This post will be different from all others in this series. I've significantly rethought my approach to life and work.
1) Best Book
In December I decided to take a break from active self-development — something I’d been intensely focused on since I was 17. I didn’t read anything new. But I discovered an amazing singer called Novra. I’ve been listening to her tracks a lot.
2) Movies / TV Shows
Nastya and I went to see “The Insiders” at the cinema. A solid action film — keeps you on edge. For series, I suddenly felt like rewatching “House of Cards”. After 10 years since my first watch, the impressions are completely different.
3) Most Useful Video
I didn’t watch any educational content. I’ll explain why below.
4) Skill I Worked On
Resting and simply living. Not only working. I know that sounds a bit strange. I’d worked myself into a state where I often felt drained and had no motivation to do anything at all.
I went to a good clinic. The doctor told me I already had a certain form of exhaustion — primarily psychological, with the body following close behind with all the resulting consequences.
They prescribed changes to my diet and daily routine, gave me vitamin D injections, recommended supplements, and told me which tests and health markers to monitor.
It was the first time in my life I’d been to a clinic that didn’t just treat symptoms but looked for the root causes of your condition and offered systemic lifestyle changes.
On the doctor’s advice, I significantly slowed down. I gave myself permission to simply live — not only work.
5) Hypothesis I Tested
“Self-development” takes an enormous amount of energy. After finishing high school, I started growing very actively. Almost every single day included useful books or educational videos. I’d gotten so used to consuming development content that I never stopped to think how much energy and mental bandwidth it actually required.
December was the first month in 18 years that I didn’t actively pursue personal growth. At first it felt very strange — like I hadn’t done something important that day. But in the end, a huge amount of psychological energy was freed up.
6) Habit I Worked On
I tried to listen to myself a little more and stop criticising myself for “unproductive” time. I followed my own desires. I tried to spend more time with the people closest to me — family and friends. I tried a new hobby.
I even allowed myself things that are totally out of character for me, like video games. So far I can manage about 15–20 minutes of Counter-Strike or Battlefield. It feels unfamiliar. But it switches my attention well.
7) Main Insight of the Month
This might be one of the most important realisations I’ve had over the past year. My life used to look like non-stop work: courses, podcasts, consultations, team management, new ideas, new branches of activity.
If I removed work from my life, there wouldn’t be much left — apart from family and serving at church. Essentially, as a committed workaholic, I had built my entire life around my work, leaving no real room for anything else.
Not enough attention for hobbies, for friends, for new adventures, for experiments, for exploring something new. Everything revolved around work. It turns out I spent many years living to work. Now I want to try working to live. It sounds like a small shift — but for me this transition is something fundamentally difficult.
I don’t know if I’ll keep this series in the same format going forward. Its whole purpose was that I was actively developing and sharing discoveries with you. But my new season of life is about significantly slowing down in terms of work and self-development. So I’m not sure whether there’ll be enough material each month to share. We’ll see.
#ost_month_results december 2025