2022 Goals Summary:

In January of 2022 I posted my?#2022Goals?and actively targeted achievement via using social media to hold me accountable. I was on track at the half-way point as per a previous post and as promised here is a detailed summary of what those goals were and where I landed with them by the end of the 2022.

Here are the 5 original posted goals:

1. Read 15 Books

2. Avoid gaining 10-15lbs of lazy weight

3. Try a new sport

4. Replace Netflix with a side hustle or project that is fun

5. Take an on-line course in something interesting

Bonus Goal: Plan two international trips that mix business and pleasure from my destination Wishlist.

Goal # 1: Read 15 books

How I did it:

Very Simple- 365days in a year, average books are around 250-300 pages therefore 4-12 pages a day plus 30+ pages on weekends to make up the slack when needed.

1. Nomad Capitalist-Andrew Henderson

Would only recommend it if you are looking to read something that might be motivating to move abroad. That being said, you can get the same info from the Youtube videos. My main interest was looking at a Youtuber book to inspire me to write my own book.

2. Outsiders-Thorndike

This is a fantastic read and I would recommend founders and CEO’s of startups to review. Greater understanding of aspects of the CEO role, particularly after a firm reaches a particular level of evolution within its lifecycle. You cannot be a product manager forever!!?

3. 100 Baggers-Christopher Mayer

Less interesting, was more of a B-school basic refresh. If you are not an investor but want to be, it is one of many books that would be a good introductory read. Reading industry statistics overtime and cross-referencing them with companies of interest might be better time spent for the more experienced.

4. Startup Nation-Dan Senor & Saul Singer

If you are building a tech ecosystem cluster or are an emerging tech hub startup-nation is a good read to assess where to place more energy particularly for policy makers. Nothing is worse than community building strategies that do not recognize that there is only 1 Israel and 1 silicon Valley and have not spent adequate time to figure out how to enhance the local ecosystems based on regional competitive competencies and strengths. Startup Nation was published a ways back, however; it is still relevant and a good refresher for mindfulness in community building strategies for tech ecosystems.

5. Zero to One- Peter Thiel

Read this book if you are new to business or do not have the experience. Many of the ideas mentioned are not new or original, just aggregated in a digestible way under the right context. Much of the ideas I had already concluded through experience & education-effective short cut for new entrepreneurs and business professionals.

6. Play Bigger-Al Ramadan, Dave Peterson, Christopher Lochhead, Kevin Maney

This is a fantastic book and likely to be my pick of the year.?Play Bigger?continues on in some of the context from?Zero to One. Startup founders could benefit from this read to understanding what it takes to be a category King, reality of what they are building, market positioning & strategy and what their business is worth in terms of valuation and exit strategy.

7. How to spend $75 billion to make a better world-Lomborg

Not a big fan of this book, it seems like propaganda. I have lived in 5 countries and have spent considerable time traveling the world for business, education and leisure, and I can’t help wondering how they came up with some of the content in the book that seems either out of date, purposefully inaccurate, or virtue-based selective problems. Not a recommendation.?

8. Trickle Down Theory & Tax Cuts for the Rich-Thomas Sowell ( Not a book)

Big fan of Thomas Sowell, read it or not. I find his writings on culture to be interesting and will include some of his books in my 2023 reading list.?

9. Prelude to Foundation-Asimov

Not much to say on this as it is Science Fiction. My only comment is that the original series was much more interesting as I could not put the books down, these ones did not have the same effect. That being said, I think they were written 20 years apart so authors' writings tend to change with the times and life experiences.?I still recommend the series and I think Fiction in general should be included into a reading list, just not too much or junk writing equivalent to network television series.

10. Common Sense-Thomas Payne

Without getting controversial I think this is a good read for anyone that likes to reflect on current society & politics, where it is going and what the reality is of what they should be supporting with their time & energy.

11. Navigating the Metaverse: Cathay Hackl, Dirk Lueth, Tommaso Di Bartolo

Highly recommended if you are looking for a starting point to Web 3, this book was insightful in beginning to map Web 3 from an analyst perspective. Some Key takeaways:

• The four Tech pillars of Web 3.
• The 7cs of the #metaverse Economy.?
• Decentralization and Inclusive Monetization.

To go a little deeper on this, #web3 will be very much about experience and engagement with communities. The difference that is possible in comparison to the current system is that platforms will not be the only beneficiary. In my opinion platforms are rewarded through utility and should be sharing the upside from content creation and the curation strategies creators use to maintain their communities/followers. There was some discussion on this topic in the book on how this might work as well.

The second piece to highlight in the book is centralized versus decentralized systems. I think at the stage we are at it could go either way or both. The cynic in me seems to view there to be a human instinctual imperative to centralize, the question is can we make a system of decentralization before that instinct engulfs Web 3?

12. Never Split the Difference: Chris Voss

Overall I thought this was a really good book, however there is no secret formula for negotiating as it is a live action game that evolves through the moments and circumstances of decision making actions. This book is worth the read as the more tools you have in your toolkit for negotiating can only be better than the alternative.

