43 lessons at 43 years old

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Introspection seems to be a daily occurrence for me at this age

Maybe mid-life is kicking in, or I am inching closer to death. I tend to pick up lessons on the things I read or experienced that I went through.

And for many of them, I would have hoped they would come to me sooner. It may have saved me a load of pain during my earlier years.

There are far too many lessons that I picked up since adulting. I distilled them down to the 43 that resonate with me most.

I categorized them, and you can see some imbalance. Happiness is something I am still trying to find for myself.

Regardless, I hope you find them helpful as I did.

Work

Good boss and lousy work > Good work and lousy boss
The ability to write, storytell and/or public speak is a superpower
Always calendar block
If you use a scheduling app, block out the immediate week. If the matter is important enough, people will wait.
Inbox zero is a myth
The more emails you send, the more you get back
Don’t cry over your job because it will not cry over you.
The amateur waits for inspiration; the professional shows up
Never let company values compromise your core values
A hundred ingredients make an awful dish. A hundred activities make a poor KPI
ProductHunt newsletter is the best place to find the next best productivity app.
Micromanagement does not scale. Culture does
There are two great addictions – drugs and a monthly salary
If your people are not sharing bad news, it isn’t because there are none. It is because they are withholding.
Done is better than None
Retirement is not 65 years old in a nursing home getting a cheque. Retirement is you stop sacrificing today for the imaginary tomorrow.

Your mind constantly thinks you are physically fitter than you are
Sometimes all you need is just a few deep breaths
Even a 1-min daily workout is better than no workout at all.
You are what you eat
You gain mass at the gym & lose weight in the kitchen
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you

Kids need a good life but not an easy life
There is only one objective as parents – to prepare kids to become independent adults
You don’t expect a larva to fly, so don’t expect kids to behave like adults
If you don’t teach them to be autonomous at 7, they will live with you at 37.
Too often, in all our efforts to be good teachers, all we transmit is our anxiety, uncertainty and fear of failure

When travelling, ask yourself, “do you want to take photos, or do you want to make memories”
Stop comparing your day-to-day with someone else’s social media highlights
People don’t remember what you tell them but how you make them feel
When we talk about how good we are, it is bragging. When others do, it is evidence
The wrong decisions you make should not define who you are as a person
Study the philosopher, not the philosophy
To find the correct answers, you need to start with the right questions
The road to nowhere is paved with excuses
Everyone has two lives – the second starts when you realise you only have one.
Every master is formerly a disaster
If you watch successful people talk about their methods, remember that all the people who used the same methods and failed did not make videos about it

There is no worse jail term than a financial one
The priciest material purchase will only give you the euphoria that lasts less than 15 mins.
Spend on experience, not things
When laypeople know about the next thing to invest in, it is already too late, and we are just the suckers for those who are better informed to enter early.
You have less self-control than you think on credit card usage

If you can talk, you can write. Don’t believe me? Just transcribe your audio recording,
The first draft is always bad
Never edit while you write. Turning off Grammarly and spellchecks will eliminate the red underlined OCD triggers.
Distance the first drafts within a few days before editing them.