My annual life audit, publicized

Hey there, solopreneur!

I'm back home in Berlin. Rating my year in brutal honesty, and I’ve come to the conclusion:

Some years you evolve. Others you transform.

2024? It broke me down and rebuilt me completely.

For the last couple of years, I've done this simple but brutally honest review of my life. The format is straightforward – I rate 6 core categories that make up a full life:

Health – because without it, nothing else matters

Fun – because what's the point otherwise?

Adventure – to break free from the digital cage

Finance – keeping score, but not letting it rule

Relationships – both romantic and friendship

Leverage – the force multiplier of impact

Instead of sharing another polished success story (too many fake ones floating around), I want to open up my raw notes and show you exactly how this year played out across each dimension. The good, the bad, and the moments that made me question everything.

No filter. No highlight reel. Just real numbers and honest reflections.

Fair warning: This is going to get personal. But maybe that's exactly what we need more of in this AI-generated world – raw human experience.

So let's dive deep into what really happened...

Health (4/10): the year my body said “Hell No”

This one hurts to write about, but it's crucial to share.

Creating my second course destroyed me in ways I never expected. Not just "I'm tired" destroyed – we're talking "I literally couldn't use my arms anymore (due to inflammation and chronic pain)" destroyed.

Building the course took 10x more effort and time than expected. Social media demands became overwhelming, with endless requests piling up while I juggled multiple businesses. Every piece of it added more mental strain than I recognized at the time.

The hard truth? I never took time off in the years prior. Worked every single weekend. Year after year. Then, after flying 30 hours to America to speak at a conference and getting hit with the flu, my body just said ENOUGH.

The scariest part wasn't just the chronic pain – it was the absolute horror of losing function in my arms. It took months to understand what was really happening: this wasn't just physical, it was a nervous system in complete meltdown.

Here's the mindfuck that changed everything: In a state near burnout, exercise can actually be counter-productive. Every workout was just pushing me further into a hyperactivated state, making things worse instead of better.

What actually saved me:

• Learning how our nervous system goes into overdrive after long-term stress

• Understanding the true nature of chronic pain (revelations I never expected)

• Implementing daily breathwork and sauna sessions (yes, I bought one for my home)

Even with my historically good diet, consistent workouts, and careful supplementation, none of it could counterbalance the nervous system dysregulation. I found myself binge eating sugar sometimes – pure coping mechanism, something I'd never struggled with before.

For 2025, I'm building a new foundation:

• Making endurance training the priority

• Non-negotiable 15-minute NSDR timeout mid-day

• 3-4 weekly cold plunge + sauna sessions in my home setup

The health collapse was rough, but it laid the groundwork for decades of better living ahead. Sometimes you need to completely break down to rebuild stronger.

Fun (5/10): when work became my only fun

I massively overdid the "work" part of work-life balance this year. It wasn't even close.

Most of my fun actually came from work-related activities – traveling to conferences, launching products, and shitposting on social media. The memes became a legitimate creative outlet (the ones that went viral were always the ones where I died laughing while creating them).

While I'm grateful that work brings me joy, this year exposed a massive imbalance in how I experience fun. For next year, I'm on a mission to rediscover what fun means outside of work.

I've already started learning the handpan, and I'm planning to return to singing lessons. Music has always been a massive part of my life – being a music producer, artist, DJ, and singer in my past life. It's time to create music just for the pure joy of it again.

2025 is also about trying something completely removed from tech. I'm looking at rock climbing or, surprisingly enough, mushroom farming (LOL). I want something physical, challenging, and completely disconnected from the digital world.

I'm not worried about finding a new obsession – learning new skills has always been my jam. It's just about pointing that obsessive energy in a fresh direction.

Adventure (2/10): struggled to break free from the screens

On paper, I traveled plenty:

Poland, USA, Thailand, Hungary, Netherlands, Germany. But to be brutally honest – most of it was conference rooms and hotel lobbies.

I also spent way too much time in front of my computer on these trips. Way too much time on social media. Some days I could literally feel life rushing by while I was sucked into a pseudo-real digital world.

These moments stick with you, but not in a good way. Nobody looks back on their life and remembers their 295th day in front of Twitter and Gmail with fondness.

For 2025, I'm committing to real adventures – the kind that challenge you physically and stay with you forever. A multi-day wilderness hike tops the list. It's time to create memories that don't involve screens.

I need more challenging non-digital adventures. Because these activities – the ones that push you out of your comfort zone and into the real world – are the ones that actually stick with you for life.

Want to know a scary truth? When I think back on 2024, too many days blur together in a haze of screens and digital interactions.

That’s unacceptable imo, and I’m making sure that changes in 2025.

Major Relationships (10/10): the only true compound interest

I'm incredibly grateful to be in such a well-balanced relationship with my girl for 13 years now. Most people ignore a fundamental truth:

Relationships compound like every other asset in life.

This year brought our biggest milestone yet – she got pregnant with our first child. It opened up an even deeper layer between us, one I didn't even know existed. Watching her ability to literally create life has made me respect her on an entirely new level.

Here's the raw truth:

You could take everything I own away from me – every follower, every dollar, every business win – and I'd still feel rich being in this relationship. The level of support I get from her is unmatched in my life, and I feel grateful for this every single day.

