🎯 10 Powerful Takeaways from 2025

Last year I released over 50 episodes filled with strategies to upgrade your money, points, and life. Today I'm distilling all of that into 10 powerful takeaways—the most impactful insights from my research and conversations with incredible guests.

Looking back at 2025, I realized there was a turn in the story. More does not always equal better. Optimizing for pure efficiency often crowds out what actually matters: resilience, connection, joy. So the theme for 2025 is shifting from accumulation to wisdom.

💰 1. True Wealth Is Multidimensional

We usually score ourselves on just one dimension: financial wealth. But in Ep #213, Sahil Bloom taught me that if you have $10 million but no control over your calendar, you're actually much poorer than you think. Would you trade lives with Warren Buffett? He's worth $130 billion, but he's 95. The answer is obviously no.

Sahil's framework includes financial, time, physical, mental, and social wealth. The goal isn't just financial wealth—it's being wealthy across all dimensions.

• Stop maximizing financial wealth at others' expense
• Define your own 4-7 dimensions of wealth
• Audit your balance across all types
• Make intentional trade-offs

🎯 2. Focus on What Moves the Needle

When you first start optimizing, everything feels like it matters. But at some point, you cross thresholds and waste your most valuable resource: time and mental energy.

In Ep #230, Nick Maggiulli shared two powerful rules from his book The Wealth Ladder:

The 1% Rule: Don't spend time on opportunities unless they can move your net worth by at least 1%.

The 0.01% Rule: Multiply your net worth by 0.01%—that's the amount you can spend daily without stressing. With $100,000, that's $10. With $1 million, it's $100.

For credit cards: A new card with a 100,000-point bonus is worth 25 years of optimizing spending categories.

• Apply the 1% and 0.01% rules
• Hunt for welcome bonuses over category optimization
• Reassess thresholds as your wealth grows

🛡️ 3. Build a Portfolio That Can Weather Any Storm

If you work in tech, invest in tech, live in a tech city, and your network is tech people—your income, investments, and social capital are all tied to one industry. If tech has a down year, it hits you on all fronts.

In Ep #233, Ben Carlson said: concentration builds wealth, but diversification keeps it. In 2025, US stocks were up 16%, but international stocks were up 28%. A globally diversified portfolio wins.

This applies to points too. When Capital One added Japan Airlines as a transfer partner, we rebooked our Japan trip to nonstop business class flights—only possible because we earn transferable points across multiple programs.

• Audit your concentration risk
• Diversify globally in investments
• Earn transferable points (Amex, Chase, Capital One, Citi)

⚡ 4. Scale Horizontally, Not Vertically

We default to vertical thinking: How do I get a 5% raise? How do I earn 4x instead of 3x? But horizontal scaling often beats vertical optimization.

In Ep #249, Kai showed how playing the points game in "multiplayer mode" lets you repeat bonuses and layer in referrals—making one plus one worth more than two.

But here's the key lesson: you can't optimize another human like you optimize yourself. Be a lighthouse, not a snowplow. Share information and support, but let people navigate their own path.

• Add second income streams before grinding for 10% more
• Play in multiplayer mode with family and friends
• Be a lighthouse, not a snowplow

⏰ 5. Stop Waiting for the Perfect Time

"We'll travel when the kids are older." "I'll take a sabbatical when work calms down." We're waiting for the perfect time—but it doesn't exist. While you wait, time is decaying.

In Ep #239, Jillian Johnsrud said it perfectly: the perfect time doesn't exist. And in Ep #252, Nick Reyes said something simple but powerful: "Chris, kids exist everywhere. You can buy diapers in Tokyo." We overthink the constraints.

I took baby steps by scheduling the podcast off for Thanksgiving and Christmas—the first time in four years. It felt scary, but it was really, really great.

• Identify what you're delaying
• Remember: time decays
• Take baby steps—start with a week off

🤖 6. Scale Yourself with Technology

I used to spend hours searching for tools or hacking together spreadsheets. This year, everything changed. In Ep #217, Kevin Rose told me he described what he needed to ChatGPT, and it wrote the code that afternoon. "I'm not a coder, but I built exactly what I needed."

