2025 By the Numbers: Movement, Miles, Teaching, and Work

I’ve found that the best way to understand a year isn’t by how busy it felt, but by what actually happened. So rather than relying on memory alone, I worked backward through movement, travel, teaching, and content to get a clearer picture of 2025.

This isn’t about optimization or chasing records. It’s simply an honest accounting of where time and attention went.

Steps (and Runs) in 2025

In 2025, I logged 2,926,463 steps.

That’s a 37.72% increase over 2024, driven almost entirely by a decision I made around May: 10,000 steps a day, no matter what.

Some days that came easily—running, working in the warehouse, or being on my feet at events. Other days it didn’t. Those were the nights that ended with late walks, sometimes short, sometimes long, often after everything else was already done.

I also went on 50 runs during the year.

That number is disappointing.

Steps were way up—which I care about—but intentional workouts were down. That’s something I’m very aware of and something I want to address heading into 2026. The discipline showed up in daily movement, but not consistently enough in structured training.

What surprised me most wasn’t the step total itself—it was how often those walks became quiet thinking time. No calls. No emails. Just movement and margin. In a year that didn’t slow down on its own, that daily commitment forced me to create space.

Miles Driven

In 2025, I drove 16,613 miles in my truck.

By my historical standards, that’s a relatively low year. I didn’t drive to many of the events I’ve traditionally covered by road, choosing instead to be more selective about when driving made sense.

That lower mileage doesn’t reflect less activity—just different logistics. Fewer long hauls, more flying, and a travel schedule that prioritized efficiency over habit.

Travel, Events, and Time Away

Looking at the year as a whole:

• 44 nights away from home
• 13 states visited
• 3 events / tradeshows
• 8 total tradeshow days

The states visited in 2025 were: Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

My business is one that requires—or at least rewards—travel. Trade shows and conferences are where relationships are built, products are sold, and long-term opportunities take shape. I mostly enjoy the travel, the time with friends, and meeting new people along the way.

Looking at my lifetime travel, it’s worth noting that the only state I’ve never set foot in (outside of an airport) is still Minnesota. Maybe in 2026.

Days Spent on a Gun Range

In 2025, I spent a minimum of 24 full days on gun ranges.

These are not short visits. A range day typically means eight hours or more on site.

My profession requires me to be on ranges frequently, and that time is split between days where I’m a student, days where I’m an instructor or assistant instructor, and days spent at range-based events capturing content, networking, or assisting with logistics.

Regardless of the role, I love these days. Professionally, they are my favorite workdays. They’re focused, tactile, and demanding in the best way.

Classes Taught

In 2025, I taught 27 classes.

From a revenue standpoint, training represents less than 1% of total revenue at Concealed Carry Inc. I continue to teach anyway.

Teaching keeps me close to the customer. It forces me to stay grounded in real questions, real constraints, and real outcomes. It also keeps me honest—about my own skills, my own standards, and my own commitments.

A new Colorado law that went into effect on July 1 now requires all concealed carry classes to include live-fire range time, which directly increased how much time I spent teaching on the range and will continue to shape training moving forward.

Articles and Podcasts

Content production continued to increase in 2025.

Written content:

• 143 articles on ConcealedCarry.com
• 9 articles on JacobSPaulsen.com

Most of my writing focused on keeping people up to date on firearm laws, court decisions, and legislative changes, while continuing to publish practical content on gear, safety, training, and best practices for concealed carriers.

On my personal site, I wrote primarily about internet marketing and web tools that can help small business owners operate more effectively.

Podcasting:

• 19 episodes of The Concealed Carry Podcast
• 3 guest appearances on other podcasts

Podcasting remains one of the most direct ways to communicate nuance—especially in an industry where context matters and misinformation spreads quickly.

Books Read in 2025

In 2025, I read 42 books.

It was very much a year of fiction and deep character development. I read the entire Jonathan Grave series by John Gilstrap (plus a few of his other books), caught up on Expeditionary Force books by Craig Alanson, read Six Minutes to Freedom by Kurt Muse, and then started on the Bosch series by Michael Connelly.

A lot of driving, flying, walking, and running leads to a lot of book reading—well, technically listening. Either way, books were a constant companion throughout the year.

Favorite Ranges of the Year

My favorite range of the year is always the Oklahoma City Gun Club, which is where we host The Guardian Conference. That place is personally sacred because of the event we’ve built there and the people who show up year after year.

A special shout-out also goes to The Clinton Plantation, which hosted Revolver Fest 2025. It’s a beautiful property and a well-maintained range, and it was a pleasure to spend time there.

Looking Ahead to 2026

In 2026, I intend to maintain my daily step habit, which should put me on track for my first year over 3 million steps. That baseline matters to me and has proven sustainable.

At the same time, I want to run a lot more.

The goal is five runs per week, knowing full well that a realistic average is closer to three or four. Even at that pace, it would represent a 200–350% increase in workouts year over year. The discipline foundation is there; now it’s about translating movement into more intentional training.

Much of the rest of the year will look familiar. I expect to attend many of the same events, continue teaching, keep writing, keep podcasting, and keep traveling. That rhythm works.

With any luck, 2026 will bring stronger relationships, new friends, and a profitable year in business. If it also brings better fitness, deeper focus, and continued enjoyment of the work itself, that will be a good year by any reasonable measure.