Friendship Relationships (3/10): my Cyprus experiment went wrong

After moving from Berlin to Cyprus, I had to completely rebuild my social circle from scratch. It became painfully clear that I'd grown apart from old friend groups, especially those who viewed entrepreneurship with skepticism (a huge sentiment in Germany).

It took nearly 1.5 years to find 2-3 really good new friends in Cyprus.

I'm more of a quality over quantity person regarding friendships. But then came the plot twist I never saw coming:

Cyprus is an island full of nomads, which meant most of my good friends would disappear for months at a time. Some would vanish for 5-6 months straight.

The transient nature of island life exposed a deep truth – I'm craving stable, deep friendships more than ever.

My action plan for 2025:

• Relocating to a major city with fewer transient nomads and a stronger tech scene

• Planning extended friend vacations (minimum 4-6 weeks next year)

• Building relationships through shared hobbies, not just work

Still deciding where, but these criteria are essential. Lmk if you have good ideas here!

Leverage (9/10): the numbers tell the story

Here’s my raw growth stats on the year:

• X account: +72k followers this year (87.8k total)

• Newsletter: +15,100 subscribers (42k total)

• LinkedIn: Who still counts that? lol

But the biggest shift wasn't in the numbers. I made a terrifying decision to transform my AI Solopreneur newsletter into my personal newsletter, sharing what I honestly care about.

I was scared of alienating most of the audience, but something magical happened instead:

Ratings hit all-time highs. Open rates INCREASED. Click rates jumped.

My voice even started getting heard when talking about issues in the EU entrepreneur space.

The momentum is real now. I can feel it in every post, every newsletter, every interaction.

For 2025, I'm adding long-form video content (probably a podcast), and I can already feel the time spent building leverage paying off. Once I start my next product arc, this distribution will become an unstoppable moat.

Finance (7/10): a year of hard choices

Financially, this year was a success, but it could have been much bigger.

My digital products grossed around 370k (before I decided to stop selling them).

But those months of near-burnout during summer forced me to halt all money-making activities. While my substantial positions in stocks and crypto performed well, the bigger story was what almost happened:

I came close to selling my newsletter.

The deal was practically on the table. Looking back, not selling was the BEST decision I could have made.

But it taught me something crucial – I need to build a company where I'm building equity that's less dependent on my daily energy. This realization is why I'm attacking software in 2025.

If you think you’d complement my skillset here, shoot me a message.

This year was also the first time I really invested in myself:

• Upgraded from my run-down BMW e63 to an X5

• Built out a complete home gym setup with sauna and ice bath

It felt surprisingly good to finally spoil myself a little lol. For 2025, my focus shifts to:

• Building scalable software products

• Creating a small product studio (2-3 people) for rapid shipping

• Learning the skill of building digital products beyond online courses

I know the software journey won't be easy, but that's exactly why it excites me. The best opportunities usually do.

Rapidfire Review

What did I change my mind about this year?

Filter coffee became my daily ritual (who would've thought?), steaks went from meh to must-have, and I finally embraced running after buying a curved treadmill.

What created energy in 2024?

The sauna became my sanctuary. Ice baths turned into moving meditation. NSDR (non-sleep deep rest) transformed my afternoons. Building the newsletter felt like pure creation again. Public speaking training pushed me past my comfort zone.

What drained energy this year? 

Creating content that didn’t light me up. Traveling without purpose. And the biggest vampire of all – too much screentime.

What anchored me through the storms?

My relationship kept me grounded. The knowledge that I'm becoming a father gave every decision more weight. Seeing real impact through my content – people actually implementing changes in their lives – made the hard days worth it.

What did I not do because of fear? 

Honestly? Nothing. And that might be the biggest win of all. Fear wasn't the limiting factor this year – burnout was.

What were my greatest hits and worst misses? 

Greatest hits: Transforming my newsletter into something real and authentic. Bouncing back from rock bottom with my health.

Biggest misses: Letting myself burn out in the first place. Getting too caught up in the social media dopamine loop.

Total Year Rating: 6.28/10

This year was challenging as hell, but I evolved in ways I never expected. The breakdown led to breakthroughs. The loneliness led to better boundaries. The helplessness led to real strength.

I can look at this year with complete honesty: I was unhealthy. I was lonely. I felt helpless at times.

But every struggle made me stronger and more resilient. I understand my body better. I know what kind of friends I want in my life. I know exactly who I want to work with.

I see challenges as opportunities to grow now, and I grew a shit-ton this year. Looking back, I think 2023/2024 will stand out as pivotal years that laid a foundation for everything ahead.

I can already feel 2025 shaping up to be an 8+ year (like 2021 was). The groundwork is laid. The lessons are learned. The vision is clear.

It's still crucial to be brutally honest with yourself and see things as they are. That's what this entire exercise is about. But there's a difference between honesty and pessimism. I'm honestly optimistic about what's coming next.

Let's get it in 2025.

Ole's Bookmarks

Super random but this thread about how to organize your home FASCINATED ME. Maybe I’ll enter my interior design arc in 2025.

The Courage to Be Disliked: All my life I struggled with thinking differently from the crowd. Great book that combines philosophy and psychology.

Interesting take on how to prepare for AGI.

To your success (and sanity) in 2025,

Ole

P.S. Thank you all for supporting me, I appreciate every single one of you