2025 in Review

IT’S BACK BABY!! My favorite post of the year.

The 2025 year in review.

Sit back and enjoy that cup of coffee and if you’re reading this on the toilet lock the door because this is going to be a fun one.

If you missed the 2024 edition, the TLDR is: I moved to SF, started some projects, left my job, and made the decision to make a lot of changes. This year was about finding out if any of that actually worked.

Spoiler: some of it did. A lot of it didn't. All of it taught me something.

I do this because I get caught up chasing "more" and forget to look back at what I've actually done. This forces me to sit with it. Sprinkle in a little gratitude. Build a time capsule.

Maybe one day my future kids will find this and see what their dad was up to before he was a cool dad.

I still don't go to therapy (no one's told me to yet). But this is therapeutic.

I’m going to break it down into the highlights and lowlights of four categories. I call it my four F’s:

• Family

• Finance

• Fitness

• Fun

Ready?

Let’s do this.

Family

Highlights:

Friends - This was my second full year in San Francisco. When I moved here, my number one mission was to meet as many people as possible. That effort indirectly led to Plunge Party. Thanks to that, I was able to meet incredible people from around the city. Once I shut that down, I decided to reel that wide net in and focus on deepening my existing relationships. One cool thing about this city is you’re 1 degree of separation away from almost anyone. But I can only have the social bandwidth for a finite number of people. So I switched gears from meeting as many people as possible to deepening my existing relationships with close friends. I was able to do that through: a weekend getaway with the boys, hosting dinners (like a steak party), weekly runs and sauna sessions. Instead of spending more time with more people, I spent more time with a small group of people. Creating deeper relationships I’m grateful for.

Internet Friends - Thanks to this newsletter and posting more on the internet, I’ve met some really cool people. One person found me and helped build a beautiful meal logging app, another is working with me to help with video editing.

After Hours - 12 months ago, my friend Alec and I brought together seven friends to form an accountability/mastermind/support group. We've met every month for the past year. They've become people I can go to for anything - personal, business, or life. Having a built-in support system like this has been invaluable.

Parents - I see my parents 1-2 times per year, each. If I'm lucky. Not as often as I'd like.

This year, my mom brought the family together at a house in Seaside, FL, outside Panama City Beach. I got to spend nearly a full week with her, her partner, my brother, and my sister's entire family.

For the past two years, I went home to Cleveland to spend Passover with my dad. Unfortunately, that didn't happen this year. I prioritized running Plunge Party over going home. On the flip side, he's been working with me on a coaching project helping him lower his blood sugar through exercise and nutrition. We talk almost weekly now for check-ins. Different kind of closeness.

Siblings - I'm the only one in my family on the west coast. My sister is in Cincinnati with her two kids. My brother just moved to Destin, FL for the Air Force. I only saw each of them when we met in Florida this year. Grateful my mom brought us together so I could see my brother's new house and spend time with my sister's ridiculously adorable kids. I'd show you how cute they are, but she gets mad when I post pictures of them on the internet. You'll have to see them IRL.

Dating - 2024 was a weird year, and I kept that momentum into the start of this year. For the first couple of months I didn’t really date. I told myself I wasn’t “ready” because there was so much uncertainty around my career and finances. In hindsight, some of that was real, and some of that was just fear. Something a couple close friends helped me work through. Eventually I started going on dates again. I met some good people but nothing really stuck. Then I met Sherry through my friend Devin. Even though I thought I wasn’t ready for something serious, this one felt different. With her, I felt ready. Turns out, being ready isn't something you decide in advance. Meet Sherry.

Lowlights:

Friends - San Francisco is a transient city. After spending time here, friends I've made have started moving away to cities like New York, LA, or Austin. One of my close friends, Martyn, moved back to New York because his app was doing really well. And as I spend more time here, I don't see my San Diego friends as often either.

The flip side: when I do visit SD or travel to LA, NYC, or Austin, there are people I make it a priority to see. Thankfully, these friendships don't disappear.

I also made a lot of friends through Plunge Party, but I wasn't able to deepen those relationships because I was always running around operating the event. Quantity over quality - the opposite of what I wanted.

Finance

(Personal + Business Projects)

Highlights:

Making it work - It has now been over a year since leaving my full-time job. Something I'm most proud of is somehow being able to financially make it work, running off savings and hustling every month to find new ways to make money (not that much). I know I chose this path, but I'm genuinely surprised and proud of myself for making it this far. Funny enough, I had a similar highlight last year - but this time I made it work a different way. One way or another, we always find a way.

The Experiments - Year one was about running experiments and learning what doesn't work. The four big things I tried:

1. Plunge Party - Kept the momentum from 2024. Grew it into a team of four with my friends Devin, Gargi, and Ishan. Almost everyone in the city had heard about it. Learned: event economics don't scale for a solo operator without serious venue infrastructure and big sponsors.

   

2. Sales - I helped a friend out with sales for his health company. It helped provide some financial cushion when I did it. Learned: How sales funnels work, in person events can do really well, I am (surprisingly) very good at selling.

