2020... what a year.
I just put the finishing touches on my Annual Review.
Here are 30 lessons I learned about myself and the world across five areas:
• Health
• Wealth
• Relationships
• Online creativity
• Personal operations
🧵👇🏼
I just put the finishing touches on my Annual Review.
Here are 30 lessons I learned about myself and the world across five areas:
• Health
• Wealth
• Relationships
• Online creativity
• Personal operations
🧵👇🏼
Feel free to treat each of these as standalone tweets and comment on the lessons that resonate most heavily with you.
HEALTH
1. Health starts with removal, not addition.
This year I officially hit 100 lbs lost. And looking back, it wasn't what I started doing, but what I stopped doing that got me there.
Fewer carbs, fewer beers, fewer hours sitting, these things add up.
1. Health starts with removal, not addition.
This year I officially hit 100 lbs lost. And looking back, it wasn't what I started doing, but what I stopped doing that got me there.
Fewer carbs, fewer beers, fewer hours sitting, these things add up.
2. Recognize you are undisciplined instead of trying to fight it.
The most "disciplined" people actually are the most undisciplined.
But they recognize and accept this.
So they set up constraints that prevent them from having to rely on self-control and willpower.
The most "disciplined" people actually are the most undisciplined.
But they recognize and accept this.
So they set up constraints that prevent them from having to rely on self-control and willpower.
3. Your health, especially mental health, is your foundation.
If you can't sit comfortably alone with the voice in your head, no amount of "success" will change that.
12 weeks alone in NYC during peak-COVID forced me to learn this lesson.
If you can't sit comfortably alone with the voice in your head, no amount of "success" will change that.
12 weeks alone in NYC during peak-COVID forced me to learn this lesson.
4. You become what you consume - food and information.
The times I felt best: eating healthily and reading philosophy.
The times I felt worst: eating horribly and doom scrolling.
The times I felt best: eating healthily and reading philosophy.
The times I felt worst: eating horribly and doom scrolling.
5. 30-minute morning walks without your phone is the biggest creativity hack.
This is the closest thing you can get to primal living in the modern world.
Start the day with a walk and watch your energy, mood, and creativity soar.
This is the closest thing you can get to primal living in the modern world.
Start the day with a walk and watch your energy, mood, and creativity soar.
6. Find your first principles of feeling good, then do them every day.
These will be different for everyone.
But start looking for the fundamentals of what makes you feel good.
Then find a way to do them every day.
These will be different for everyone.
But start looking for the fundamentals of what makes you feel good.
Then find a way to do them every day.
WEALTH
7. Everything changes when you stop trying to save and start trying to earn.
My goals to start 2020 all started with "save X every month."
But you can only take expenses so low.
Which has higher ROI? An hour spent budgeting or an hour spent learning copywriting?
7. Everything changes when you stop trying to save and start trying to earn.
My goals to start 2020 all started with "save X every month."
But you can only take expenses so low.
Which has higher ROI? An hour spent budgeting or an hour spent learning copywriting?
8. Scarcity mindset is your biggest bottleneck.
If you view money, opportunity, or success as scarce, it will avoid you.
The world, especially the internet-enabled world, is full of opportunity.
If you view money, opportunity, or success as scarce, it will avoid you.
The world, especially the internet-enabled world, is full of opportunity.
9. View every dollar spent on health, convenience, and peace of mind as an investment, not an expense.
Set aside X amount of money that you will invest in these three areas every month.
Your health, time, and energy are assets with high ROI.
Set aside X amount of money that you will invest in these three areas every month.
Your health, time, and energy are assets with high ROI.
10. When you're young with steady cash flow, make the riskiest investments you can.
Your cash flow will dominate your net worth gains in your early years.
This one deserves a longer post, but the last place to be with your money when you're young is in cash.
Your cash flow will dominate your net worth gains in your early years.
This one deserves a longer post, but the last place to be with your money when you're young is in cash.
11. Markets bottom on peak fear and bubbles can blow way bigger than you think.
The S&P 500 bottomed the day there was a five-block line outside of Trader Joes in NYC.
And people have been calling for a top ever since, but it can and will keep going.
The S&P 500 bottomed the day there was a five-block line outside of Trader Joes in NYC.
And people have been calling for a top ever since, but it can and will keep going.
RELATIONSHIPS
12. Thoughtfully invest in communities to form strong relationships.
Online communities are like a curated resource for like-minded people.
The price of entry is peanuts to the long-term benefits of the relationships you will form.
12. Thoughtfully invest in communities to form strong relationships.
Online communities are like a curated resource for like-minded people.
The price of entry is peanuts to the long-term benefits of the relationships you will form.
13. The internet has democratized access to friendship. But you have to put yourself out there.
You can meet anyone in the world online.
But you have to put yourself out there and start sharing your ideas and worldview.
You can meet anyone in the world online.
But you have to put yourself out there and start sharing your ideas and worldview.
14. Meeting one new person every week compounds powerfully.
As I shared more online, I begin to meet incredible people. I set a simple goal to meet one new person every week, but most weeks I ended up with more.
Now, these people are some of my best friends.
As I shared more online, I begin to meet incredible people. I set a simple goal to meet one new person every week, but most weeks I ended up with more.
Now, these people are some of my best friends.
15. The biggest thing I can't wait to get back to: intimate conversations over long dinners.
I can't wait to enjoy dinners with my closest friends again.
Especially with how many smart people I've met this year, those conversations are going to be epic.
I can't wait to enjoy dinners with my closest friends again.
Especially with how many smart people I've met this year, those conversations are going to be epic.
16. Mindfully curate your 10 club
@david_perell introduced me to this idea and now I think about it every day.
