Allow me to celebrate roughly 360 days of stillness practice this past year! (Every day practice, but I missed a few) Not posting this for a pat on the back, but because I needed to acknowledge it. For a long time, I’ve felt like a shaken jar filled with sand and water... always moving, always cloudy. Hard to see clearly because I wouldn’t stop mixing things up. I'm 2025, I mindfully committed to letting it settle. Not perfectly, but intentionally. I also found my way back into my body again. Back into a real gym routine. Competed in the F45 Playoffs. Played competitive adult sports for the first time in 15+ years. And beat up this aging bag of bones in the process... 🩹 Not to chase an old version of myself. Just to remember who I am when I’m present. 2025 was about identifying and fighting habits that didn’t serve me. Slowing down without disappearing. Letting go of the need to perform. Being myself - wherever that took me. No big lesson. No glamorous outcome. Boring consistency. Just trusting the process. Letting the jar settle. And seeing what becomes clear when it does. If you’re in a season where the work is mostly internal - I see you. 👀

It was probably the most difficult thing I had to do. It felt wrong. I felt like I was disappointing people. It’s something I’ve struggled with forever. I learned to say “no” in 2025. For some people, this is not a big deal, but for me, it’s a struggle. Many of these “nos” were for social moments that I just simply could not commit to without completely burning out. Many of them were also for favors that I simply could not abandon my time for. Some of them were business related. I pride myself on being extremely reliable and trusted. The downside to that is people can begin to EXPECT you to show up any time, anywhere, and drop everything you’re doing for them. In part, I set this expectation because I am always willing to help, but the reality started to set in that I couldn’t help everyone and I could not afford to burn time and effort by always saying yes. I found that once I decided what aligned with my needs/wants/values, it became much easier to say no to something that didn’t fit. What I found to be the most important aspect of saying no was that it put me back in control. The tension, anger, and frustration was mounting because I felt like I was losing my time and control. Once I started saying no, I was back in the drivers seat. It’s made a world of difference. This isn’t a new lesson, but if you have ever felt like this, just know you can say “no” and your world and the people around you who matter will not change the way they think of you. I took control back by saying no and it has allowed me to deepen relationships and continue to grow. I never thought that would be the case. Please feel free to share your thoughts, insights, and experiences on this.

How do you show kindness to yourself in the constant hustle and bustle of life and business , personally and professionally, what do you do for you?

Hello community, Adam Holtzer here, I wanted to tell you a story about a line that has changed my life, and the lives/days/weeks of those around me. Ever say the term, “have a great day!” We all have said that, everyday we say that, back in 2018 I met someone who said to me, “create a great day.” That was a pattern interrupt to me, I had to stop and think about what those words meant. When I asked why this person said “create” bs “have,” it hit me. We all have the ability to create a great day, it’s a choice, it’s a mindset. So I leave you with this, every day, every week, we have the choice to make our days what they are, that’s the importance of mindset, and perspective. Give it a try, say to someone, “create a great day, or make it a great day.” There is a lot of power in both the words we choose, and the mindset we choose, with all that said… Create a great day after reading this post!

The other day my son said something no 6-year-old should even be able to conceive of. While they were probably just words being recited @Janine DePaul and I, saddened and confused, immediately started wondering where he even heard of such a concept. School? Friends? Television? Was it that dumb show he watched? Maybe. So we decide “that one's off the list.” But then… what about the next one? When he’s at a friend’s house? Last week he had overheard me on the phone telling my wife that a man got shot. His supersonic hearing caught what I never intended him to. I should’ve been more careful — but it happened. And it’s a reminder that no matter how much I try to protect him, he’s going to learn the hard truths of this world one day… sooner than he should... It's just a matter of if we're there to help him process when they come. We watched the movie Little Giants the other night — remember the little kid whose mom wraps him up in foam insulation before sending him out to play? It's funny… but don't we all wish the bubble wrap method would work?! But then he asked my wife something else that landed even deeper: “Why does Daddy like working so much?” He understood why people work… but he couldn’t understand why I seem to prefer it. "No, he REALLY likes work." He must perceive that work gets more of my attention than he does. And you know what? My inner voice had an answer I didn’t like hearing: “Well son, that's because Daddy must not be satisfied with himself. He probably thinks maybe he’ll find it in what he builds or accomplishes. The next thing he does. Meanwhile, his most prized creation is you — the one thing that is he lost he’d burn everything else down for.” Go figure. Even when we get what we thought we wanted… we still want more. We still keep filling a void that only seems to expand. So I ask myself — and maybe you too: When is enough, enough? Enough mindless, junk food entertainment that rots our brains. Enough of our own bullshit and excuses.