Ben's 1x1x1 - Last newsletter of the year! - December 19, 2025 🚀
For those of you that are new here, every week I send what I call a 1x1x1.
One thought from my week.
One interesting find/tool from my week.
One image from my life.
Let’s dive in 👇
Thought from the week
Well folks… somehow we’ve arrived at newsletter #141, my last newsletter of the year!
This year was AWESOME.
And not in a “wow that was lucky” way.
More of a “this was extremely on purpose” way.
If I had to point to one move that squeezed the absolute most juice out of the year, it was this:
I got calendar aggressive.
Like… no longer a polite suggestion. More of a hostile takeover.
Around this time last year, I listened to Jesse Itzler and decided my calendar wasn’t going to run me anymore.
I was going to pin it to the ground and tell it what our life was going to look like.
Before the year even started, I knew 2025 already had:
- A full month relocating the fam to San Luis Obispo
- An epic bike trip with close friends to Bellingham, WA
- A week in Canada checking off bucket-list rides
- Camping trips, reunions, and enough experiences to absolutely stuff our end-of-year photo book (more on that photo book hack here)
Those were the big immovable blocks.
Then came the daily grind… a.k.a. calendar combat.
My calendar made sure that:
- I worked out 5 days a week at 5:30am
- I didn’t open my inbox until 10:00am (those early hours are sacred brain juice)
- I got 4 hours of quality time with my daughter every single day
- My wife and I had a date night every Thursday (non-negotiable)
- I got a bike ride every Friday (also non-negotiable)
None of this happened by “finding time.”
It happened because my calendar stopped asking nicely.
So if I could recommend one thing for your 2026:
Get calendar aggressive.
Stop playing defense.
Stop reacting.
Decide first, then let the calendar enforce it like a bouncer.
Hope you all have an incredible end to the year.
Rest up. Reset. Come into the new year sharp.
Appreciate you all. See you in 2026!
Interesting Tool/Find
I didn’t step foot in a sauna for 10 months.
Not because I stopped believing in it.
Mostly because… life? Laziness? The illusion that I’m “too busy”?
Anyway, I finally went back this past week and was immediately reminded why this thing feels like a cheat code.
After my first session back, I felt like I was floating on a cloud for two straight days.
Calm. Clear. Slightly invincible. Like I had unlocked a new operating system.
I realize voluntarily sitting in a 200-degree hot box isn’t everyone’s idea of fun (or sanity), but for me it’s been the productivity / bio-hack of the week.
Highly recommend sweating out your excuses every now and then. 💦🔥
Image from my life
Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!