Q1 2026 - Progress report

How was your Q1? Here's how mine went.

Author

Alex McClafferty
April 02, 2026

Business

I retained my existing coaching clients, but didn't add any new ones. I didn't do any marketing, because, frankly... I've felt hamstrung by AI. It's almost free, very useful and available 24/7. That's become a mental block for me. The good news is that personal patterns, predispositions and blind spots aren't something AI has nailed... yet.

What does Q2 hold? TBD. Something will change here.

Health

I lost ~9kg (or 20lbs) in Q1. Woo!

In 2025, a knee injury got the better of me and I started to eat my feelings. After Christmas, I turned the corner and spooled up hybrid training, weightlifting and thoughtful nutrition. Metrics like sleep, HRV and resting heart rate have rapidly improved.

Q2 goal? Lose ~10kg.

Creativity

This has been a landmark quarter for creativity:

I co-wrote a feature length film script. I stepped away from the project on the penultimate page, with no hard feelings and plenty of lessons learned. I felt as locked-in as the first year of my startup.

I'm two weeks away from completing my second song and very excited to bring it to life. Here's a 43 second teaser. I recorded vocals with a professional musician/friend and work on the track weekly with a brilliant mentor.

I tinkered on a few side projects in photography and vibe-coding. I was inspired by a Twitter thread about an autogenerated morning summary to pair with my morning coffee. Behold v1 with demo data of the Daily Dossier.

Goals for Q2? Complete script #2, song #3 and refine the Doss.

Lessons (re)learned

  • Creating is far more rewarding and energizing than pontificating

  • Hiring experts for coaching and mentoring is a force multiplier

  • "Balance" looks wildly different for people, so choose your own

Quarterly favourites

Pics from Q1 2026

Here's to Q2.