A manifesto for the future? — 2016 Edition
Some more rules & realisations I’ve come to live by this past year (& a handy summary of earlier years 2013–2015):
#31. Take notes.
#32. Keep things simple.
#33. Disable notifications.
#34. Be optimistic.
#35. Travel.
#36. Be happy.
#37. Sleep.
#38. Stay humble.
#39. Enjoy the silence.
#40. Plan for the future. But don’t be bound by it.
You can catchup on my thoughts from earlier years below…
2013
#1. Get yourself a ‘wingman’! — You can’t do it on your own.
#2. Shoot first, aim later. — Be able to recallibrate everything at the drop of a hat.
#3. Seal Team Six. — You don’t need an army of people to achieve objectives. You just need the right people.
#4. Public Enemy said it best.
#5. Pick up the phone, email only goes so far.
#6. Tempus fugit. — Appreciate what you have.
#7. Keep your friends close & your friends closer.
#8. Average is over.
#9. Don’t procrastinate.
#10. Downtime. — [DO NOT WORK ON SUNDAY] you’ll thank me on Monday.
2014
#11. Your parents are the most important thing in your life. Not your job. Not your number of followers on Twitter. Not your high score on Angry Birds.
While your family will grow, with your children, nephews & nieces — your time with your parents is finite. Spend as much of it with them as you can.
#12. When it comes to problem solving, on any scale you choose, three heads are better than 2.
Whilst you may not always agree in the first instance, and the debate may at times be ‘heated’, the decision you reach will be the right one. Be it for your personal or professional life, consult with your closest confidantes on the important decisions.
Yes, too many cooks can indeed spoil the broth, but we’re not making broth.
#13. Superstitions are like your smartest colleagues & closest friends. They keep you on your toes. They make you think twice, question yourself before you send that email. They pump you up. Calm you down. Embrace them.
#14. Holidays replenish your ‘mojo’. You don’t need to take weeks out of the office, a long weekend or even an early finish is just as good.
“I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as ‘making a life’.”
— Maya Angelou
#15. The past is exactly that.
“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.” — J.F.K.
#16. Never forget your roots. The people who were there on the way up, those that remained by your side on the way down and those who were still there on the way back up.
Building a company is like riding a roller coaster — be prepared for the highs as well as the lows.
Surround yourself with people who will celebrate your [amazing] wins as well as console you on your [devastating] setbacks. Know that there is nothing in between.
#17. Read more.
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” — Dr. Seuss
#18. Listen more.
“There is a difference between listening and waiting for your turn to speak.” — Simon Sinek
#19. Talk less.
“I never miss a good chance to shut up.” — James Patterson
#20. & Remember:
“Some people are so far behind in the race that they actually believe they’re leading.” — Corrado Soprano
2015
#21. Keep it simple, subtraction > addition.
“You are not your job, you’re not how much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You are not your fucking khakis. You are the all singing, all dancing crap of the world.” — Tyler Durden
#22. I had the honour of being Best Man this year to my oldest & wisest friend, a personal first. I see him the least frequent out of any of my social circle and I don’t use Facebook.
True friends are there whenever/wherever for whatever, regardless of when you last ‘liked’ their status update. 👍
#23. Life is a team sport. Choose your team members wisely, you guys!
#24. Do more, less. Slow down & read Carl Honoré’s ‘In Praise of Slowness’.
#25. “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right.” — Henry Ford
#26. If there’s one standout thing I’ve learnt this year, it’s that your memories are one of the most (if not the most) precious things you have.
A picture is worth a thousand words. Take more pictures.
#27. Share your war stories — everyone has battle scars.
#28. Meditate…
“Our minds, especially when we don’t maintain them, can be a pretty scary place.” — Russell Simmons
#29. Take things seriously, but not too seriously. Enough other people will do that for you.
#30. Life is long if you know how to use it.
“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested.
But when it is wasted in heedless luxury and spent on no good activity, we are forced at last by death’s final constraint to realise that it has passed away before we knew it was passing.
So it is: we are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it… Life is long if you know how to use it.”
— Seneca
