24 things on turning 24
I am turning 24 this year though it all hits a bit different. excitement for the day has bit vanished like it isn’t what it used to in childhood. adulthood has finally started to settle in.
last few months have been a tad different. now I have more clarity on a lot of things and the internal ethos.
In 2013, I had an opportunity to attend an entrepreneurship workshop at IIT Delhi for 3 days where among many activities one was to write a letter to yourself in the future. I wrote the letter and forgot when it landed at my doorstep it was a big surprise.
as almost 11 years have passed from that small event I thought why shouldn’t we do it again, write a letter to yourself ? this time though on my newsletter (publically)
1. you make your own structure
school, college provide a structure for academic life but once you hit adulthood you build your own structure. designing your own life is your own responsibility no one will do it for you. take the events of life like a colour brush and paint the canvas of your existence.
2. run yourself like a startup
Early 20s is like the 0-1 stage of your adult life. organised tutorial phase is now over. find out the KPI’s that matter to you and keep shipping yourself, acquiring new hobbies and skills. Keep reinventing find out what is going right and if growth is in the right direction pivot. but keep building and shipping yourself.
3. ideas are just ideas until you build it
ideas are easy, it’s the execution that is hard. everyday the brain is like 20 new ideas for apps, devices, tools, videos or art. but they exist in the mental domain and putting them out is necessary as breathing air. it’s the classic 0-1 situation. It will all happen just give it time and effort necessary.
4. learn to say no
a lot of things seems important in the moment, but focus on task at hand: progress happens on working on long term things for a long while not short term fascinations. say “no” to a lot of unnecessary things, get the focus game going. try skating to where you think the puck is going to be and focus on nothing else.
5. execute execute execute
action creates information. and the only way to know result is through execution. if it ain’t executed it doesn’t exist. don’t keep things in mental domain for long. gather information and take a call.
6. break rules (nonsense ones)
a lot of rules you find are there to close you up in ways that might restrict you. obey the law of the land you live in. question the made up rules and the purpose they serve and the second order effects of rules that you follow or ask others to. choose the rules that are necessary and the ones that aren’t. fight nonsense bureaucracy simply. it slows things down.
7. seek mentors
imagine life like a game, there are players who are at the top of it and have collected a lot of XP or there are those who have amassed the in game token or gems. some have shields of side-quests to show. learn from the experiences of them and learn from what they can teach. you can’t walk in their shoes but they can give you enough learning that your structure is there.
8. take risks
take calculated bets on yourself like a de-gen options price trader. i mean why not? in a world that is betting on others win or loss bet on yourself. sure there is risk. there was risk in everything involved you have done till now. but the ability to measure risk shouldn’t stop you from taking the risk.
9. build a filter for noise
there is a lot of noise in media, tweets and other feeds. a lot of people have a lot of opinions on everything. not everything has to be accepted as fact, most of them are just pure noise. reject whatever is not valuable. we are in an information abundance age. our brains haven’t evolved to be in such an information overload always. it causes fatigue overtime. relax and think rationally before accepting something as a fact.
10. time is the most precious currency
value your and other’s time both in professional and personal life. its the only most unrepishable asset we have, money can be made again tomorrow, time spent can’t. also don’t fret on time other’s wasted of you or you accidentally wasted of others, previously what’s done is done.
11. balance
life only will work if you have balance, anything in extreme is harmful and anything in less isn’t effective. even a bike falls when it ain’t balanced, a car tilts in the wrong direction if the wheels ain’t balance. functionality of existence is based on balance. otherwise the damage of not having balance are very hard to recover from.
12. value system is the base you build on
value system is important to operate in life. we are supposed to operate with the value system we carry. its the core of everything one do. keep your value system intact. it is designed well, its the foundation.
13. before your talk : do
before you go talking about something do your homework, make an informed decision and do the necessary work beforehand not after hand. doing is hard, it where all the alpha is, words don’t mean anything if there is no action. DO.
14. don’t hold on to grudges
holding grudges on anyone will only lead to harm to yourself. true people did you dirty but it’s a choice wether you want to carry it forward. move on nothing good comes out of holding a grudge.
15. get gleeful like a child
as adulthood creeps in child like wonder starts getting looked down upon but most curiosity and spark or what people call element is stored in the child part of yourself. its what keeps one going. look up in the sky and wonder.
16. work on things that excite you
life is one time play, work on things you feel excites you. in a few thousand years time very low chances anyone will even remember you. ozymandias came and went and his statue was broken and surrounded by dust nothing stands the test of time. do your work give in your best but realise you have to fill it with things you find important so that on you are contended with your life’s work.
17. set deadlines and value them
all your life in school college workplace they set deadlines so you can deliver on the value, it keeps the world moving and teams and organisations achieving. so set deadlines in your own life and hit those goals. value deadlines they are places in time so that you can reach there. it is what keeps us delivering things that are necessary personally and professionally.
18. learn to sell and build
it’s naval’s quote, more details on : https://nav.al/build-sell .
you can do both, do both. it’s that simple.
19. think independently
think from first principles, devoid of opinions. thinking independently provides clarity. do experiments to validate those notions. if those notions fail: correct them and if those notions are found to be true publish your findings. but keeping this cycle active is neccesary
20. allure to perfectionism is demise to “getting things done”
don’t half ass it too. after a point you lock in all the goals of the project and just pour yourself in whatever you are doing. perfectionism would put things in drafts and in progress for long. progress is evolution and you surely start at level 0 many of times in different domain. things you create in code, art or media or any other format don’t match your taste yet cause you have seen how the greats have done it but realise that in a lot of arenas you are still a beginner and a lot has still to be learnt.
21. learn to use leverage
leverage comes in with a few forms:
capital, automation (tech), people and distribution.
there are no other forms known. learn how each leverage is built and nurture it and grow.
22. travel and see the world
go see the world, go out and travel there is no better substitute to understanding in how the world really is like without travelling and meeting people from different walks of like. you have learnt more about geography, people, culture, langugae from travel. Also don’t travel like a tourist, go really see the place, learn from them. bring back good stories and experiences.
23. कर्म करो, फल की चिंता मत करो
trust this quote Bhagvan Gita , be optimistic put in your work and make things, there is no substitute of putting in the effort. keep the hope and trust that the mechanics of the universe will eventually fall into place.
24. the world is a malleable place
the world was made by people no smarter than you and you can change it; you can influence it. build whatever you wish to if you put your mind to it and believe it to your core. (it’s a Steve Jobs quote)
lastly, be based
to the best,
shreshth