2025: "Hell Yes" & "Fuck No"
A rundown of what's best left behind in 2024 and what to embrace in 2025.
I don’t know who said it first, or where I read it, but for many years now a simple saying has governed most of my decision making, “if it’s not a hell yes, then it’s a fuck no”. Of course there are varying degrees to this, as well as more polite ways to say it, but the original really drives the point home. Typically I apply this to real world decisions such as going to a group dinner or accepting a press trip invite, but it has also served me well in a myriad of other scenarios where a choice must be made. Applied broadly, this should not only allow you to make decisions easier, but help you make better ones as well.
In terms of the following list, if it’s a “Hell Yes”, make it a part of your life, if it’s a “Fuck No”, kick whatever it may be, habit, food, media medium, clothing, person, substance etc, to the goddamn curb. Everyone and everything is vying for your attention these days, so be precious with it and I guarantee your day-to-day life will markedly improve.
Alright, let’s get into this and have some fun shall we?
Hell Yes!
Mobility - You know what’s better than looking all vascular and jacked? Shoulders that don’t click, knees that don’t pop and ankles that don’t crack. Strength and conditioning are important, but if physical fitness ought to begin with a focus on mobility for long term benefit.
Low ABV Cocktails - I like drinking, I do not like being drunk. Fortunately great N/A options are widely available across nearly all categories of spirits, which means you can go full non-alc if you want, but also make split base cocktails where you still use a little of the real thing. As someone who enjoys making cocktails equally as much as drinking them, this has been a real breakthrough as any sort of hangover at my age is simply untenable.
Dairy - Whole milk, yogurt and butter are back in a big way. For many of us, they never left, but across the board they’ve been staging a comeback in recent years as people seem to have realized that like gluten-free offerings, dairy-free options were created for people with actual medical issues, then abused for profit by, well just about everyone. Like any farm animal product, not all dairy is created equal, know your source as best you can and shop local whenever possible.
Giving a shit - Like Gen-X before them, Gen-Z apparently thinks that caring isn’t cool. Pretty miserable way to live if you ask me. By no means am I saying that people should overcorrect, like so many of my fellow Millennials, and care about literally everything to the point where you’re filled with existential dread all the time. I do however think that one ought to take seriously what directly affects them, their family and their community, and subsequently put some effort in to make those effects predominantly positive.
PHEVs - With the EV revolution delayed until the hype machine can re-boot(or we actually build the necessary fucking infrastructure to support mass adoption) we’ve got an increasingly robust crop of plug-in-hybrid-electric vehicles to hold us over. I’ll be covering more of what’s worth paying attention to in the automotive space in 2025, but for the time being I’ll just say that presently the best plug-in-hybrids are still luxury SUVs like the Volvo XC90(which our family will soon be driving) the BMW X5 xDrive 50e, Mercedes-Benz GLE 450e, Range Rover Sport P460e and Porsche Cayenne e-Hybrid.
Easing Your Social - Add more mystery to your life. If you’re gonna post about a trip do it after you’re back. Disappear from the digital sphere for weeks at a time to prioritize real world pursuits and interactions. Even with a team of professionals there is no keeping up with the attention economy, so don’t even try.
Secondhand footwear - I would never buy used sneakers, but boots, loafers or lace-ups made of leather or suede are increasingly fair game provided they’re from a brand known for excellent quality and can be resoled. Opting for footwear off eBay or TheRealReal has allowed me to broaden my horizons without serious overhead.
Gatekeeping - You aren’t owed information on what to wear, what to cook, where to go or what to do. Discover some things on your own and you’ll have a more meaningful understanding of why they’re desirable, rather than just a box to be ticked.
Substack - While I didn’t love all the changes on the platform in 2024, it’s still the place I plan to spend most of my time when online. There is a-lot of great work being done here and at least some semblance of a healthy digital community, which is more than can be said of so many other platforms.
Fuck No!
Cancel Culture - People make mistakes, the ones who learn from them and ultimately contribute more to society than they consume should always have a place a the table. If there’s one thing I heard consistently throughout 2024 it’s that people have had enough humorless scolds with an ax to grind.
Autonomous Vehicles - With our crumbling infrastructure and highly litigious society? Nope, not buying it, never did. The techno-utopian fever dream around fully autonomous vehicles began to break in 2024, I hope to see it fade away in 2025 as people come to realize what a smoke and mirrors affair the whole thing is.
Gloss Black Plastic - This is specific to vehicle interiors and from what I’ve seen of 2025 models, many brands have heard the anguished cries of automotive journalists in recent years. There’s less of it out there, especially in luxury vehicles, but it is still far too prevalent, especially from automakers that should know better. Looking at you Porsche.
Influencers - Only the absolute corniest brands still go to a hired-gun with no authentic connection to whatever it is they’re selling and no discernible skills outside of posing and posting.
Climate Anxiety - Don’t spend time worrying about that which you cannot control. That doesn’t mean you have free reign to be dick and “stink up the joint” as a friend’s dad used to say, but c’mon people, 2025 is the year to get a grip. No more defacing art or blocking roads in the name of “climate awareness”, just admit you’re starved for attention and have nothing better to do.
Modern Farmhouses - Please, no more of these cheaply built Pinterest board come to life homes. Sure, renovate an old farmhouse, preserve the beams and boards, add to the structure if need be, but enough with the rapidly put up garbage that will look dated in a 5 years.
Cargo Pants - Another year, another failed attempt to try and make fetch happen again. Nice try GQ.
Marlboro logo riffs- Seriously ya’ll, I thought we’d put this to rest in 2022.
Twitter/Threads/Bluesky - I never leave any of these spaces feeling better than I did when I went in. Enough said.