2025 was a year of milestones and growth. It marked ten years since I graduated (time moves fast), a shift in jobs and career paths, the loss of my last two grandparents, and becoming a dad.
As I have done since 2017 (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), I put together a list of some of the most helpful content I came across over the past twelve months. I hope you find a thing or two that’s helpful.
This list is a stripped-down version of my infrequent newsletter—a monthly record of ideas, articles, and resources that caught my attention. Keeping it helps me reflect on what shaped my thinking during the year, and makes it easier to return to these ideas when I need them.
Books
It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work by David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried
“The modern workplace is sick. Chaos should not be the natural state at work. Anxiety isn’t a prerequisite for progress. Sitting in meetings all day isn’t required for success. These are all perversions of work —side effects of broken models and follow-the-lemming-off-the-cliff worst practices. Step aside and let the suckers jump.
Calm is protecting people’s time and attention.
Calm is about 40 hours of work a week.
Calm is reasonable expectations.
Calm is ample time off.
Calm is smaller.
Calm is a visible horizon.
Calm is meetings as a last resort.
Calm is asynchronous first, real-time second.
Calm is more independence, less interdependence.
Calm is sustainable practices for the long term.
Calm is profitability.”
This book challenges the mainstream belief that business success requires hustle, long hours, and constant stress. Co-founders of 37Signals, Hansson and Fried pick apart conventional work culture and offer a radically different model built around calm, sustainable productivity. I re-read this again to examine how I think about work and how I’d like to work in 2026.
Stein on Writing by Sol Stein
“There is no reason why nonfiction, including journalism, cannot be as interesting and enjoyable as fiction. Information sticks best when it is crafted to touch the reader’s emotions.”
This book strikes a balance between technical instruction and real-world examples, making the book a practical toolkit for anyone serious about improving their writing — from novices to seasoned storytellers. Very helpful. Worth re-reading over and over.
Earn It: Unconventional Strategies for Brave Marketers by Steve Pratt
“Copying what’s popular is boring. Being safe, generic, or corporate is boring. Talking about yourself, your company, or your products and services is boring. And boring earns zero attention. If you want to earn attention, embrace a philosophy of Doing the Opposite.” Steve invites marketers, creators, and communicators to earn their audience’s attention through meaningful, creative work rather than interruptive ads or shortcuts.
Rethinking Retirement by John Piper
“How many Christians set their sights on a “Sabbath evening” of life—resting, playing, traveling, etc.—the world’s substitute for heaven since the world does not believe that there will be a heaven beyond the grave. The mindset of our peers is that we must reward ourselves now in this life for the long years of our labor. Eternal rest and joy after death is an irrelevant consideration. When you don’t believe in heaven to come and you are not content in the glory of Christ now, you will seek the kind of retirement that the world seeks. But what a strange reward for a Christian to set his sights on! Twenty years of leisure (!) while living in the midst of the Last Days of infinite consequence for millions of people who need Christ. What a tragic way to finish the last mile before entering the presence of the King who finished his last mile so differently!”
Pastor John Piper challenges the conventional view of retirement as a time for leisure, comfort, and self-indulgence.
When I was much younger, I envied the stories of people who retired early and travelled the world. But as I started working, I realised that life is not for me. At best, what I want is optionality and financial freedom. I’d be bored by that life. This book is a reminder that, for Christians, we’re merely just passing through this world.
The Captain Class: The Hidden Force That Creates the World’s Greatest Teams by Sam Walker
“Most of us carry a faded old picture in our heads of what a great captain looks like. It’s usually an attractive person who possesses an abundance of strength, skill, wisdom, charisma, diplomacy, and unflappable calm. These people are not supposed to be difficult to spot. In our imaginations they’re talkative and articulate, charismatic but firm, tough but gracious, and respectful of authority…The men and women who captained these Tier One teams did not, at a glance, meet this standard.”
Walker created a formula to sift through thousands of teams across global sports and identified the 16 most dominant dynasties ever — from the New York Yankees to the All Blacks and Barcelona — then asked what they had in common. I read this out of curiosity.
The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five-Time CRO by John McMahon
“This book is designed for founders, CEOs, investors, business unit leaders, salespeople, and even engineers who want to understand what it takes to build a highly effective and impactful sales organisation.”
A practical leadership manual for scaling B2B sales organisations, written by John McMahon, a five-time Chief Revenue Officer best known for helping scale companies like HubSpot and MongoDB. I loved how the book was written and found it helpful in understanding how to work with the sales team at work.
Follow the Story: How to Write Successful Nonfiction by James B. Stewart
“Very few people are, in my experience, natural writers. Taking the young Mozart as my model, in my youth I assumed genius was something bestowed by God, and so I dabbled in everything from art to music to athletics, hoping that sooner or later genius would manifest itself. Naturally, I was disappointed. Some people may be more gifted than others, but excellence in writing, as in any art form or craft, involves discipline and practice. I have known writers who, early in their careers, demonstrated almost no natural talent. Yet with enough enthusiasm and determination, and years of effort, they have developed into good, even successful, writers. They have usually done so, I should add, with remarkably little guidance.
