Turning 30 today has made me super reflective lately, thinking about what I’ve learned each year so far in my life:
1 - Family is the foundation of everything.
2 - You go much further when you listen more than you speak
3 - Treat others the way you want to be treated
4 - Happiness is a good cinnamon roll, even if it's wrapped in cellophane and sold in a convenience store... as long as its covered in sugar.
5 - The education system was built for an agrarian society and hasn’t evolved since - probably why it never felt right for me...
6 - Sports are way more fun to play than to watch. They are also not about winning, but how you play the game.
7 - Cursive is hard, but communicating clearly is incredibly important
8 - Bugs are gross, but they are everywhere and you just have to deal with them
9 - Stop worrying and get some sleep. Burglars / Nazis / Monsters / Bad Guys are not coming to kidnap you.
10 - There is nothing better than getting lost in a great book. Thank you @jk_rowling
11 - The internet is going to change everything - AIM was just the beginning
12 - People are all essentially the same, no matter where they come from. Living with people from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Russia and more opened my eyes to the fact that everybody loves pizza.
13 - While there might be a higher power, it doesn’t care about what you do the way they tell you it does - getting bar mitzvah’d helped me see how the structures of organized religion are created to control the masses.
14 - Your health is an equation: calories consumed - calories burned. Joining the wrestling team taught me I can lose 30 lbs in 2 months.
15 - Brick and mortar business is hard. Opening a t-shirt store taught me how difficult and complicated operating is. Especially managing employees. People are complicated.
16 - It is crazy that we trust 16 year olds with 2000 lb lethal weapons but not with voting, drinking or joining the military. I hope one day soon driving gets banned in favor of self driving or something different. I got in two accidents and two tickets the first year driving.
17 - Rejection hurts, but can be the most important learning you do in life can come from getting rejected from your top choice school.
18 - With great power comes great responsibility. Important to find time to study and take care of yourself, even if it's your first time living on your own.
19 - Few meaningful relationships is better than many acquaintances. College is the first time you get to really pick your friends. It was so fulfilling to meet and spend time with life long friends that inspire me.
20 - In the future we will look back at how much meat we eat and think it is as crazy as we currently think about smoking. For my new year's resolution I gave up all cow and never looked back. Looking forward, I aspire to become a vegetarian one day.
21 - Alcohol is an amazing drug that has evolved with humanity over thousands of years, but it should be consumed thoughtfully and responsibly.
22 - How you say no to somebody is more important than how you say yes. A very important lesson for a 22 year old in VC that has no business making those type of decisions.
23 - Everything in life has a component of sales, whether you are selling to investors, potential hires or even vendors. It’s important for everybody to learn how to sell, the earlier in your career you learn, the better.
25 - Pursuit of passion means you will never work a day in your life. Traveling the world while starting @remoteyear was one of the most fun and rewarding things I’ve ever done.
26 - Living abroad makes you appreciate the small things in life. Eggs in the morning, some active time outside and red wine at night are all I really need to feel happy and grounded. #Blessed
27 - Life is precious, don’t take it for granted. Losing my best friend and cousin in the same year was one of the hardest years of my life.
28 - Mission matters. Finding your bigger purpose makes every day fulfilling. There is nothing more rewarding than hearing people tell you that something you did helped change their lives.
29 - There is something special about having babies. Although hard, it seems like they change people for the better and hopefully I’ll get to experience that feeling in my 30’s.
30 - Love is all you need. I am so lucky to get married to my life partner @nicolegarelick in just two weeks with the ceremony being performed by my business partner @spessin
