Today marks the end of my sixty-sixth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week sixty-six:

• Holiday – The Fourth of July is this weekend, and many people are preparing to take time off to celebrate. I enjoy holidays and can’t wait to celebrate this one.
• 2nd half – 2021 is halfway over. A lot changed in the last six months, and the time flew by. I’m looking forward to thinking about how the rest of 2021 is unfolding.  
• Disrupting routines – This week has been a major change to my routine. I’ve enjoyed it. It forced me to figure out how to accomplish what’s important to me in different ways.

Week sixty-six was a light one. I’m looking forward to the holiday weekend.

Today marks the start of the second half of 2021. I didn’t realize that 2021 is halfway over until a friend brought it to my attention today. It caught me off guard and got my wheels turning a bit. I reflected on how different from the beginning of the year—and a year ago—things are today.

I figured things would be different this year, but I didn’t anticipate this pace of change. If someone had told me in January that airlines would be canceling summer flights because they can’t find enough staff to meet the demand, I’m not sure I would have believed it. This is the same industry that, with empty flights, significantly cut capacity and received government assistance last year. But here we are today, and that’s exactly what’s happening.

My big takeaway today is that a lot can happen in a short time, and 2021 is a testament to that. I’m looking forward to what’s in store the second half of the year!

Today marks the end of my sixty-fifth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week sixty-five:

• Travel – It’s summer and lots of people are traveling. They’re making up for lost time and looking for a change of scenery. I’m curious to see how productive this summer is compared to last summer.      
• NBA playoffs – The Atlanta Hawks made the NBA Eastern Conference finals and won their first game. It’s amazing how much a sports team can unite a city (when they’re winning). If the Hawks make it to the finals and win, that could fuel more momentum for Atlanta.
• Nonobvious big markets – I’ve been thinking a lot about markets that are both large (or growing quickly) and not obvious to people outside the space.      

Week sixty-five was a steady and productive week. Looking forward to closing out June next week.

Today marks the end of my sixty-fourth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week sixty-four:

• Intention – I’m working on being more intentional in areas where I’m weak and need to make progress. This week was good because I came up with a plan to execute on this goal.      
• Connection – Connecting with people, especially virtually, can be challenging. I was reminded this week how powerful connecting in person can be.  
• Alignment – When working in groups or teams, alignment is important. Not just at the outset, but always. After a few years of working together, it can slip if you’re not intentional. This week was a good reminder of this.
• Heat – It’s getting hot and humid. I’m not looking forward to the July and August heat.

Week sixty-four was a productive week. Looking forward to continuing the momentum next week.

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

• Start Times – I played with starting my days earlier than normal this week. I noticed that I was more productive as I was able to get more things done earlier in the day.
• Measuring  – What get’s measured gets managed. This is true for myself. I noticed the personal things I’m measuring started to move in the direction I was hoping for this week. The measuring helped me realize I wasn’t making progress and motivated me to experiment until I figured out what moved it in the right direction.  
• Moderation – I thought a lot about this lately. I think avoiding extremes works well for my personality and has led to sustainable results. I have to remind myself that moderation is better than quick results.    

Week sixty-three was a great week. The pace was good for me and the change in routine was nice mentally. Hoping for more of the same next week.

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Building a company is hard. There’s so much you don’t know that you have to try to figure out. I recently connected with a founder who’s building his second venture capital–backed startup. He raised over $100 million from investors for his first company and scaled quickly. During our conversation, it was clear that he’d learned a ton and planned to apply that knowledge to this new company.

A lot of people are interested in entrepreneurship but wait on the sidelines until they think they’re on to something that could be massive. Nothing’s wrong with this approach, and it works well for some people. I do think there’s another approach, though, that can increase your long-term chances of being a successful founder. Start working on building a company around a problem you’re passionate about. If the market ends up being smaller than you hoped for or customers won’t pay for your solution, that’s okay. Regardless of the outcome, you’ll gain valuable knowledge that will help you in your next entrepreneurial endeavor. That knowledge will help you avoid mistakes and save you tons of time the next go-around.

Being a founder is about learning as much as anything else. If you want to be a founder, put yourself in position to start learning as soon as you can. The more you learn and the earlier you learn, the more you increase your odds of succeeding . . . if not this time, next time.  

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

• Short week – Having Monday off was a nice break, and it made the workweek shorter. I like shorter workweeks, especially in the summer. I suspect a lot of people will be aiming for as many four-day weeks as possible this summer.    
• Summer – June usually kicks off the summer travel and vacation season. I think this year will be especially active, and I’m curious about how business activity will be affected.  
• Finish line – This week was a reminder to keep pushing, especially when I’m in the last leg of something. It’s important to persevere all the way to the finish line.    

Week sixty-two was a short week. It was good and productive even though it feels like more people have a summer-vacation mindset.

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

• Opportunity – When an opportunity presents itself, someone who recognizes it and takes advantage of it can change the trajectory of their life. Sometimes it’s strategic. Sometimes it’s being in the right place at the right time.  
• Holiday weekend – I’m looking forward to the three-day weekend. An extra day can make a world of difference.
• Travel – Lots of conversations about travel this week. People are excited about traveling again.    

Week sixty-one felt like a short week even though it wasn’t. I think lots of people were in holiday mode well before the weekend. It felt like a productive but calm week, which was nice.

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

• Perspectives – I got some great feedback from people who have a different perspective than I do. I always learn a ton when I listen to others who see things differently. I don’t always agree, but I always get value from the exercise.
• Teamwork – Outlander’s pitch competition was this week. It took a lot of planning and hard work by the team to make the event happen. It was a testament to what can be accomplished when people work together.    
• Idea session – I participated in a great session this week that was helpful to everyone involved. Lots of good things can happen when good people get together and focus on a single goal.  

Week sixty was a busy week. Lots of long Zooms and other events, but a good week nonetheless.

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

• Negotiations – Two parties advocating for their own interests: always interesting to watch it play out. Usually, the party with the most leverage gets more of what they want. But sometimes what you expected and what happens are different.
• Communication – This is the key to any healthy relationship. When people are proactive communicators, working with them is much easier. It won’t guarantee a good working relationship, but it’s necessary to one.  
• Summer – I’m hearing lots of friends talk about their summer plans. This may be a very active summer with lots of people away from work. Makes sense, given the last year. I’m curious about business activity levels relative to past summers.  

Week fifty-nine was a good week. No highs or lows. Just evenly paced and productive, which I liked.