10 things that I have learned in 2022
In 2017 I started documenting all the things I have learned in the course of a year and made a habit of publishing those lessons by the end of the year. And here we are in 2023, and this is the sixth article in the lessons learned series.
While working on those articles, I always go back to the previous years, and I’m always surprised by all the things I have forgotten. As the list grows bigger, I’ll link previous years at the bottom of this article in case you are interested.
Looking back at 2022, I can just hope that all the lessons that we have learned will help us make 2023 at least a tiny bit better than 2022.
So, this is top ten lessons learned, 2022 edition; let’s go!
1.Small Steps
It is easy to be overwhelmed by the incredible speed at which the world is moving forward. Meanwhile, the progress is incredible keep in mind that it is always an accumulation of small iterative steps. Small steps, which may seem insignificant when observed separately from each other. Be proud of your small steps, cherish and celebrate them.
2. The Promise
There is great power in giving yourself a promise of doing something and actually doing it over and over again. Great things grow out of sticking to your promise and keep on doing it no matter what.
3.The Dancing Elephant
We all want to achieve a safer and more predictable future. In our efforts to gain control of our life, we make plans and take all kinds of preventive measures, yet our life still remains extremely chaotic. Sometimes life can feel like building a house on a back of a dancing elephant. If you think about it, we have very limited control over our lives due to the simple fact that the foundation of life itself — us being alive is so fragile. Realizing that it is easier to balance on the back of the elephant rather than trying to tame it is a great relief.
4. The Chase
Being alive is to have problems — admit it. Our willingness to solve these problems is only natural, but it can also cause unnecessary stress. Of course, we should not stop solving the problems, but what we should stop doing instead is being upset about having problems and chasing the dream of having all the problems once and for all. It is never going to happen. This is a never-ending race of us always behind our problems. There will always be problems, they will be piling on our desks, and some of our solutions will cause new problems. I keep reminding myself about this all the time.
5.Communication
Even with all the amazing technology we have at our hands, communication remains one of the biggest challenges across different industries. And it is not surprising. The problem is not the methods of communication but rather our willingness and decisiveness to communicate. Never delay to tomorrow what can be communicated today. Do a mental exercise, and try to recall all the problems that could have been avoided if they had been communicated on time.
6.Do Deliver
We all love the story of a victorious comeback from losing 0–3. Who doesn’t? Comebacks are tremendous and happen every once in a while, but more often, life is not about pulling off a comeback; it is more subtle than that. It is more like what Italians do on a football pitch. Italians are not good at comebacks; in fact, during my time watching football, I don’t recall any spectacular comeback by the Italian national team. What Italy is good at is turning their suffering into a victory. You’ll often see them struggling through entire 90 or 120 minutes and then somehow winning in a penalty series or scoring a last minuter. And it may not be spectacular or beautiful, but love it or hate it, the four world cups speak for themselves. More often, it is about going through the struggle, enduring, waiting out, and delivering the result, and yes, it may not be spectacular, but you still deliver, and that’s the name of the game.
7. Acquiring Knowledge
There are so many things we don’t know without not even suspecting that we lack that knowledge. Of those things that we are unaware of, there are ones that we absolutely have to know. I find talking to different groups of people the best way of finding out about the stuff that I don’t know. Talk to people who work in your field, talk to your competitors, use every opportunity. And by no means should this approach be applied to work only. Next time you are having drinks in a large group, locate a doctor and let them speak, and you’ll be amazed to find out how much more you can do to have better health. Talk to finance people to find out how you are missing out on being smart with your money. And talk to people of all ages. My nephew is a never-ending source of stuff that I’m unaware of.
8. The Hard Way
While social media cherishes all those people who seem to be outright smart, seem to make wise decisions all the time, work 20 hours per week, and are having the time of their life, I would like to admit that I’m the opposite of that. I can’t seem to figure out another way, but working hard. I put in a lot of hours, and the only thing that is bigger than the number of hours that I put in is the number of mistakes that I make. And I keep on asking myself, “Could it be any harder?” and the answer is always, “Yes, it can!”.
“An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.”
― Niels Bohr
It takes a lot of hard work to make all of those mistakes.
9. Small Gestures
A small gesture goes a long way. I traveled to Qatar this year for a world cup. And although football was magnificent, I had no particular opinion about Qatar or the Qatari people until one day. I was in the buffet line, waiting to pay for my food. As the line was slowly moving forward, the lady in front of me, who was wearing hijab and abaya, turned and checked out the food that I had on the tray. She said something to the cashier, and the next thing I knew cashier told me that there was no need to pay and that my food had been paid for. Suddenly the lady turned to me and said, “Qataris are very hospitable people. I would like the whole world to know that. Welcome to Qatar.” and went away. Well, it is not hard to guess my opinion about Qatari people after that. Let’s make sure we express our hospitality even with the smallest of gestures. We might be forming someone's opinion about our people right at that moment.
10.The Wanderers
Sometimes it may seem that you are not on the road you are supposed to be, and the alleys to success may seem foggy, but you keep on going. You are not lost as long as you keep going. The fog will clear, don’t give up. Just one more day.
“Not all those who wander are lost.”
― J. R. R. Tolkien
