My 2025 Annual WRAP: What Worked, What Didn't, and What Has to Change

ISSUE #84

Before I get into anything else, I just want to say thank you for following my content, for being a part of my journey. I wouldn't keep doing it if people like you weren't showing up.

This newsletter is a little different than what you've been getting from me this year. It's personal. It's long. It's not optimized for anything except honest reflection.

But here's the thing. I've had hundreds of conversations with founders and subscribers this year. Real conversations. The kind where someone admits they're drowning. Or they don't know what's next. Or they're wondering if the thing they built is actually the thing they want.

And in those conversations, I kept coming back to one question that I couldn't shake:

How can AI make us more human?

That question guided my entire year. It shaped what I said yes to. What I finally said no to. And what I'm doing differently in 2026.

I listened hard to the things that you folks said that you wanted to see from me in the newsletter in 2026. So, for many of you, what you're going to read below will not surprise you. It will actually excite you.

Something's Changing (And You're Invited)

Before I get into the annual review, I want to tell you about something I've been building.

If you're like the people I talk to every week, you're probably working 50-plus hour weeks. You know AI is important. You've tried ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and all the latest things flying in your social feeds. You thought they were cool, maybe even saved a prompt or workflow you thought was cool. Then you closed the tab and wondered: okay, but what do I actually DO with this to make my day-to-day better?

Every YouTube video is 45 minutes long. Every course wants you to become an AI expert. You don't have time for that. You just want someone to tell you what actually matters.

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Okay. Now let's get into the annual review.

The WRAP Method

If you've been following me for a while, you know I'm big on annual reviews. I mean, the corporate kind with KPIs and performance metrics are good, but I like the real kind.

The kind where you look at your life and ask: is this actually working?

So here's mine.

Before I get into it, let me explain the framework I'm using. Something called WRAP:

Wins: What went well in 2025?
Results: What did I plan for at the start of the year, and what actually happened?
Alignment: Is the life I'm living aligned with my personal and professional goals?
Pivot: What needs to change going forward?

Simple. Clear. Brutal if you're honest with it.

Let's get into it.

WINS: What Actually Worked in 2025

AI Transformation Consulting became my new love language

This was the year it clicked.

Long before ChatGPT existed, I've been talking about AI transformation. Helping companies figure out how to actually use this stuff. Not just play with ChatGPT for five minutes and call it innovation. Real transformation. The kind that changes how a business operates. The margins it unlocks. The culture improvements the team feels from it.

In 2025, that message finally landed.

I worked with enterprise clients. Insurance companies. Leading consumer brands. PR agencies. I led workshops and keynotes. And the thing that resonated most wasn't the technical stuff.

It was this line I kept saying:

"AI is not coming for your job. It's not coming for your industry."

That hit people. Because it's true. And it's not scary once you understand it. It's actually liberating. It allows you to do more of the human stuff you're really good at.

Grantbot, my AI automation company Crossed $1M

One of the companies in my venture studio, Grantbot, crossed a million dollars in revenue this year.

Here's the backstory. I met Grant through Hampton (it's like a modern version of EO or YPO). He was 26 and automating business processes. I saw something in him. Brought him into the studio. Started helping him think bigger.

8 months later, a million-dollar company. Cash flowing. Growing.

But the real win wasn't the revenue. It was watching a young entrepreneur come into his own.

Personal Brand Actually Paid Off

Investing in my personal brand has literally put millions of dollars of new business across my holdco.

That's not an exaggeration. I track this stuff.

When you show up consistently. When you share what you're learning. When you're generous with your insights. People remember. And when they have a problem you can solve, they come to you.

It's not complicated. But it takes years. And most people give up before it works.

Building my LinkedIn Audience from just over 10,000 to over 54,000 this year without spending a single dollar on paid media has taught me a lot. Stepping into the spotlight is hard and you will get your ass kicked.

But it's worth it.

RESULTS: What I Planned vs. What Actually Happened

Here's where most people get scared of annual reviews. The results section is where you have to be honest.

I learned something important from this framework: approach your results as a reporter, not a judge.

A reporter observes. A judge condemns. If you judge yourself, you spiral. If you report on yourself, you learn.

So let me report.

The "Too Many Things" Problem

I have too many things going on.

I know this. I've known about it for a while. And I kept thinking I could outrun it. That if I just got faster, more efficient, better at delegation, it would work.

It didn't.

Here's what I said on a call a few weeks ago: "No matter how fast I am, no matter how efficient I am, there's just only so much a human can do."

That's real. And it took me too long to admit it.

I run multiple companies. I consult. I invest. I create content. I speak. I mentor. Each of those things could be a full-time focus for someone. I'm trying to do all of them.

The reporter in me says: this is unsustainable. Something has to give.

The Feast or Famine Pattern

"We had a big gap in the beginning of the year, which made it a little bit tougher. Then it got kind of crazy in the fall."

That's from a conversation with my team. And it's been the pattern for years.

Good months. Slow months. Panic. Relief. Repeat.

I know better than this. I teach people how to build predictable pipelines. And yet here I am, still riding the wave instead of building the system.

Because of the reporter's mindset though, I was able to see the feast or famine pattern is a symptom of the too-many-things problem. When you're spread too thin, you can't build sustainable systems.

Revenue Diversification Reality Check

I have revenue coming from multiple streams. Consulting. Companies I own. Speaking. Investments.

