My 32 Lessons Learned in 2021

Although I just turned 32, it feels like I have about 320 years of life experience under my belt (no joke).

To celebrate this occasion, here are my top 32 life lessons learned this year.

An inspirational and reflective thread:

1.???????Time is Gold, and Money is Silver – you can always earn more money, but your time is something that you can never earn back.

2.??????Trust, but Verify – always perform your due diligence on people and know that inner character is more important than external reputation.

3.??????Maintain Your Intellectual Curiosity - ask the right questions and you’ll get the right answers.

4.?????Results Over Longevity – it’s not necessarily how long you’ve been doing something; rather it’s how well you can do something that matters.

5.??????Practice, Practice, Practice – when you repeat, you refine, and when you refine you get results.

6.?????The P.I.E Formula – performance, image, and exposure all can help to accelerate your career, but exposure is most important.

7.?????You Are Original – creativity is the seed of innovation, and innovation is the seed of originality

8.?????Trust the Process – whenever you skip steps, you skip lessons, and whenever you skip lessons, you skip learnings.

9.?????Many Who Wander Are Lost – Living with indifference is not the same as living with intention.

10.??Burnout is Real – You can’t out hustle the hustle; rather you must outthink the hustle to defeat the hustle.

11.????Maybe is a Useless Word - as Yoda says, “do or do not, there is no try”.

12.???Experience is a Superpower - starting over with experience is not the same as starting over without experience.

13.???Sell to People – There is no such thing as b2c, b2b, or b2g marketing – all marketing is human to human.

14.??Self-love is Priceless - money may solve external problems, but money cannot solve internal problems.

15.???Passive Income is Not Passive – it’s much harder to create an income-producing asset versus directly exchanging your time for money.

16.???Become The Change You Wish to See – you can’t want change, but not want to change.

17.???To Begin, You Must Look Within – If you don't know "who" you truly are, then it’s hard to know your reasons for "why" you are doing things.

18.??You Can Learn from Anyone – place more value on the message, instead of the messenger.

19.???Don’t Fall for the Hype – wherever attention goes, value flows (consider this a warning for all crypto and NFT lovers)

20.?Owners over CEOs – owners cannot be fired (if the ownership structure is right), but CEOs can be fired at any time.

21.???Fuel Your Own Fire – stop seeking out inspiration and instead become your own source of inspiration.

22.?Indecisiveness is an Illusion – understand that the decision to not make a decision is a decision.

23.?There Are 3 Outcomes from Coaching – you will either be crippled, constrained, or cultivated – make sure your coach is cultivating you.

24.?Ignorance is Not Bliss – The less you know, the more others can make off you.

25.?The Mirror Reveals All – the person you see reflected in the mirror is either your best friend or worst enemy.

26.?Stay the Course – oftentimes, your next best step reveals your next best step.

27.?Manifestation Requires Effort – if you are not willing to work for your dream, then you probably don’t deserve it.

28.?Think, Believe, Do. – If you don’t think you can accomplish something, then you probably will not succeed.

29.?Not Everyone’s Problem is Your Problem – don’t let people create problems that don’t already exist for you.

30.?Question Everything – consider all that you have been taught to be a theory unless proven otherwise.

31.???Walk the Talk – true belief is backed up by action, not just by words or thoughts.

32.?Life is What You Make of It – if what you want out of life does not currently exist, it is up to you to create it

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If you found value in those 32 life lessons, let me know which one was your favorite and why!

Thanks for reading this far,

Craig