Advent of Growth 2025: Summary
Every December, the world gets louder: more to-dos, more deadlines, more pressure to "wrap things up". I wanted to do the opposite.
Advent of Growth was my small counter-tradition for 2025: 24 days of short daily videos with exercises, challenges, journaling prompts and a few ideas that genuinely helped me—designed to be simple enough to try immediately, but meaningful enough to shift how you think.
Not "hustle harder" content. More like tiny daily nudges toward clarity, alignment and a calmer nervous system.
I created this series for two reasons: First, because personal growth works best in small, consistent reps—not in big, perfect overhauls.
Second, because the end of the year is a powerful moment to pause and ask: What's actually working? What's draining me? What do I want more of in 2026?
These 24 days were my way of making that reflection actionable: one prompt, one tool, one experiment at a time.
Below is the full recap—day by day—so you can revisit your favorites, catch up on anything you missed, or pick a handful of days to replay whenever you need a reset.
Since this series was originally published on YouTube, I've created a playlist for you to watch all the videos in one place.
Day-by-day Overview
Day 1 – Procrastinating on big tasks? Try the 5-Minute Rule
We started by shrinking resistance: instead of "do the whole thing", you only commit to 5 minutes of a tiny starter version of the task. The goal isn't finishing, it's becoming the kind of person who starts.
Day 2 – Journaling prompt: "What can I do to be a better ___?"
Pick one role that matters to you (partner, friend, leader, ...) and answer this question with concrete behaviors, not vague traits. Then choose one of those behaviors to actually try this week.
Day 3 – 1-year Ideal End State (mini vision exercise)
You wrote three short paragraphs imagining your life one year from now if things felt more aligned: work, relationships and self. Not a perfect fantasy, just a clear direction for future decisions.
Day 4 – Habit pairing (aka temptation bundling)
Instead of relying on willpower, you "glue" a habit you want to build to something you already enjoy: podcast + walk, YouTube + stretching, coffee + 10 minutes of focused work. The fun thing becomes the reward.
Day 5 – Cognitive reappraisal & the 10-10-10 rule
From Feel-Good Productivity: when something feels huge and terrible, ask "Will this matter in 10 minutes, 10 weeks, 10 years?" Most things that feel awful now won't even register later, which helps your nervous system calm down.
Day 6 – Journaling prompt: If nothing changed for 5 years…
Imagine your life stayed exactly the same for the next 5 years. What would you regret most? Your answers point straight at misalignments and "later" projects that actually need attention now.
Day 7 – Nervous system reset (2-minute grounding)
We ended the week with a nervous system reset: longer exhales, relaxing jaw and shoulders, then a quick 5–4–3 sensory scan (see, feel, hear) to get out of your head and back into your body before choosing the kindest next step.
Day 8 – Not-To-Do List
Instead of only writing down what you want to get done, you decide what you will no longer spend energy on: things that drain you but don't really move you forward. A tiny boundary contract with yourself.
Day 9 – Growth Day
Rather than waiting for "someday" to work on your life, you schedule a Growth Day: a full day to reflect, work deeply on something meaningful, reset your systems and consciously celebrate progress.
Day 10 – Alignment Log
You started tracking your energy with two simple headings: "Draining" and "Alive". Each day you jot down moments that make you feel smaller or more like yourself, so patterns of misalignment (and alignment) can emerge.
Day 11 – Productivity Score (10-minute test)
Instead of guessing where you're stuck, you take my 36-question Productivity Score test to see how you're doing across 7 areas of life—and get concrete suggestions for what to improve next.
Day 12 – Your beliefs aren't true
From Useful, Not True: We explored the idea that beliefs don't have to be perfectly "true"—they just need to be useful. The river parable shows how perspective shapes reality, and you're invited to choose beliefs that actually help the person you want to become.
Day 13 – Journaling prompt: What could I stop doing to make my days lighter?
Rather than adding more habits, you look at what you can stop doing: small behaviors, patterns or obligations that make your days heavier than they need to be.
Day 14 – Gratitude Shower
Instead of only writing gratitude lists, you pick one person in your life and give them a "gratitude shower": a short, specific message telling them what you appreciate about them and why—lifting both them and you.
Day 15 – Task batching
Instead of scattering similar tasks throughout the whole day, you group them into focused blocks: one slot for email, one for admin, one for deep work. Fewer context switches = more focus and a calmer brain.
Day 16 – Four Thousand Weeks: you can't have it all
From Four Thousand Weeks: you only have a limited number of weeks, so you can't do everything—and that's okay. The game is to choose your trade-offs on purpose and decide what you're willing to do "worse" so something important can be done better.
Day 17 – Journaling prompt: If you had 2 years left…
Imagine you had about two years left to live: what would you stop doing, what would you definitely start, and what conversations would you finally have? Your answers cut through the noise and show you what really needs attention now.
Day 18 – Core values test
You took (or were invited to take) a short values test to find your 3 most important core values from a list of 120. Knowing your values gives you a filter for decisions, priorities and boundaries, so life can actually start to feel like you.
Day 19 – Separation of tasks
From The Courage to Be Disliked: a lot of stress comes from doing things that aren't actually your task. Your task is how you show up; how others feel or react is their task—and you're allowed to put down what isn't yours.
Day 20 – Journaling prompt: Invest in ease
Instead of only spending money on "more stuff", you reflect on where you could invest money to make life easier and smoother. The idea is to remove pointless friction (tools, support, outsourcing) so you have more energy for what matters.
Day 21 – 4-7-8 breathing (guided)
A short guided breathwork session using the 4-7-8 pattern: inhale for 4, hold for 7, exhale for 8. It's a tiny nervous system reset you can use when you're stressed, overwhelmed or struggling to fall asleep.
Day 22 – The Now vs. Later test
Before saying yes to a new commitment, you ask: "Would I still say yes if this were happening this week or tomorrow?" If the answer is no, it's a sign you're overloading your future self and might want to turn that yes into a no or "maybe later".
Day 23 – The bravest word: "Help"
From The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse: the bravest thing you can sometimes say is "Help". Asking for support isn't weakness—it's honest, human and often the first real step toward change (and there's a beautiful animated version of the book on Apple TV).
Day 24 – You don't need to be productive every day
We ended with a gentle reminder: growth isn't a perfect streak, and your worth isn't tied to daily productivity. The goal of Advent of Growth was never "do more" but "live more like you"—which includes rest, play and imperfect, very human days.
Conclusion
Creating Advent of Growth was genuinely one of the most fun and fulfilling projects I've done this year. I loved the constraint of "one small thing, every day" and it pushed me to turn ideas I care about into simple, usable prompts.
What made it even better was your response: the messages, comments and conversations that came out of these 24 days were incredibly encouraging. Knowing that a 60-second exercise helped someone start a task, take a breath, set a boundary or feel a little more like themselves—that meant a lot.
So yes: I'll definitely be back with Advent of Growth 2026. Same spirit, new prompts, fresh learnings—and hopefully an even better series.