Find the 10 people that push you forward, make you more creative, work in different domains, and see the world with a unique lens.
Then, double down on them.
@david_perell introduced me to this idea and now I think about it every day.
Find the 10 people that push you forward, make you more creative, work in different domains, and see the world with a unique lens.
Then, double down on them.
ONLINE CREATIVITY
17. Writing online is the highest leverage habit in human history.
I can trace everything good that happened to me this year back to writing.
But writing and *publishing online* brought the most amount of good.
17. Writing online is the highest leverage habit in human history.
I can trace everything good that happened to me this year back to writing.
But writing and *publishing online* brought the most amount of good.
18. The internet rewards the most consistent and the most prolific.
I spent months inconsistently sharing into the void.
It was only when I committed to tweeting every day, writing four threads every week, and producing consistently that things accelerated.
I spent months inconsistently sharing into the void.
It was only when I committed to tweeting every day, writing four threads every week, and producing consistently that things accelerated.
19. Meet people one year ahead of you and ask what they wish they knew in your position.
I got the chance to meet and interact with many people who were ~a year or two ahead of me.
The most valuable question I asked: what do you wish you knew a year ago?
I got the chance to meet and interact with many people who were ~a year or two ahead of me.
The most valuable question I asked: what do you wish you knew a year ago?
20. Make noise, listen for signal, then double down. Answering my own question from #19, it would be make more noise.
In the beginning, you need to share way more ideas than you feel comfortable sharing.
Make noise, and listen for signal from both yourself and others.
In the beginning, you need to share way more ideas than you feel comfortable sharing.
Make noise, and listen for signal from both yourself and others.
21. Learning to create media assets is the new coding.
In the age of capturing attention, the ability to create media assets is more valuable than coding.
My prediction is we will see "content creator" boot camps similar to coding bootcamps in the next few years.
In the age of capturing attention, the ability to create media assets is more valuable than coding.
My prediction is we will see "content creator" boot camps similar to coding bootcamps in the next few years.
22. Exponential growth feels linear in real-time.
Humans cannot comprehend exponential growth in real-time.
Going from 150 to 300 followers is not +150, it's +100%.
Focus on your doubling time. If it's constant, you're growing exponentially.
If it's accelerating: look out.
Humans cannot comprehend exponential growth in real-time.
Going from 150 to 300 followers is not +150, it's +100%.
Focus on your doubling time. If it's constant, you're growing exponentially.
If it's accelerating: look out.
23. Start before your ready: The conditions for starting will never, ever be right.
The closest thing you get is the turn of a New Year.
That's when I started writing my newsletter, one year ago.
But I wish I started six months before that, before I felt "ready."
The closest thing you get is the turn of a New Year.
That's when I started writing my newsletter, one year ago.
But I wish I started six months before that, before I felt "ready."
PERSONAL OPERATIONS
24. Become obsessed with finding leverage and efficiency.
The first principles of my productivity are leverage and efficiency.
I want to store my time finite time and energy into infinite assets.
With everything else, I want to be ruthlessly efficient.
24. Become obsessed with finding leverage and efficiency.
The first principles of my productivity are leverage and efficiency.
I want to store my time finite time and energy into infinite assets.
With everything else, I want to be ruthlessly efficient.
25. The world can change too quickly to set annual goals. Set quarterly goals and move fast.
Looking back at my goals for 2020 made me laugh.
It's impossible to see one year into the future.
So this year, I'm focusing on 12-week goals and systems.
Looking back at my goals for 2020 made me laugh.
It's impossible to see one year into the future.
So this year, I'm focusing on 12-week goals and systems.
26. With any decision, reflect on how sunk cost bias is affecting it.
Much is made about mental models and cognitive biases.
But applying them isn't easy. In looking back at my decisions, the most-common bias is sunk costs bias.
So now I look for it everywhere.
Much is made about mental models and cognitive biases.
But applying them isn't easy. In looking back at my decisions, the most-common bias is sunk costs bias.
So now I look for it everywhere.
27. Ruthlessly seek simplicity. And don't just say it on paper, actually simplify.
Ask "why" more often with any of your systems, goals, or habits.
Throughout the year I found myself doing things week after week that were inefficient, but never stopped to ask why.
Ask "why" more often with any of your systems, goals, or habits.
Throughout the year I found myself doing things week after week that were inefficient, but never stopped to ask why.
28. Focus on your ABZs
This was the best framework I learned in 2021 (h/t @shaanpuri)
• Know where you are (brutal honesty.)
• Know where you want to be (long-term visioning.)
• Know the next step you need to take (immediate clarity.)
Action, not planning, creates clarity.
This was the best framework I learned in 2021 (h/t @shaanpuri)
• Know where you are (brutal honesty.)
• Know where you want to be (long-term visioning.)
• Know the next step you need to take (immediate clarity.)
Action, not planning, creates clarity.
29. The keys to prolific productivity are system design and environment design.
I took on a lot this year.
I produced most consistently when I invested in creating systems and designing my environment to reduce friction.
The smoother my systems, the faster I could ship.
I took on a lot this year.
I produced most consistently when I invested in creating systems and designing my environment to reduce friction.
The smoother my systems, the faster I could ship.
30. You're probably not thinking big enough. Double your goals, at least.
This is a reminder to myself.
So I'm reflecting on one question to end 2020: what if I took every goal I'm about to set and 10x'd it? Would that change how I spend my time, energy, and attention?
This is a reminder to myself.
So I'm reflecting on one question to end 2020: what if I took every goal I'm about to set and 10x'd it? Would that change how I spend my time, energy, and attention?
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