2025: The Year I Actually Did the Thing
A year-end reflection on leaving college, moving to San Francisco, joining a YC startup, and the two biggest lessons I learned along the way.
2025: The Year I Actually Did the Thing
2025 was the year I actually "did the thing."
Not talked about doing the thing. Not planned to do the thing next year. Actually did it.
What Happened
- Took a gap from UIUC
- Moved to San Francisco
- Became an Engineer at Origami (YC F24)
- Made content for Jesse Itzler with SEI
- Posted 33 reels on Instagram
- Hosted 6 hangouts for entrepreneurial friends
- Flew back and forth to officially graduate with a degree in Finance from Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Looking at that list now, it doesn't even feel real. At the start of 2025, I had a few hundred dollars to my name, working out of 1871 in Chicago. I'd made a whole slideshow about what 9 months could look like. Presented it to my mom.
And then I actually went and did it.
Lesson 1: Most People Are One Macro-Action Away from Changing Their Life
A macro-action is one decision that makes SO MANY downstream decisions easier that it's essentially a no-brainer.
For me, it was moving to San Francisco.
That single move meant: ambitious people everywhere, better career opportunities, higher standards for what "normal" looks like. All downstream of one choice.
At the end of 2024, I was complacent in Champaign. I was the ceiling of my environment — the top of the pond. Moving to SF flipped that. I went from ceiling to floor. And that shift forced me to grow in ways that staying never could have.
If you want to change yourself, the easiest way is to change your environment. Move to a new city. Join a new community. Put yourself at the bottom of a better pond.
Lesson 2: Say "Yes" Until Your Time Becomes Valuable, Then Say "No" to Keep It That Way
Classic supply and demand. But here's what made it hard:
The same things I had previously been rewarded for saying "yes" to — building $700 websites, going on every coffee chat, posting on TikTok — were the things now required to cut.
It goes like this:
- You start with a surplus of time
- You use it to become more valuable
- More people want access to you
- Suddenly there's a shortage
- You can't give it away like you used to
The first stage challenges your ability to learn new skills. The fifth challenges your ability to ruthlessly prioritize.
Going into 2025, I was in stage 1. By the end, I was firmly in stage 5. And the transition was one of the hardest things I've ever navigated.
The Unsexy Truth
Some things I did well: going deep on engineering for six months even when it didn't have immediate payoff. Walking that graduation stage for my parents. Building real relationships in a new city.
Some things I didn't: financial planning, maintaining my health, responding to texts from people who matter.
Success is measured over a lifetime, not one year. Some of the bets I made in 2025 won't pay off for years. And that's okay.
Looking Ahead
Although I understand there are indeed levels to this game, I'm proud nonetheless — 2025 will always have a special place in my heart.
Now onto 2026.