2022 and me
I have been trying to do a reflection post for the past few years, but I decided to make it public this year. 2022 was an incredible year for me with its shares of ups and downs. But I am grateful for what it imparted to me, be it professionally or personally and it made me a tad of wiser person.
If I wanted to think of a wave function, I would say 2022 as a cosine function.
Few of my learnings from 2022:
Usually, I try to group them into professional and personal ones, and then break them up. But since I am only going to focus on personal ones here, I will split them into broader areas like health, people, travel, and assorted (because there is always something that I feel I cannot bucket).
Health
Take care of your mental health! I cannot stress enough about this. Our life has never been the same post-pandemic. Maybe it impacted you positively or very negatively. But it did put a focus on mental health. Some broad ideas on the same:
Take small breaks during long weekends!
Whether you are working at a corporate or a startup, take breaks during the long weekend. These breaks are essential for rejuvenating yourselves. Taking a short break once in a while is super essential. You are more than your work!
If you are in a toxic work relationship, get out!
You are going to be spending more than 1/3rd of your life in the workspace. Spend this energy working on interesting problems that get you excited with people you love (or at least not loathe). You should not dread going to the office!
Do something just to relax
It simply means picking up a hobby and doing it because you find it interesting without thinking about any professional outcome.
Travel:
Being in my 20s, the one piece of advice that I always get is to travel! While this is cliche enough, you should do it! Doesn’t matter if it’s with friends or solo, you would be grateful that you did that! Though you should totally aim for a solo trip!
Take an international (solo) trip
I took the trip to Vietnam this year and honestly loved it! Being in a foreign country (without a packaged tour) makes you humble enough and also makes you a tad self-sufficient. You’ll meet incredible people, learn about different cultures and also appreciate that everyone has a story!
Take an unplanned trip!
Book before 2hrs. Have your Naina moment! It would be worth it, and you would definitely cherish it for your life.
If you have that doubt, do not rethink, and just do it!
Take a short break to be near nature!
Go spend some hours with nature once in a while (with your friends)
I am grateful that livin’ in Bombay, there are tons of 1-day hikes nearby.
People:
What made humans succeed as a species was the fact that we are social animals who thrived on tribal knowledge.
Whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, you would need to interact with people. This wasn’t something I was great at and I struggled (to only establish but also maintain)be it school or college. But this year, I pushed myself to interact with more people and be more open (it’s a 2-way street and you have to be vulnerable)!
But having said that, as I make my way through life, I do feel some things can change.
You will find your folks!
Stop trying to fit in. As much as you try to fit into that “group”, it is not worth it!
More importantly, you will find people who love you for who you are!1 There are 8 billion people on earth and there would be some communities where you would be appreciated for who you are :).
You will lose friends
You won't be in touch with all the folks from college/ school
Honestly, I thought I would be able to maintain at least 70% of friendships from school or college. But boy was I wrong!
Life hits and makes everyone busy.
One thing I realized is friendship is a 2-way street. Both of you need to make effort! You can try, but only so much. Maybe the person you thought was your friend was actually an acquaintance.
In 2022, I stopped making efforts in a lot of these “friendships” I thought I had. What it has led to is I am able to spend more quality time with people who care about me and love spending time with me.
Pro tip: in the age of social media, sending a meme once a week does the trick.
Modern cities can be depressing, and if you are moving to a completely new city, find folks with similar interests and people to chill with during weekends.
Have friends outside of Work!
There are work friends and there are friends. Realize the difference.
Assorted
Now this list exists because I could not fit it into anything else.
Compounding & consistency works
Be it money or skills.
Invest your money regularly across diversified. If you don’t have time, get a financial advisor who can manage money for you.
Invest in yourself! Periodically try to learn new skills/ upskill yourself.
Do not live on social media, there's more to life
You do not need to live on twitter/ or know every twitter reference. Remember rahul ligma?
Well no one actually cared about it other than few folks on internet for sum total of 3 days.
Have your identity outside of work
You should not be tied to work you do or company you work at.
For workaholics like me, I know this is difficult, but try to build that identity. I do not have the know hows, but I do intend on spending more time on this in the following year.
Some other personal news:
In 2022, I quit my job and decided to build a startup in the productivity space: Arrowhead. More on learnings from it in the later posts!
What’s next for me:
I want to be more vulnerable to people ( I honestly have a lot of difficulties with this) but at least, I want to focus more on it this year.
Meet more folks! This year, I tried to meet 1 new person every month and be more “real” with them (or at least I tried). I intend to triple this number.
Read more! More focus on fiction (if you have good recs, hmu) . I often read a lot of non-fiction, blogs, or youtube video, but I want to focus more on reading fiction.
While I’m building a productivity startup Arrowhead, I do intend to spend time on causes around climate change, using data for public good, and OSS (open source software). So if you think there is anything around that, please reach out to me!
Having said this,
And of course,
Have any thoughts, leave a comment or reach out to me on Twitter DMs.
I was lucky enough to join the Antler Residency Cohort, where I met people like me and I am super grateful for that opportunity.
why don't you write more often? I came through your article on "the painted stork". I am sure you have a lot of insights up your sleeve.