greatest pieces of investigative journalism in some time. He’s the John Wick of journalists. Definitely check it out if you haven’t.
Clipse. What a comeback. The album Let God Sort ’Em Out is a masterpiece, but how they rolled it out needs to be studied. They built a moment and kept momentum going all year. Album of the Year for sure.
Kendrick Lamar — Super Bowl Halftime Show. Speaking of Kendrick, the only person who can match his energy when he has disdain for someone is 50 Cent. Kendrick did an entire Super Bowl show and let you know just how much he didn’t like Drake (while also delivering cultural commentary in real time). He’s brilliant, and I’m glad I get to be alive to experience his art as it happens. P.S. We’re all still waiting on the rumored deluxe of GNX (or at least the “Bodies” song).
LA Fires — the year literally started on fire. I pray all those impacted in LA are doing better as they rebuild their lives. Oh, and a bunch of plane crashes happened at the beginning of the year — scary times.

When I was young, I was told if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Some obvious stuff was left off this list for that reason.

Podcasts to Explore

Shows

It's official, I love podcasts more than any other medium. Here are the ones to keep in rotation, meaning every episode is worth a listen.

The Diary of a CEO
Founders
Acquired
Money and Wealth with John Hope Bryant
B.O.S.S. Moves
In Good Company (do the Friday 10 min recaps)
The Lifestyle Investor
The Storybrand Podcast

If I had to pick just one podcast for someone to listen to, it would always be Acquired. They're the best at making companies, and the people that drive them, come to life.

Individual Episodes

Best of the best (top 5)

Books to Read

I didn't sit down with books as often as I have in years past. A lot of it has to do with my toddler that decide to go into sleep regression and the other part is that I've found a lot of information on YouTube and podcasts.

Of the books that I managed to pick, many didn't stick but three that did were:

Build the Life You Want by Arthur C Brooks and Oprah Winfrey - Happiness is not what you think it is, but it's worth the effort to try to be a bit happier today than you were yesterday.
James by Percival Everett. - A different perspective on Huckleberry Finn.
The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran - Get your life organized to get things done.
Barkley Hendricks: Solid! - A deep dive into the work of my favorite visual artist Barkley Hendricks. That guy is good.

Articles/Videos To Read/Watch

Music to Listen To

Did any other album come out other than The Clipse???

Oh, yeah, KPop Demon Hunters dropped a banger.

That's pretty much been my music this year, but I would be remiss if I didn't share some of the other slept on gems from this year.

My top 3 ablums are:

Clipse - Let God Sort Em Out
Miguel - CAOS (that transition from Perderme to Oscillate was flawless).
Amber Mark - Pretty Idea

Individual Songs

F.I.C.O. - Clipse
Big Dawgs - Hanumankind (the art direction in the video EXCELLENT)
Damage Control - Culture Jam ft. Wale and Pusha T
Bodies - Offset and JID (this song made me want to dance again)
Abracadabra - Jay Electronica
Your Idol - Saja Boys (a bop)
Different Places - Amber Mark and John the Blind
With You - Jorja Smith
Be There Still - Davido
On and On - Tyla (came out last year, but stayed in rotation in 2025)
Wait So Yeah - Amber Mark
Cruise Control - Jon Echols
Watching Us - Wale and Leon Thomas
Belly - Wale
City of Fire - Wale & Odeal
Fly Away - Wale
Free - Rumi, JINU, JEAE (Kpop's version of No Air by Jordan Sparks)
KARMA - Sir and Isaiah Falls
LIFE IS GOOD - Sir ft. Scribz Riley (another 2024 song that bled into 2025)
Relax - Juicy J ft. Nia Drammond & Cory Henry
So Be It - Clipse
Chains & Whips - Clipse ft. Kendrick Lamar
M.T.B.T.T.F. - Clipse
Let God Sort Em Out/Chandeliers - Clipse ft. Nas

Other albums to check out:

Odeal - The Summer That Saved Me
Terrance Martin and Keyon Dixon - Come As You Are
Chance the Rapper - STAR LINE
Tems - Love is a Kingdom
Isaiah Falls - LVRS PARADISE

That's a wrap on the year of 2025.

Parting thoughts as you go into 2026:

Take some time to reflect, and then completely focus on doing the things today that will make your 85-year-old self happy.
Commit to documenting your life for yourself. Go back through old pictures, relive the memories of the year, and appreciate how far you’ve come.
Talk with your parents about their finances. Their financial problems will eventually become yours if they aren’t preparing now.
Life can happen to anyone. Enjoy these moments and don't take mobility for granted. Commit to doing something physically challenging this year.

I leave you with one final question from Chris Williamson:

💡

Knowing what I know now, what advice would I give myself 12 months ago? (pssst - you probably still need to hear this)

Leave today better than yesterday, welcome to 2026 ✌🏽. ❤️. 📈. 🤲🏾.