That sounds diversified. But here's what I realized: I don't have a sustainable revenue pipeline. If too many of my clients get up and cancel, the business is not going to exist anymore.

That's scary to admit. But it's real.

Having multiple revenue streams is not the same as having a predictable business. If each stream is dependent on you showing up and performing, you don't have diversification. You have multiple jobs.

That's why a big focus in 2026 is to build systems that create recurring revenue independent of my time. Not just multiple streams, but sustainable ones.

ALIGNMENT: Is This the Life I Actually Want?

This is the section most people skip. It's easier to talk about wins and results. Numbers and accomplishments.

But alignment is where the real work happens.

The Core Question

Every piece of content I create, every company I build, every conversation I have, I try to filter through one question:

How can AI make you more human?

Not more efficient. Not more productive. More human.

Here's why this matters to me. I see a lot of people using AI to churn out garbage. More content. More outreach. More noise.

I said this on a call recently: "The more that we look and feel robotic or automated, the more that we're just like everybody else."

The opportunity isn't to use AI to do more. It's to use AI to have more time for the things only humans can do. Strategy. Relationships. Creativity. Presence.

When I look at my year through that lens, I feel pretty good. The work I'm doing helps people use AI to get their time back. Not to become robots.

Understanding Myself to Lead Others

I've done a lot of work on myself the past few years. Therapy. Coaching. Honest conversations with people I trust.

Through that work, I realized that if I could understand myself better, I could understand other people much better. Especially in leadership capacities.

I used to think leadership was about strategy and vision. Now I know it's about people. Understanding what motivates them. What blocks them. What they really want that they won't say out loud.

You can't do that for others until you've done it for yourself.

Work-Life Integration

We spend more than one-third of our life at work. It's super important that we integrate life into work as much as work into life.

I told someone: "I really try to create an environment where people can bring their whole self to work."

That starts with me. If I'm hiding parts of my life from my team, I'm asking them to do the same. If I'm pretending everything is fine when it's not, I'm creating a culture of pretending.

So I don't pretend. I will talk about the hard stuff. The stress. The uncertainty. The moments when I don't know what I'm doing.

That's not a weakness. That's alignment. Living the same way in every context.

PIVOT: What Has to Change in 2026

Radical Focus. My word of the year is "SUBTRACT".

I said something a few weeks ago that I need to hold myself to: "Five things need to become two. Not five becoming ten."

Here's what that means practically.

I met with the leaders of my companies. I told them: "You guys are going to have a lot less access to me next year."

I gave them my recommendations. Three to five things I think they should focus on. The metrics I expect.

And then I said something that surprised even me: "And I'm just going to stop caring. Not whether they succeed. But whether they like me for it. Whether they get mad. Whether they think I'm being too hands-off."

I've spent too many years trying to be available for everyone. Trying to not disappoint people. Trying to say yes to every good opportunity.

That's how you end up with too many things.

Saying No

"A lot of people tend to ask a lot of me."

That's true. And it used to feel good. Someone wants your time? Must mean you're valuable.

But it's a trap.

Every yes to someone else is a no to something I could be building. Every hour on a call that didn't need to happen is an hour away from the work that matters.

In 2026, I'm saying no more. A lot more.

Not because I don't care. Because I do. And caring means protecting my energy for the things that actually move the needle.

Speaking and Thought Leadership

I gave a TEDx talk on Designing Desire. It was one of the scariest things I've ever done. Because it was the first time I talked about myself openly on a stage. I've given keynotes to hundreds of executives at fortune 50 companies before without breaking a sweat. But the idea of telling a story on stage about myself to strangers shook me to my core.

This is an area where I've underleveraged myself for years. I'm good on stage. I enjoy it. And it creates opportunities that compound.

So 2026 is the year I take speaking seriously. Not as a side thing. As a core pillar. If you are looking for a keynote speaker, hit me up. I promise I'll give a talk you won't forget.

The Question That Changed Everything

There's one prompt that's been more valuable than anything else. Every week, it asks me:

"What did you commit to that you didn't follow through on?"

Simple. Brutal. Clarifying.

Because here's the thing. I'm great at generating ideas. I'm great at seeing opportunities. I'm great at saying yes in the moment.

I'm not always great at following through when it gets hard.

That question holds me accountable. Not to anyone else. To myself.

Your Turn

That's my 2025. The wins. The results. The alignment questions. The pivots.

Now here's what I want you to do.

Block an hour this week. Not tomorrow. Not next week. This week, before we really get into the grind of 2026.

Answer these four questions:

What actually worked? (Wins)
What did you plan vs. what happened? (Results)
Is this the life and work you want? (Alignment)
What's the one thing that has to change? (Pivot)

Write it down. Don't type it. Write it.

The clarity you'll get from that hour is worth more than any productivity hack, any course, any coaching session.

You don't need more information. You need more honest reflection.

And if you want to share what you come up with, I'd love to hear it. Reply to this email. DM me. Whatever works.

Because this stuff is better when you do it with people who are also doing the work.

Here's to 2026. Here's to focus. Here's to being more human.

Let's go.

Pete

P.S. If you're ready to stop doing robot work and start getting your time back, join me on Substack. First 100 founding members get $100/year locked in forever. That's where I'm putting my best implementation stuff. No 45-minute videos. Just: here's what to do. I also have a generous free plan if you're not ready to join paid yet.

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