New Perspectives: From Execution to Intention

As we leave 2025 and head into 2026, I’ve been spending time reflecting on what truly mattered this past year—and what no longer does. The shift has been subtle but meaningful: less noise, more alignment; fewer reactions, more intention. This newsletter is where I’ll share those reflections in real time—less about headlines or hype, and more about the ideas, conversations, books, and decisions that are shaping how I think, build, and live going forward.

One of the quiet but meaningful shifts this year was moving from constant execution to more intentional focus. For a long time, progress looked like output—more content, more conversations, more movement. This year challenged that assumption. I began matching my energy to what actually mattered, rather than responding to every possible opportunity.

That shift showed up most clearly in how I approached offers and products. Instead of building what could work, I spent more time listening to what the community was already asking for—and aligning around that. Fewer launches, fewer experiments, but better alignment. The result wasn’t louder growth, but more accurate growth: stronger views, downloads, subscriptions, sign-ups, clients, and sales, even with less visible output.

Being more selective also meant saying no more often—to emails, messages, texts, and requests that didn’t align. Not because they weren’t interesting or well-intentioned, but because attention is finite. Protecting focus turned out to be one of the highest-return decisions of the year. Less responsiveness created more clarity, and more clarity produced better results.

Unexpectedly, this created space beyond business. With fewer reactive commitments, I had more time and energy for nutrition, fitness, travel, and experiences—the things that support longevity and perspective, not just productivity. The tradeoff was fewer conferences and less business travel, and a deliberate shift toward personal travel and experiences that restore rather than deplete.

What I learned is that progress doesn’t always come from doing more. Sometimes it comes from choosing better, listening longer, and trusting that alignment compounds—even when the surface-level output looks quieter.

Lessons From The Podcast Conversations: AI, Leverage, and Signal vs. Noise

Interviewing more investors, entrepreneurs, and tech innovators this year, one theme consistently surfaced: AI. Early conversations focused on fear and speculation—will AI take our jobs (the most common answer was "someone who knows how to use AI will take your job"), will OpenAI replace Google, will SEO become obsolete, the emerge of AI search, will robots enter our homes and relationships? As the year progressed, the questions matured alongside the technology itself.

What became clear from these conversations and how my own thinking about AI evolved: AI doesn’t replace judgment or creativity—it amplifies leverage. The shift from early LLM tools like ChatGPT to agents, avatars, automation, and AI-generated video reframed AI not as a threat, but as infrastructure. Those who gained clarity about what they were building benefited most; those without direction simply moved faster in the wrong direction. AI raised the floor—but widened the gap between intentional operators and passive users.

Platform Growth: Why Live and Long-Form Won

This year also revealed something unexpected about media and trust. Our Instagram following grew from 3,000 to over 10,000, while YouTube scaled from roughly 2,000 subscribers to nearly 29,000. Livestreaming emerged as the single most effective format, and the podcast consistently reached 8,000–10,000 active monthly downloads.

I think that livestreaming became #1 and our YouTube exploded disproportionately and Instagram growth followed conversation, not virality, is because the key takeaway wasn’t about algorithms—it was about alignment. Live, unscripted, long-form conversations outperformed polished, optimized content because trust beat tactics. Audiences didn’t want more content; they wanted context. That insight reshaped how I think about distribution, growth, and attention heading into 2026.

Monetization Maturity: Alignment Over Volume

Revenue told a similar story. Sponsorship income dipped during parts of the year—not due to lack of interest, but because alignment matters. Misaligned sponsors dilute trust. Rather than forcing volume, we prioritized fit.

That discipline created unexpected upside. As the show’s popularity increased, demand from guests wanting to appear on the podcast rose significantly. Instituting a $125 guest booking fee wasn’t about monetization—it was about signal quality. The result was better conversations, stronger alignment, and meaningful revenue that reflected trust and positioning rather than reach alone.

Audience Evolution: Growing Together

One subtle but important change last year was the evolution of the audience itself. As the conversations deepened, so did the engagement. There was less interest in hype and shortcuts, and more curiosity around nuance, context, and long-term thinking. The willingness to spend time with long-form livestreams and podcasts—and even pay for access—signaled a shift from transactional consumption to relational connection. That maturation reinforced something I believe strongly: the most valuable communities aren’t built on clicks, but on trust. This newsletter is meant to be a home for that kind of audience—people who value clarity over noise and depth over volume.

Business Evolution: From Output to Intentional Focus

Behind the scenes, the biggest shift was internal. I became far more selective with email, messages, texts, and requests—not out of detachment, but out of respect for finite attention. Saying no more often created clarity. Fewer initiatives meant better matching results: stronger views, downloads, subscriptions, sign-ups, clients, and sales, even with less visible output.

The lesson was simple but powerful: clarity is leverage. Momentum followed where incentives, energy, and audience needs aligned.

Beyond Business: Choosing Longevity

Unexpectedly, this focus created space beyond work. With fewer reactive commitments, I reclaimed time for nutrition, fitness, travel, and experiences that restore perspective. The year included fewer conferences and less business travel, replaced by more intentional personal travel and meaningful experiences, losing twenty pounds, running a Sub 2 hr half-marathon in San Francisco, and improving my baseline fitness through a consistent Pilates and Yoga practice, going to bed (8:30 PM) and waking up earlier (5 AM club), and overall higher energy levels.

In a world optimized for visibility and urgency, sustainability quietly became a competitive advantage.

Looking Ahead: Partnerships and Presence in 2026

Heading into 2026, we’re re-partnering with Doctor Podcast Network and anticipate sponsorship and Spotify advertising revenue ramping meaningfully. My first live appearance will be at Podfest 2026 in Orlando, followed by several speaking engagements later in the year. These aren’t growth tactics—they’re continuation points in a longer arc of relationship-driven work.

Closing Thoughts

Leaving 2025 and heading into 2026, what stands out most isn’t growth for its own sake—it’s discernment. Knowing what to lean into, what to protect, and what to let go of. This past year reinforced that progress doesn’t always announce itself loudly. Often, it shows up as clarity, alignment, and the confidence to move at your own pace. That’s the energy I’m carrying forward—into the work, the conversations, and the life I’m intentionally building.

Next Up

In the coming issues, I’ll be sharing deeper reflections on how AI is reshaping leverage and creativity, behind-the-scenes lessons from building media and business in public, ideas worth sitting with from what I’m reading, and personal experiments around health, focus, and freedom. Less reacting to trends—more sense-making from the middle of the work.

Join the Conversation

If this resonated, I’d love to hear from you. What’s one thing you’re carrying into 2026—or one thing you’re intentionally leaving behind? You can reply directly to this email or share your thoughts wherever you found this. The best conversations often start quietly.

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To a Happy and Prosperous 2026,
Chris