After spending roughly half of 2025 outside the United States — split between Dubai, Europe, and other global ventures — I’m finally back home, just in time for Thanksgiving. I made a conscious decision to be present for this holiday, to not just be around my daughter, but with her. There’s a difference between being around and being with, and it’s a difference too many people miss.
You know what I see everywhere? Fathers spending time in proximity to their kids but not actually with them. Phone in hand. Eyes on the screen. Physically there, mentally gone. This is why, when it comes to my daughter, the phone stays in my pocket (unless I’m capturing one of the 600,000 photos I take of her – yeah, I’m that guy now.)
When ‘Tata’ (that’s what she calls me — it’s Croatian for ‘Dad’) comes over, we go outside. We touch trees. We run through grass. We visit the neighbor’s farm. I sit her on the fence, make a clicking sound with my tongue, she mimics me, and the horses come to us.
I’ve always had this connection with animals, and that’s something I’m teaching my daughter too. When you’re calm, nature reciprocates. That’s why the bees didn’t sting me in New Zealand. That’s why those horses trusted us.
Thanksgiving and Holiday Workdays
In the Marjanovic family, we don’t do the traditional sit-down dinner. For us, it’s an all-day thing — family showing up around 11 a.m., picking at food as it’s finished, drinking wine, telling stories. Yes, we have turkey, but we also make Bosnian stuffed cabbage, lamb shanks, and homemade burek (a pastry with meat, potatoes, and onions). One year, I hosted and cooked a full leg and rack of lamb on a spit for 16 hours, like it was right out of the old country.
Here’s what I noticed this week: everybody’s productivity shuts down halfway through November. People stop working. It baffles me. If you want to succeed, if you want to elevate, work through the holidays. I reflected on this on my X account:
Thanksgiving is one day, so take that one day off and then get right back to work. Christmas and Christmas Eve — okay, that’s two days. And New Year’s Eve? If you’re still celebrating New Year’s Eve and you’re over 30, you need to get your sh#t together. Go to a party if you want, but when midnight hits, get back home by midnight.
The first day of the new year, you need to be working. How much momentum are you destroying by starting the new year hungover? It’s baffling. This holiday season, I challenge you to work double hard.
That way, you’ll be double ahead of everyone else.
Health News
Headlines:
New Case Study Links Hormone Imbalances to Severe Psychiatric Episodes
Peptide Injection Trend Explodes as FDA Scrutiny Intensifies
A recently published case report from the Cureus Journal of Medical Science examined a 33-year-old patient with congenital adrenal hyperplasia who experienced severe manic and psychotic symptoms. The patient had been on lifelong corticosteroid replacement since birth, creating a hormonal cascade: cortisol deficiency, elevated testosterone from excess adrenal androgens, and iatrogenic effects from chronic steroid use.
After traditional psychiatric medications failed, the patient achieved remission through endocrine optimization. The research team emphasized that conditions like CAH should be viewed as neuroendocrine disorders with systemic psychiatric dimensions requiring multidisciplinary care.
Here’s the truth: Hormones and your mental health are 100% linked. There’s no argument against it. It’s scientific fact. This study right here shows clear data that there’s a mental health element to hormone imbalance (too high or too low — both are bad for you).
We know there’s a mental health epidemic, but what’s the cause?
Hormone decline. The average testosterone levels in the United States, and across the world, are very low. We’re at a quarter of what our great-grandfathers were. And it’s not genetics. It’s environment. We’re inundated with poisons and toxins in our food, water, and surroundings. As hormones have declined, mental health issues have skyrocketed. Depression. Anxiety. Suicidal tendencies.
If most mental health issues can be correlated back to your hormones, which in turn are affected by your environment, then fix it. It’s that simple.
This is going to be real science in the future. Every single mental health practitioner should be checking hormones first before they do anything else. A hormone decline at a certain level will pretty much guarantee you’re going to have some kind of psychiatric issue, even if it’s just minor depression.
I know this because it happened to me. When I started to get low testosterone through stress, anxiety, and the grind of my cop career, I started getting “depression.” I knew my hormones had declined. As soon as I fixed them, my depression went away.
The Peptide Trend: Who’s Vetting Safety?
Unapproved peptide injections have surged across social media, marketed for muscle building, injury healing, and anti-aging at $300-$600 per vial. Compounds like BPC-157 and thymosin alpha are being promoted by influencers and celebrities, while ‘experts’ are urging caution.
Here’s what’s really happening with this trend: The population is getting wise to the fact that there are treatments — peptides, biologics, amino acid chains — that can help the body help itself. Are these compounds special? No. But can they assist your body? Yes. Can you overdo them? Absolutely.
But are there credible studies showing massive danger or side effects from peptides? No.
The only problem with this trend then is that some influencers are pushing gray market and black market peptides. These sources are horrible for you. They have heavy metals. They can poison you. Or they might just be completely fake, and you’re wasting your money.
If the FDA were smart, they’d allow this market to exist with proper regulation. But they won’t because they can’t patent these peptides. They’re naturally occurring amino acid chains in your body. BPC-157 was formulated in the 1980s by a Croatian scientist. It’s been around for 40 years. Humans have used it for decades. It heals soft tissue damage and has promising data for IBS and gut health. But the FDA will never study it. Why? Because you’re taking billions out of Big Pharma’s pocket.
Until the FDA and Big Pharma take peptides seriously, this is going to keep happening. Nobody trusts mainstream medicine or regulatory arms anymore. So people are getting their information outside those channels. But I’ll warn everyone: vet where you’re getting your drugs. Just like you vet where your food and water come from, you need to verify what you’re injecting into your skin.
Come to Aspire Rejuvenation or another trustworthy clinic instead.
Podcast Insights:
Battles Behind the Badge with Chris Littrell
In this episode of Tomo Talks, I sit down with Chris Littrell, an Air Force veteran and retired law enforcement officer, for a conversation about the silent battles fought behind the badge. Chris has built his social media platform and podcast as a mission to give a voice to the trauma often hidden in law enforcement — and to offer a path forward toward healing.
Battles behind the badge are real. I recently attended a federal law enforcement charity event at Mar-a-Lago, and it reminded me of what we dealt with on the job. I hadn’t thought about it in a while.
I’ve had several friends commit suicide post-career or during their career. I was pissed. Why didn’t they reach out? I was at dinner once when an acquaintance I hadn’t spoken to in 10 years texted me. I could tell something was off. He said, “I’m having a really hard time, and I’m thinking about some bad things…”
I immediately got up, walked outside, and talked to him for 35 minutes. Later, he thanked me. He said that conversation saved him. That’s the kind of interaction we need.
You can check out my full conversation with Chris at the link above.
Tomo Challenge of the Week: Be Intentional with Your Family Time
This week’s challenge is simple but critical: Be intentional with your time, especially with your family. When you’re around your kids, be with your kids. Don’t be with the social media demon. Don’t be distracted by the TV.
Thanksgiving is supposed to be about sitting around a table, giving thanks for your life, surrounded by family, friends, and loved ones. This week, sit around a table and have a conversation. Put all your phones away.
Be intentional.
Thank you.
~Tomo