3. Health & Fitness Coaching - My second biggest revenue stream after Plunge Party was helping people interpret their glucose monitor data. A lot of people ended up losing weight and 2x-ing their energy levels! Learned: People want and trust my interpretation of glucose data. Now I’m working on bundling that into a better offering.

4. Consulting - I was told I could (and should) do it. I wasn't good at clarifying whom or how I could help. I didn’t put enough time into this because I wanted to feel all in on the projects I was working on at the moment. Learned: a vague offer is the same as no offer.

None of these became "the thing." But I stayed solvent and now I know what I'm not doing. This first year was full of experimentation and bopping around. In 2026 I am going to be focused on one very specific problem space.

Best Financial Move: $63k car → $1k scooter - I sold my Tesla. Paid $7k to get rid of it and avoided paying off the remaining $35k balance. Saving myself $27k over 35 months. Instead, I bought a scooter that gets me anywhere I need to go in the city. Whenever I need a car, I rent one. I've been team scooter for 11 months and love it. Just gotta be careful with road safety and theft. The thing I owned was owning me. Now I'm lighter.

Resourcefulness - I've gotten scrappy at stretching my dollars without going full hermit mode and hating my life. That's a skill I didn't have before.

Lowlights:

Savings Burn - I had to burn through a significant portion of my savings to make it this far. This led to some unnecessary financial anxiety. But it taught me the most important lesson of the year: cash flow is the foundation. Without it, I became short sighted and it became hard to play the long game. The financial foundation has to be there first.

Plunge Party Shutdown - Despite the momentum Plunge Party was gaining, I made the decision to shut it down. It couldn't sustain itself for the time I was putting in, we ran into several venue limitations with the city, and most importantly it didn't make enough money to support me. But it showed me I could produce a profitable event series, which is nearly unheard of for community wellness events. Small win. Still hurts. Bittersweet to shut it down, in hindsight: a good choice.

Shiny Object Syndrome - My biggest L wasn't directly monetary. It was my time. I spent too much energy chasing new ideas and running sprints on things I should've killed earlier. Looking back at it, I was running in circles. Thankfully, I have friends and a support system that pointed me in the right direction. The lesson: focus compounds. Distraction subtracts.

Fitness

(including health)

Highlights:

Strength and Appearance - Running a health and wellness club that involved cold plunging and saunas meant my shirt was off more than 50% of the time. So I got a lot of good pictures.

I started taking creatine regularly and I'm up from 180 to 185 lbs (fluctuates based on consistency). Despite being up 5 lbs, I went down a belt notch. Body recomp is real.

DEXA Results - I do DEXA scans at my friend's company, Kalos. Comparing October 2025 to June 2024: I lost about 3 lbs of lean mass and gained 1.5 lbs of body fat. Body fat is at 14% - still solid, but most of that fat showed up in my trunk (but not at the waist?). I stayed active but kind of just did "whatever" with nutrition. A nice reminder that effort without intent still has a direction.

P.S. - KALOS does DEXA scans and helps you interpret the results to build personalized exercise and nutrition programs. Really cool fitness company flying under the radar. Check them out.

Endurance - No run clubs or races this year, but I did a lot of casual running with friends. I can pick up and run an 8-minute mile for 5, 6, or 10 miles at any point. I didn't run as much as I would've liked, but I prioritized running with friends over run clubs. Worth the tradeoff.

Gym Switch - Switching from Equinox to Bay Club was a decision I wish I made earlier. Equinox kept raising prices and I asked myself: is it worth $320/mo on limited income to work out at the Union Street shoebox just to look at semi-attractive women who didn't acknowledge my existence? No. (Before you freak out - this was when I was single, and I had a rule not to ask girls out at the gym. I just liked making friends there.)

Lowlights:

No Cool Goals - I didn't have any real fitness milestones I was working toward this year. No mountain summits like Shasta or Toubkal. No races. Just maintenance. That's fine for a transition year, but I don't want two of those in a row. Changing that in 2026.

Soccer - I played a little more soccer this year by joining a Volo team. Good news: I had fun. Bad news: I was too competitive and was not asked to return because I started yelling at teammates who were bad. So this coming year, I'm training as a practice player with ex-college guys on a semi-pro team. Lesson learned. Channel the intensity properly.

Misc. Fitness

General Health - Priorities for the year ahead: sleep more than I have been the past few years, continue eating clean, and maintain the ability to run far and lift heavy. Foundation is solid. Time to tighten it up.

Appearance - People still think I'm 26 years old and I’m happy with the way I look. So high level, things are good.

Alcohol - I drank once this year. For 12 days straight. After going 13 months without alcohol, I decided to drink while in Mexico. The mezcal was delicious - some of the best I've ever had - but I was honestly a little nervous to try it again after over a year. Turns out, drinking wasn't as rough as it usually is in the US. I enjoyed it. And I'm happy to not be drinking again now that I'm back in San Francisco. I'm tying sobriety to my identity a lot less these days. I just prefer not drinking. But I'm grateful I gave myself the flexibility to enjoy it when I wanted to.

