30 Lessons
For the month of November last year, I participated in National Novel Writing Month — abbreviated as NaNoWriMo — to write 30 lessons, one lesson for each day. This amounted in over 10,000 words. The distillation of that work is shared here, and I will be posting longer posts for each lesson.
- Priorities should be framed against how you'd reflect on it later in life.
- Validating another's emotions is better than solving their problem.
- "I don't know." is a perfectly acceptable answer.
- Leadership is about giving control in order to get control.
- Managing your time is just like managing your money.
- There is a big difference between productivity and effectiveness.
- Working smarter is infinitely better than working harder.
- Principles are more important than prescriptive methodologies.
- Writing is one of the most important things to do for mental health.
- If you don’t prioritize your time, someone else will.
- Appreciate what you have, or you'll never appreciate what you get.
- Being a good partner is about knowing when and how.
- Nobody is ever "ready" to be a leader.
- The only thing you can truly control is your reaction to what happens.
- Nothing has to be done in perpetuity.
- Creativity can be scheduled.
- Learning habit-forming techniques is immensely powerful.
- Accomplishing big things is about finishing a bunch of little things.
- Sometimes solving a problem means you need to walk away from it.
- The next morning is better than the end of the day for problem-solving.
- When someone says something that bothers you, follow up immediately.
- Don’t prescribe a solution without fully understanding the problem.
- When you buy something new, give away something old.
- Time is the most important and valuable resource in life.
- Be more in tune with how you feel.
- Assume the best in other people and their intentions.
- Optimize around your own energy levels.
- Invest in quality products you need and actually use.
- Invest in relationships you care about.
- There’s no need for regrets.