“The unexamined life is not worth living.” - Socrates

Last week, Marc Andreessen, the billionaire, venture capitalist and former founder of Netscape created a bit of swirl on Twitter/X when he stated he has “zero” introspection and strives for “as little as possible.”

I, like many others, was surprised by his statement, and strongly disagree with this take.

I agree with Socrates and believe there’s an incredible amount of value living an examined life. I also believe in public accountability, so I’m sharing my Q1 progress with you openly.

For context, I have a goal of making 2026 be the best year of my life. I made several intentional bets with that in mind, because a great life doesn't just happen.

It has to be designed, and requires honest measurement, reflection and adjustment.

So, here’s my reflection on Q1.

I moved to San Francisco. This was a deliberate decision to put myself closer to epicenter of AI and entrepreneurship while still being a short drive from my family. After visiting 7 countries and spending 1+ year in LATAM, I want to be near my loved ones. It may not be my long-term home, but this was a great decision for the time being. The city’s beauty, walkability, and entrepreneurial energy are unbeatable. I averaged 14,400 steps a day in Q1.

I got an apartment I love — and I didn't play it safe. A traditional financial advisor would have told me to spend less. Way less. I chose the space that matches where I'm going, not where I've been. Three months in, I'm grateful for that decision every single day. I wake up excited about life and where I’m headed. I’m playing life on offense.

I hired an assistant. This is one of those things that's simultaneously one of the best decisions I've made and one of the most uncomfortable. It's a forcing function. It requires courage to delegate and trust someone with access to your email, calendar and company records. It's requiring me to delegate, to document, to communicate clearly about what I need. There’s no growth in the comfort zone. The growing pains are real. But those growing pains are really just my own shortcomings being surfaced, and that's the point. You can't fix what you won't look at.

I joined a great gym. The connection between mind and body is real, and I don't say that as a cliché. Making the investment to join the Equinox on Market St was an act of courage. I’ve never spent this much on a gym. Me 10 years ago would balk at that, but investment is well worth it. The gym has fitness classes, top-notch equipment, sauna, steam room, basketball court, and oh, I can’t forget the eucalyptus towels. 😃

I invested in two programs that give me exactly what I needed. Briar Cochran’s a savant at storytelling, crafting hooks, experimentation and growing social media accounts. His coaching program is excellent. We meet 3X a week and I have daily homework assignments. Matt Gray’s Founder OS is excellent as well. There’s over 40 live calls per month and templates for everything. I now have the playbooks, structure and online community I need. There’s no excuses.

My ADHD is more significant than I realized. Two years ago, I received a clinical evaluation that revealed my brain works differently than others. Yep, I have ADHD. I had no idea how much it shapes my day-to-day life — the emotional regulation challenges, the frustration with certain tasks, the difficulty sustaining focus on things that aren't immediately stimulating. I listened to Peter Shankman's book Faster Than Normal, and helped me see and understand myself in a way I haven’t before.

Body doubling works wonders. This may not make sense to you but it’s a game changer for me. There are certain tasks that we all hate doing. If I’m left to my own devices, I simply will not do them. I’ll defer, defer, defer. This is unnecessary and unacceptable and it is penalty to my future self. One technique that’s incredibly powerful is body doubling. It’s basically having an accountability partner be present with me to help me complete a task that I otherwise wouldn’t want to do.

The cost of bad habits is exponentially higher as a solo founder. When you work at an established company, in a team setting, it’s waaaay easier to hide your weaknesses. You have a team absorbing the impact. There's infrastructure covering your gaps. As a one-person company, I no longer have that luxury. I’m exposed. Every bad habit, every avoidance pattern, every unwillingness to face the truth about myself is incredibly costly. I refuse to be the weakest link in my own company. That realization has been uncomfortable and essential.

I identified new triggers. I've started to notice the specific things that get me frustrated, reactive, or thrown off. I can’t afford to not be aware of the things that are blocking me from operating at peak state. For example, one thing that absolutely pisses me off when someone doesn’t show up prepared to a meeting after I’ve sent them context in advance and they simply didn’t read it. It’s infuriating. “Wait, you mean I took the time to document and share this context proactively in advance, and then you show up to this call totally unprepared and ask me questions? WTF!?” This used to send me into a rage.

Clutter is incredibly costly. Messy environments are a tax on my productivity. It took me longer than it should have to fully move into my apartment, unpack boxes, and donate old items I no longer needed. The boxes in my apartment were incredibly overwhelming and took a huge toll on my productivity. It would’ve been smarter to have paid someone to help me come unbox them instead of waiting on frustration and motivation.

I'm getting help — real, structured help. I'm hiring an ADHD function coach to help me design my weeks and days around how my brain actually works, not how I wish it worked. I'm also starting with a business operations coach. They'll be a thought partner and help me implement EOS, which is actually the inspiration for the Courage Operating System.

Daily AI practice. At least one hour of hands-on work with AI tools every single day. Not scrolling Twitter threads about AI. Building with it. Getting technical. This is non-negotiable.

Intentional social interaction. I work from home. I have an office in my apartment. And there is always something to do. It is dangerously easy to spend an entire day without meaningful human connection. Last night I went salsa dancing, and it reminded me how much I need that. I have to stop treating social time as something I'll get to after the work is done, because the work is never done.

Content consistency. Everything is a content game now. The top of funnel for DailyCourage — for any personal brand — is content. I have not been posting consistently enough. I have the ideas, I have the frameworks, I have the stories. What I don't have yet is the daily discipline of showing up and publishing. That changes in Q2.

Focus. This is the big one. Sitting down at my computer and doing deep, uninterrupted work has been my biggest struggle this quarter. Part of it is ADHD. Part of it is too much time training myself to be distracted. Part of it is the sheer volume of what's happening right now. AI is moving at a pace that makes it feel impossible to keep up with Claude, OpenAI, Cursor, Replit, and everything else emerging daily. In a world with infinite distractions, focus is a competitive advantage.

Reading. I have not read nearly as much as I should. In the era of AI, critical thinking becomes more important than ever. Over reliance on AI is making people dumber. I refuse to be one of them. Reading has always been a cheat code, but now more than ever, it’s value is non-negotiable.

Overall, Q1 was a solid quarter. I’m on the right track.

I’m celebrating the progress, and focused on living in the gain, not the gap, but I need to picking up the pace and be more aggressive in Q2.

More content. More consistency. More shots on goal. More courage to sit in the discomfort of focus.

More willingness to have the courage to live an examined live and accept the uncomfortable truths to get out of my own way.

As prison of war survivor, Admiral James Stockdale eloquently stated:

“You must never lose faith that you’ll prevail in the end, with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality.”

Here's your reflection for the week:

How did your Q1 go?

Are you on track for your annual goals for 2026?

What role does courage play in helping you achieve them?

Here's your challenge for the week:

Identify the ONE decision that you can make in Q2, that if you did it, would make the rest of 2026 easier. If you haven’t checked out Gary Keller’s book, The One Thing, it may be worth reading. I’ve found it incredibly helpful.

Any feedback? Suggestions? Questions? Please email me. I’d love to hear from you. I read every message.

With courage,

Jonathan