Happy NYE! Was a big one for me: went sober. Alcohol became my band-aid solution for everything, which ended up with me ignoring things that needed to be done and putting my relationships, job, and health at major risk. I am now 10 months sober and beyond relieved to not be where I was one year ago. I found my dream job in the process, and was able to transition out of an old job that felt stale and holding me back. There is still lot's of progress to be made.
Happy new year everyone
Some good stuff in 25 for me
- went to Yellowstone
- dislocated my shoulder for the first time, went to pt and feel better than ever
- switched jobs for higher pay and better wlb
- started getting into game dev with the goal of releasing in summer 26!
Here’s to a great 2026 everyone!!
This year I got my PhD (focused in robotics) and walked the camino del norte (a pilgrimage in Spain).
I am trying to transition from academia to industry without success (for now) and several threads here on HN remind me I am not alone in this.
2025: My first full year of running my own business, and things really went well. Also had my second child, a beautiful daughter who is currently not sleeping well at night. I am so tired. I lost my dog suddenly - he was my first dog and my companion for nine years. I love that guy so much.
We started traveling a lot post Covid and after all of the stars aligned for us. But this is the first year that we have done any international travel besides flights Mexico (cruises don’t count).
We went to Costa Rica (Manual Antonio), London with a day trip to France and Canada (landed in Buffalo NY).
We are going to see if Costa Rica is a good Plan B when we retire on paper (I am 51) it looks good. We are staying for a month next year. I work remotely.
As far as side projects? I plan to continue my 30 year next year streak of never doing anything software development outside of work. Between continuing to learn Spanish, exercise, and spending time with family and friends, I’ve got enough on my plate.
- Visited/lived in: Austria, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, UAE
- Started (too many) side-projects
- Managed to grow a number of projects / startups
- Almost back to PRs: deadlift 155k, squat 90k, bench 80k
Ideas for 2026
- Focus on getting things done / releasing stuff rather than starting / release an app (iOS/Android)
- Triple revenue
- Visit 12 countries I haven't visited before (Morocco, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Malta, Cyprus, Brazil, Peru, Chile)
- Deadlift 200k, squat 120k, bench 100k; lose 10k BW
- Learn formatting on HN :)
Happy new year from SF. 2025 was about hanging on, balancing a heavy workload and a new baby, but in ways which I’m confident are the right decisions for our future. I did a lot of Becoming An Adult this year, learning to trust myself and my partner, and prioritizing what matters. 2026 will probably be more of the same..! But I am hopeful things should ease up over time.
Happy new year, this community has given me a lot and I’m grateful for you all.
You guys are all truly wonderful, otherwise you wouldn't be here.
As from someone who started my own company last year and decided to dive into a dozen of projects, reached new milestones and a lot of success, but suffered from severe burnout and depression:
Remember - you can do anything, but not everything. Choose what to focus on and what makes you happy and go for it.
Happy 2026!
The perfect square year is now over...next one is 2116. Silly thing to note, but I am thankful for being able to live in such a year. Additionally, 2025 was quite transformative to my life. Where I am today, in terms of career and personal connections, I wouldn't have expected to be here even two years ago.
Finally got my first GitHub repo to 100 stars (yesterday!) so that is something I'm really dang proud of. This year, I do have my Cambridge A Level Examinations coming up, hopefully I don't mess it up as bad as I did for my O Level Exams...
2025:
- set up new facility for mfg of CVD diamond tech products
- replaced awful old carpets at home with bamboo wood floors
- lost 42 lbs (thanks, tirzepatide)
- secured $ for a new CVD diamond system, build starts in January
- road trip to see friends & family, some for first time in a decade
Wishing happiness, love, accomplishment and adventure to all!
It was a crazy year. Spent half of it living in my college building (Read about huge nationwide student protests in Serbia where students blocked all colleges because of the government corruption for almost 9 months).
2025 I'm proud of my 2025. I lost weight with a slow pace. I launched one of my projects and built on top of it and I'm currently at 99 items sold. Hopefull it will get to 100 by end of the year. Not gonna lie, bad stuff happened too, but I'm not gonna focus on those.
2026 If everything goes as planned, I'm hoping to see my my mother and brother after 4 years. I want live a bit healthier, and I want to grow the same side project. I really hope I scroll less shitty content.
This is the community I feel safe the most in and really helps me keep going everyday.
Okay, not unthinkable but I would think it is very difficult. I'm hoping a country who has never won a WC to be champions this year. Croatia and Netherlands have done well in the last few. Cape Verde and Curaçao have also never won.
Hoping to see the start of the AI-powered technological singularity in 2026. The end of humanity is nigh and I can't wait to be melded to the machine. This life was kind of boring anyway.
Happy New Year man!
Have very similar goals, even JLPT 5, started a little pet project I've been building https://sharyphil.com/japanese/japanese.html , gym goals too, let's go for it!
