I am happy I can go out without worrying about the virus.

2022 has been a wild ride. I hope you enjoy your journey so far.

In this post, I want to share 10 lessons learned. Most of these are small realizations:

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1 - Morning walk to recharge. Early this year, I always wrote or read books first time in the morning. My reason was to optimize my time to learn. But then, starting in August, I started to walk in the morning. It turned out as a better way to start my day. I feel more energetic. Walking has a lot of benefits: your brain performance gets better and more creative. It also improves your memory.

2 - Periodic notes. I have one note file per day. It helps me to stay sharp and have a place to dump all my thinking. It’s messy, but I write my goal for that day and have a list of tasks to support that goal.

3 - Dance with fear. Fear doesn’t go away. When you do something new, fear will always kick in. Learn to dance with it. In practice, list down your fear. Then, start planning how to overcome it.

4 - Money is a tool to buy time. Not the other way around, I learned. I realized that if I have enough passive income to cover my living cost, then I can do what I love. Money is leverage to give me the freedom to choose what I want to do with my time. I’m still figuring this out—but it seems like the keyword is: financial independence.

5 - People are the most important atomic unit in the organization. No matter how much effort you put into improving the process, you need good people to execute it. If your organization doesn’t have people that can think and solve problems. Then you’re left with strategy + mission = dream.

6 - Forgive others. When you forgive others, they may not notice it. But you will heal. Forgiveness is a gift for ourselves. It’s a generous act for ourselves. Holding anger will not be helpful in the long run anyway.

7 - 15 minutes intervals. I find this concept of 15 minutes intervals. This is now my productivity hack. Here’s how it works: I put a 15 minutes interval for any tasks I have. Write an article? I put in 15 minutes and executed it with focus. If I need more time, I put in another 15 minutes. After 4 intervals, I take a quick break. 15 + 15 + 15 + 15 + break. You get the idea.

8 - True colors. When you meet people for the first time, you don’t show your true colors. You still maintain your tone, appearance, and manner. We show our true colors when things get hard, or conflict arises. Here’s the funny thing: We show our true colors to the closest people we love the most. Then, we need to ask: What is my true color? Do I really like it, or is there anything I want to change?

9 - Cats are fun. I have two cats, not planning to add more—but who knows? Cats are fun, loving, and warm creatures.

10 - Scheduled play time. I schedule my “play time” these days. I play at least 2 Catan games per week. It involves thinking, competition, luck, and decision-making. But it’s fast. Perfect for my schedule.

If you have picked up similar habits or realization, email me! I’d love to have a discussion around that topic.

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P.S. Next year, this newsletter will be more than just a newsletter. I’ll expand it to an online community for people who want to get better at building products and solving problems. I learned that if the community getting too big, it’s going to be just another forum, I’m still putting together the strategy to make lively and tight-knit community.

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