2026 Goals - Three fitness goals for the coming year:

1. 2-3 really hard hikes

2. Complete a Hyrox with friends

3. Get sponsored to run the NYC Marathon

Fun

This is perhaps the most important part of this post. It helps me highlight the fun things I've done over the past year. Despite wanting to be better, achieve more, and make money, I am grateful for being able to do a lot of cool shit with my friends along the way. Here they are.

Highlights:

Skiing Japan - Skiing brings me so much joy, but also makes my pockets significantly lighter. When I left my job, I thought it was a bad idea to use my Ikon pass that season, so I deferred it and did one trip where day passes made more sense. I skied Japan. Didn't get as much Japow as my first trip on 2022, but I still love that place. This year I'm hoping to squeeze in another single trip - maybe SLC or Tahoe - just to stay sharp.

Boys Trips - My friend Luke hosted two trips this year that I was lucky enough to get invited to. First was a house outside Yosemite with 8 guys. Second was Clearlake, CA. These didn't feel like "retreats." Just good friends coming together to hike, play board games (Code Names, Mafia), and do a little introspection. Quality time with the “bruzz.”

Hikes - I'm realizing I did a shit ton of hikes this year:

• Pinnacles (Birthday) - I envisioned my perfect birthday: a punishingly hard hike followed by a cold plunge and sauna. Invited friends to Pinnacles National Park, ended the day at Refuge Spa. Exactly what I wanted.

• Kings Canyon - One of my favorite trails from before I moved to SF. The Kirkland version of Yosemite. This was the last hike I did with my friend Martyn before he left for New York.

• Thousand Island Lake (Mammoth) - Didn't do any physically punishing hikes this year, but this one was absolutely beautiful.

• +8 Bay area hikes in Marin and Point Reyes.

Tahoe Summer Camp - My friend Tarlon hosted a summer camp for her birthday in Lake Tahoe. She runs community events for Rho and went all out. Tug of war, wake surfing, private chef dinner. Felt like being a kid again.

Plunge Party Closeout - Plunge Party was tied to my identity for 12 months. It grew into consistently hitting 100+ people per event. The peak was the 175-person closeout in July in the Mission. Hot day, cold water, mobile sauna rolling up for the final send-off. Ethereal. At the end, so many people came up to thank me and were genuinely upset it was going away. That's when I knew people actually loved it. Good way to go out on top.

Mexico - I went to Mexico City and Oaxaca over Thanksgiving. Fourth time in Mexico, first time seeing it through a foodie lens. Completely different experience. Highlights: some of the best restaurants in the world at 1/4 the US price (except Quintonil), and a core memory - my first international soccer game. Liga MX playoffs. Club America vs Monterrey.

NYC - Spent 1.5 weeks in New York and got a free place to stay by watching my friend's cat. First time visiting since turning 21. I get why people love it - and why they run out of money fast. Highlights: checking out Othership, seeing my friends Zac and Sarah build their marketing agency, running on the West Side Highway and through Central Park.

DJing at The Great Northern - Thanks to my friend Gargi, I got to DJ three events this year. The highlight: The Great Northern, full club sound system, 200 people. Core memory. For the first time, I felt like a real DJ at a real venue - not a guy playing background music at a bar, sharing his Soundcloud

with people and telling his friends he’s a DJ while he does software sales for his day job. After years of being the background music, it felt like I peaked that night.

Dinner Parties - Once I shut down Plunge Party, I got the hosting bug again. Steak party, taco nights, Friendsgiving, movie watch parties, morning group runs. Smaller scale, deeper connections.

San Diego Weddings - Traveled to San Diego twice to see two close friends get married. Every time I go back, I remember why it was so hard to leave. That place is beautiful.

Portola - The only music festival I went to this year. Lineup didn't match the past three years, but just as fun. Highlights: Despacio tent, Dom Dolla b2b off a cargo ship, Anti-Up.

Lowlights:

Time to break out your small violin.

The theme of this year was: how to live a life without a full-time job. I cut back on fun travel and stayed frugal. At first it felt restrictive - fewer trips, fewer "yes" moments compared to 2024. But pressure breeds creativity. I found ways to have fun without expensive, over-the-top spending.

Looking back, I see how much fun I can still have without spending a ton of money. Contrary to what we see on the internet, you don't need to spend big to live well.

These constraints bred creativity. I'm grateful I had as much fun as I did despite the financial position I put myself in.

Close it Out

2025 was a transition year. I left the stability of a job, ran a bunch of experiments, shut down the thing I was most known for, burned through savings, and somehow came out the other side still standing.

I didn't find "the thing." But I found out what isn't the thing. That's progress.

I learned that cash flow is king, focus compounds, and you don't need to spend a lot of money to have a great life. I met my girlfriend. I DJ'd at a real club. I watched 175 people show up to say goodbye to something I built.

Not a bad year.

2026 is about focus and fun. One problem space. Deeper connections, more adventures, more impact.

Thanks for being a part of my journey.

Love Ya,

Jared

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