30 Lessons from 30 Years
I just turned 30. It’s been a wild decade. I found the love of my life, went from $12 per hour to $200k+ per year, got married, bought a house, started my blog and learned a lot. Here are 30 lessons from 30 years:
- Live with optionality. Asymmetric risk is the key to living your best life.
- Never become jaded, because once you become jaded you’ve already lost.
- Most things you are told are just stories. It is up to you to decide what you believe in.
- Be disagreeable, but midwestern about it. It’s a fine line, but try to be contrarian at times without being a dick.
- Think laterally. Apply what you learn in one domain to others.
- Change moves in funny ways. Don’t expect linear transitions, they rarely happen. Plan for chaos, then embrace it.
- A father’s sins follow his family beyond his years. Take your responsibilities seriously.
- Understand feedback loops. Many times the conflicts in our lives had warnings we ignored, only for that problem to compound.
- Act with gumption, it will set you apart.
- Forecasting doesn’t work and most things are based on forecasts. Act accordingly.
- Talent stacks make ordinary skills combine into an extraordinary person.
- Writing is powerful. It creates mental clarity and is a wonderful addition to your talent stack.
- Compounding is magic. Small gains mixed with time can lead to extraordinary results.
- Don’t stop too early. Compounding is only magic if you let it work.
- Be open, even to stupidity. What you might think is stupid, sometimes is genius
- Tripping is a great way to open your mind. Get out of your mind (in a safe way) to become more open.
- If you ever feel superior to others, you have done something wrong.
- Do hard things. The obstacle is the way.
- Networks are an extremely powerful force. Build your network deep and wide and magical things will happen.
- Look for commonalities, then take them apart to understand how they apply to different circumstances
- Karma is real.
- Once in a lifetime opportunities come every decade.
- Fear of rejection is the most common reason people fail.
- Radical acceptance is too radical – taking the blame for everything isn’t healthy and stifles others growth
- Happiness and pleasure are often conflated. Make sure you know the difference.
- Once in a lifetime opportunities come once in a decade, we are just too busy worrying about the last missed opportunity to see the current ones passing us by.
- Live life with a sense of calm, but don’t be afraid to burn it the fuck down.
- Your reputation is everything. When you die it’s all that will remain.
- Admit when you are wrong (quickly).
- Follow your serendipity.
