2022 was filled with a lot of ups and down, the most in the past few years which says a lot given those were COVID years. I’m very grateful, though, because the highs were good and the lows a good lesson and time for reflection. I want to share a couple learnings and the goals I had set for this past year as well as outline the ones I am setting for this upcoming year.
I. Life
Like most graduates coming out of a top university, I spent the better part of my early 20s putting in the hours and thinking a lot about how I could accelerate my career. Fortunately, I also found an amazing friend group in D.C. where I spent the first four years out of college. I still keep in touch with most of them to this day and remember those days very fondly.
Somewhere along the way, though, the strength of those relationships withered. This was partly a function of external factors—friends would leave D.C. for new jobs or graduate school, including myself—but a part of it was also internal. Entering my mid to late twenties, I felt compelled to leave the familiar and sought to strive for more. That led to pursuing an MBA, exploring venture capital, and, eventually, founding my own company. Along the way, I met a few close friends and greatly broadened my horizon and network.
I can’t help but feel in retrospect, though, that I could have done more to invest in relationships both old and new.
I think there were opportunities where I could have gone out of my way to spend time with friends that I didn’t take which I wish I had now, whether this is as simple as reaching out and organizing dinner or more involved like setting aside time to commit to a trip. This lack of effort grew acute during the past couple years as a function of COVID and founding my company. In the business of work it’s easy to forget to tend to other areas of your life.
There were some opportunities, like a trip to Hawaii, I did take which in the moment felt like a big commitment with uncertain outcome—would I actually enjoy the it?—but in retrospect were easily some of the best decisions I’ve made. As an introverted ambivert, I tend to dread the activation energy of doing something social but almost always am glad when I do.
Growing older, I realize these opportunities dwindle. Life commitments accumulate, we settle into our communities, and spontaneity and new friendships dwindle. In comparison, the opportunity to work never goes away.
I used have a Chrome extension that would count down the number of days until I’m 30 every time I opened a new tab. Behind that motivational, or, some would say existential, ticker, were career goals I had in mind. Now that I’m 30, I realize I should have been thinking more broadly than that. I should have thought more deeply and further into the future about what my life goals are.
This isn’t to say don’t work hard. I pride myself in putting in the work, but it does make me more conscientious about the trade-off between making time and headspace for family & friends and career. It also forces me to prioritize what really moves the needle and delegate effectively.
II. Excellence is in the Nuance
Recently, I saw a breakdown of how the Argentinian goal keeper was incredibly deliberate with his actions and behaviors from the moment it became known that there would be a penalty shoot out in the 2022 World Cup Final. Everything from testing the boundaries of how a referee will enforce the rules to throwing off opposing players with ostentatious celebrations after each block, every little detail was intentional. I completely missed it as a naive viewer.
I think about how this applies to my work, everything from designing a product to winning deals against competitors. When a situation seems simple and straightforward (just block the ball after it’s kicked), there’s probably infinite depth to dive into and stack the odds in your favor (how do I influence where the ball is kicked, and how well it is kicked?)
Another way to look at this is that when something seems like a foregone conclusion, there’s likely still room to turn the tides. The past year I worked through a few of these examples:
Through these experiences I realize I can be even more open-minded and embrace a growth mindset more deeply than I have in the past. It’s difficult to see the room for improvement when you’re frantically trying to spin a number of plates ranging from product development to hiring to winning customers, but that’s often when it’s most important to dive into the non-obvious crevices of nuance to see where you can unlock markedly better outcomes than by simply staying afloat or going through the motions.
III. 2023 Goals and Themes
My goals for next year are simple:
Invest in my relationships
Be open and direct about how I feel and what I think
Gain 6 LB of lean body mass and end up comfortably around 145 LB while lean (12% BF)
The guiding principle for my next year is to focus on the basics and build:
Invest more in my relationships (friendships, family, team members)
Embrace the growth mindset
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