In a world where we could have just about everything we want at a moment’s notice, we have to pick and choose where we allocate our energy and always remember that while good things are fleeting,

Great Things Take Time

New Year’s resolutions have never been my thing, and today, I dive into why a recent health scare I experienced at Hyrox Dallas contributed even more to my anti-New Year’s Resolution mindset.

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Table of Contents

• Great Things Don’t Start on January 1st

• Moments with Maurice

• What's Got Me Smilin'

Great Things Don’t Start on January 1st

Tomorrow we step into 2026, and like most of you, I’m stoked for the energy the new year will bring. No matter your perspective, a new beginning for anything is exciting and motivating. Who can resist a blank journal? A new outfit? A fresh white sheet of paper? 

Starting fresh makes it easy to forget about all the messy growth one has been through, because let’s be honest, growth is incredibly messy with all the raw and real emotions.

So, since tomorrow is 2026, I have to ask: are you a New Year's resolution person? A new year, new me type of human? Do you have a list that’s ready to go once the calendar hits Jan 1?

As always, if it works for you, I say keep on keepin’ on, but let me explain to you why I am currently a no-New Year’s Resolutions guy (and have been this way for quite some time) and why I’d love to have you join me in this mindset.

Recently, I’ve been sharing my journey on the Road to 42. In an attempt at bettering myself physically,  mentally, and emotionally, I set my forty-second birthday as a target date to drive urgency to focus on making changes. Forty-two is in no way a milestone age to hit, but that doesn’t mean it should be treated any differently. If I want to make changes to my life, I don’t want to wait for the next marquee age of 45. That’s over three years of wasted time, and you never know what surprises the future holds.

Hyrox Dallas was one of those surprises and caused a major evaluation of how I was living my life. After coming off the first event- the ski erg, I got a sharp pain in my head, and my vision started to blur around the outside edges, like I was putting on specialty contacts for Halloween. I took a knee to gather myself and work through the confusion and fear. 

What was happening? I was hydrated, had eaten and slept well, and even had a bit of candy before the race. There was no reason something should be amiss. The first thing that went through my mind was that I was having an aneurysm, the same thing my grandmother had passed away from almost 8 years to the day. My heart rate stayed elevated until things finally started to correct themselves enough that I could continue to jog it out. While Andy, my partner for the event, was concerned and was ready for us to scratch, I wasn’t prepared to let that happen, and within the next few events, I was back to normal, pushing the pace.

Yeah, I know. Not the greatest or most admirable to keep going. Don’t you worry, I’ve since been chewed out by many, many, MANY (did I say many?) people for this decision. 

Back home, I immediately sought a doctor’s opinion and an MRI for answers. Nothing conclusive was found, and no symptoms had returned since the event. But could I just wait around for something bad to happen again? It could have been nothing, or it could have been an alarm bell going off that I needed to pay attention to.

I knew I couldn’t wait for a new year for a new me. I needed a change NOW. This is how I found myself at Extension Health for over two hours, completing test after test, after swab, after scan to look at all angles of what was going on in my body. 

Speaking with Dr. Kuo was eye-opening because, while on the surface level I appear healthy, there could be something I’m missing or that I’m genetically predisposed to. Depending on what was found, I could also share the results with family members who might have inherited the same issues.

There is a vein of thinking that doing a full workup like this can do more harm than good, and having too much information can lead to anxiety over one’s health, which in turn might create unhealthy habits masked as optimization. However, I know that I do well having lots of information on a topic and that I’m not one to obsess over numbers. They are there to inform, not to dictate. 

Sometimes, it feels like everything is fine in our bodies because we’ve built up such a tolerance to our way of living, but we don’t realize how much it’s breaking us down. Think about how you can go for days on minimal sleep and just think that you’re someone who operates on little to no sleep. But then you get one night, maybe sleeping in a new environment, and your body crashes, and you sleep longer than you thought was possible.

Unfortunately, I was not bitten by a radioactive spider, so my test results did not explain my desire to swing around the city from the webs I shoot from my hands to keep the peace (KIDDING, of course), but so far, the results I’ve received have pointed out a few tweaks I need to make to my diet and routine and things I have to keep an eye on that could lead to me being susceptible to compromised health in the future. As more information comes in, it will add to the picture of what I’m working with, but so far, the results feel compatible with how I view change in general for oneself, small, and tangible actions.

I’m not cutting something out cold turkey; I don’t have to rework my entire lifestyle or diet. There are a handful of things I need to change, cut back on, and add to my life to optimize how I’m feeling. This whole process has provided me with a baseline and an understanding that I don’t have to be dramatic to feel my best. There is no one big action that needs to be done to level up. 

After all this, it reaffirmed my belief that there is no better time than the present to start on something. You don’t need that one grand action to achieve something great; you need small, tangible actions building on what you already have. We trick ourselves into thinking that the blank slate will make it easier, but we go too hard too soon and find ourselves falling off just as soon as we’ve started.

So I hope that in this little corner of the internet, you’ll join me in the belief that we don’t need the first of the year to start the work towards our Great Things, because we’re already on the path there. While others are focused on finding the right time and the right place to start, we’ve jumped in headfirst because we know that no matter what, we’re not going to give up, no matter how hard things get. We’re slowly building on what we already have instead of starting fresh, and above all, we know to be patient, because Great Things Take Time. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are our wildest dreams.

Wishing you all a wonderful 2026. May this be a happy new year for you, where you are already well underway on your journey to your goals.

Moments with Maurice

If you only pause to reflect on your life for one moment today, do it now.

If you’ve been journaling along with me, take the time to pause on the reflection and write down your answer to the prompt. Even if it feels silly in the moment, looking back on what you’ve written down can be eye-opening when you start to see patterns form.

Put your three actions in the comments below to show others that it doesn’t have to be as hard as we think it is.

Because no matter what, there is always something to smile about.

Oh My Heart

Frankie being a little cute ass. This dog has me wrapped around his little finger paw. You want some treats? Here’s 10!

Great Things To Come

A little clue into what’s coming soon with Great Things with Adrian

Food Pyramid

Not a change per se, but sticking to a good balance of food is one of those immediate changes I need to make. Skipping meals, not making time to make food, or missing out on dining out with friends are all costing me. Now, some delicious oysters out with friends or a homemade breakfast make me smile because I know I’m prioritizing things that will make me better.

The Downshift

Final steps in 2025 to set up for the finished car project in 2026. These are the finished interior pads, one of the final steps to getting the BMW G80 M3 back on the roads.

Remember:

-Adrian