I've built multiple products and tools in hours that used to take months and hiring entire teams. We got a 3D printer and can now create custom parts in minutes instead of waiting weeks for shipping.

AI can call restaurants for tables, turn 50-page papers into 15-minute podcasts, and handle countless time-consuming tasks. This isn't replacing thinking—it's multiplying capacity.

• Build tools yourself with ChatGPT or Claude
• Explore 3D printing for custom solutions
• Let AI multiply your capacity

🏥 7. Be the CEO of Your Own Health

For almost a decade, I had high cholesterol. Every year: same advice, no results. I was being a good patient, but the system wasn't optimizing for me. So I stopped waiting. I ordered my own labs, got a calcium score test, and realized I'd wasted a decade.

I asked my dentist what I should do if I were willing to spend out of pocket. "Get a third cleaning. $120." Why didn't he tell me sooner? "Insurance doesn't usually cover it." The system only tells you what the system covers.

In Ep #215, Joseph Woodman showed me you can get world-class care in Mexico or Thailand for half the cost with better outcomes. You have options—but the healthcare system won't tell you about them.

• Fire yourself as patient, hire yourself as CEO
• Ask: "What should I do that insurance doesn't cover?"
• Order your own labs—many tests cost $4-5

👥 8. Prioritize Friendship Like You Prioritize Your Health

How much time this week did you spend on health versus friendships? We treat health as non-negotiable but push friendship to the bottom of the list.

Yet a Harvard study following 2,000 people for 85 years found the single greatest predictor of physical health at age 80 was relationship satisfaction at age 50. Not smoking, blood pressure, or cholesterol. Relationships.

In Ep #256, Nick said friendships require exposure over time. I keep a "Walking Calls" list and call friends during walks. Nick hosts two-hour cocktail parties and sends a friends newsletter. After our episode, friends started their own newsletters—and I felt so much more connected.

• Build structure: host gatherings, join clubs, create check-ins
• Use walking calls to stay connected
• Start a friends newsletter

🎯 9. Your Purpose Is Already Here

I've spent years thinking my purpose was out there somewhere, hiding. But in Ep #259, Mark Manson told me: purpose isn't found, it's revealed. It's already part of us.

When I started this podcast, friends said, "Of course you did. This is you." It took me 20 years to see what they saw immediately. People close to you can see your purpose clearly because they don't feel the social pressures you do.

Mark's three ingredients: something you're uniquely positioned to do, that adds value to others, and that you're willing to sacrifice for. Your purpose doesn't have to look impressive—it just has to be you.

• Ask friends what you're naturally great at
• Look at what you're already doing
• Check Mark's three criteria

🛑 10. The Ultimate Optimization Is Knowing When to Stop

In Ep #254, Amy and I talked about how I turned buying furniture into weeks of analysis paralysis. In Ep #248, Tim Ferriss said, "You're being lazy if you're constantly optimizing." You can't optimize relationships, love, or connection.

Ryan Holiday told me hitting #1 on the bestseller list felt like nothing. No external thing ever feels like anything. Mark Manson warned: be careful what you measure because you'll optimize for it. Pick a poor metric and you'll end up in a life you don't enjoy.

The ultimate optimization isn't finding the perfect solution every time. It's knowing when good enough is good enough so you can stop analyzing and start living.

• Stop analysis paralysis
• Don't optimize relationships—connection needs presence
• Pick the right metrics for life

💡 From More to Better

Ten takeaways from over 50 episodes. The common thread? I'm moving from more to better. More points, more money, more optimization was the old game. The new game is: what actually matters? Where should I focus? And when should I stop?

Don't stop optimizing. Just make sure you're optimizing for the right thing. I'm still hunting for deals and racking up points—but through a new lens, using these hacks to buy time and freedom, not just to keep score.

What are you taking into 2026? Leave a comment on YouTube or Spotify and let me know.

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