Welcome to the stacking days series!

Each month i’ll be sharing my learnings, insights, frameworks and use this as an allround creative outlet. For everyone who’s stacking solid days and creating momentum towards their goals!

January sets the tone for the new year. I use the holiday period to take 2/3 days to reflect on 2025 and prepare for 2026. This means clearing all thoughts in my head by writing them down and physically preparing for the new year by resetting my close environment: cleaning my desk, cleaning out my closet, cleaning my e-mail inboxes, … so in 2026 i can have a fresh start.

I use a very simple reflection framework where you divide your life in a couple main categories (Family, friends, finance, health, work, relationships, sports, personal growth,…) and for every category you write down what you want to “start”, “stop” and “keep doing”.

After this i decide what the main goals for this year will be, so i can come back and revisit them each month. Study shows that it is 42% more likely to achieve your goals just by writing the down.

Great news for Antwerp and the broader region — Chinese e-truck maker Windrose has confirmed plans to build an assembly plant in the Port of Antwerp, with the first electric trucks expected this year. This investment strengthens Antwerp’s role in sustainable mobility, boosts local industry and supports green jobs and innovation. A real win for our city’s economic and ecological future.

Zone 2 cardio is underrated

Zone 2 cardio is often dismissed as “too easy,” but that’s exactly why it works. It builds a deep aerobic base, improves fat metabolism, and increases mitochondrial efficiency—the foundations of long-term performance. Most people train either too hard to recover or too easy to adapt; Zone 2 sits in the rare middle that compounds quietly. It teaches patience in a world addicted to intensity and instant results. If you care about durability, mental clarity, and sustainable energy, Zone 2 isn’t optional - it’s leverage.

Theodore Roosevelt - Man in the arena (Sorbonne, Paris, 23 april 1910):

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again,
because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds;
who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

I revisit this every few months.

It’s hard to simplify things. It’s easy to have a list of 20 principles. But the reality is only a few things really matter.

If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward it to a friend.

Until next month,

Maarten Vanheybeeck

(P.S. Let me know what you think! I read all replies)