Looking back on 2025, the most significant thing I did was create a spreadsheet.
Sounds underwhelming, for sure. But this spreadsheet was unlike any other spreadsheet I’d ever created, and I’m someone that LOVES spreadsheets. I make lists, track fictional characters, outline plots, plan my life, etc–all with spreadsheets. And this was a sort of planning spreadsheet, in a way. But for me, a new approach.
On this particular spreadsheet, each row represented a month, while each column represented an important life category. Fiction writing, music production, home improvement, dates with my wife, activities with my kid, going out/visiting friends, health, etc. If I wanted to track it, I created a column. The 2025 spreadsheet had twelve columns in all.
I then filled out each cell with planned or desired activities and events, setting the text to bold if/when they actually occurred. Below the month rows, I filled out spaces beneath the columns with yet-to-be scheduled activities in each category.
For the first time, I could see a picture of the year in terms of my actualized values and priorities. I could see which categories were getting neglected, which ones might be a bit overcrowded.
And as a result, 2025 was the first year where I felt like my social life was “back”, fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels. That felt good.
What Was Actually in the Spreadsheet?
The social activities were my peak experiences last year. Hosting a couple great parties, wine nights with the boys, starting a new D&D campaign, going out to some club nights and concerts, dates with Kia, dinner parties with friends, etc. I feel blessed with family and friendship.
But I also had some professional success. I started a new consulting company, JD Moyer Solutions LLC, and made bucketloads of money. Which is good because I live in the most expensive city in the world and pay for the most expensive private school (because nothing else worked). Mark Musselman and I released some electronic music which I think sounds extremely nice (Dream Wave, By My Side, check out our Bandcamp), I worked on a bunch of new Jondi & Spesh tracks, and I started my most ambitious novel yet (Saint Arcology, the San Francisco version, which precedes the Mumbai Saint Arcology, which will be Book 2).
But it’s the social stuff I’m most proud of, and remember most.
What were your 2025 highlights?