This blog post offers some reflections on how I learned what I learned in 2022.
I am a massive fan of self-development, by which I mean anything that improves my life, and have been on it for a while.
I’ve read many popular self-development books and tried all of the methods.
Despite having various mechanisms in place, I only recently formalized the process of writing down learnings.
What happened?
I started this blog.
I also turned 30, so maybe I’m becoming one of those old guys who prefers reflecting over partying.
Anyway, let me give you a brief overview of how I learned what I learned before I share what I learned.
Eight years ago, I started setting goals. My current process is as follows.
I collect new ideas between October and December and reflect on everything I did last year during the first week of January.
Then, I write down what people and activities had a positive or negative effect on my life and use the input to create my goals for the new year.
I also list what I learned, but rarely review those lessons.
To improve the integration of these lessons into my life, I decided to change my strategy.
Whenever I’d learn something interesting, I’d write it down in my notetaking app.
This led to the 36 lessons in this post.
These are personal lessons that might not apply to you, but could be of use.
I always love reading these types of posts, so I thought why not share mine too?
I hope you’ll enjoy them.
1. Today will one day be “those good old times.” Enjoy it now!
2. Life is about balance. This phrase often leads to new insights whenever I’m anxious or unsure.
3. Not everything has to happen NOW. If you think about it, very few things are truly urgent.
4. Imagine you’re 80 and looking back on life. Reflect on these questions:
5. Make decisions as if you were a little drunk to make life more fun. I got this idea from the Danish movie DRUK.
6. Make sure you have one thing to look forward to every single day.
7. Reducing stress is counterintuitive. Take some time off instead of working more and trick your brain into thinking it’s relaxed. It doesn’t always work though.
8. Motion creates emotion. Instead of overthinking, get out of the house first, and things will flow.
9. Do sports for fun, not out of discipline. I work out more, have fewer injuries, and feel less stressed.
16. Courage is not ignoring fear; it’s moving ahead despite it. We see fear as a stop sign, but we should see it as a signal of where we want to go. I got this from Marie Forleo’s book Everything is Figureoutable.
17. Do I do this out of love or fear? If the answer is fear, don’t do it.
10. Move from consuming to investing and creating as fast as possible.
11. Embrace these three mindsets: abundance, growth, and positivity.
12. The winners are often the ones who never give up.
13. If you don’t like something, you have two options: accept it or take action, but don’t complain.
14. Do I want emotion or action? If you procrastinate, ask yourself this question. You can only choose one.
15. Not everything has to become a habit. Do you want to try a new sport? Just do it a few times for fun without committing.
18. If a belief is useful, use it. If not, change it. Very few things are objectively true. Use that to your benefit.
19. If I frequently visit the doctor I’m not sick; I’m proactively taking care of my health. It might not be fun, but it’s important.
20. I will never have a lack of ideas. Just a lack of time.
21. If three different people recommend the same book, I will read it.
22. Focus on the WHAT and WHY, and the HOW will follow. If you focus on the how too early, you will disregard great options. I want to thank my friend Esmay for this lesson.
23. If you feel overwhelmed, ask yourself, what is the next step? Just keep asking this question until you’re finished.
24. If it’s not a problem, don’t solve it.
25. Never copy an approach 100%. Everyone is different, so everything will need a certain degree of personalization.
26. Motivation comes before action. Once you find your WHY, you can keep going forever. Great teachers help their students discover this.
27. Becoming wealthy and staying wealthy are two different strategies. This is why entrepreneurs can build wealth and lose wealth very quickly. Which one do you use, and does it make sense at this stage of your life?
28. Nothing comes out of nothing. Copy someone first and then start building. It’ll gradually become your own. Thanks, Andrés Ribón, for the insight.
29. If you want people to do something new, make it as easy as possible.
30. Saying NO is probably THE most crucial skill in creating a successful business. It’s also the hardest.
31. Are you hiring a personal trainer to get help or to outsource discipline? This question applies to more than just personal trainers.
32. If you don’t know, you know. Do you really not know, or are you afraid of the truth? We often look for confirmation when we already have the answers.
33. You’re fully responsible for your own life. Don’t blame things on others.
34. Take ownership of your health. A general practitioner’s role is to filter out severe cases quickly. If he sends you home, but the problem persists, stay on it until it’s solved.
35. At some point, you have to stop reading and start doing. This advice helped me to start Cultural Reads. I still owe my friend Lucas from the Weaver School for this one.
36. You’re creating the world we live in, or you’re living in a world created by others. Those are the only two options.
I honestly hope you found some useful lessons here.
Although we’re all different, we’re also very much the same, and some lessons apply to all of us.
What are some of your favorite life lessons?
Please leave a life lesson you (recently) learned in the comments!
I’d love to learn from you.
If you enjoyed reading this and want to stay in the loop, you can sign up for the newsletter.
It focuses on what I learn from other cultures through books, music, and movies around the world.
It also will keep you updated on more self-development materials.
Thanks for reading 
