# Reflecting on 2025 > Time to recap a good year. Published on 2026-01-30 by Rémi Mercier. Original: https://remimercier.com/reflecting-on-2025/ 2025 was the year I started something I've been wanting to do for a **very long time**: freelancing. I had already been a freelancer twelve years ago, and it did not go well. I was working too much, for too little, and some clients never paid me for my work. I was young(er) but I learned my lesson: freelancing is a whole extra job, on top of your core offering. So when the opportunity arose last year, I knew I needed to get better at being a "company". ## A year of freelancing I started freelancing at the very end of 2024. After a taxing four-month job search – that only emphasized how broken some tech companies are – I decided to switch my approach. I reached out to Sunny – an internet pal I've known for years – and asked him if he needed an extra pair of hands to ship more features for his company [Cults](https://cults3d.com/?utm_source=hello_from_remimercier.com){:target="_blank"}. And he said "yes". A week later, Yves – a Le Wagon alumnus – asked me if I was available to help his team tackle their more complex tasks and get some of their velocity back. And I said "yes". Both clients needed half of my time. So I was able to fill my week almost instantly. Working with both Sunny and Yves has been an absolute joy. Some cool projects I built for them even inspired some [recent](/aggregate-rspec-expectations/) [posts](/minimal-decorator-ruby/) [on](/minitest-spec/) [this](/introduction-to-minitest/) [blog](/more-minitest-spec/). ## Professional wins My professional goal for 2025 was **to survive the year**. Between layoffs, AI coming for our jobs, and the overall LinkedIn-ish narrative, it felt as if I was doomed to switch careers (again). And yet, in case you didn't notice already, 2025 was a good year for me work-wise: - Two happy clients with whom I built (and keep building) a relationship based on trust, values and value. You can't get better than that. - A lot of projects shipped and billed which leaves me with a full year of runway. - A solid progression both technically and product-wise: - I've kept digging into Ruby and Rails internals. - I discovered new patterns and products. - I worked hard to make sense of Typesense (pun intended). - I've started building some foundational knowledge back on the front-end side of things (HTML, CSS, JS and the whole Hotwire). - And of course, Minitest. [A *lot* of Minitest](/introduction-to-minitest/). - A lot of impactful features were shipped with little to no disruption for users. Some were critical and done on a tight schedule. - Working with two teams allowed me to create bridges, and to apply what I had learned within one codebase to the other. - I worked on my tooling and processes, which allowed me to deliver faster and better. - In early 2025, I joined a local cooperative to which I delegate most of my admin. It's a great way to reclaim ownership of my work environment, and the people there are both great and super helpful. This has proven to be a true multiplier for me. - From the get-go, I knew I needed to work on how to run my business. I built simple processes for time tracking, invoicing, note-taking, etc. This has allowed me to spend less time on boring tasks and more time on being a true partner for both teams. ## An *aparte* on the job market Whether you're looking for a job or a freelance gig, the market has been rough for a few years now. Let's not even talk about the rest. \*gestures wildly at everything that has happened in the world\* But here's my main takeaway: a lot of the "hot" companies from a few years ago now have ridiculous expectations for candidates, while offering very little in return. This has created an interesting shift: companies that weren't sexy now attract great people. And great people get to work with smaller teams, cooler products, and often healthier finances. ## Personal wins I don't like to share personal stuff on the blog. There, I said it! What can I say, I'm a *very* private person. But I'll make an exception today. The five coolest things I did this year: - **Making time for my family**: Wednesday afternoons with the kids, lots of time off during school holidays, and a real effort to make the little ones active participants in our family life. - **Keep working on my relationship** with my partner of 16 years 🫶. - **Getting my health in a better place**: resumed boxing after a 10-year hiatus, finally got treatment for my allergies. - **Working on my friendships**: It won't come as a surprise if I say men usually suck at understanding what makes a friendship and how to nurture one? Well, I worked on that. And I'm happy about it. - **Realized I'm likely ADHD and/or on the spectrum**: Not through a formal diagnosis, but by ticking boxes as others got theirs. I also stopped masking, and started learning what actually works for me. ## Manifesting for 2026 As I said earlier, my professional goal for 2025 was to survive the year. And I think I'll keep this as one of my goals for 2026.
a screenshot of a tweet by joel gascogne
Surviving as a competitive advantage.
But I also want to leverage this good first year to plant some seeds. Here's what I'm planning: - **Make my clients happy**: This one goes without saying. I'll keep delivering great features, good communication, and value to the people trusting me with their business. - **Learn HTML and CSS from the ground up**: I want to develop a deeper appreciation for these languages (and build more stuff with 'em)! - **Invest in my freelancing practice**: Time, money, work on website, nail my main value proposition, write more, etc. - **Get help**: I can't do everything alone. This year, I'll invest in getting help. Most notably, I need help building stronger foundations for my business and shaping a new offer. - **Meet people as people**: In the age of LLMs and the content rat race, I believe genuine connections will matter more than ever. I plan on going to more Ruby meetups, joining some of the folks at Cults at [Rubicon in Rimini](https://rubycon.it/){:target="_blank"} in May, and simply getting a lot more genuine human interaction. If you've made it all the way to the end, thank you for reading words written by a human. You rock! (And do you know I have a [RSS feed](/feed.xml)? Just saying.)