Lessons from a decade ago

I’ve been feeling a bit sentimental recently.

We’re entering April, which is my dad’s death anniversary and birthday, and I needed some information from his phone when I came across some old photos when he was younger.

And I wondered — What was he thinking of at that age? What was he worried about? What was his life like?

I’ll never know the answers, but it didn’t stop me from going back to my old journals and reading about my life from when I was 25 years old.

I thought I’d summarise some of the lessons I put together:

What did I get right?

• Taking career risks early instead of playing it safe

• Investing time in relationships that still matter today, and ending relationships that were draining

• Having a clear idea of the life I wanted at 40, and staying focused on moving in that direction — this one is remarkable to me. I didn’t realise that I had this so well thought of at that age

• Learning financial management

Mistakes I made along the way

• Thinking I had everything figured out just because I was a star at the company I worked for. When I left, I was humbled by how small my worldview was, and how much I didn’t know

• Spending too much energy on what others thought of me

• Spending too long waiting for things to happen (E.g. opportunities to come my way), rather than force them to happen

A decade ago, I didn’t imagine I’d be where I am today.

The things I take for granted now (skills, experiences, habits) were once goals I worked hard to achieve.

So, if the next 10 years are anything like the last ten … what will my future self look back on and wish I had done today?

Today’s Prompt

What did you get right in the last 10 years? What mistakes did you make along the way? How have you grown?

I’d love your feedback

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