This is going to be a different kind of wrap-up post because 2025 has been a different kind of year. The statement, “This has been a different kind of year,” leads naturally to the first lesson: Every year is different. Every year comes with challenges. Every year comes with opportunities. Want to change your experience? Stop blaming the media and others. Start by changing the way you think.
Note that I don’t intend to lecture anyone. It’s a reminder to myself.
I was at my wits’ end at the end of September. I wanted to pull out the hair I no longer have. We went through several weeks of heartache and even tragedy with team members at Hoffer Plastics. “Life is chaotic,” my doctor reminded me. “The calm times are the exception.”
In other words, every life is filled with challenges.
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On my birthday, I was reminded that in business, you can deliver 100% on time, with zero quality issues for 13 straight years, and still lose the next opportunity. It reinforced a truth I tend to forget: I am not the boss—the customer is. As I wrote in my notebook a few months earlier, “There is only one boss: the customer. And they can fire us at any time.” Thanks, Sam Walton, for the reminder.
The next lesson was to let the loss sting. I wallowed in it. I let it kick my butt. Honestly, I let it ruin my birthday night—and that was a mistake. But it eventually gave me a renewed passion for excellence, relationships, and grit.
This leads to another lesson: the loss can sting, but it cannot define you.
My most frequent reminder from my afternoon devotional this year is that I need to define my identity vertically and not horizontally. Thank you, Paul David Tripp.
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Another lesson came at the end of our family vacation, when suitcases were overflowing and jamming the belt at baggage claim. The woman working there looked at me, muttered a curse under her breath, and said, “THIS ISN’T MY F’ING JOB.” I looked at her and said, “Well, it’s not mine either, but I’m going to do something about it.”
After I moved the suitcases (with a little bit of rage, I confess), I had the satisfaction of seeing the belt move again and the bags reach their owners. I’ve adopted a new mantra:
IT IS ALWAYS MY JOB.
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Another lesson—one that is becoming more practical as my kids approach driving age—came from comedian George Carlin: “Everyone driving slower than you is an idiot, and everyone driving faster than you is a maniac.” With three sets of young eyes watching me these days, I definitely need to be in less of a hurry.
Speaking of that, the most repeated lesson of 2025 (and the seven years before it) is the need to practice a slowed-down life. From a spiritual standpoint, I remember that Jesus was a “3 MPH God,” as historians hypothesize he walked at roughly that pace. Whether or not that’s literally true is beside the point. Scripture consistently shows He was not in a hurry.
I am.
So I’m working on single-tasking, reading physical books, and driving the speed limit on Randall Road.
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Other random thoughts to close the year:
LinkedIn messages have become a complete annoyance. I post this blog on LinkedIn and have considered stopping for that reason alone. I’ve also considered stopping this blog altogether. I’m continuing because I’m having fun writing in this season—but reading this blog doesn’t give someone an “in” to pitch me on how they can save us money. I’m getting really tired of that pitch in my middle age.
Like everyone else, I’m concerned about how politically divided we’ve become. But I’m even more concerned about Americans’ lack of historical understanding. Political divisiveness has been part of our country since its founding. Most contemporary Americans would be shocked by how much the Founding Fathers couldn’t stand each other at times. Reading good history books this year has helped me keep perspective.
And reading the Bible has helped me realize that I am not above the political fray, that my views are often wrong, and that following Jesus gives me the freedom to admit those errors.
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Do you want to know the problem with America?
It’s me and my sinfulness.
I am selfish, prideful, self-centered, egotistical, materialistic, lustful, greedy, lacking in love—and countless other things. I don’t have it all figured out. I don’t have the answers. I most likely wouldn’t be a CEO outside of a family business.
How’s that for candor?
But I don’t blame others. I don’t blame our team when results suffer. I look in the mirror. I don’t blame the media when I hit a bad golf shot. I don’t blame the other political party when we screw something up at work.
I take ownership.
And quite frankly, it would be refreshing if more people in public life did the same.
My proudest moments are when I own up to the people I care about. On Sunday mornings, I have peace because I’ve spent the week confessing my junk to Jesus in prayer. I also have an accountability partner who hears my confessions.
And you know what? Forgiveness is real.
Back in June, at the tail end of a workout, I wrote this down:
“Freedom is not doing whatever you want. It’s having nothing to hide.”
Lord, help me live that kind of life.
I don’t know what 2026 holds. I suspect it will be chaotic, with big ups and downs. I can’t tell you anything for sure. But I can tell you that I’m placing my hope in the reality of eternity through Jesus.
And because of that, I can end this year with peace.