2024: Just the Start

2024 has overall been a great year for me personally. I believe it represents a turning point. 2023 was tough, but 2024 went some way to redressing the balance and I am even more positive about 2025 because of it.

Here are a few highlights:

• We went to Japan! My first time in Asia. The best trip I've been on so far.
• I managed to get NativePHP support for Windows released, amongst many other improvements. It's almost ready for production usage. With over 1,000 devs in the Discord, $1,000/month in sponsorships and tons of contributors helping, it really feels like it's flying.
• I started building ReelFlow with an old acquaintance and his business partner, and it's got some very promising signs of growth.
• I went to Laracon US in Dallas and it was epic!
• Laradir became Laradevs, blew past 4,000 registered developer profiles and has some awesome features on the way.
• I was interviewed by Eric from Laravel News.
• I started four (yes, four(!)) podcasts.
• I finally fixed my website so I could start publishing to it again.
• And to top it all off, I got invited to speak at Laracon EU 2025, which is coming up in February.

But it wasn't without its challenges!

Up to about March/April, I had almost zero income. I was in a rut with NativePHP because I was so stressed about finding paid work. It was really frustrating to have all these goals and intentions for NativePHP (and of course a backlog of PRs and issues to get through!) but not really having the time to focus on it.

I managed to pick some up when we returned from Japan, but it wasn't quite enough, and then all of a sudden I had too much.

Committing to open source in your spare time is hard at the best of times, but especially so when you've got more than a full plate of full-time client work and you're trying grow a SaaS (Laradevs) on the side... I can tell you now, I have (and still continue) to make poor decisions about the best use of my time, for which I can only say that I'm very grateful to and for my long-suffering wife.

Bu, I'm sorry that I've not spent enough time with you.

Honestly, I feel like I've been teetering on the edge of burnout. So I decided that I needed to drop one client and that freed up my time.

Thankfully, we managed to get away for a week later in the year. It was just to Tenerife, our neighbouring island, and we went up into the hills, so despite being the tail end of summer (when you'd expect great weather and warm temperatures), we were cold and damp in amongst the clouds.

But it was just what I needed. We chilled out, cooked food, sampled the local shops, bars and restaurants, spent good time with great friends and just really relaxed. What's more, I felt like I truly disconnected for once (even though my wife might disagree!)

So I'm determined to do more of that in 2025.

Saying that, January is going to be tough! I've got a talk to finish so that I can go on stage in front of the biggest audience I've ever spoken in front of, to talk about something that I feel like I have almost zero knowledge about.

A lot of the past couple of years - of basically being forced to go back into freelancing during the height of a hiring crisis - has felt like when I tried to start a business back in 2008/9, at the peak of the recession: hard work and I'm way out of my depth.

Although many things have changed over those years, the one factor that's really stood out as being different is me. I can see clearly how I've grown in so many ways.

I feel like I'm doing some of the best work of my career and I'm enjoying it a lot.

The other thing I've learned is that I want to go all-in on NativePHP. In my opinion, the potential for this tech is huge.

I'm not under any illusion that this is going to happen quickly. So one of my goals for 2025 is to build up one of those side projects enough to give me more time to spend on NativePHP, a stepping stone on my way to making it my full-time focus.

It might be Laradevs, it might be something else. I don't know for sure yet, but I'm putting my chips on a few numbers.

Besides that, I'm looking forward to visiting Amsterdam for the first time. I'm cautiously optimistic about my talk (though I'm starting to get very nervous) and I'm hoping to be able to attend Laracon US again.

I've also got a couple more personal challenge goals. I'm 40 in 2025, so:

• I want to get my body into shape - I have a little excess weight to lose and while I'm probably the fittest I've been since the pandemic, I am still not fit enough.
• I want to build 40 apps with NativePHP!
• I want to meet (virtually or IRL) 1,000 Laravel developers I've not met before.

2024 has been a year of finding clarity and focus.

2025 will be the year of doubling down and building bigger.

I hope you've had an opportunity to reflect and find some positives about 2024. I know it has been especially hard for many of you. I also hope that you can find a way to look into 2025 with enthusiasm and energy.

I'd love to hear more about your ups and downs and what you're excited about for 2025, so please feel free to reach out to me