A decade

I have never regret reviewing a day, month or year. It reminds me of what I learned, is important to me and joyful. I took a day off from work to review my last decade. Some questions I had for myself:

• What shaped me?

• What was meaningful?

• What were the good decisions?

• What made me happy?

• What allowed me to grow?

The last decade looked kind of like this for me:

It’s incredible how much happens and how few meaningful things you can actually do in a decade. Here is a more exhaustive list in no particular order:

• Became debt-free first time in life

• Learned English while living in Australia for a year

• Finished my college degree in design

• Started a company in New York and grew the company over the following four years

• Fell in love with my now wife about 5 years ago and married her twice

• Moved to New York and felt home the first time in my life

• Got fired 3 times (including from my own company)

• Became dad

• Started a job at Shopify

• Taught design and entrepreneurship at my former college

• Took the first time an illegal psychedelic drug and other things…

• Lived in Berlin

• Experienced burning man the first time and went four more times

• When living in New York I fell in love with Maine, IPAs, Pie and open fire

• Ranked 192,907 in the cross games

• Exercised heavily physical and mentally with my wife (Spinning, Crossfit, Meditation)

• Received the first time a positive 360 review at Shopify

• Went the first time to a therapist and continued to be on and off of therapy

• Building something with my hands, particular with wood has been really rewarding

• Got my drivers license

• Learned more about food and how to be a better “every day” cook

When I look at the list above, not surprisingly it all comes down to happiness and personal growth:

• Nothing that I bought brought me memorable happiness

• On the other hand, things I created with my hands, especially with wood are still incredibly joyful and satisfying (Pavilion for our rooftop, raised garden beds and a step stool for my son)

• No debt and more money have not changed my level of happiness.

• Taking risks makes me feel alive

• Surrounding myself with curious and interesting friends were key for my need for intellectual exchange, learning, growth, and happiness

• I enjoyed traveling the most when I also had to cook for myself

• Being able to fall in love, being loved and sharing life every day with your loved one are important micro-moments of my happiness

• Learned new and different perspectives through life-changing moments like moving, switching jobs, sabbaticals and getting married

• Having a kid brings a constant flow of happiness, set of new challenges and a new perspective on life

• Basic things like drivers license, being decent at a hard skill, speaking different languages and a degree gave me more flexibility, independence and eventually more options

• Listening to music and dancing allow me to connect with art and my body.

• It’s worth taking a few minutes our hours every day for my personal well being (Exercising, meditation, therapy)

• Setbacks are hard, but they created the most meaningful personal growth aside of going out of your comfort zone.

• Experimentation with drugs have reminded me how wonderful, diverse and weird our world is

• I’m definitely weird, but who isn’t.

I had no idea in 2010 what my next decade would look like, but looking back and going into the next decade, it’s a good reminder of what I need to do more and what less. I don’t know WHAT exactly I will do the next decade, but perhaps some principles will guide my action, thinking and it will be just fun to revisit in 10 years again:

• The next decade will be shaped a lot by creating my own family and that’s something I’m most excited about. Kids change so fast, every moment is so precious, but because I also love working, I need to figure out the right work-life balance between being a dad, husband, my friends, and work.

  • Continue to be more present, home from work around 5pm and just enjoying to being a parent and husband

  • Spend more quality time with my family through longer and more travel

  • Do more activities and things that allow us as a family to be more creative, grow and gain different perspectives

  • Plan a weekend trip with my best friends at least once a year

• Learn something that is ideally useful every day, makes me more independent, expands my perspective and allow me to do more different vs. the same thing. A few things I have in mind for the next decade.

  • Write publicly at least once a week to improve my writing and thinking

  • Get better in everyday cooking (with no recipes, minimal planning) to make my life easier, save time and foster my creativity

  • Build a few times a year something with wood to growth my skillset and to balance better my day to day

  • Make an app to learn the basics of programming

• Take a break to satisfy my intellectual curiosity, challenges me, allows me to take risks, fail and to grow in new ways.

  • Start or be part of a small company and team. Some people want to start a company for the sake of starting one, but for me, the interesting part about small companies is the level of uncertainty, the diverse set of problems and the personal growth you can experience because of that.

After all, I don’t know what the future will hold for me, but I’m incredibly happy about where I am today and what comes next.