Guys, we made it.

I didn’t burn my business down.

Society hasn’t completely collapsed (yet).

And we’re still somehow making money by showing up to Zoom calls and asking questions.

Not bad!

*Splitboarding to the summit just in time for sunset*

Welcome to my 2025 Annual Review.

Is it an honest attempt to share my failures for your benefit?

A transcript of my recent therapy session?

A long con designed to earn your trust and eventually your money?

Time will tell. Let’s proceed.

What Went Well Last Year?

Worked For Someone Else (!)

Around this time last year, I was feeling pretty burnt out.

My wife booked a hotel in Montreal over the weekend to cheer me up. But I was so depressed that I couldn't even pick a restaurant. On the drive home she finally said, “Hun, this isn’t healthy.”

She was right.

I had attached so much of my self-worth to my business that nothing felt like enough. Even when my business was doing well. Even when I was only working 20-25 hours a week. I didn’t feel free.

So I made a decision that surprised a lot of people, including me.

I got certified as a personal trainer and worked for 4.5 months at a private gym. I treated it like a sabbatical. I kept working with my existing clients but stopped everything else.

*I worked as a personal trainer for 4.5 months to reset my relationship to my business*

I was nervous about what this would look like to others. Still am. I mean, why would a business coach choose to work for someone else?

It wasn’t for the money - I had to take a pay cut compared to being full-time in my business. I just wanted to prove to myself that my business doesn’t define me. It’s given me a great life over the past 12 years, but it’s not who I am.

The experiment worked.

I had a great boss. I clocked in, helped people lift weights, and clocked out. My friends still wanted to hang out with me. My wife still respected me. And I realized that a job can just be a job. It’s not that deep.

In May, I left the gym and went back into my business full time. As nice as it was having external structure and accountability, I wanted more time to focus on foster parenting and work on my own projects.

I left the job feeling motivated and refreshed, and my revenue picked up accordingly for the second part of the year. It’s not like I never get depressed anymore, but I now have a fundamentally different relationship to my business.

Launched An AI Clone

I launched Faxon.ai in April and hit my goal of 50 paid users. Made a little money - nothing crazy, but it was a fun experiment. I wrote a whole blog post about it.

*Sometimes when I’m lonely I call my digital clone and talk about the good old days (jk)*

Spent Time Outdoors + With Friends

This is what makes me happy in life and it’s what I optimize for in my business: free time to spend outside, doing the activities I enjoy, with people I love.

*Getting some early season splitboarding runs in*

Climbing “The Womb” at Joshua Tree

*Taking the new mountain bike for a spin*

*Hosting our 3rd annual Brisket, Bourbon, and Bocce party (no bocce tho cuz of the rain)*

Kept Fostering Teens

While half of my friends got pregnant this year, I continued to wear condoms ;)

(If you’re curious, here’s why I foster teens instead of having biological kids.)

J* came back to live with us after spending a year abroad with his biological father.

*God damn that boy is tall. I mean, who’s the adult here? Very upsetting.*

We spent seven months fostering a teen mom and her baby.

*Our dog Cricket learned not to play with the baby. Sad.*

And we did some respite (short-term) care for another teen who was between homes.

*When DCF called us and asked if we could watch E* for a few nights, all of our rooms were already occupied, so we converted our laundry room into a temporary bedroom.*

Focused On 1-1 Coaching

After returning to my business full-time, I decided to streamline the whole thing. I shut down my membership, killed my course funnel, and decided against a group coaching collaboration. Instead, I put all my energy into attracting fantastic 1-1 clients and helping them go from good to great. This allowed me to run more focused experiments such as:

*A $99 live workshop with 20 registrants called “Clone Your Best Clients”*

*An updated referral program where both people get a complimentary session*

*A new* *work with me page* *and application to screen potential clients*

A *Google Doc* *for people who don’t qualify to work with me yet*

Before, I was always searching for the perfect business model to scale. But constantly innovating and jumping from one thing to the next made it really hard to improve any given product. I’d just get lost in the novelty of it all.

What I realized after working at the gym is that my business is a vehicle for the life I want and it doesn’t need to be a source of adrenaline. My 1-1 offer is incredibly profitable and surprisingly time-efficient. People get great results and we build long-term, fulfilling relationships. Instead of reinventing my business model every three months, I can now use my creativity to fuel one core offer and make it better.

My client Lisa doubled her income, demonstrating the value of year-long engagements. She also gave me the idea for a quarterly planning offer that I’ve enrolled a few past clients into already. What a champion!

What Didn’t Go As Well?

Experimented With Monthly Payments

I allowed a couple of clients to pay monthly this year and both of the engagements ended before the agreed upon 6 month mark. At first I worried this meant that my clients weren’t happy, but my average satisfaction score for the year was 9.6/10.

What I’ve learned is that the shorter the “look-back window” (the time since someone’s last payment), the more likely they are to churn. Because if someone pays you every 30 days, they have to have seen significant change every 30 days. Versus if someone pays once every 6 months or once a year, you can think longer term and they’re going to have much more change take place over that time.

Also, when people have to pay in bigger installments, it cuts out clients who are super stressed about money and focused on short term wins. So I plan on removing the monthly payment plan and shifting to year long engagements only (possibly with an option to split the payment in half for the first 6 months).

Didn’t Produce As Much Content

I produced 8 new blog posts this year and updated a couple of my most popular articles. While I’m proud of those articles, it’s a bit behind what I usually produce. I’ve honestly just been focused on supporting clients.

I joined a program to improve my YouTube videos at the end of the year but have only put out one video so far. I stayed consistent with my newsletter in the back part of the year, but I’m finding myself less motivated to create content these days. Especially long form content because my standards have just gotten so ridiculously high. Next year, I want to find the joy of creating again.

I wrote a newsletter called “How To Get Clients (Caveman Way).” People loved it, so I made a video. The video absolutely tanked but I had fun making it so screw YouTube.

What Am I Focused On This Year?

At the end of each review, I choose a one word intention for the coming year. Last year that word was “Release.” I let go of a lot in 2024. I let go of my rigid identity as an entrepreneur (and my ego) by temporarily working for someone else. I let go of my complicated suite of offers and the novelty that fueled their creation to focus on serving 1-1 clients. And I let go of constantly optimizing the self in exchange for focusing on others - like my wife, or the teens we fostered.

Here’s the problem. By letting go of the insecurity and the drive for achievement that helped me build a great life, I no longer have that same source of clarity and motivation that I used to rely on. I already feel I have enough. It’s a tricky in-between space to be in. I don’t want to use that same “dirty” fuel that I used to, but I’m still learning how to burn clean fuel.

What I’ve learned is that the more my attention turns inward, (“What should I do next with my life of business?”) the worse I feel. The more I put my attention outward, the better I feel. Asking question like:

“What do I want to be responsible for?”
“What could I commit to that would still matter even if I never talked about it, improved at it, or got credit for it?”
“What does life want from me?”

I’ve spent most of my life relying on discipline. This year, my word is Devotion. Not in the religious sense, but in the sense of devoting myself to the clients, causes, and activities that really matter.

Wish me luck.

Annual Review 2025: The One Where Greg Gets A Job