This year’s reflection arrives exactly two years after the completion of his ambitious "Foundations" project, a multi-faceted endeavor aimed at systematically upgrading core lifestyle habits, including physical health, nutrition, sleep routines, reading habits, personal organization, and social connectivity. Reviewing the outcomes of that project, Young reports a largely successful consolidation of those habits, noting that most areas of his daily routine have remained remarkably stable despite the inevitable fluctuations of daily life and shifting professional demands.
Physical fitness, a cornerstone of the Foundations initiative, continues to be a daily priority. Although a full marathon was not on the itinerary for this past year, Young successfully completed a punishing local mountain race that challenged participants to climb 1,400 meters of elevation over a grueling 16-kilometer course stretching from sea level to the summit. Beyond endurance running, he reports maintaining a steady baseline in his dietary habits, sleep hygiene, reading schedules, and efforts to stay connected with friends.
The only notable area of regression, he admits, has been personal organization. However, reflecting a pragmatic mindset honed through decades of self-experimentation, Young views occasional backsliding not as a failure, but as a normal part of habit formation. Given his historically low starting point in organization, he acknowledges that it may take several more deliberate attempts before that particular habit permanently sticks.
The primary professional undertaking of the past year was the research and development of the inaugural session of his new online course, titled Everyday Energy. For Young, the project was both a professional venture and a personal passion. Having maintained a deep, enduring fascination with the intricate connections linking human motivation, daily productivity, physical health, and overall psychological well-being, developing more than 75 comprehensive lessons provided an ideal intellectual playground. It offered an excuse to dive deeply into academic literature and specialized topics that might otherwise have fallen outside the scope of his usual writing projects.
Shifting Focus Toward Video Production for the Coming Year
Looking forward to the next twelve months, Young’s major learning and creative project centers on an ambitious pivot: producing more and higher-quality educational videos for his YouTube channel.
While Young has maintained a presence on the platform for over a decade, his commitment to video content has historically been sporadic. Writing has long been his primary medium, and because video production demands a significantly steeper time investment and technical learning curve, he never fully dedicated himself to mastering the medium to a standard that satisfied his own rigorous creative expectations. As a result, his output as a video creator has remained intermittent compared to his prolific output of written essays.
However, the broader digital media landscape has undergone a dramatic evolution. The ongoing shift of the online ecosystem toward video as a dominant medium has convinced Young that the time is right to properly commit to learning the craft. He aims to produce the kind of intellectually engaging, high-caliber video content that he personally admires as a viewer.
In considering the standard for educational video production, Young points to channels like 3Blue1Brown, Veritasium, and World War Two as prime examples of excellence in the digital space. These creators consistently manage to bridge the gap between rigorous academic and historical accuracy and genuinely entertaining, accessible presentation. By stepping up his own engagement with the medium, Young hopes to bring a similar depth to his channel.
For long-time readers who prefer traditional text-based essays, Young offers reassurance: his commitment to writing remains unchanged. He does not plan to abandon the written word, though he intends to integrate his newly produced videos into his regular newsletter updates for those interested in following his transition into visual media.
Personal Goals and Maintaining Foundations
Outside of his core professional work, Young’s primary non-work focus for the coming year is to continue reinforcing the lifestyle foundations he established during his initial project. Health and fitness will remain central, with the potential addition of another athletic endurance event. While training for a full marathon may prove difficult to fit into a schedule heavily weighted toward video production, he is eyeing alternative endurance challenges, such as a half-distance running race or a triathlon, as engaging physical goals.
Reading habits are also slated for a deliberate recalibration. Much of Young’s reading material is dictated by the specific research needs of his active projects, which can inadvertently narrow his intellectual aperture. For the coming year, he plans to cast a wider net, making time for books that do not have an immediate, direct application to his writing. At the same time, because of his current focus on expanding into video production, he has naturally incorporated a selection of foundational books on filmmaking and general film theory into his reading list to support his technical skill development.
Another critical area of personal focus for the upcoming year is social outreach and relationship-building. During his initial Foundations review, Young identified relationship maintenance as an area that had been somewhat neglected in favor of productivity-driven tasks. A stated priority for the year ahead is to carve out dedicated time for friends, even on occasions when prioritizing social connection feels less strictly productive. The rapid rise of artificial intelligence and automated tools in the modern landscape has served as a powerful reminder of the irreplaceable value found in genuine human relationships, reinforcing his belief that such connections should never be taken for granted or sidelined.
Ultimately, Young emphasizes that it is the enduring relationship he shares with his readers that sustains his career as an independent writer and researcher. Having spent more than twenty years writing online, he expresses deep gratitude for the ongoing opportunity to explore complex ideas and share what he learns with an engaged audience. As he steps into another year of life and work, his annual reflection serves as both an accounting of past progress and a deliberate renewal of his commitment to curiosity, growth, and connection.
