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So, I am here to tell you the story of last year. Saying something like “2021 was a rollercoaster ride” would be an understatement, it will be a crime to be honest. If 2021 was a person, it would be this 👇
Most unpredictable thing ever!
So, here’s a quick summary of things I tried in 2021:
Assembled a small team of 3 people (all engineers) and started working on a startup idea in the mental health space.
Got really close to raising the first funding round of my life. It couldn’t go through.
Had to leave the startup we were working on because of personal and professional reasons. Had many major breakdowns in that one month.
Graduated from college with a degree in Mechanical Engineering (without any backlogs) with a decent CGPA, although I know nothing about machines. Fun fact: Nobody has asked me for my degree yet. I changed jobs without showing a degree.
Started working a corporate job, earned my first full time salary, but felt that I was becoming too comfortable in it.
Started Crework Batches with the old idea again. We finally evolved from a small WhatsApp group to a legit community which impacts people in a positive way.
Started a newsletter which was subscribed by more than 500 people over a span of 5 months. Wrote 5 issue which gathered a bit more than 3100 views.
Applied to a job via Twitter DMs, got the job in a week, left the old company on the same day without serving the notice period.
Travelled via flight for the first time to Bangalore. Felt the traffic, nicest people, the whole vibe of the city. Spent almost 50% of all the money I had on that 3 days trip 🤣.
Appeared in 2 podcasts this year. Finally let go of the fear of my own voice, and the world heard the bullshit that goes on in my mind.
Reached 3000 followers on Twitter from scratch, backed by shit-posts and some random startup tweets.
Met around 300 new people on 1:1 calls and many more for business/work stuff (total count might be around 500-600). This year, I took my “people’s person” self-image to next level.
Started investing this year with monthly SIPs and picking a few old school stocks in which I invest every month. (Not a crypto person yet)
Learnings from everything
I was a brat for the initial 6 months of 2021 and it backfired. I did many mistakes, because I was high on ego and then one slap hit me down the hole of self doubt, and I lost everything in just 1 week. I am not ashamed to tell this, as acceptance have made it easier now.
You can’t jump into things without thinking, but sometimes the best thing to do is to fail fast. You should try things, see the result, and improve. This loop should be as short as possible, and should be full of feedbacks from all the stakeholders.
If you won’t ask, the answer would always be “No”. I think one lesson I learnt this year which is becoming a habit slowly is to ask for things without overthinking. The fear of not doing something just because it might be uncomfortable used to hold me back a lot, not now, at least not always (hehe).
Documentation goes a long way. Documenting stuff not only makes communication easier but also helps you look back on your decision and take right measures to correct them. Minor details which might get missed over simple texts or random calls, only to get filled by assumptions, can be fulfilled easily if you just think a bit more and do one more thing by writing it down.
Relations are more important than knowledge, funding, talent or skills. All those things can be learned, earned, bought or acquired. Relations are built from scratch, with time, and they don’t fade away easily.
Invest as soon as you get your salary. If it will be in your bank account, it won’t stay there for long. It doesn’t mean you should not have liquid funds with you, savings are important too. But keep them in a separate account or something. Have only one account from which you do all the debits and transactions.
Don’t stop learning too soon just because you find something hard. The struggle lasts for 1-2 days every time you start learning something. If you can get through those 2 days, you will thank your past self.
Summary
This list is a very small part of things I faced, felt and experienced last year. This doesn’t sum up who I am, or why I am like this, but just gives you people an idea of why I don’t send the newsletter that frequently 😆 . Because I am either dealing with some shit, or with laziness most of the times.
Loved it!! Sure your 2021 was more than a rollercoaster ride!
You are progressing that's a great sign!