69. What I learned this year
1.Your life is a portfolio of risks. Architect your portfolio so that the risks you’re taking are uncorrelated.
If you’re about to take a big risk, architect the situation so that any possible downside is limited and contained. Be very conservative in other parts of your life while being exposed to that risk. Try to focus on asymmetric opportunities, where the downside is limited but there’s unlimited upside. If you do this, it’s ok for the probability of any upside to be small.
2. You can learn any skill
The human brain is very flexible. Learning is a ton of fun and a rich experience. Our brain is our competitive advantage, so use it! I highly recommend to learn one or two new key skills every year. It’s also free. Youtube has a mind boggling amount of video’s that will explain you how to do X. My new skills this year were coding and meditation.
3. Be selective and thoughtful about what you start and anticipate the messy middle
Starting something new is always fun, humans like novelty. But that initial enthusiasm quickly fades. And then people quit. First principle: be selective about what you start. Think through and visualize what it will mean and what it will take to finish. Then think some more and decide if you’re moving forward or not. Once the decision has been made, it will be built on strong foundations and you’ll be able to tackle the messy middle. The messy middle is where it doesn’t work, you get stuck and really don’t feel like doing it anymore. That’s where you can win because most people quit right there and then and start something new. Be selective about what you start and know there’ll be a messy middle.
4. Storytelling is a very valuable skill
A good story is powerful and will make people listen and remember what you said. Craft your personal story and be able to bring it with confidence and pride.
5. An online personal brand is powerful
If you only interact with the people in your geographical proximity, there’s a cap on the opportunities you’re exposed to. An online brand is a billboard for who you are. Your skills, interests, ambitions, accomplishments are the product, the internet is your distribution. It can attract like-minded people regardless of geography and open doors. I recommend starting with Medium, Twitter and your own website.
6. Friends and community are the core of your happiness
People make you happy. Spend enough time with your friends and family. They are an invaluable help and support in any situation, good or bad. Help them without expecting anything in return.
7. Maximize serendipity
David Perell wrote about this and I have nothing to add. Read his post here.
It’s amazing what can happen if you apply these steps.
8. Failure + reflection = growth
Failure is painful and we tend to avoid thinking too much about it. The gain is in going to that painful place in your mind and analyze what happened and what you would do differently. You learn a ton. Take those learnings and try again.
9. Don’t go for the shiny things at the surface level. Go deep. It takes time and it will seem ‘dull’ from the outside but it’s how you win.
