Happy Holidays
2024 is just around the corner, bringing with it another 365 days of opportunities to learn and grow.
Every year, I dedicate two months (December and January) just for me and I deprioritise everything else in this time. I commit December for looking backward and January for looking forward. It takes me almost a month to simmer down and almost a month to rev up. This practice has been tremendously beneficial over the past decade.
This year, I want to take it a notch higher and delve into something much deeper than usual. I have enrolled myself into Vipassana this December. I've never done this before, and the thought of disconnecting from all communication excites me. If I go missing in action, you'll know why!
Looking backwards, 2023 was a pivotal year in all core dimensions.
There comes in a time in life, where you want to anchor and go deeper into all aspects of life. 2023 was that year for me. I am done seeking, chasing, experimenting and trying new things. I innately feel the need to settle down, go deeper and keep learning. May be that is where even Vipassana is coming from.
Health wise: I am done experimenting, yo-yo ing, collecting data, figuring out the core principles and building systems. I feel complete with the 8 year long study. I finally gave shape to all my learnings in the form of Sensibowl and it took off in 2023. In just a few weeks, I am seeing a lot of positive vibes in terms of metabolic health.
Pay it forward: May be it is mid life and the need to give to the community is strong. I have been building communities for the past 7 years. That was not the big deal. The big deal was to have conviction to keep giving throughout the year by operating in the locus of control as one individual. Tiny cohorts for the maker community rocked in 2023. About 900+ makers participated in the community activities. The funds generated helped 5 children to go to school and one child to hear better. It was the most satisfying feeling I have ever experienced. Giving is the secret of joy and I experienced it throughout 2023.
Career in Leadership: After exploring most parts of design career, 2023 gave me an opportunity to explore design leadership in scaled environments. It took me almost 12 months to adapt to the new role and slowly I found my mojo for senior leadership. Like all things depth, leadership is also deep and vast. It would need a few 10000 hours to get to the core. This decade is for exploring and learning deeper aspects of senior/executive leadership.
In terms of finance, 2023 was a year of consolidation. I stopped experimenting with different financial instruments, exited several portfolios + properties, and focused on investing in opportunities that required less of my time this decade. I developed expertise in building small cases and selecting the right mutual funds.
In my view, life is a sum of bets. Both big and small. We have the privilege of choice to pick the bets. If we understand probability, we can increase the surface area of luck. If we understand detachment, we can be wise enough to not bother about things out of our control. If we understand learner mindset, we can be totally involved in everything we take up.
Contrary to the financial world's advice to slow down and de-risk as we age, I feel the opposite with age when it comes to life. With the ticking clock, it is time to take intentional risks, notch up the intensity and bet on things in a big bold way. 2023 was a year of big bold bets for me. 2024 looks even more exciting.
They say, the best time was 20 years ago and the second best time is now for compounding. Let’s make 2024 count!
🥂 to possibilities!