This is Your Year-End Reflection:
As we close out 2025 and prepare to step into 2026, I’ve been doing something I don’t do often enough: looking back, not with regret, but with honest assessment. What milestones did I meet this year? What goals fell short? And more importantly, what did I become in the process?
2025 was a significant year. I knew going into it that it would be transformative, just like 2024 was foundational. The Raising Alphas Project grew. Choice Press expanded. New partnerships formed.
The question I’m asking myself, and the one I want you to sit with, is this: What objectives did you set for 2025, and did you meet them? If you did, celebrate that. If you didn’t, don’t beat yourself up too much, just ask yourself why, and then adjust your approach. That’s how we become the people capable of achieving what we set out to do.
Here’s What’s Coming for The Raising Alphas Project in 2026
We’ve spent the last year rebuilding our infrastructure, improving our short form content with the weekly newsletter you’re reading right now, and creating a more focused long-form podcast featuring guests who’ve walked hard roads and have wisdom to share. This year, parents, entrepreneurs, athletes, and experts from different fields sat down with us and told their stories.
The new year will feature our latest addition to the Project, something we’ve been laying the groundwork on for months: the Alpha Academy. What does this new initiative mean to you?
Think back to high school. What did your guidance counselor prepare you for? College, right? That was the only path they showed you: go to school, get good grades, work for 25 years, chase retirement. But what if that’s not your calling? What if you want to build something, lead something, and create something lasting?
The Alpha Academy is designed to fill that gap. It’s for young people coming out of high school who are looking for more. It’s structured as a subscription-based program with different courses and modules, each one teaching skills and perspectives you won’t find in traditional education. Plus, those who complete the Academy will have the opportunity for an apprenticeship program. They’ll sit at the tables I sit at. They’ll network with the people I’ve built relationships with over the years. They’ll learn by experience.
This is a priceless, life-changing new initiative that you won’t want to miss. Subscribe to this newsletter to stay appraised of this new initiative. We will be opening applications soon in the new year.
The Project also has new merchandise rolling out with a new manufacturing partner, a revamped website, and a new line of Raising Alpha cigars and cigar cases. There’s a lot in motion, and I’m grateful for everyone who’s been a part of this journey.
Christmas in the Davis Household
The holiday season is always the best time of year. Here in Florida, it finally cools down. School’s out. Work slows, and we get to spend time with people we haven’t seen all year. This Christmas, my immediate family is coming over. We’ll have dinner, sit around the fireplace, and just be together. It might not be freezing outside, but it’s still the kind of moment that matters.
While Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, Christmas runs a close second. It’s about fellowship, gratitude, and time with the people you love. This season reminds us what’s most important. We recently wrapped up soccer season in November, right before my oldest turned 11, and we decided to take a break from the usual grind. Normally, we go straight from soccer into football season, but this year, I opted to give them, and myself, a little time to just be. No practices. No games. Just kids being kids. As much as I love coaching and watching them work hard on the field, sometimes you need that pause. The holidays give us that moment to breathe, reset, and reconnect.
However, the holidays are also an invaluable time to look ahead to the future. A lot of people make their New Year’s resolutions on January 1st… and quit by mid-January. The motivation fades. The habits don’t stick.
So here’s what I’ve started doing: I start my resolutions in December.
If you’re thinking about getting in better shape, why wait until January 1st? Start now. That’s the hardest part, holding yourself accountable during the holidays when you’re on vacation, surrounded by food, and tempted to relax. If you can stay disciplined through that, you’re already ahead of the game.
I talk to my boys about this too. What do they want to achieve? What do they want to work on? We’ve had some good conversations about it during this quieter season. They’re learning that goals require action, not just intention.
Surround Yourself with Positive People
As we head into 2026, I want to talk about something that’s been critical to my success: the people I surround myself with. As I reflect on 2025, I realize the reason I’ve come so far is because I’ve maintained a positive perspective. I don’t sit in echo chambers of negativity. I don’t let myself get dragged down by people who complain, criticize, and stay stuck.
I used to say in the fire service that negativity is a cancer, and it’s contagious. Too many people sit around griping about things they can’t control. They worry about problems that don’t matter. And then that negativity spreads. It infects everyone around them. It becomes a culture. When you’re surrounded by that kind of energy, you can’t grow.
That’s why I’ve been so intentional about who I spend my time with. The people at my table, Gary, Joe, Matt, they’re positive, driven, and focused. They want to win. They want to grow. They want to get better.
And for those who’ve chosen to step away from the table to do their own thing, I wish them the best. I really do. But I’ll give them one piece of advice: Stay positive.
2026 is going to be big. It’s going to be big for me. It’s going to be big for my companies. It’s going to be big for the people who sit at my table and choose to build something meaningful.
Next, this is your Alpha of the Year:
Tom Hill “The Bull” — A Firefighter’s Fight for Firefighters
Every week, we nominate an Alpha who exemplifies our values of discipline, individualism, and courage. Every year, we select among those weekly award winners our prestigious Alpha of the Year Award. This year I must nominate my friend and mentor Tom Hill, known as “The Bull.”
Fifteen years ago, Tom walked from Key West all the way to Tallahassee to bring attention to firefighters battling cancer. His advocacy helped change legislation here in Florida and in Georgia, giving firefighters the support and recognition they deserve when facing this disease.
When I was a young firefighter in my early twenties, Tom was the guy I looked up to. He was big, strong, always training, always leading. He didn’t hold rank, but he was a leader. He mentored people, showed up, and did the work.
Over 30 years in the fire service. A lifetime of sacrifice. And now, 11 years into retirement, Tom is fighting his own battle with cancer. He’s dealt with a lot of medical challenges, a lot of difficult days, but he’s still fighting.
What I learned from Tom early on is this: leadership is about presence, experience, and the willingness to guide others. I outranked Tom, but I could still learn from him. I could still ask, “Hey, Tom, what do you think?” And he’d give me an answer that was worth more than anything I’d learned in a classroom.
As a leader, as an alpha, you can’t be blinded by the position you hold. You have to recognize the wisdom of the people around you. You have to surround yourself with good, positive people who sit at your table, who you can trust, who will help guide you forward.
I’m not the smartest guy in the room. I don’t know everything. But I surround myself with people who do. And that’s how I position myself to succeed.
Tom Hill embodies that kind of leadership. He’s still fighting and standing. He’s still an example of what it means to be an alpha. Thank you, Tom.
Alpha Challenge for the New Year
If you’ve still got goals from 2025 that you haven’t finished, you’ve got two weeks. Knock them out. Don’t wait. And if you don’t have a plan for 2026 yet, start working on your vision board today. On January 1st, when the ball drops and the fireworks go off, you should already be down the road executing that vision.
Time moves fast. It was just yesterday we were celebrating the turn of the year, and now we’re here again. You’ve got to have a plan. The only way to have a plan is to have a vision, and then you have to execute. How do I improve what I’m doing? Do I have that vision board? Am I surrounding myself with the right people? Am I moving forward?
Those are the questions that matter. Answer them honestly, and 2026 will be your best year yet.
Ask an Alpha --- We’ll Answer your Question on the Show
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~ Chief Stephen Davis