2019 Lessons Learned

1. Be careful giving unsolicited advice. While intentions may be good, it’s better to listen, empathize, and acknowledge


2. The more you know, the harder it is to take decisive action

Calvin & Hobbes


3. Active leisure (e.g. cooking, group activities, building something) is more fulfilling than passive leisure (e.g. watching tv, social media)

Source: Cal Newport's Digital Minimalism


4. As teams grow, it's important to assume the best intentions


5. You become the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with (aka 5 Chimps Theory)

Source: Naval Ravikant on Tim Ferriss's podcast


6. We overestimate the long term effects of achievement on happiness and underestimate the long term effects of relationships and community on happiness (aka Arrival fallacy)

Source: Clayton Christensen's The Prosperity Paradox


7. Organizing to dos and notes by outcome oriented and time bound projects can do wonders to your productivity

Source: David Allen's Getting Things Done and Tiago Forte's PARA personal knowledge system


8. When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure (aka Goodhart's law)

Source: Sunsama's onboarding email


9. Grit = Passion (Interest, Practice) + Perseverance (Purpose, Hope)

Source: Angela Duckworth's Grit


10. Satisfaction = Perception – Expectations

Source: Some tweet I can't find, so I'm going to link to this article


11. Being high up on the "helpfulness pyramid" can do wonders to build trust and deepen professional (and personal) relationships

Helpfulness Pyramid

Source: This article


12. Turning "I have to..." into "I get to..." is a great mindset hack