Life

One of the most critical challenges for startups is putting together an execution plan for success. Rather than focusing on what a shiny outcome would be, an incredibly powerful tool is to consider what a crap outcome would look like and avoiding that.

Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s late business partner, was often quoted saying “It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.”

Are we raising a spoiled child? I recently read Ron Lieber’s The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous and Smart about Money and it was instantly one of the books that kept me up at night thinking and talking with my partner.

Every December, I sit down to write my year in review—capturing the highs, the lessons learned, and my aspirations for the coming year. This reflective practice has proven invaluable, providing me with profound insights and a roadmap for personal growth.

It’s a great practice which I would highly recommend. I have year in reviews going back to 2011 and paging through them helps me appreciate how far I’ve come. Depending on the year I’ll spend anywhere from an hour to half a day’s worth of time putting together my review. While the format has changed over the years, I want to share my current approach.

Two and a half years in, I wanted to reflect on some of my top surprises of parenthood. TLDR highs are higher and lows are lower than expected.

With all of the talk of The Great Resignation, it doesn’t come as a surprise that many people are asking the question, what do I really want to do?

Many people follow a guiding star throughout their early career. Their career transitions are based on what their parents or peers expected, what their peers did, where there was the highest status, or even taking what they were good at to its natural extreme. Later on, what they begin to question is whether that work is meaningful or significant to them.