This year let’s all act kindly towards others and learn and discuss things in civil tones. In a world where Reddit is the norm, make Hacker News a beacon of hope.
This year I got my PhD (focused in robotics) and walked the camino del norte (a pilgrimage in Spain). I am trying to transition from academia to industry without success (for now) and several threads here on HN remind me I am not alone in this.
Wish you the best people!
2025: My first full year of running my own business, and things really went well. Also had my second child, a beautiful daughter who is currently not sleeping well at night. I am so tired. I lost my dog suddenly - he was my first dog and my companion for nine years. I love that guy so much.
- Got 300+ stars on GitHub for my free, open-source project EasyInvoicePDF https://github.com/VladSez/easy-invoice-pdf
- Received a lot of great and useful feedback about my project on social media
- Moved to a new apartment - better and bigger
- Lost 5+ kg and exercised more than last year
- Visited Hungary, Austria, and Italy for the first time - Hungary and Italy exceeded expectations
- My project was featured in a large startup-related Telegram channel (50k+ subscribers)
Happy New Year
We started traveling a lot post Covid and after all of the stars aligned for us. But this is the first year that we have done any international travel besides flights Mexico (cruises don’t count).
We went to Costa Rica (Manual Antonio), London with a day trip to France and Canada (landed in Buffalo NY).
We are going to see if Costa Rica is a good Plan B when we retire on paper (I am 51) it looks good. We are staying for a month next year. I work remotely.
As far as side projects? I plan to continue my 30 year next year streak of never doing anything software development outside of work. Between continuing to learn Spanish, exercise, and spending time with family and friends, I’ve got enough on my plate.
Got an internship
Rejected a lowpay job offer
Quit the 9 – 5
Built my own SaaS in 15 days as a self-taught dev
Got 250+ users on my app
Made my first sales before even consuming my 1-month stipend savings
Crossed $100+ in December revenue
Learned coding + marketing
Didn’t skip the gym
2025 wrapped: https://duti.dev/blog/2025/2025-in-a-nutshell/
Putting this down as my 2026 goal: At least one commit a day. Stop putting things off.
2025
Ideas for 2026Happy new year, this community has given me a lot and I’m grateful for you all.
You guys are all truly wonderful, otherwise you wouldn't be here.
As from someone who started my own company last year and decided to dive into a dozen of projects, reached new milestones and a lot of success, but suffered from severe burnout and depression:
Remember - you can do anything, but not everything. Choose what to focus on and what makes you happy and go for it. Happy 2026!
The perfect square year is now over...next one is 2116. Silly thing to note, but I am thankful for being able to live in such a year. Additionally, 2025 was quite transformative to my life. Where I am today, in terms of career and personal connections, I wouldn't have expected to be here even two years ago.
Finally got my first GitHub repo to 100 stars (yesterday!) so that is something I'm really dang proud of. This year, I do have my Cambridge A Level Examinations coming up, hopefully I don't mess it up as bad as I did for my O Level Exams...
2025: - set up new facility for mfg of CVD diamond tech products - replaced awful old carpets at home with bamboo wood floors - lost 42 lbs (thanks, tirzepatide) - secured $ for a new CVD diamond system, build starts in January - road trip to see friends & family, some for first time in a decade
Wishing happiness, love, accomplishment and adventure to all!
It was difficult, but overall great year. Looking forward what 2026 will bring.
- Built a website for playing Riichi Mahjong https://online-riichi.com
2025 I'm proud of my 2025. I lost weight with a slow pace. I launched one of my projects and built on top of it and I'm currently at 99 items sold. Hopefull it will get to 100 by end of the year. Not gonna lie, bad stuff happened too, but I'm not gonna focus on those.
2026 If everything goes as planned, I'm hoping to see my my mother and brother after 4 years. I want live a bit healthier, and I want to grow the same side project. I really hope I scroll less shitty content.
This is the community I feel safe the most in and really helps me keep going everyday.
Thanks so much, HN, for this year.
H_N_Y from the Alps!
https://github.com/tirrenotechnologies/tirreno
There will be a new FIFA World Cup champion unless Argentina does the unthinkable.
No doubt regime change somewhere. Probably a massive cyber event that cripples critical infra. A magnitude 8+ earthquake in a populated area?
Maybe the hand of God will help them out again. ;)
(For people who aren't familiar - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_hand_of_God)
May 2026 be a much, much better year than this one!
Hoping to see the start of the AI-powered technological singularity in 2026. The end of humanity is nigh and I can't wait to be melded to the machine. This life was kind of boring anyway.
Hope 2026 I can finish my todo list
- Got at least JLPT N5
- Work abroad
- Start working out again
This year let’s all act kindly towards others and learn and discuss things in civil tones. In a world where Reddit is the norm, make Hacker News a beacon of hope.
Just kidding. AU!
For all of our sake I hope it will be better than 2025