To 2026
3 min read
This page was translated by AI
In a blur, 2025 has reached its end.
This year moved like a swift river, with day and night alternating to push us forward. Before we could turn around and look closely, many things had already become “the past.” Yet when the calendar reached its final page, we realized that a year is not simply a stack of 365 dates. It is more like a collective trek: some arrive, some lose their way, some rebuild order, and some learn to make peace with uncertainty.
If I had to summarize 2025 in one word, it would be: acceleration.
Technology accelerated, the world accelerated, and people’s choices accelerated too. We once thought that “change” took a long time—that an era would first discuss it, then let it ferment, and finally bring it into reality. But this year, many changes seemed to happen suddenly: like a gust of wind, they came without asking whether you were ready.
My clearest experience of this came from AI.
Can you believe it? DeepSeek R1 was released in 2025. Even saying that feels a little absurd. Not long ago, generative AI still seemed like a “concept of the future,” but now it has become a new kind of infrastructure—quietly changing how we write, work, study, and even think.
I still remember vibe coding with Claude Sonnet 3.7 in the first half of the year: It was a wonderful feeling. You no longer had to build an enormous project before daring to express yourself; you could write down an idea first, then gradually turn it into structure and a product. In the blink of an eye, Opus 4.5 appeared as well. New capabilities, lower prices, and more kept piling up like a rising tide, forcing us to admit that the future does not “arrive slowly”; it suddenly becomes real.
Of course, AI does more than inspire awe. It brings a more practical change too: It lowers the threshold for turning ideas into reality, allowing ordinary people to move from an idea to a prototype in a short time—from “I want to do this” to “I am doing this.”
So this year, I also tried building a few micro-SaaS products: From exploration and trial and error to launch and reflection, I gained a little experience in going global. It may not be grand yet, but I still want to see it as a sign: in a world full of variables, we can still choose to create. Even making something a little more concrete and real is a way to resist the feeling of drifting.
As I write this, I suddenly realize that an “annual review” is not meant to prove anything. It is more like a reminder: To remind us not to be swept up by acceleration and forget who we are; to remind us that in a complex age, we can still keep a stable sense of values—not be carried away by emotion, not be led astray by noise.
Finally, here are my two favorite works of the year, as footnotes to 2025:
📚 Book of the Year: Brothers
🎬 Film of the Year: F1
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast!
The New Year’s sunlight will eventually cover the shadows of the past. May you continue to believe there is a road ahead in 2026, and continue to hold your life in your own hands—keep moving forward, and do not look back.
With that, I wish you a Happy New Year. ✨