🌱4 years of Making Connections (here’s what I learned + recs for 2026)

Here’s your 3 insights in 3 minutes.

Special edition: here’s your 4 insights in 4 minutes.

(Because this newsletter just turned 4! 🥳)

⏮️ 4 Years Ago

I started this newsletter 4 years ago on December 20th, 2021.

Since then, I’ve sent an email every single Sunday for 210 weeks in a row.

But I remember having to “trick” myself to start it.

The very first newsletter!

I told myself I’d write a newsletter every week ONLY for Q1 of 2022.

Then see from there see how I like it and decide whether to keep going.

4 years later and we’re still cruising.

Takeaway:

Starting is wayyy harder than continuing. Shrink the initial commitment to make it easier to start.

📊 Momentum Compounds

For the first 3 years the newsletter growth was flat.

But this year we grew 263%! 🚀

Welcome to all the new homies 🫡

Reminds me of this Navy SEALs quote I love: “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” (More on that here.)

The interesting part about momentum is how it starts out invisible.

I always told myself even if no one reads this newsletter, it’s still fun for me to improve my writing and thinking by compressing ideas each week. Then as more people read and reply, it became more fun.

The first 3 years weren’t wasted. They were the foundation.

Takeaway:

Momentum never compounds if you don’t start and stick with it. Start the thing.

🎯 Rig The Game

If you're considering starting something new in 2026 consider how to "rig" the game.

I rigged mine by telling myself: even if this fails, I win because I'll get better at writing.

Here are my top recommendations for starting something in 2026.

• Start from zero. Doesn’t matter what you did last year, this is a new year.

• Shrink the commitment. Make it easy and effortless to start.

• Rig the game. Craft experiments where you still win even if it fails.

• Ask yourself the 3 essential questions: What’s working? What’s not working? And based on the above, what can I do next time?

Takeaway:

The best projects are the ones you can’t lose.

🙏 Bonus Section: Thank You

Whether you’ve been here for 1 week or 210…

I genuinely appreciate each and every person who reads this thing.

This was the most popular post of the year: 🌱I’m addicted to this book + ai hack.

But as always, I would love to hear more from you. What would you like me to dive more into this upcoming year?

Salud,
Mitchell

Ps. Fox in socks