This is my two-hundredth weekly reflection. Here are my takeaways from this week:

• Learning – My learning survey started out as a silly exercise, but it’s turning into something resembling customer discovery. I’m surprised how interested people are when I ask about their learning habits.
• Focus – I paid close attention to how often people’s attention is pulled in multiple directions every day. The ability to focus appears to be becoming less common. Those who have it and use it will have a leg up on life.
• Trends – Jeff Bezos started Amazon after learning that the internet was growing at an insane annual rate. I’ve been thinking about new trends that are growing rapidly but aren’t well understood.

Week two hundred was another week of learning. Looking forward to next week!

This is my one-hundred-ninety-ninth weekly reflection. Here are my takeaways from this week:

• Idea – This week I listened to someone share an idea they used to build their business. The idea isn’t new, but the insights he shared about the idea were new to me and resonated. Something clicked in my head as I listened and got my wheels turning. I’ve been thinking about it the last few days, and I’m excited about digging into it more next week.  
• Reading tool – I played with this new tool. It’s going to be a lot more work than I originally thought to digitize the highlights in each book I read. Not the outcome I hoped for, but I think the value in doing this will far exceed the effort. Most people who read books rarely review their highlights. When they do, they usually have to go to each individual book to find the highlights. I think the value from aggregating highlights from various books, having them be searchable, and regularly reviewing them could be big.

Week one hundred ninety-nine was another week of learning. Looking forward to next week!

This is my one-hundred-ninety-eighth weekly reflection. Here are my takeaways from this week:

• Teaching hack – An overlooked hack for cultivating outsize success is sharing knowledge during your journey. If you educate others, they will want to see you win, which ends up creating a tailwind and increasing your chances of being lucky.
• Reading tool – I do a fair amount of highlighting in the books I read. This week I’ve been playing with a tool that will digitize the highlights to make them easily accessible.
• Rough start – The first week of the new year was rough for me. This week was a material improvement but still not quite a “normal” week. Next week, I’m aiming to get back on track and be normal.

Week one hundred ninety-eight was another week of learning. Looking forward to next week!

This is my one-hundred-ninety-seventh weekly reflection. Here are my takeaways from this week:

• Rough start – This year didn’t start off the way I’d planned. I encountered personal and professional setbacks, but I made the best of the hand I was dealt. Expecting week two to be better.

Week one hundred ninety-seven was another week of learning. Looking forward to next week!

I hope the new year is off to a great start for everyone!

Today is the last day of 2023. The place slowed down this year. People were much more optimistic than in 2022. For me personally, it was another good year. I definitely experienced ups and downs, but overall I learned and grew a ton. I’m thankful for the opportunity to experience another year, and I’m excited for what 2024 has in store.

This is my one-hundred-ninety-sixth weekly reflection. Here are my takeaways from this week:

• Second-guessing – This week I had a plan for how I wanted to execute a task. Something happened and I second-guessed myself and the task didn’t get executed. The lesson learned? Stick to the plan!
• Christmas – I had a great time with friends and family for Christmas.
• 2024 – Three days from the new year. I’m excited about what’s in store for 2024.

Week one hundred ninety-six was another week of learning. Looking forward to next week!

I’m glad I set a Christmas reading goal. Four or five months ago,  I bought a 500-page book that I’ve been putting off reading—partly because of the length and partly because I didn’t think understanding the book’s topic could have broad implications. I’ve been reading this book during the holiday, and I regret not reading it sooner. The topic is extremely interesting, the author does a great job of providing historical context, and the understanding I’ve gained so far has me thinking about various broad implications of the knowledge.

If I hadn’t set a reading goal, I likely wouldn’t have read this book for a few more months. I’m glad the goal motivated me to read it now.

As of today, It won’t be easy to hit my reading goal, but I’m still committed to the challenge. Wish me luck!

I love the Christmas holiday. It’s a great opportunity to spend time with family and friends and eat amazing food. Historically, the week between Christmas and New Year’s is slow, business-wise, which I enjoy. It’s usually a week when I don’t have to worry about emails, calls, or any other fire drills. I’ve enjoyed spending this time reflecting on the past year and thinking about the future from a high level.

I’m looking forward to the rest of the week.

With the year ending soon, today I spent some time reflecting on the last twelve months. If I had to sum up 2023, I’d characterize it as a year of learning.

At the beginning of the year, I knew I wanted to learn a complex, difficult topic as rapidly as possible, so I spent time fine-tuning my approach to learning. I then used those newly refreshed learning skills to learn as much as possible about my target topic from people who’ve mastered it. I reflected on their wisdom and looked for insights they and others weren’t aware of. Knowing something and applying it are two different things. I tend to know I’ve mastered something when I can apply it successfully. I applied what I learned from the masters, slightly modifying things based on my insights, in an iterative testing approach. Most tests were successful and showed I understood the concept well. Some failed, and I learned even more from them.

I feel good about what I learned this year. It may have a material impact on the rest of my life. I’m excited about 2024. I can’t wait to apply what I learned in 2023 and start the learning process again with a new topic!