Mark - Mark Friesen

“I think at the end of the day, the way you measure your life is by how you react to struggles and how you persevere.

“We cannot become what we want by remaining what we are” — Max DePree Transitioning into another year, I took some time in December to reflect on all that happened in 2025.

The Books of 2025 “Books are, I find, the best provisions a man can take with him on life’s journey” — Michel de Montaigne Nearing the end of another year, I find it satisfying to go thorough and reflect on all that I read.

“Enthusiastically build an extraordinary reality day after day” — Brunello Cucinelli I’ve just wrapped up my annual review and planning, and for the past few years I’ve made it a point to share some of the highs and lows here.

“I don’t wanna be a product of my environment; I want my environment to be a product of me.” — from the Departed via Wes Lang (A User Guide to Me) Last updated: Jan 2026 For years, I’ve thought it would be a useful exercise to try to take everything I've…

“And on I read.

It all started with a casual conversation in early January, fresh off of thinking about my goals and vision for the year.

“I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is” — Kurt Vonnegut It’s that time of year again- time to reflect on the past year, as well as plan for the year ahead.

The Books of 2023 “The sea gets deeper as you go further into it...

“My system has allowed me to write 4 books in the last few years.

I’ve come to recognize that I’m really hard on myself.

“We do not learn from experience.

The Books of 2022 “The great thing about reading is you can use that to pick up any new skill.

The Books of 2021 “In the end, we’ll all become stories.” — Margaret Atwood Looking over everything I’ve read this past year, I’m as inspired as ever to keep seeking out great books.

The Books of 2020 “Develop into a lifelong self-learner through voracious reading; cultivate curiosity and strive to become a little wiser every day.” — Charlie Munger 2020 marks the 5th year of this annual reading roundup.

I love finding simple, effective ways to change my state, things that can be easily incorporated into a weekly routine.

The Books of 2019 BookMark is a project that began in November 2016, and it's something I've put out every single month since.

The Books of 2018 Looking over the books from 2018, I realize the variety of learning and reading one can accomplish over the course of a year.

I arrived into the world 29 years ago today.

“What you do is more important than how you do it and doing something well does not make it important” — Tim Ferriss There is always so much we want to do.