Today marks the end of my eighty-third week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week eighty-three:

• Impact – I had a conversation with a founder turned early-stage investor about impact. I’ve been thinking about it for over a year, but this conversation got me thinking about ways to maximize my impact.  
• Working on me – I spent time this week working on myself. It was good to take a step back from working on stuff for others. I learned a lot of great things and can’t wait to implement them. I need to get back to doing this regularly.
• One year – Had an enjoyable chat with a good friend this week. We discussed my theses today versus one year ago. He thinks I articulate my thoughts more clearly. I’ve also gotten more comfortable thinking through what the future will look like and why. It was nice to hear his feedback, and it forced me to think about how my thinking has evolved. What a difference a year makes.

Week eighty-three was great. I’ve gained a lot of clarity and learned some interesting new things. I’m reenergized and looking forward to next week.

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I listened to a friend’s seven-year-old share his views on a prominent technology company and its founder. I was shocked by how much he knew. I asked his father if he had discussed this company or the founder with his son. No, he said, and he wondered where he’d learned about them. Our assumption is, the internet. We think he heard about the company, liked it, and did some research to learn more.

The internet didn’t exist when I was his age, but I vividly remember finally getting online access at my parents’ home. I spent hours digging into subjects I was interested in and reading everything about them I could find. It was a game changer. Forums and chat rooms exposed me to new things—to a world I didn’t know existed. I ended up using some of this knowledge to start a company in high school. I’d say the internet was a big reason I became an entrepreneur.

Today I still spend lots of time online learning about things that interest me. I try to find a credible person (on Twitter, Medium, or Substack) and read about what they know or think about a topic or watch YouTube videos of them sharing their thoughts. I’ve gained a lot of extremely valuable knowledge this way.

Information is power. I love how the internet has made information more available to the masses. It’s empowered people to share their expertise and given others a way to consume it. With decentralization and other trends gaining momentum, I suspect my friend’s son and his generation will experience a completely new way of learning. They will be more knowledgeable than previous generations, and how they learn will likely be radically different.

Today marks the end of my eighty-second week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week eighty-two:

• Schedule – I’ve been doing a better job of managing my schedule a few weeks out. It’s more of a mix, now, of time open to others and protected time. This week and last, that helped me be more efficient and get things done.  
• Future thinking – I shared my thoughts on future thinking in a post this week. It’s especially important when you’re looking at a window of opportunity that’s about to close. I’ve been reflecting on this more. The people I’ve seen build amazing companies and have outsize successes (personally and professionally) are future thinkers. They see the world through a lens of what’s possible, not what is.
• Pace – Just like last week, this week was busy. Next week will be too. Lots to do before the holidays.  

Week eighty-two was another busy week. More of the same is coming for the rest of this month.

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I had a spirited chat with a friend this week about a house in Atlanta that just hit the market. We debated how long it will take to sell. I think it will sell within a week, and my friend thinks it will take a few months. Surprised, I dug into his why. He things it’s overpriced and that a price reduction will be needed to move it after it sits unsold for a few weeks. I think the price is fair. The true disconnect is what we think the house is worth.

After more back and forth, I got to the root of our disagreement. I’m bullish on Atlanta. I think the city offers qualities other major metros can’t that make it a place people see themselves settling down in and calling home for the long term. And pandemic dynamics contribute to it being a desirable destination. Home prices reflect this and are likely to continue increasing for the foreseeable future. I believe that prices are fair relative to where they’ll be in the future.

My friend has lived in Atlanta for a long time. He remembers a glut of houses on the market after the financial crisis and some now-trendy neighborhoods being seedy. He believes Atlanta is in a real estate bubble and prices will drop at some point. In other words, he believes current prices are inflated relative to historical prices.

As I reflected on our conversation, I realized that we had different perspectives: I was focused on the future, and he was focused on the past.

Looking at an opportunity, I’m a fan of future thinking. I wasn’t always like this. Flipping this mental switch transformed how I analyze opportunities. I’m able to see opportunity and capitalize on it because I can still see it as “cheap.” If things go as I predict, the asset will increase in value, and I will have gotten a deal at its current price. It’s irrelevant that I didn’t buy at the cheapest historical price, a consideration that I view as a mental trap.

