🙏 23 Principles for 23 Years
Jul 29, 2019 • 3 min • Reflection
A little over a week ago, I turned 23 years old. It’s both exciting and scary to face this fact. It’s also a little uncomfortable to think about how fast time continues to move faster and faster. Last year, I reflected on the principles that resonated with me the most. A quick 365 days later and it’s time for a sequel.
After skimming through my previous notes and journal entries, I picked out the things that I felt most strongly about. These are the ideas that brought me where I am today.
- Action trumps inaction, almost every time
- Almost everyone wants you to be average
- Learn the rules so you can break them
- No input means no output
- Having opinions is helpful to everyone
- If the answer isn’t simple, it’s probably not the right answer
- What you are when you’re small gets amplified when you grow
- You can’t enjoy the highs without experiencing the lows
- Never bury the lead
- Improve the skills that are going to magnify everything else
- When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure
- You can’t change other people, and it’s rude to try
- When it comes to the important shit, nobody can really teach us — we have to figure it out for ourselves
- Discipline can be both learned and unlearned
- Life isn’t short — we make it short
- Do things that make your friends say “wow”
- What we resist in others is often the same thing we resist in ourselves
- Don’t be afraid to start from scratch, even when things are working well
- Aim for 90% — it doesn’t have to be perfect
- Take mental health just as seriously as physical health
- Block off time to think about big ideas
- Writing is keeping a relationship with your mind
- The things that are worthwhile are never easy
There’s been a lot of changes since last year, and I think that’s a good thing. We are constantly growing and adapting. Nothing is static. Next years list will be almost entirely different than what you saw today, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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