I’ve Just Turned 27. Here’s What I have Learned in my Last Year

Jason Liao
Jul 20, 2017 · 4 min read

My 26th year of living was certainly one of transition, with a large portion of the year dedicated towards leaving traditional finance and entering the start up world as well as returning from Europe back to my home city of New York City. In fact, I do not think I have had such a large transition year since I turned 18 and went to college. But even then, I knew what I was expected to do (e.g., go to class, make new friends, etc.) and I did what was expected. This time around, there were expectations but they were largely set by myself (as opposed to external forces) and I consistently questioned whether I had the right expectations and was going down the right path. Nevertheless, this journey, helped me mature as an individual and learn about myself. Here are some of the learnings:

* Realize what is important in your life and make that a priority. After being away from family for 1 year in Europe, I realize how important my family is to me and how having them in my life makes me happy. As long as we are not traveling, I set aside at least one meal a week to being with them.

* Use a calendar. You do not need to be as fanatical as I am in putting every event / blocking off time in a calendar but I choose to do so because it allows me to make sure I have time set for my priorities (like dinner on Saturday with family). For me, if I don’t first put in my priorities first in the calendar, I always end up with events that make me wonder how it got there in the first place and if it is the best use of my time.

* If you don’t understand how you don’t have time to do something that you want to do, do a time audit.

* Try using the 10/10/10 framework when you are making a tough decision. It can help take the emotional cloud that sometimes inhibits our decision making progress.

* Also, when weighing a tough decision, consider the cost of inaction. There is a cost of leaving things as status quo. Whether it is a small decision or large decision, this consideration can help you take the first step. For my career change, the cost of inaction and potentially getting stuck on a road that would lead me to be professionally unsatisfied prompted me to leave my job despite not having a fully thought out plan.

* Take time to reflect. I have taken time for a couple sessions with pen and paper to just free write. It was cathartic. We are constantly moving at a thousand miles an hour and inundated with stimuli from every possible angle but sometimes we just need quiet to think.

* Reflection may also help you run the right race. Too often we get caught up in doing things because we see everyone working hard at it. I ran the finance race for a while and measured my professional success based off where I was in my job /career versus where my colleagues were. But why was I comparing myself to them in the first place when traditional finance wasn’t where I probably wanted to be long term?

* Find someone you can share your aspirations, fears, and learnings with. For me, this is my brother. He helps me put things in perspective and I know I can bounce ideas off of him. Furthermore, he calls me out when he thinks there is something that can be improved which I might not realize.

* Be patient with parents. They are getting older and they may not see things exactly the way that you do because of generational gap, upbringing, etc. But they always mean well and if you can explain a concept or idea to a parent, you can probably explain it to anyone.

* Learn to state things in different ways. Like your parents, other parties might not understand you the first time around. Good communication includes the ability to explain the same concept in different ways to accommodate different perspectives.

* Don’t win arguments. This is the wrong mentality. Ultimately, you want the other party to understand your perspective and if you are focused on merely proving the other person wrong, he or she will most likely get defensive and not hear your argument, thereby preventing you from achieving your goal.

* Practice gratefulness. It is a skill and it will help shape your perspective, especially in enjoying the small things in life (we are all capable of enjoying the large things).

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By no means are these learnings all easy to implement (e.g., being patient to parents). But even acknowledgement and small improvements in each of these have helped me improve in my 26th year of existence. These will continue to remain top of mind even during my 27th year.

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Jason Liao

Strategy and Business operations. Former banker / Private equity. BlackLapel.com. Duke Blue Devil.

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