A year-end reflection from Breaking Metrics
As we roll into December, I’ve been thinking a lot about what 2025 actually taught me — not the headlines, not the noise, but the lessons that stuck.
This year was volatile, humbling, and strangely clarifying. And if you’ve followed me for any amount of time, you know I don’t sugarcoat anything. These aren’t “inspirational poster” takeaways. These are the real, practical principles I’m carrying into 2026.
1) Keep Working — Trading Doesn’t Replace a Day Job
The biggest lie on social media is that trading is some shortcut to freedom.
It isn’t. Trading is investing; there is no promise of cashflow in investing.
And honestly? It shouldn’t be.
If you actually like what you do, it makes you a sharper investor. A strong work ethic bleeds into your investment strategy — how you research, how you time entries, how you absorb risk.
This year reinforced something I already knew:
Your day job funds your discipline. Your discipline funds your gains.
In my experience, the people who treat trading as a replacement for work usually wash out.
The people who treat trading as a craft tend to survive.
2) Be Patient — Sometimes the Best Move Is Not Investing
2025 had entire stretches where the smartest thing I did was nothing.
Sitting on your hands doesn’t feel heroic, but avoided losses count as profits, and they compound the same way. Patience is a position. Cash is a position. Silence is a position.
There were moments this year when prices looked tempting, narratives were loud, and people were chasing every fake breakout — but patience saved me more capital than most winning trades.
Sometimes not investing is the only thing that keeps you alive.
3) Go Against the Herd — Corrections and Bear Markets Are Your Friends
This is literally why I built Glideslope.ai.
I wanted a tool that highlights when the market is leaning too far in one direction — when sentiment, keywords, and momentum create blind spots.
This year reminded me that:
When others panic, opportunities show up quietly.
When others get euphoric, danger shows up quickly.
The herd rarely wins. And the few times they do, they give it all back by following the same crowd one cycle too long.
4) Don’t Catch a Falling Knife — Wait for the Bottoming Signals
Ties directly into Lesson #2.
Every dip isn’t a bargain. Every red candle isn’t a sale.
This year, whenever prices fell hard, I forced myself to zoom out and ask:
- What’s sentiment doing?
- Are people panicking on Glideslope?
- Are we seeing capitulation keywords?
- Is price stabilizing at a historical support level?
- Has volume calmed down or is it still in freefall?
Falling knives are where impatience becomes regret.
Bottoming signals, however, are where discipline becomes opportunity.
5) Be Kind — But Be Cautious
Don’t mistake kindness for safety — especially in markets.
2025 was full of hype trains: AI everything, micro-cap coins “going to the moon,” penny stocks “changing the world.”
People will hype assets for their own benefit, not yours.
Rug pulls are real. Liquidity traps are real. Exit liquidity is real.
And that’s why the final lesson of the year is simple:
Be kind in your life. Be cautious with your money. There are better ways to be charitable with your money.
Final Thoughts
2025 was messy, loud, and unpredictable — but it left behind real clarity:
- Keep working.
- Slow down.
- Question the crowd.
- Wait for real signals.
- Stay kind, stay sharp.
This is the blueprint I’m carrying into 2026.
If you’ve been with me throughout this insane year — thank you.