It was a year where you found the strength to push past barriers you used to put up for yourself. This was the year you worked the hardest for the things you wanted. This was the year that made you realize there are no limits to what you can do or achieve. 2026 will play an integral role in the way you approach the rest of your life, and you'll continue to build on the lessons, achievements, and failures of 2026.
Here are just some of the highlights - in no particular order.
Health
You fucking ran a half marathon in May! What in the world? Last year, you couldn't even run a mile to save your life. And you ran a whole 13.1 miles in May. That is absolutely wild.
Was it easy? Absolutely not. The path to 13.1 miles was wrought with setbacks, painful sacrifice, and tons of second guessing. But when it was time to train, you laced up your shoes and went. It didn't matter what the weather was or what time of day or how much travel was on your schedule - you got the miles in. And when race day finally came, you paced yourself and finished! The time might have been slow, but that's fine... you finished a 13.1 mile run! And you got to celebrate this win with your friends and loved ones. That was a defining moment for you. Something that you've always thought was an impossible thing to achieve - you trained hard and did it.
You learned so much about discipline throughout this process. Motivation is fleeting and easy. Discipline is what gets shit done. There were days where you really didn't feel like running - honestly MOST days - but you knew you had to and made no excuses. You were inspired by your close friends, and in turn hopefully inspired them to stick to their goals too.
And aside from that, you were consistent with hybrid training and adhered to your lifting schedule. You saw PR's in everything, and continued to push the envelope. This is something you have never done, where you were consistent with lifting throughout the WHOLE YEAR! That's crazy!
You kept up with your meds, and your LDL levels have dramatically dropped this year. This is huge! Just have to make sure you keep it down forever.
The walls you used to put up, the excuses for why you can't train or lift, you had none of that this year. The theme continued - this was the year you worked the hardest for everything you want to achieve. This was the year you overcame. And when looking at the health stats - you fucking did just that.
And look at yourself - you look fucking good! This is the best you've ever looked, while having a diet and routine that is sustainable for years to come. Good job you, you should be proud, and you should continue to build on this going forward.
Work
At work, you took it upon your shoulders to be the best analyst that you can be. You saw more companies, wrote up more stock theses, and had more names in the portfolio than last year. Are you a killer yet? Not sure, but you sure as shit are closer than you were in 2025. You're well on the way to becoming one.
Ever since you were promoted to Analyst at RK, you kind of felt like you had already gotten to where you need to get and the next step was a bit more cloudy or, at least, very far away. And sometimes the next step has been hard for you to envision and work towards.
In the beginning of this year, you got a bit more clarity on where your career could go if you're able to progress towards becoming a killer. And that really excited you. It enabled you to lock in, and push your mental boundaries beyond what you thought possible. You were allowed the ability to find shorts, something you really enjoy, and even got some in the book. You were allowed to expand your horizons as much as you wanted, and your base of knowledge at the end of 2026 is so much more developed than where it was in the beginning of the year. And this helped you build another level to your foundation, one that you didn't realize you could build before.
Was it easy? Absolutely not. There were times where you were wrong, where if you quit, a lot of people would understand why. But you didn't. You kept your resolve and resilience. You asked for help when you needed it, you stayed up late, woke up early, made sure you were on top every bit of news, the impact, and were able to make the most objective decisions for the portfolio. Did you miss some of the moves? Yes, but directionally you built something that's repeatable, and will yield more positive results than negative.
You handled defeat better than you had previously. You understood that your work will involve taking losses, but you never took defeat to heart. You figured out what went wrong, and made sure the same mistakes weren't repeated in the future. And this made your process even better. You know that 'process' is a lifelong pursuit - there are core things that you do that are 90% of the process, but that remaining 10% will stay changing and this used to be hard to stomach. But now, you are better at identifying when something falls in that 10% and are much more flexible in shifting perspective and effort. And this is something that, as you get better at, you're going to be even more of a killer.
You outperformed the KPI's that you were tasked with. They were challenging, and often times got very jumbled with everything that you had going on. And you even had to sacrifice your weekends to make sure that you weren't falling behind. But hitting these KPI's has led you to build this foundation not only for yourself, but has given the team a ton of confidence in your process.
You're looking at 2027 as a year where you're going to prove yourself even more. And when an opportunity to run your own sleeve or lead the fund in Europe comes up, you're going to be first person they think of. That what 2026 has given you, and that's fucking exciting. This was the year you found your passion for investing again, and this is the year that built the foundation for you to become a legend.
Personal
This was the year you got engaged to the girl of your dreams!! This was a long time coming, but you finally took the leap of faith. Congrats to you man. You stopped being afraid of the unknown and broke down the walls you had built to let someone else in completely. And she's so perfect. She makes you a better person in every way, she cares about the people around her, she loves your family, and she pushes you in the ways you need to be pushed. There's no one like her, and guess what - you're going to marry her! What a fucking outcome.
You guys have built something special so far, and will just add to this foundation over the years. Together, you guys are going to see the world, go through loss and grief, lift others around you, be each other's biggest cheerleader, raise many pups, and just do life together. It's going to be an incredible journey and there's no one better to do it with.
You figured out who your closest friends and confidants are. When you first moved to Denver, you made a ton of drinking buddies who all ended up moving away, and you just never really felt close to them. They were a good time, but nothing deeper came out of that. This year, you really zoned in on the people you care most about and, importantly, feel the same about you. As someone who grew up without really too many close friends, this was awesome. It involved you having to be a better friend yourself, and you did - you showed up for them, you cheered them on, and you were there for the hard times. And you're going to continue doing this for them.
You continued to build the relationship with your family and tried to be a better son and brother. You love and care about them so much, and you just made sure that you were there for what they needed and when they needed it. There were difficult conversations but you held no grudges, you forgave more than you probably should have, and you tried to be as unconditional about your love as possible.
Lastly, you were the best dad you could have been to Oliver - who, by the way, is thriving as a diabetic pup. You continued to do everything you could for him, and there was never a time where you thought 'I could have done more.' He is the best pup, and deserves the best, and you always give it to him.
There's so much more to telegraph, but honestly - look at this list. This is fucking epic. You absolutely crushed 2026 and 2027 is going to be another incredible year for you. Keep being awesome. Keep working the hardest for the things you want this year. Keep unconditionally loving. Keep being a total killer. Most importantly - keep having a good time.
No comments:
Post a Comment