A lot happened in 2025, both personally and professionally. It was one of those years where things didn’t always go to plan, but when I look back, it’s clear that a lot of important shifts happened. I wanted to write this partly as a record for myself, and partly as a way to think clearly about what I want to do differently going into 2026.

Work and project ownership

I started the year working an unsustainable amount. I was teaching a lot while still trying to operate as if I were a full-time developer, keeping projects moving and taking on responsibility that didn’t really fit around that schedule. It worked for a while, but eventually it caught up with me.

That pressure is what pushed me to finally quit teaching and move fully into development work. At the same time, I had fairly big ambitions around freelancing. I wanted to take on side projects and build something more independent, but the reality was frustrating. I’d spend entire days writing proposals, only to get nothing back. Over time, the opportunity cost just stopped making sense, and I chose to ease off and focus my energy elsewhere.

That said, the freelance work I did manage to secure was genuinely valuable. I learned new frameworks, got much better at estimating time realistically, and probably learned more than anything what good and bad client communication actually looks like.

My role at Kids UP improved a lot over the year. I found myself in a position where I had real ownership and responsibility, and I became the person people would come to when they needed something built or wanted an honest opinion on possible solutions. That level of trust and autonomy made the work far more satisfying.

Programming side study

This is one area where I fell short. I had planned to work through more textbooks and do much more DSA-focused study in preparation for interviews, but life kept getting in the way and consistency slipped.

Even so, the year wasn’t a total loss. I managed to finish three or four technical books, and I can clearly see how much broader my understanding is compared to the start of the year. Still, this is something I want to approach with more structure going forward.

Japanese

Big wins here! The first half was fairly unfocused, but at some point I managed to reset and commit properly. I started taking Japanese lessons twice a week and made sure I studied at least a little every day.

If there’s one thing I wish I had started earlier, it’s recreational reading in Japanese. That’s something I want to fix. I took the JLPT at the end of the year, and with a bit of luck I’ll have N2 in February.

Fitness? or lack there of

Fitness was honestly a weak point for most of the year. I’ve been slowly letting things slide since covid, and that trend continued longer than it should have. Around November I finally started fixing things.

Since then I’ve lost about five kilos and my baseline fitness has improved a lot, but there’s still a long way to go. This is very much tied into what I want to focus on in 2026.

Family Life

This was probably the best year I’ve had since my kid was born. Working from home made a huge difference, and I made a conscious effort to actually be present rather than just technically available.

Being able to do pick-ups and drop-offs regularly felt surprisingly meaningful, and watching how much my son has grown over the year has been incredible. I know there’s a good chance I’ll be back in an office in 2026, and that’s a difficult reality to face, because this year I’ve been genuinely happy in a way I hadn’t felt for a long time.

2026 goals list

Toward the end of 2025, I started setting monthly goals, and I want to keep that habit going. I also want a clear set of broader goals that I’m consistently working toward throughout the year.

From a programming perspective, I want to get serious about DSA again and study it a few times a week. The aim is to be properly prepared for coding interviews and to put myself in a position to land a new developer role this year. I also want to read more consistently, ideally finishing one technical book per month. I’m currently finishing The Pragmatic Programmer, and it’s already been a wake-up call in terms of how I approach learning and writing code.

With Japanese, I want to make reading a daily habit, whether that’s manga, news, or anything else. Getting N2 is a short-term goal, either with the February results or by passing in July, and the longer-term aim is to be able to function naturally in Japanese at work and in daily life.

On the fitness side, I have a slightly crazy goal: dunking again. I could do it in 2019, and while actually dunking isn’t the real point, chasing that level of fitness is motivating. I’ve started structuring my training around leg strength, plyometrics, and a little upper body, with the plan to focus on strength first and cut weight from around March or April.