A Heartfelt Conversation on the Last Day of the Year

We've reached 71 episodes... Hello from the final episode of Season 3..

In this episode, rather than providing information, I pause, take a breath, and have a genuine conversation with you.

I share how a journey that started with a $100 microphone from a Best Buy store in Manhattan, New York in 2019 has brought me to where I am today. Back then, podcasts were barely discussed in Turkey. There were no listening counts, statistics, or follower graphs. You just recorded and shared. That's what I did too. With mispronounced words, breathing pauses, completely unedited recordings… But authentic.

For me, this podcast was never just about being listened to or becoming popular. It was about expressing myself better, speaking more clearly, and becoming a slightly better Faruk than the one in the previous episode. Over time, I realized how much it transformed me. Speaking opened me up, storytelling clarified my thoughts, and recording made me feel my own progress.

Returning to Turkey in 2020, followed by the pandemic, forced breaks, skipped episodes… Life's own flow affected the podcast's pace. In 2021, there were slow returns. One episode a month, a few recordings a year… Then in 2024, I asked myself: Why am I stopping?

At this point, Ertan's support and encouragement meant so much to me. By his words, I hit play again. And from April 2025 onwards, I shared a new episode every single week without missing once. This consistency means everything to me.

In this episode, I'm not just talking about the podcast, but also what 2025 left with me. It was a year when all of us were tested, struggled, and sometimes felt exhausted. But it also taught us so much. Patience, trying again, perseverance…

I'm sharing authentically how the NLP training I took in 2024 touched my life, changed my perspective, and how I confronted the concept of success. When we hit bottom, there's actually a diamond there, and what matters is recognizing it and taking it back up with us.

The journeys I took in 2025, my experience in Petra, Mecca and Medina, the connection I built with the Middle East, and my 2026 goals are part of this conversation. Growing Joykek in Dubai, videocast plans, and thoughts on transitioning to a new structure are also included in this episode.

This episode is for the last day of the year. It's both a farewell and a thank you. A sincere thank you to those who have been listening for a long time, to those I'm just meeting, and to everyone who has touched me on this journey.

If this podcast walked with you at some point, made you feel less alone, or triggered a thought, this episode is for you.

Don't forget to be grateful to 2025.

Let's look to 2026 with hope.