13. Small is Beautiful, A Study of Economics as if People Mattered-Vintage SchumacherCathay

This book seems outdated and an overreach for more social leaning points of vies. A source to point to as good ideas and an alternative way to go about society building. It uses logical pro's to rationalize logic with basic summaries of complex systems, however there are flaws with facts and this is just another book trying to find a way to up-end capitalism, globalization and the global economic trade system. There were some interesting ideas though, such as decentralized food production-I suppose if you just want to eat gruel, which could work for much of the world, but not everywhere. Also the concept of corporate feudalism, which seems to be the era we might be entering. Overall without writing my own book critique, the value I derived from this book was sparking other ideas & concepts on related topics to further explore.

14. Forward the Foundation- Asimov

I did enjoy the series overall and was sad that it was over. I will say that I think the last book seemed rushed and could have easily been two books and the last half of the book could have been expanded. However, I guess we will have to leave it to Apple TV to make the series well-would have preferred if HBO got it.

15. R.U.R.: Rossum’s Universal Robots

This is an interesting play as some futurist views are that AI and Robotics are going to create this utopian version of human existence where no one will need to work-that if we could only solve the labour factor of production problem-people will be able to purse their dreams and/or realize their true calling, thus not needing to spend their time in toil. I tend to take the pessimistic view, I think in an intermediate timeframe perhaps, however those born into this utopian world it will not be so. If this vision is fully realized it would likely spell doom for humanity. We will loose ability to do things, become reliant on our "technological Care Takers" and most of use will get lost in vice likely and we will disappear into time like the gods of old.

Goal # 2 Weight Limit Threshold was not Exceeded.

(You will have to take my word on that as I do not wish to post bio-data)

Maintained a targeted weight for most of the year, had more challenges retaining muscle weight level rather than exceeding fat level. In terms of the body weight target I maintained the weight target +/- 2lbs per week on average. Part way through the year I shifted to targeting a body fat percentage instead of body weight. I targeted a range between 15-19%. I achieved an annual average of 17.1%.

How I did it:?

1. Maintained diet consistency 70% of the time.?
2. Reduced Alcohol consumption to 0% for the first 45 days of the year and a moderate consumption level for the first 7-8 months of the year. (This put me 13lbs under the targeted weight during the first 4-5 months of the year.)
3. ?Being active in the gym and the addition of goal 3.

Conclusions:

Maintaining a minimal body weight was harder when eating better with a higher level of physical activity than expected. As well I have probably been wrong over the past couple of decades as to what my optimum healthy body weight should be for my body type by around10-15lbs, so I have changed my health manage body weight target to reflect this discover as a result going forward.

Goal # 3 Try a New Sport

Joined a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym. Currently attended 93 sessions in Ottawa and 1 session in Colombia with a goal of 133 sessions to achieve 100 hours of experience. 100hrs is the target as I have a general belief that 100 hours is a trial period for trying something new and afterwards I can choose to quit guilt free. Apart from the injuries and despite still having another 25hrs or so to go, I intend to continue with the sport as it was more interesting than I thought it would be.

Goal # 4 Replace Netflix with a Side-Hustle or Project that is Fun

Started a Business Infotainment Podcast and have recorded 13 Episodes. (Trigger sensitivity warning) The objective of the podcast is to have seemingly unscripted long-form Candid Conversations with interesting people/personalities that will not communicate in corporate speech. I will continue the podcast with a season 2 planned to launch the first episode in February 2023.

You can find details on the LinkedIN page: https://www.dhirubhai.net/company/candidcapital/

The failure of this goal was that I did not reduce my Netflix just did more during my non-Netflix hours. Still a struggle to unplug.

Goal # 5 Take an On-line Course in Something Interesting

In relations to my #2022recap post, I mentioned 2022 as the year of my official entry into Venture as I completed the Berkely Venture Capital Executive Program. This was done in part for credibility and the feelings of imposter syndrome. After completing the program I realized that I knew much more and had greater relevant experience and knowledge than I originally felt. I suppose I have learned something over the past 7 years working in the tech industry with #funds, #accelerators, #incubators and #startups valuations.

Below are the Courses I completed:

1. Venture Deals Spring 2022 On-line (Techstars-Kauffman Fellows Collab)
2. Berkeley Venture Capital Executive Program (In-Person)

Bonus Goal #

Knocked off a bucket list country, spent over three weeks in Colombia. I have been watching the Colombia market with interest since 2008 and although quite late I was free of obstacles to visit Colombia this year and it exceeded my expectations.

Although it was not a vacation I went to Portugal for work and it was one of the countries on my list as I am currently going through a list of markets I think there are opportunities as well as the countries with Digital Nomad programs.

Thank you for reading and helping me to be accountable in 2022 with my goals!!!

I will post my 2023 goals next week!!!