Today marks the end of my eighty-first week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week eighty-one:

• Leaning in – I’ve had pretty good gut instincts historically but don’t always listen to them. This week, I reminded myself to trust my gut more and be more intuitive.
• Closing window of opportunity – I’ve written about this. This week, I had a great chat with a friend about it, which reminded me that I need to treat opportunities with closing windows as top priorities.
• Pace – This week was busy. And full of lots of good things too. The rest of October will probably be supremely busy because of how much there is to get done before the holidays.

Week eighty-one was a hectic week, but a good one. I’m getting myself ready for this to continue for the next few weeks.

Today marks the end of my eightieth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week eighty:

• Connecting – Had an opportunity to connect with folks in person this week. It was good, and it energized me. Zoom is time efficient, but face-to-face conversations can’t be replaced.
• New beginnings – I spoke with a few people this week who are starting new chapters. It feels like lots of people are starting or getting ready to start new things. I’m excited to support them and can’t wait to see where they end up.
• Feedback – I continued connecting with friends to get feedback on things I’m thinking about. I’m very thankful that I have people in my circle I can count on for great perspectives.  

Week eighty was an energizing week. The quarter is off to a good start. Looking forward to continuing the pace next week.

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I listened to an early-stage founder, John, describe how he wanted to emulate a successful founder, Bob. John excitedly recapped Bob’s journey. John was planning to follow a similar path to success with his young company. But I noticed that John’s recap began where things had begun to go well for Bob. I know Bob’s story well. He endured years of painful failure. As I listened to John, I realized he didn’t know the full story. He’d only heard the happy parts.

I told John about Bob’s failures. He was surprised. He’d thought that an entrepreneurial journey that was only up and to the right—a string of successes—was conceivable.

Most successful people have failed miserably, but they kept at it. Failure is usually an important part of accomplishing anything great. What you learn from failure often creates the foundation needed for success. Put another way, you often must lose to win.

If you’re looking to do something great, prepare yourself for failure. Instead of letting it get you down, look at it as an education that took you one step closer to success.

Today marks the end of my seventy-ninth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week seventy-nine:

• Inbox zero – Another successful inbox-zero week with my main inbox. Still working on getting there with my secondary one. The goal is both inboxes at zero at the end of every day.  
• Third quarter – Q3 was pretty busy. I noticed things picked up significantly in September. Overall, the quarter was productive. I think the beginning of Q4 will be a mad dash to get things done before the holidays.
• Talking – Had some conversations with people close to me that were great in ways that I’d aimed for. I get a lot out of seeing things I’m thinking about through the eyes of people with different perspectives.

Week seventy-nine was very busy. So glad it’s over, and looking forward to unwinding this weekend.

Today marks the end of my seventy-eighth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week seventy-eight:

• Inbox zero – I’m more effective when I work through my inbox daily. I haven’t been doing as good a job with this as I’d like. This week, though, I was more consistent about checking something as done, delegating it, or deferring it to a later date (i.e., snoozing it to remove it from my inbox).  
• Perspective – I focused on getting the perspective of credible people this week. Their feedback was insightful, and I’m glad I did this. Looking forward to continuing it.
• Focused – I had clear written goals that I needed to accomplish by the end of the week. I made a point of revisiting that list every morning, which helped me focus on the activities that mattered most. The week ended up being productive in the ways that I’d aimed for.

Week seventy-eight was active. Lots of good things going on. I was more intentional and focused this week, which paid off.

Today I listed in on a conversation between two guys named Chris and Tom about a topic I’m interested in. The more I heard, the more amazed I was at how deep Chris’s knowledge is. Toward the end of the chat, I learned that Chris is a 20-year-old recent college dropout. He wasn’t satisfied with what he was learning in school. He felt his professors weren’t up-to-date on the latest trends and thinking. His education wasn’t equipping him to navigate what he was seeing in the real world every day. So, he dropped out and started educating himself by reading books and consuming online content from thought leaders. And he used his newly acquired knowledge to get a job in the field he wants to be in. Most likely he’s on his way to a lucrative career.

That may sound extreme, but stories like Chris’s will quickly become commonplace. More students will choose to bypass a traditional four-year education for a more customized path. They will go deeper into the topics that interest them much faster and begin to apply their new skills in the real world much faster than previous generations.

I suspect this dynamic will have a big impact on the workforce, as well as other parts of life. I’m not exactly sure how yet, but I’m curious to watch this play out.