This is 31: 10 Learnings & Takeaways

What I’ve learned by Age 31: Learnings & Takeaways

Earlier this month I turned 31 and I realized I'm officially closer to Age 40 than I am to Age 20 (!)

I started reflecting on a few things I've learned over the past decade or so. Shoutout to a good friend of mine Joshua Zhang who puts together yearly reviews of himself and his relationships that inspired this post along with the Tweet thread the content legend that is Sahil Bloom put together for his 32nd birthday.

Apologies in advance if any of this comes across as cliche or common sense, it isn't necessarily common sense to most in their 20's — I've spoken to enough of them at this point to know this lol. If this comes across as a slightly privileged viewpoint, well there's a reason my 1st takeaway is purely focused on being thankful for the life that we get to live.

1. First things first: Blessings ??— We live in a bubble. A very nice bubble that too. What we view on Linkedin, Instagram, the people we interact with in SF/Miami/LA/Boston/NYC — we're all very lucky to be living our lives. Givingwhatwecan.org will tell you that with an income of $60,000, you are in the Top Richest 1% of Global Population... think about that. We tend to think too much in terms of our bubble and how much money we make, how expensive NYC has become, why does my coffee cost $7, my avo toast $14 etc. but all said and done — my first takeaway is that we are blessed and personally I need to do a better job of remembering that.
2. Health seriously equals wealth ?? — For anyone who's like I will focus on making money now and worry about my body later — hint: you can make more money the longer you live (more of a note to my own Father) and ALSO you generally make more money later in life anyway since you get better at your trade i.e. Warren Buffet. Recently, I've had to deal with some sick family members and I think we all took a step back during a global pandemic — facts: our body isn't the same as it was when we were 20 years old. Prioritizing yourself and your health — both mental and physical is the new way to flex in 2023 lol. Monitoring your calorie intake, what you're eating, monitoring what makes you feel better, even a little exercise — all of these things go a long way and sure we all know this, but this is one category that I'm glad I've started taking more seriously because even the healthiest will fall sick unexpectedly... Understand that you aren't invincible (sad reality) and the less you move now, the less you will when you really become old (think about that!).
3. Limit Your Circle ?? — the Rohit that used to network galore and make friends with everyone in the room — sure, was a great Rohit but I've realized more and more that you really don't need your circle to be that broad. Sure, you can have a lot of acquaintances and work friends — but honestly, I think the last thing most of us need in this life is another drinking buddy (shoutout A Fresh Sip for their non-alc alternatives)... less is more in this category. I've got over 9,000 contacts in my iPhone however there's a reason Apple only allows your Top Pinned Contacts to be only 9 people right!? Talk about the rule of 1%... To add on to this, some people won't like you and that's totally fine — find the ones that you do bond with and are additive to your life and keep them close/let them know you're close to them for when they need you.
4. Don't be a NPC — "derived from non-player character, NPC is an internet meme that represents people who do not think for themselves or do not make their own decisions; those who lack intrapersonal communication." Simple enough, there are players and then NPC's — too many in this world opt to become NPC's hoping one day that they will level up to Player 1 (honestly many of them choose a safe career in banking or consulting that I end up interacting with). Nothing against NPC's, however I've decided by leaving finance and going operating (years ago) that I don't plan on being an NPC. Now being a Player 1 will mean many ups and downs sometimes with sickening volatility however I prefer volatility all day compared to being a NPC. This being said though, another side to this is that you really can learn something from everyone — the world cannot be full of Player 1s and you need many NPCs in your circle to help advance the squad forward as we have learned from many multi-player combat video games. ????????????
5. Optimism is everything ?? — but Rohit "facts don't have feelings." Look, I've been in sales and revenue-generating roles for far too long to understand that there are going to be times we are crushing it and times we are not... the amount of times people have looked at me and asked straight up — "Are we going to hit our number or not?" Even if we AREN'T, I will opt for boosting team moral and say that we will. I will always opt for doing our very best and get as close as possible to hitting that number. To be a successful CEO and operator you have to wish for the best in people and situations — if you're a negative-nancy, maybe a career in pure-activism/distressed lending will suit you well — it's just not for me. Whatever happens, I have found a way to assume it happens for the best.
6. Your timeline is your own timeline — this one is rather simple — I come with a large (somewhat traditional) Indian family on the backend, many are getting married, many having kids, many doctors, lawyers, successful investment bankers, PE, exiting companies, etc. etc. If you compare your own timeline to others, you will lose. Sure, I have gone out of my way to prioritize my own career through various opportunities in various cities (SF, NYC, Miami, Boston, etc.) and others in my circle may have taken time out to do their own thing whether it be getting married, having kids, hitting certain income thresholds, etc. — just because someone might be in a different spot in their own timeline doesn't meant that they're further along than you. After connecting with so many individuals with regards to their career, I'll speak to individuals married and still figuring out what they want to do — and then others in business school, looking for love but having their career figured out — or honestly just the exact opposite! Believe me when I say this one is important: your timeline is your own timeline.
7. Wish for the best but prepare for the worst — I know I said optimism is everything, but have a backup plan. Have a backup plan for your backup plan. IF you get fired today, what do you do? If your email stops working today, do you have all your connections on LinkedIn and phone numbers of the ones you care about on your personal phone? Always prepare for the worst, especially if you're working for an organization where you aren't a majority shareholder.
8. Fulfillment > Money — money is hyper important and valuable however I've gotten to the point where I've spoken to too many rather miserable 20 and 30-year olds making a lot of money but unhappy with how they do it and not willing to make a change... and we're talking like pure misery where I even have trouble chatting with them on the phone because they feel so bad about themselves and don't want to do anything to change ?? Honestly, this is something that is rather a non-negotiable for me at my age when it comes to working with people who hate their lives and aren't willing to do anything to change — if you're not happy, you HAVE to move in the direction of positive change! If you're in your 20s and paying of student-debt and loans, great that makes sense however once that is done — when you hit your 30s, it's time to reassess. Life is too short to work with shi**y people! Don't believe that you can actually pursue fulfillment>money and still make a lot of cash long-term? Give the Lex Fridman Podcast a listen and that might change your mind with over 300 people who have done just that.
9. Figure out your Risk Appetite and stick with it — Connect with more people with similar risk appetites! Hint: you won't be fulfilled if you hang out with others that you just can't get along with nor ones that you just don't think similarly to. If someone's best case scenario is working for someone else turmoiling 80 hours a week in misery and making $600,000 that only goes down to $350,000 after taxes — that sounds like a rather bad situation for me. I rather connect with someone who's focused on building and sometimes will make a lot, might not make a lot, but seriously enjoys the path to get there.
10. The Journey> The Destination — this one people might say I'm far too young to comment on however coming from a company exit or two, I will say by far the journey on building is far more fun than the celebration party... if you ask me what I miss the most about my last start-up, it'd probably be the days we spent in a small conference room debating to take on venture money or not or when I was in Growth Equity, speaking with CEO's not knowing what I was saying — sure, there was a bit of naivety in all of that but I would argue (looking back) that's what made the journey fun.

Thanks for reading, would love any comments/thoughts. ??