2011 was a year about people and relationships
2011 was a roller coast of a year for me with a lot of highs and a lot of lows. I guess that’s pretty typical though for a young entrepreneur who is learning on the fly. I had one of the biggest growth years of my life and in the process, as I look back, there are a few things I’ve learned that I’m going to take with me in to this year.
I’ll hit a pretty big personal milestone this year, turning 30 and with the realization that I’ll no longer be able to say “my twenties” I can say that I’ve accomplished a number of personal victories have prepared me for what’s ahead.
I’m really excited and even more optimistic than I’ve ever been (being optimistic is extremely important to being happy and successful) and I’m going to be much more aware and honest with myself about a few things I’ve come to realize this year; some more personally focused and some more to do with what I’ve learned starting a business.
For me, 2011 was a year about people and relationships.
I started a business.
This has been the most rewarding and exciting personal endeavor I’ve ever started but it has also single handedly been the most challenging experience of my life. They say that starting a business is like doing drugs, with extremely high highs and extremely low lows. This has definitely been the case for me. You feel like you conquered Mt. Everest one day, while the next feel like you’re a complete failure (a good therapist is a healthy way to stay on track).
To compensate for this roller coaster of a ride, I’ve worked hard to surround myself with the right people. It hasn’t been easy. It’s the toughest thing about starting a business: choosing who you want to work with. You’d be surprised at the number of people who come out of the woodwork and want to be part of what looks like an opportunity to get rich. I mean aren’t all Internet companies selling for hundreds of millions? Not quite.
Lesson: Hire fast. Fire even faster.
I’ve worked with so many people this year and most of them didn’t work out. Most of them we’re not in it for the right reasons and to be honest, most of them were losers. Harsh I know but it’s a reality of the culture we live in. There are a lot of average people out there who do just enough to do enough.
I’ve gotten much better at choosing the right people to work with and spend my personal time with. I look for people who aren’t motivated by money, who choose themselves to work on things that don’t feel like work, and most importantly who are smarter than me.
Most importantly, and this is the most important lesson I’ve learned, you have to let people go quickly who bring you down - and that’s much harder to do than it sounds.
Losers, like a cancer, can inflict a lot of damage to a company and a friendship. They drain energy, extract the fun and diminish creativity: three things that need to run rampant in the DNA of a company and in friendships.
Celebrate the little wins.
It’s really easy to celebrate and get excited when you do big things, but it’s even more important to enjoy the ride along the way. I’ve found this true both in starting a business AND in my personal life.
Looking back at 2011, the memories and moments that bring a smile to my face today are those that didn’t necessarily result in anything exceptionally outstanding. Most of which were human interactions between my peers and myself. It’s the little things in life.
Never settle. Go with your gut.
As is anything in life, settling leaves you complacent and complacency leads to a lack of passion. I wake up almost every day because I’m passionate about what I’m doing.
My brain never shuts off and it’s constancy firing new ideas, new thoughts and new realizations about life.
The times that I’ve allowed others to steer me in a direction that goes against my gut (and those times happened a lot in 2011) always led me down the wrong path. It’s much harder to get back on the right path when you’ve allowed yourself to get off it.
Simplify.
I don’t do well when I don’t understand something. Complexity adds a layer of confusion and creates a cloud that makes it tough to make effective decisions.
I’ve tried harder to simplify my life this year and I’m doing a much better job at it. This is true in both my profession and my personal life. Less really is more!
Some of the most beautiful things in life are those, which are the most simplified and understated. My outlook on the world has become an oversimplification of how I believe I should live and contribute back.
Believe in something and stand for it.
We live in a world that says if something’s not cool or well received, just change your mind or do something different. While it’s important to push yourself to be more open, understanding and humble, it’s also important to stand for something.
I want people to like me and I’ve spent a number of years trying to make sure people do like me. However, this year that changed because I became much more confidant in who I am and what I stand for. I’ve had to walk away from opportunities, including taking a job with Google, because they weren’t right for me at that moment in my life.
2012.
This year is going to be another pivotal year and I know that when I turn 30 in August and reach the end of 2012, I’ll look back and say, “2012 was the biggest year of my life.”
Thanks for giving me all you got 2011. You’ve made the outlook on 2012 that much better.
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Ohhh and maybe I’ll find someone to fill a larger role in my personal life. I think I’m ready for it.
