The Miracle Year
Finishing 2025, and starting 2026
In 1905, a 26 year old patent clerk living in Switzerland published four papers. They’d go on to revolutionize modern physics.
The gentlemen’s name was Albert Einstein.
Einstein published all four papers in Annalen der Physik:
The Photoelectric Effect (March 17): Proposed that light is composed of discrete “quanta” (photons). This provided the foundation for quantum mechanics and earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Brownian Motion (May 11): Explained the random movement of particles in a liquid, providing definitive empirical evidence for the existence of atoms and molecules.
Special Relativity (June 30): Introduced the theory that the laws of physics are the same for all non-accelerating observers and that the speed of light in a vacuum is constant, regardless of the observer’s motion. This merged space and time into a single continuum: spacetime.
Mass-Energy Equivalence (September 27): Derived the equation E=mc^2, proving that mass and energy are different forms of the same thing.
Physicists call 1905 Einstein’s Annus Mirabilis — his miracle year.
He’s not the only one. Darwin had one. Isaac Newton had one during the Bubonic plague: that year he discovered gravity, and invented calculus. He was 22.
It turns out history is replete with examples of young individuals having incredible creative outbursts that leave an indelible mark. I’ve always been fascinated by them.
2025
I mention all of this because I’ve joked with a few good friends that 2025 was my miracle year.
Now, I didn’t invent calculus, and I sure as hell am not Einstein. I won’t pretend my year came close to touching that. But it has a magical mix of many things coming together.
Professionally, it clicked. We kicked off the year with some of our newest investments, I was promoted to Partner, we began new partnerships with founders, and materially strengthened some of our existing ones. Motion Blur has steadily grown. And of course, after 9 months of work (and 286 slides later), we released The State of Adventure.
That’s not even all of it. There’s even more good news coming, some of which we will announce soon enough.
All of that on its own would have made this an amazing year. But personally, I felt an equal uplift. A few people came into my life and materially changed it for the better; existing relationships with friends and family blossomed, grew even stronger; and a sense of clarity, love, and purpose became deeply evident. Again, it’s rare for the pieces to click into place like that. And in a similar vein, these alone would’ve warranted a miracle year.
One relationship in particular was a seminal part of the story. It deserves its own piece, but it’s top of mind because I ended this past year and began this new one spending time with people I love and reflecting about everything.
I feel grateful. Not everything from this year was perfect, nor should it. There were plenty of challenges and things I’ve had to navigate. Having a miracle year doesn’t mean you don’t face difficulties. I love it as a mindset though because it’s a way to channel your thoughts and momentum accordingly.
Always Upwards
One friend I mentioned this to gave me reasonable pushback. Why settle for just one year? What about compounding and growth?
I don’t think those perspectives are incongruous here. Striving for greatness means a consistent commitment to discipline. You can’t fake it, and you certainly can’t hope one year everything will just work out. Sometimes though, things just click. The universe has a way of showing you signs that it’s pulling for you. It’s the same thing as being in flow. You get in a groove and everything comes easy.
This felt like one of those years. But there is no part of me that wants this to be the peak. What matters is what you keep doing afterwards.
The truth is, some people stack miracle years upon miracle years. It’s hard to do, but if you’re creating enough, the outputs will take care of themselves.
When most people discuss miracle years, they focus on the fact that people have them in their 20s. One possible explanation is the balance of fluid vs crystallized intelligence. Fluid intelligence relates to solving new problems, and crystallized centers on experience.
Whenever I hear that pushback though, I think about the people I really admire who find ways to compound themselves. They get better with time. Just because some people had strong years early in life doesn’t mean others can’t. Boyd (possibly my favorite biography ever) provides a great example: after an illustrious career as a pilot, instructor, and teacher in the Air Force, he left to join the Pentagon. He was 48, and before starting his new post, he went home.
For several weeks Boyd stayed, walking the beach, thinking about his new project and how he would go about researching and writing it. He let the ideas bubble, mulled them over, turned them back and forth, and examined them from all angles and then discarded most of them and began again. By the end of his visit he was rejuvenated. The Peninsula did that for him. He was overflowing with thoughts about the books he wanted to read and the ideas he wanted to explore. And then he returned to Washington.
Even though he arguably had more influence on the Air Force than any colonel in Air Force history, his greatest contributions were yet to come. He was about to enter the most productive and most important part of his life.
— Boyd, by Robert Coram.
His greatest contributions were yet to come.
Create More, Consume Less
During last night’s New Year’s Eve dinner, our group asked each other what we wanted to do more of and less of in this new year. One of the answers was to create more and consume less.
That inspired me to put pen to paper. It’s been a while! And as life gets busy it’s hard to carve out the time to write.
True to form, I started this year similar to many nights I had in my early 20s — staying up after being out with friends, lying in bed, my mind awake, restless and ready to write.
It feels good to return to form. There’s a lot I have my eyes set on for the new year, and I have every intention of keeping the momentum rolling.
Thanks for starting your year reading some thoughts from me. I don’t take it for granted, and I hope this gives you something to think about. Having a miracle year is a mindset, and we all have the potential for them.
I will end the same way I’ve ended prior new year’s posts:
It may be an arbitrary day on a calendar, but the beginning of the year is special. Humans need narratives to make sense of things, and having a clean start is one of the most powerful narratives we’re given. The best part is we get one every 365 days. I’m excited to make the most of this new one, and I wish you the best as you venture into yours.
Onto another miracle year. Happy 2026 everyone.
the patent clerk was living in Switzerland