What 29 Actually Feels Like

Dear you,

I started writing this on the last day of spring and you’re probably reading this with 2 weeks left in 2025. Here’s a couple highlights from the past few weeks before I get into the main topic of today’s letter:

• A friend called me on my birthday and he was telling me about ‘The Great Lock In.’ I searched it up and found a Forbes article that said Q4 is really just Q0 which is pretty true.

• I was on an interview panel about a month ago and there was an ice breaker question that asked “What Olympic sport would you participate in and why?” Some said water polo, others said figure skating and I jumped in with the 4×100m relay in athletics. Oddly specific, I started talking about how the precision in passing on the baton was analogous to a tyre change pit stop in an F1 race.

🎇 2026 New Year’s Resolution

When I came across this substack post, I instantly closed my laptop and read a book to sleep that night. I started sharing it with my friends and one of them told me about a Black Mirror episode on ads and subscriptions. After watching the season 7 opener, Common People, and season 1’s Fifteen Million Merits, I’ve become so wary of every single ad that pops up whether it be via YouTube, Spotify, Podcasts, Amazon Prime or even cable TV. I also find it bizarre that 98% of Meta’s earnings and 80% of Google’s earnings comes from selling ads and that’s enough for them to be the 3rd and 6th most valuable company (as at 16th Dec 2025).

That’s all to say that in 2026 I’m vowing to say no to all ads (without paying for premium subscriptions). That means effectively quitting all streaming platforms that allow for ads which covers a lot when you think about it. As I started to dive into my Macbook’s screen time, it was virtually all just streaming platforms like YouTube, Netflix and Amazon Prime. That should definitely go down next year. What will replace it you ask? This.

I opened up this unfinished newsletter because I didn’t want to stream anything tonight and I didn‘t feel like reading. Although in 2025, I logged 17 movies and I’d love to be able to instead log at least 17 books in Goodreads next year alongside a lot more writing. About a year ago, I remember listening to the farewell speech of our outgoing MD at the time and what sticks with me today is how she was so looking forward to reading books of all things. Not business books but real books on a 6-month long vacation that she called 'The Summer of Sue.’

✍️ Signing off

In other news, it’s been a rough 48 hours ever since Bondi flooded the front page of major newspapers around the world. I don’t share it openly but I left the beach just 20 minutes before it all happened. I ordered a salad from banana blossom at 5:40pm AEST right next to Sammy Robinson’s One Mile boutique after watching too many of her vlogs recently. I’m grateful to say the least but equally cautious about returning to what became a sanctuary this past year.

Instead of the ocean, I’m looking to spend some time on the river as I take my first rowing lesson in January.

I might write another post before the end of the year but in case you don’t hear from me, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season.

Ps. Let me know your thoughts on these newsletters vs. me writing via Substack and/or other written platforms like Medium.

Till next time,

Azam