Very helpful. Worth re-reading over and over.
AI Engineering by Chip Huyen
This book serves as a practical bridge between the hype of Generative AI and the reality of shipping reliable software. I picked it up because I wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the nuances of AI. It’s technically dense but useful.
Sell or Be Sold: How to Get Your Way in Business and in Life by Grant Cardone
In this book, Cardone argues that selling is a prerequisite for life—you are either selling others on your ideas, dreams, and products, or you are being sold on theirs. It’s a good read for anyone who feels uncomfortable with “selling” and needs a mindset shift to view persuasion as a necessary survival skill rather than a sleazy tactic
Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers’ Guide by the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University
“Here’s my last bit of advice, garnered from those fifty-two years: Read. Read good nonfiction books. Read very good newspapers: the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, St. Petersburg Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post. When you find a reporter whose work you admire, break his or her code. Examine the story and figure out what the reporter did, where he or she went, how that reporter constructed the story, and why it worked.”
Very helpful. Worth re-reading over and over.
The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson
“Take a moment and ask yourself: What do you really want for your children? What qualities do you hope they develop and take into their adult lives? Most likely you want them to be happy, independent, and successful. You want them to enjoy fulfilling relationships and live a life full of meaning and purpose. Now think about what percentage of your time you spend intentionally developing these qualities in your children. If you’re like most parents, you worry that you spend too much time just trying to get through the day (and sometimes the next five minutes) and not enough time creating experiences that help your children thrive, both today and in the future.”
Earlier this year, I became a dad, and so I started reading books about parenting. This book came highly recommended.
The book demystifies the science of a child’s brain, explaining that “bad behaviour” is often just a result of a brain that isn’t fully integrated yet. It posits that a child’s brain has different parts—the logical “left brain,” the emotional “right brain,” the primitive “downstairs brain,” and the reasoning “upstairs brain.” The goal of parenting shouldn’t just be stopping a tantrum, but helping these different parts of the brain work together (“integration”) to teach emotional intelligence and resilience.
How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know by Byron Sharp
“If growth were that easy then all marketing directors would be out of a job, or paid a pittance of their current salary. No one can guarantee growth.”
This is the book’s central mantra. To grow, a brand must be “easy to think of” (Mental Availability) and “easy to find” (Physical Availability). If you aren’t the first thing a customer thinks of when they are thirsty, and you aren’t on the shelf in front of them, you lose.
My Watch by Olusegun Obasanjo
Spanning three volumes, this memoir is a comprehensive account of Olusegun Obasanjo’s life and leadership, from his early days and military career to his tenure as both military Head of State and democratically elected President. The title refers to his view of leadership as a “watch”—a period of vigilance where a leader must remain awake and alert to protect the nation. It is both a historical record and a fierce defence of his legacy, written to correct what he views as misconceptions about his time in power.
I’m a sucker for history books.
Articles
- How Stripe thinks about comms & customer delight
- Viral marketing is not a marketing strategy
- What 3 years at Wiz taught me about B2B marketing ✨
- Take Ownership Of Your Career
- How to hire & get hired in 2026: The guide to the Gen Marketer skillset
Videos
Inspiring. I watched this to better understand how deep work, long-term thinking, and quiet obsession compound into breakthroughs—especially relevant in a world obsessed with speed.
I watched this less for the money angle and more to understand positioning, distribution, and how credibility compounds over time.
This reinforced the importance of psychology in marketing—why perception often beats logic, and why the best ideas rarely look obvious at first.
- 100 Days of Discipleship: A structured program for believers to deepen their faith over 100 days, often involving daily Bible study, prayer, and challenges.
Podcasts
- Creator Science: I listened to this to better understand how creators turn ideas into durable businesses, especially the systems and habits that compound over time.
- Trapital: This helped me sharpen how I think about media, culture, and power—particularly how distribution and ownership shape outcomes in creative industries.
- Lenny’s Podcast: I return to this for practical, no-nonsense insights on product and growth, and how strong teams actually make decisions under real constraints.
- The Rebooting Show: I listened for perspective—especially on how media and tech businesses adapt when old models stop working.
- MoneyWise: This grounded me in how to think about money more clearly, especially around trade-offs, priorities, and long-term decisions.
- How Other Dads Dad: I started listening as a new dad, and it’s been a quiet reminder that there’s no single way to do fatherhood—just honest attempts to get it right.
- Uncensored CMO: I listened to this to hear how senior marketers actually think and operate—unfiltered conversations about growth, leadership, and the realities behind the title.
