23 Lessons from 2023

Sharing 23 formative lessons from a transformative year.

Career:

1. “Overnight successes” conservatively take 3 - 5 years. Momentum is often just consistency in disguise.?
2. If you want to build an n-of-1 career, you can’t take the 1 / n path. (From Romeen Sheth)
3. There’s a lot to learn from what people repeat about you and repeatedly ask of you. Use this to understand your superpowers.?
4. Remember that an accomplishment that’s small by your standards may be big by someone else’s. Aim high but revel in the "small" wins too.
5. Time doesn’t diminish the value of your accomplishments. (Inspired by Jake Gober)
6. Make a habit of acknowledging your champions and cheerleaders loudly and publicly.
7. Striving is often an act of sublimation. Eventually, you have to sort the fundamentals of why you strive to find direction and fulfillment.

Entrepreneurship:

1. The need to operate in stealth is often misguided. You can’t share the work without sharing the vision. Bring people along for the ride.
2. As a society, we have abundant admiration for those who tried and made it, and very little for those who try and kind of make it. Appreciate courage, even in the face of defeat.
3. Pareto rule in work: 80% of what you do will contribute to 20% of your success. 20% of what you do will contribute to 80% of your success.
4. Your online following is not a proxy for your offline community. Your online life is not a proxy for your offline reality. Social media is the most complicated instrument of this generation.?

Navigating Tough Times:

1. In tough moments, write a list of all the things that are good in your life. It’s easy to focus on the few problems over the many blessings. (Inspired by Rhea Harsoor)
2. The beauty of going through tough but common lived experiences is being able to develop the EQ to eventually pay the wisdom forward.
3. Human nature often prevents us from relying on others’ testaments to our growth. Compare singular events (birthdays, holidays) in your life year-over-year to see the evidence for yourself. Stop to celebrate the progress.

Personal Growth:

1. Chase dreams, relationships, and opportunities that chase you back.
2. The best time to start meditation, therapy, and exercise is when you need them the least. Any one of these or a phone call with the right friend can fix just about anything.
3. You lose relationships and rituals built for the person you no longer are to create space for ones built for the person you’re becoming.
4. Childhood passions and practices reveal a lot about you. Become a student of your own history.

Community & Connection:

1. You will never regret showing up for someone when they need you. You will almost certainly regret not.
2. Nobody is obligated to your time — except your mom. As we get older, the strength of our relationships won’t be predicated on the quantity of time we spend together, but on the quality of it. (Inspired by Pooja Soni)
3. People's tendency to label you, put you in boxes, or reduce you to one thing is often more a reflection of them than you. Lots of people will label you X. Others Y. Your people are the ones who see you as you: X, Y, Z, and W — multifaceted and ever-evolving.
4. Being interesting isn’t just about having a good story, but about being able to tell it well.
5. Taking the time to consume someone else’s art will mean more to them than you will ever know.