Random Observation/Comment #565: “It’s all downhill from here…” ~All my friends
My 20’s was basically a test of goals, time, and relationship management.
- Goals management is your mission, vision, and true North towards your ideals of success.
- Time management is the organization and prioritization necessary for executing and delivering those goals.
- Relationship management is making the connections and building a community in order to share what you’ve learned.
For keeping my goals inline, I learned from a toastmasters international speech by Dana LaMon from 2010 that outlined the desires and drivers in my life. I wrote my own version and reflected on it yearly.
For making sure I actually accomplished what I set out to, I stuck to the bigger perspective and the little things. We often say we don’t have time to do things, but what we’re really doing is being lazy and not taking our own tasks seriously. Most people spend their entire first 20 years being told what to do, so coming up with your own homework assignments and drive is even more important than doing the work yourself. I enjoyed assigning myself responsibilities and taking charge of them.
To foster relationship growth, I trusted in people’s good nature and chose the people I spend my most time with very carefully. We are ultimately the combination of our 8 closest people, so hopefully they’re engaging, honest, and open-minded. For business, I also learned the value of a meaningful follow up.
I’m thankful and grateful for incredible role models, friendly community support, and the means to fulfill my ambitions. It’s all possible because my parents provided me with a strong foundation of health, deductive reasoning, and moral values.
Thank you, Mom and Dad. I love you both and you are still teaching me life lessons.
A Special Thank You to my wife. Thank you for giving me the best birthday present and putting up with my loud sneezes.
So How did I do?
Not to gloat, but Pretty damn proud of myself. My 30 under 30 and the accompanied blogposts are all updated with their results and lessons learned. I might have missed the mark on some languages and plane flying, but I feel mighty accomplished with this blog, my book, and the stories I tell daily about these adventures.
What would I do differently?
When I reflected on my quarter life crisis, I was a bit of a drama queen. These age numbers and expectations were fairly arbitrary and generally driven on fear of wasting a blessing. I think I’d relax a bit more and worked on the things I felt really inspired by. I wish I created my own YouTube channel when PhillyD did and started a community of people who would listen.
What’s next?
There’s still much personal growth in my life, but I think I’ve ignored a key puzzle piece with 1) community and 2) asking for help. There’s an innate sense of altruism that gets muddied with business and vested interests. I think humility in asking for joint collaboration will be the crux of my upcoming challenges. I clearly need a challenge, so challenge accepted.
Whether it be leading a team to success or eventually being a loving father, I am excited to continue on this journey – wherever it will take me – wherever it will take us.
~See Lemons Turn 30
