The national holiday gave me some time to reflect on the past year. If I could go back and give myself a short list of notes, this is what I would say.
Learn how people work
Study psychology, incentives, and rational decision-making. Learn why people do what they do, not just what they say they do. A deep understanding of these things is a superpower: it helps you build, lead, negotiate, and make better decisions.
Whatever you do, do it exceptionally well
Give it 200%. The reputation you build by caring deeply about the work is priceless. Pushing past your own limits is also where learning happens. You discover what you are capable of only after the point where you would normally stop.
Return to the basics
Successful things are often built on very simple principles. For a product: build it fast, let people buy it, make it great, let people share it, and repeat.
The hard part is not knowing the basics. It is remembering them when distractions arrive. Keep returning to first principles, and always remain coachable.
Optimize for the outcome
Do not optimize for sounding smart. A clever explanation is not a substitute for a result. Ask what outcome matters, then choose the most direct path to it.
Be ambitious
Aim higher than feels reasonable. Large goals force you to think differently, attract remarkable people, and make ordinary constraints negotiable. Even if you miss, you will likely travel much farther than you would have with a safer target.
Do not make other people’s reactions personal
Their opinions and emotions come from their own incentives, experiences, and circumstances. Listen carefully, there may be something useful there but do not let every reaction become a judgment of your worth. Understand the context, take the lesson, and keep moving.