10 things that I have learned in 2023
2023 was a year of adventures, ticked-off bucket list items, a year of kept promises, and, as always, a year of learning.
Probably the most critical question about this year’s post should be whether the content was generated via the help of ChatGPT. Although one of the things that affected my life the most in 2023 was AI, I shamefully must admit that not a single part of this article was generated via AI.
2024 has all the chances of becoming a turning point in many ways, such as AI development, major armed conflicts, etc. It is undoubtedly going to be very entertaining. Let’s hope it will also bring peace around the world.
So, without further ado, here are the top ten lessons from 2023.
[As always, if you find it interesting, the links to lessons learned from the previous years can be found at the bottom of this article.]
1.Walk in front of the crowd
Have you noticed that every time you walk in a group, you eventually come to a silent agreement about the dynamics and the direction of the walk? We were touring Europe with a group of friends, meaning we walked in a group most of the time, and I noticed an interesting thing. There was almost no way to influence the direction of the movement if you were in the tail of the group. You can shout and ask to make a left turn, but nobody would hear as they’ve already made the right turn. In contrast, it took almost no effort to lead the way when you were walking in front of the group. Walk in front of the crowd if you intend to lead the way.
2. Don’t you dare NOT to use AI
An AI revolution is happening right now. I mean, it is ON. There is immense competition between the tech giants. And we, I mean all of us, are part of it. AI is transforming the workplace and the definition of work with an incredible speed. The organizations and individuals investing in AI early will eventually end up with an enormous competitive advantage. No matter what your job is, start using AI daily right now. For every task you get, try doing it with the help of AI first. Learn the limits and capabilities of the existing tools. Don’t be that person who’s late for this train. This is not the train to be late for.
3.Getting better at anything
Do you want to get better at anything? Literally, at anything. Just dedicate time. Consistently. Better health? Just go to the gym three times a week for one hour. It will take no more than six hours per week. I’m sure your phone screen stats will hint you where you can find that time. More friends? Mark two evenings every week for social outings and get out there. Invite people to places, participate in events, join a club, text that college friend of yours, and admit that you were the one who ate their sandwich years ago. Chess? Just start playing 30 minutes a day. Writing skills? Spent 30 minutes a day reading and 30 minutes the next day writing. Simple. Refrain from making complicated plans, reading reviews, or developing tactics. Just start dedicating time consistently.
4. Selfishness — a losing strategy
When acting selfish, we rapidly create an environment that ends up playing to the disadvantage of everyone, even those who act selfishly. The perfect illustration of this is the road traffic. As soon as we start acting selfishly on the roads — tailgating, lane weaving, blocking intersections, etc.- we create traffic jams and eventually end up stuck in ourselves.
5.The bigger the better
No matter what job you do, if you are honestly applying yourself to the full extent, it will feel stressful, push you to your limits, and test your power of will. Ask any person — a cashier, president, surgeon, a war general, aircraft pilot, barber, anyone- and you’ll get the same answer: “Sometimes I think I can’t take it anymore.” The challenge will seem huge, no matter how big or small. You might as well pick a bigger one.
6.It is your responsibility
You are responsible for everything that happens to you and only you. And yes, EVERYTHING! And again, yes, only you. Embracing this is a path to the ultimate freedom. If it’s your responsibility, you have the power to control it. If you think that some other people are responsible for what is happening, ask yourself why you are in a position that makes you affected by them.
7. The one from the coffee shops
I think most of us have been in a situation when we walked into a coffee shop expecting a perfect coffee. There’s a long day ahead of you, or it’s been the end of a long day (for those of us who enjoy coffee in the evening, too), and this cup of coffee should set it all straight. You enter a coffee shop, and a trainee barista messes up your coffee. Ain’t that a tragedy? Never train your “baristas” at the expense of your customers. Could you apply this to your industry?
8. Make ‘em shine
Make your customers look great in front of their stakeholders. We all report to somebody — management, customers, board of directors. Whether it is customers of your customer or their board of directors, make them shine in front of their stakeholders with the work you are producing.
9.Passion
When I was just starting programming, the internet was bad. I mean, it was bad by today’s standards; back then, it was to be the most magical place out there, even though it was taking you half an hour to download a single mp3 track. Half an hour! This meant that all of us had a “Music” folder on a local hard drive where we kept all of our music. Yeah, no streaming. Needless to say, there was no way to share this music via the internet with your friends. Sharing would happen using USB flash drives. I realized I could make a simple piece of software that would crawl the local file structure, catalog all the music, and put it into an HTML file that could be sent to a friend. The fact that you can create valuable things even with very basic knowledge was electrifying. Now, I’ve driven my passion to automating industries at AOByte. Still, every now and then, I keep reminding myself of this story to reignite my passion.
10.The promise
This one is personal. We used to watch football with Dad; in fact, we never watched it with anybody else. I promised we would watch the UEFA Champions League final together one day. And although Dad is not with us anymore, I decided to keep my promise. This summer, I bought the ticket for a final and set on a path to my secret trip without telling pretty much anybody. He was not with me that day, but I sure kept all the memories of Dad in my head. I wish I could have done it earlier, but well. Fulfill your promises while it is not too late. You’ll never know when that opportunity will be taken from you.
P.S. I know you would have made a joke out of me for sporting the Internazionale’s jersey while being a Milan fan, but I’ll take this one for the team, Dad ;)
[2022]: 10 things that I have learned in 2022
[2021]: 10 things that I have learned in 2021
[2020]: 10 things I have learned in 2020
[2019]: All we do is learn, learn, learn, no matter what
[2018]: Yet another 10 things I learned after being CEO for another year
[2017]: 10 things I learned after being CEO for a year
