Hi friends,

Happy Saturday. I'm currently feeling a bit under the weather as I write this. I hope you're staying warm and cozy during these last days of 2025!

For December, we'll be reading Finish by Jon Acuff.

And for January, we'll be re-reading Atomic Habits by James Clear.

— Maneet

Weekly Discussion

Being a “YouTuber” requires a certain level of consistency.

I definitely failed this year.

At various points throughout 2025, I fell off the wagon and stopped uploading new videos. At one point, I went almost three months without any new content. That’s a great way to lose all your momentum and kill your creative energy. This is not at all what I imagined the year to be like.

For weeks now, I’ve been labeling this area of my life as a failure for 2025.

No progress made.

But that’s not exactly true.

Often, perfectionism is that little voice in our head telling us how we’re not getting anywhere. It’s what can cause us to give up before we get to the finish line because it feels like we’re nowhere close. At first glance, that’s how I’ve been feeling with YouTube for quite some time now. This year has felt totally stagnant. But in this week’s reading of Finish by Jon Acuff, we learn about the importance of using data to our advantage.

Numbers don’t lie.

I just pulled the 2025 analytics report for my YouTube channel. Despite feeling like an utter failure compared to what I would have liked to have accomplished, things aren’t as bleak as they feel. I uploaded 20 new videos, which resulted in almost 250,000 new views. In turn, these new videos also attracted almost 1,000 new subscribers to my channel. This doesn’t even include all the metrics from my previous videos.

Is this the exponential growth I’ve been hoping for? No.

But it’s also something worth celebrating.

Transparently, I was afraid to look at the analytics for this year because I was worried they would show how bad of a job I did. I’m sure this is something a lot of people can relate to. Maybe it’s avoiding the scale so you don’t have to see how many pounds you’ve gained. Or maybe it’s avoiding your bank account so you don’t have to stress about your financial situation. Whatever it might be, avoiding the numbers is doing yourself a disservice.

Numbers don’t lie.

What matters is looking at the right numbers.

Going back to my YouTube channel, I was surprised to see that I uploaded 20 new videos this year, with another couple on the way. On average, that’s almost two new videos every month. Way better than I thought I did. Despite feeling like I did a terrible job, I didn’t. It’s tempting to look at all the other numbers that YouTube wants me to see, like comparisons to previous years, but the numbers that truly matter are the ones that tell you how much you showed up. That’s all you can control at the end of the day.

Instead of looking at how many pounds were lost, why not look at how many times you went to the gym this year?

Instead of looking at your bank account balance, why not look at how many times you decided to cook a meal instead of ordering in?

Numbers don’t lie. Perhaps you’ll discover that you did, or didn’t, show up as much as you wanted. Either way, we can use this information to learn and adjust for the year ahead.

Here’s my question for you this week:

Reflect back on one of the goals you had for 2025. Even if it didn’t go to plan, can you find any data that shows the progress you made? Do the numbers match what you’re feeling?

Reply and let me know. Even though I can’t respond to everyone, I do read every single response.

Weekly YouTube Video

​🎬 Amazon brings BACK book downloads…sort of?​

Amazon just announced they’re bringing back Kindle book downloads, but there’s a big catch. I made a video walking through what actually changed, how DRM factors into this decision, and why most books will probably stay locked down anyway. If you’ve ever cared about owning your ebooks or reading outside the Kindle ecosystem, this one’s worth watching.

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Three ways I can help you...

🎬 Check out my latest YouTube video. My channel is all about Book Tech and using technology to live an intentional life.

📖 Need something new to read? Check out all the books I've written and support my work along the way.

📚 Check out the Presently Reading book log. It is a complete list of every book we've read in the book club since I started it.