22 Things I learned in ‘22

December 31, 2022

I usually take the last few days of December to look back on the year & take stock of what happened. Here are a few of the things I learned in ‘22. A few of these wen’t into a set of Guiding Principles that I use to help me with direction whenever I feel lost. It’s an evolving list, but you can read them in their current iteration here.

1. Ebb & flow is real. In everything, your state of mind, relationships, mood, work, energy levels.
2. Your feelings matter. A lot. Getting in your head too much isn’t the best, but avoiding them isn’t great too.
3. Rest is important. You can’t pour from an empty cup & learning to listen to your body is so important.
4. If you consciously try to avoid something happening & it somehow happens nonetheless, it might be something unresolved below the surface that you need to look into.
5. Finding motivation for the bigger task, consistently is difficult. Find landmarks along the way that you can be motivated for.
6. Thinking big is great, but thinking practically is also important. Learning to balance the two is the challenge.
7. Account for days, weeks or months of demotivation and things not going your way. Prepare for them.
8. Having goals is great but they can lead to impatience. Working on skills which will help in getting you to the goals is easier, more enjoyable and sustainable.
9. Understanding yourself & your patterns is something that feels uncomfortable but really helps in the long run. You can’t change things embedded deep within you quickly, but being aware of them is half the battle.
10. Find more pockets of joy every day. These could be as simple as taking an extra ten minutes with your morning coffee, sitting in the winter sun or riding a motorcycle.
11. Mark time on your calendar for everything thats important to you. Including family, friends & working out.
12. At the same time, leave enough room for some serendipity.
13. When in doubt, ask.
14. Assume good intent. Don’t change the way you conduct yourself because you got hurt or slighted by someone. They must’ve had their reasons to do what they did. Everyone’s not going to do the same to you.
15. When working with friends, carve out time for activities where there is no work talk.
16. Handwritten cards go a long way.
17. Define your boundaries & try to make them stick as far as possible.
18. Have 1 thing that you do for pure joy & for nothing else. No responsibility, no skill you have to ace and nowhere you want to go with it.
19. Everything is derivative, nothing is original.
20. Your overall state of being has as much to do with the state of your body as it does with your mind.
21. Let people help you. You don’t have to do everything by yourself. Let people in, it’ll make life better for both of you.
22. Loneliness is possibly the worst thing for your mental health. Prioritise your relationships & nurture them.