My 2025 Writing Journey, And What I’m Building Next
How writing changed my year, and the new ideas it inspired for 2026
Hi friends!
Here’s wishing you Happy Holidays! 🎄
As we head into 2026, I wanted to pause and look back on this past year, and share what I’m excited to build next.
When I look back at 2025, I’m still amazed at how far this writing journey has taken me.
For those of you who don’t know me, I started writing on Medium in May 2023 with no clear plan. I just wanted to share what I had learned as a leader: the wins, the failures, and the simple frameworks that helped me think with more clarity. In late 2024, I started The Good Boss newsletter on Substack for the same reason - to share strategies and tactics with other fellow leaders.
At the beginning of 2025, I had 7,000 followers on Medium, and The Good Boss newsletter had a little over 500 subscribers. Those numbers already felt surreal, and I even wrote a Substack note (below) quietly celebrating this milestone during one of my morning walks.
But 2025 changed everything.
By the end of the year, my Medium following has grown to 12K, and The Good Boss has almost 6.5K subscribers.
If someone had told me this last year, I would have smiled politely and moved on. Yet here we are.
And somehow, it still feels like the beginning.
The Year Everything Shifted
Something clicked for me in 2025.
Writing stopped feeling like an experiment and became part of my identity. It became the way I explore ideas, make sense of leadership, and stay grounded in the middle of all the noise.
As the year unfolded, I started to see some momentum early on when my subscriber count doubled to 1K by February, which gave me some (much-needed) motivation to keep going.
Over the course of the next few months, as I continued to publish on different leadership topics, I noticed some patterns. Some posts on which I put days’ worth of effort and was super excited about didn’t see much engagement (aka flopped), while others got a lot of attention (like the one below). Engagement data like this for my posts told me what managers were looking for, and more importantly, what they’re struggling with, so I started researching and writing more on those topics.
2025 also opened doors I never expected.
For the first time, I met fellow writers - some aspiring, some experienced, and some published authors - in-person and over video calls. It was surreal, to say the least. These were people I never would have crossed paths with if not for writing.
But I also saw something else this year.
Many new writers started strong and full of energy in January. We started engaging through posts and notes, and it felt great to have that community. They wrote consistently for a few months. And then… they vanished. They probably got too busy, or life got in their way, but regardless…. it was sad to see them go. Thankfully, I kept going. Writing consistently isn’t easy, but it’s surely been worth it for me.
And along the way, this journey changed me.
The feedback I received from managers and leaders didn’t just give me topic ideas, but it also nudged me toward formal coaching. I was already pseudo-coaching my readers through my posts, notes, and comments. I decided to pursue formal coach training, and today I’m close to earning my ICF ACC certification.
Fun fact: Two years ago, I didn’t even know what “I.C.F.” stood for.
Writing also pushed me into the world of business. I learned marketing, sales, copywriting, negotiation, pricing… the simple but real skills you only learn by doing.
I turned on the paid tier for The Good Boss, and was pleasantly surprised to see that there was interest in the readers to pay for the content. Fast forward a few months, and in June, The Good Boss earned the Substack Bestsellers Badge, yet another unexpected, but pleasant, surprise.
What Surprised Me Most
The numbers are nice, but the magic came from the messages.
A manager in Europe used one of my posts to reset how he leads his team.
A founder in India keeps The Leader’s Playbook on her desk.
A senior leader in the US reads my newsletter with his morning coffee.
A professional coach in Spain uses the frameworks during her coaching calls.
(and many more - check out The Good Boss Wall of Love for more).
It’s truly humbling to know that my writing made an impact on the lives of so many people around the world. 🙏
Lessons From 2025
If I had to capture 2025 in a few lessons, they would be these:
When you show up often, your voice shows up too. Consistency came from identity, not discipline. With consistent writing, I found my voice, and writing became part of who I am.
Community turns writing into growth. Meeting writers gave me energy and perspective. These conversations shaped my craft, and motivated me to keep going.
Your work becomes real when someone tells you it helped them. Every message reminded me that my work impacts real humans, and pushed me to write with more care and clarity.
You learn business by doing business. Running a newsletter, designing solutions and selling products forced me to learn skills I once avoided. Now, I enjoy them, and continue to improve them.
Writing is a long game. I saw many writers start strong and burn out. If you’re writing today, let this be your sign: pace yourself in a way that you can sustain without burning out.
The Road Ahead
As I look toward 2026, I feel grateful and excited.
I want to grow The Good Boss into a home for practical leadership wisdom.
I want to dive into new formats: video, courses, maybe even a podcast.
I want to build more types of tools that help leaders everywhere.
Most importantly, I want to keep writing.
If you’ve been part of this journey, whether you read one post or all of them, thank you! Your support and encouragement shaped this year more than you know. 🙏
I would appreciate your feedback, questions or suggestions. Please drop them in the comments below. ⬇️
Here’s to another year of growth, creativity, and leadership. 🚀
Best,
Gaurav
Founder, The Good Boss
Author, The Leader’s Playbook
Keep up the good work!
I loved this wrap-up post, Gaurav! It was cool to learn more about your journey, and it's clear you've accomplished a lot this year. I've enjoyed getting to know you as a fellow writer, and I hope we can get to know each other even better in 2026 and beyond. Happy New Year, my friend!