Things I learned this year

Some contradictions in the school of hard knocks

Just add poop

Each trip around the sun brings new surprises, joy and discomfort. In other words, opportunities to learn. Extending the annual tradition (all three prior years of it) here is the 2023 edition:

• If it’s just in your head, it’s not a plan, it’s a dream.

• Hope is not an effective plan.

• A plan is not enough. It is a prerequisite though.

• Vision + Plan = potential. Nothing more.

• Be optimistic but also brutally realistic.

• Realism without faith is banal.

• Alone you can go fast; together you can go far.

• Friction can polish; tension can shatter.

• Poverty is expensive.

• Kindness is free. So is generosity of spirit. Give abundantly.

• Connection = community.

• Tribes ≠ community

• Yoda was right: there is no try

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” -Mahatma Gandhi

And reminders:

• “Hatred’s filling but it isn’t nourishing.” - Dorothy Parker

• We all emerge from the same place. We all return to the same state. There is no “other.” We are all One.

Enjoy the holidays. And buckle up.