Year 2017 Takeaways.

The year 2017 is almost in the books, as I would like to offer you my list of main takeaways made in the departing year. I can’t proclaim this list comprises a complete edition of what I’ve learned, but I definitely did my best to conclude the most accurate insights and revelations that served me and have been lived through repeatedly to substantiate their validity in my life.

So, without further adieu, let’s give it a roll:

Treat problems as opportunities. If you stumble upon a problem — overcoming it usually leads to additional ideas, that you acquire along the way. It has not once proven to be a credible concept — beat your problem and see what new you have learned while doing it. After gaining unconventional knowledge, why don’t you spin the wheel of fortune with the improved odds?

Initiate doings. You have more chances to find yourself growing when you are up for the challenges. Sometimes there are not that many challenges in your life, since the human nature likes comfort zones, sure thing. However, why don’t you initiate something just to remind yourself what you are made of? This could be a visit to a master-class or taking a random edu-course. The main thing — socialize, get out of you comfort zone.

Ask for an advice. If you genuinely want to hear from the opposite side in a conversation — you are a mature person. An ability to listen, and ask for advice makes you explicitly open to people opinions, which in turn demonstrates you to be objective and professional.

Write a summary. There is no objection to the fact that structuring of what you just learned on the piece of paper is merely the greatest tool of all you can use to comprehend things better. The one I deem equally effective — is to tell what you have learned to someone else, and use your own words while doing it.

Take notes. Granted, putting tiny little pieces of information that you hear all over the places into notes is a super-efficient habit that not only chronologically records your opinions, but serves as a database for future decision-making, if re-inforced in memory often enough. (I use EverNote, but you can use any other similar soft or just a notebook)

Set goals. Real goal-setting should be realistic. Identify key metrics that you know you want and can achieve, and set deadlines (even flexible) to have an incentive that you will tenaciously pursue.

Hang opportunities over excuses. Life is better lived when your spirit is in a great shape. To train it, don’t find excuses to not do things. Find 10 reasons why you should do stuff, if you need to make an argument with your laziness.

Always believe that what you do is important. Philosophy of humankind teaches us that people always want to be impactful, have a meaning, and make the difference. Your ambitions are a supreme power, that you have to unveil. Make sure you unleash it in portions and find justifications that what you do is useful, powerful, and helps somebody. This will give you a purpose.

Be patient. Patience is a virtue. You can’t get it all at once. Moreover, you won’t probably even be ready for all at once. This is why there are so many suicides among lottery winners. People have to be ready to lift success. The magnitude of your persona has to be ready for becoming significant, and therefore, the only way to get weight safely — is to evolve gradually, moving from one height to another.

To end the enumeration, here are just a couple wisdomnesses for an organization:

• There is no secret organizational model of success. There are billion-dollars companies like Valve, that almost work in a chaos, but succeed greatly.
• The right people on board is the key to success of a company.
• Conversely, wrong people on board is the root of the company’s collapse.

And last but not least, a few ones for a man:
— Reiterate your standing. In essence, a man never grows out of a child. He should preserve his childish dreams and constantly remind himself what he is capable of doing. This can be called maximalism, but in a healthy amount, the man ought to reiterate his standing by proving he’s “the man” again and again. See my article about idols, that can help you become a man or a person you always wanted to be.
—Aspire not to “have”, aspire to be happy. As a concious person, you should understand that some things have to be let go. It’s perfectly fine not to have everything, whereas possession in the first place is a wrong impulse. As much as you might think you need to “have” something, getting the state of being ok with not having something is, in fact, the ultimate power.