As we wrap up the last year, here is my yearly review article and 3 lessons I’ve learnt in 2021.
1. Use Discomfort as a Signal
Last year, I started a Youtube channel to share my thoughts and ideas, as an extension to my blog.
The idea of starting Youtube has always been spinning around in my head.
But I’ve just never gotten around to doing it.
There are voices that say “Oh it’s too late to start Youtube in 2021, it’s hard to succeed because it’s too saturated. Will people even watch?”
But I am reminded of the idea to “Use discomfort as a signal.”
I felt comfortable with writing online.
But the thought of starting a Youtube channel was something out of my comfort zone.
And so I stepped out of what feels comfortable to me and I am happy to be able to connect with like-minded people.
Discomfort can be a good thing, if you use it as a signal for growth.
2. Create More Than You Consume
Be an active creator of content, not a passive consumer.
Take ideas in your head and transform them into something real.
Creating value for others should be your goal.
If you want to be successful in business (in life, actually), you have to create more than you consume. Your goal should be to create value for everyone you interact with. Any business that doesn’t create value for those it touches, even if it appears successful on the surface, isn’t long for this world. It’s on the way out.
Jeff Bezos
3. Enough is a decision, not an amount
I love this parable of the Fisherman and the Investment Banker.
If you haven’t heard of it, here it goes.
The investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.
Inside the small boat were several large fin tuna.
The banker complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The fisherman replied… “Only a little while.”
The banker then asked why he didn’t stay out longer and catch more fish?
The fisherman said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.
The banker then asked… “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
The fisherman said…
“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a nap with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my friends, I have a full and busy life.”
The banker scoffed…
“I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat, and with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually, you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to a big City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise.”
The fisherman asked… “But, how long will this take?”
To which the banker replied… “15–20 years.”
The fisherman thought for a moment and then asked… “But what then?”
The banker laughed and said that’s the best part…
“When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”
And, once again the fisherman asked…
“Then what?”
The banker said…
“Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take naps with your wife, stroll to the village in the evening, sip wine and play your guitar with your friends!”
This parable brings clarity to what the money game is all about… and definitely not about.
It brilliantly illustrates the illusions we so easily fall into when pursuing wealth and financial freedom.
Happiness is about being okay with simply having enough.
