Always Useful Lessons from 2025

December 29, 2025

Hi Reader

(3-minute read)

Ok, time to wrap up 2025 and begin to look into 2026.

As challenging as 2025 was, at times, to navigate, I’ve a feeling that 2026 will be a hill with a more steep gradient.

I thought that this time last year too and resolved to keep learning as much as possible from the lessons that presented and revealed themselves to me.

And so, to be courteous to these important learnings, I recorded them across the year as they happened. Now, it’s time to share the riches and sign off from 2025 'Fine Lines' with a selection of the lessons I’ve learned and embraced and that I think can serve all of us well in our 2026 efforts and endeavours.

Before we jump in, thanks a million for your time in 2025…some of the ‘Fine Lines’ editions were good, a few very good and plenty were bang average so thanks for sticking with my meanderings and thoughts.

See you in 2026…..with the wind in your sails that one or more of these lessons will offer.

Lesson #1: Give It 48-Hours

A bit of inverse logic to start with. Don't respond to anything important within 48 hours. Sounds mad when everyone's obsessed with being responsive. But how often have you seen people make poor or catastrophic decisions because they felt pressure to act fast? Research backs this up. Your brain needs distance to separate emotion from judgment. If it’s an emergency? Sure, respond immediately. But everything else? Let it sit. You'll be shocked how many "urgent" problems solve themselves when you ignore them for two days. And the ones that don't? Your response will be way better after the gap.

Why I think it works: Temporal distance activates different neural pathways. Your emotional brain calms down, your strategic brain wakes up. Simple as that.

Lesson #2: The Inverted Pre-Mortem

Think Charlie Munger (“always invert") and before big decisions, don't ask "What could go right?" Ask "It's six months from now and this failed spectacularly…so what happened?"

Yes, this sounds negative. But it’s an underutilised approach that may actually prevents disasters. I learned this from a rugby performance director who does this before every major recruitment. It both permits and forces his team to voice doubts they'd normally suppress to appear supportive. The upshot is that you find the problems while you can still fix them, not after they've destroyed your season or year. There's behavioural science showing we're better at imagining failure than success; it lies in how our brains evolved to spot threats. Use it.

Why I think it works: Permission to be pessimistic reveals blindspots optimism hides.

Lesson #3: The Big Switch-Off

Come January turn off every notification except texts from actual humans you know. All of them. Emails, Slack, Teams, everything.

Check them when you decide to, not when they demand it. I resisted this for years because I thought I needed to be available. Then I tried it for a week. Turned out 90% of what felt urgent wasn't. And the things that actually mattered? People found me. They picked up the phone and did that old-fashioned thing called ‘ringing someone’. Your attention is the most valuable thing you own. Stop letting apps auction it off every thirty seconds.

Why I think it works: Every notification fragments your focus, and it takes, experts reckon, about 23 minutes on average to get back to deep work after an interruption. Do the math on how many you get daily. It’s no wonder we’re running fast to stand still.

Lesson #4: The One-Thing Rule

Every week, identify the single thing that if you did nothing else, would still make the week successful. Write it down Monday morning and then guard it violently.

Everything else is negotiable. But that one thing is absolutely non-negotiable. Granted it sounds simplistic but most leaders I work with can't actually name their one thing. (Confession: not too long ago I couldn’t either). They've got nine priorities which means they’re prioritising priorities which in turn means they've got zero priorities. The discipline isn't in doing the one thing but in saying no to everything that threatens it. It gives you, and the people around you who practice this too, permission to ignore the noise.

Why I think it works Clarity eliminates decision fatigue. One clear priority beats ten fuzzy ones every time.

Lesson #5: The Assumption Audit

Once a quarter, write down your three biggest assumptions about your business/team. Then actively try to prove them wrong.

I don’t mean validate them but actually disprove them. Hire or task someone to argue the opposite. (If you can hire someone from ‘outside’ then all the better) Look for evidence you're deluded. This feels a little bit masochistic but it's the only way to catch yourself before reality does. The discomfort of questioning yourself beats the disaster of being wrong.

Why I think it works: Confirmation bias is stronger than you think. Actively seeking disconfirmation is the only counter.

Lesson #6: Delegation

If you're going to do something yourself, ask: "Could someone else do this at 70% of my quality?" If yes, delegate it. Even if teaching them takes longer than doing it yourself.

The math never works short-term but there’s always a compound effect that works and delivers long-term. Most leaders know this intellectually but still hoard tasks because delegation feels inefficient. And, yes, it is inefficient, initially. But the compounding effect of delegation is absurd. You might have to spend a month teaching someone things you could do in a week. But when they learn to handle it all you’ll get, say, 20 hours back monthly. Forever.

Why I think it works Your time is finite. Leverage is infinite. Do the math.

Lesson #7: Capability Battery

I suggest you track your energy, not your time. For one week, note what gives you energy and what drains it. Then restructure everything around energy, not importance.

It does sound indulgent. But, counter-intuitively, it’s actually practical. You can't sustain high performance doing only energy-draining work, regardless of how important it is. I've seen people in sport and business burn out doing "the right things" in the wrong order. I was one of those.

Put energy-giving tasks early in the day when you can. Batch the draining stuff. Delegate what consistently depletes you or eats your time. This could super-charge you in a world where mediocre is the norm. You can’t outperform your interpretation of how you feel so if you want a performance that’s 9/10 then you need to feel 9/10 consistently…..and that takes conscious effort and practice.

Why I think it works Capability (your ability to access your ability) is a depletable resource so energy optimisation beats time management.

Lesson #8: The To-Stop List

First Monday of every month, block three hours. No meetings, no email, no phone. Just you, a notebook, and one question: "What am I doing that I should stop?"

Forget the Christmas present self-help book wisdom about what you should add. Think about what you should subtract. Kinda like a professional declutter. Most people never create space to question their own busyness so they just keep adding to it. The monthly reset forces you to examine whether you're actually being productive & effective or just busy. Best case, you free up resources for things that actually matter. Worst case is that it’s a useful reflective practice.

Why I think it works Activity isn't achievement. Regular pruning prevents to-do bloat.

Thanks again for reading and investing your time. All the best for 2026. Happy New Year.

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