This is a public annual reflection. This reflection is more playful. I also do a quarterly review every quarter which is where I dive deep into execution. You can see my quarterly review template here.
I chose a door because I feel as if I am entering a new dimension after this two year period.
❤️🔥 2021 Favorite Stuff
Top 10 Quotes
Quotes | Author |
We do not have theology, we dance. | Japanese monks to Joseph Campbell |
You must be ready to burn yourself in your own flame: how could you become new, if you had not first become ashes? | Nietzsche |
Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation. | Oscar Wilde |
The victor is not victorious if the vanquished does not consider himself so. | Ennius |
I will not fear. Fear is the mind-killer.I will face my fear. I will let it pass through me. When the fear has gone, there shall be nothing. Only I will remain. | Frank Herbert, Dune |
Pleasure disappoints, possibility never | Kierkegaard |
In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength. | Uncle Iroh, Avatar the Last Airbender |
A fire broke out backstage in a theatre. The clown came out to warn the public; they thought it was a joke and applauded. He repeated it; the acclaim was even greater. I think that's just how the world will come to an end: to the general applause of wits who believe it's a joke. | Kierkegaard |
We drink from wells we did not dig; we are warmed by fires we did not build. | The Torah |
If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you. | Gospel of Thomas |
TV:
Cobra Kai
Lupin
Mindhunter
You can check out my top 11 movies of the year here:
Top 10 Thinkers that rocked my world this year:
- Cedric Chin (commoncog.org)
- David Chapman (vividness.live, buddhism-for-vampires.com)
- Jonathan Bales (luckymaverick.substack.com)
- Venkatesh Rao (ribbonfarm.com)
- Graham Duncan (grahamduncan.blog)
- AutoTranslucence (autotranslucence.wordpress.com)
- Max Nussenbaum (mysupersecretdiary.com)
- Joe Hudson
- The Last Psychiatrist
- Dan Carlin
Desc: He writes about
Favorite Article:
His take on Buddhism is fascinating, not quite sure if it’s accurate. He is obsessed with avoiding the siren calls of nihilism and the philosophy of Tibetan Buddhism
Check out:
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Desc: He’s a spiritual coach who dips into tantra, buddhism, and psychology to help make life more enjoyable and ease-full. His work is all about helping us stay in connection, enjoyment, and authenticity. This allows us to do what we
“We invite the things that we’re scared of. That is our nature. Our nature is to invite... if we have a fear of something we are inviting it in. Because we want to learn and grow from that experience. We want to face that fear. So the fear of stagnation invites stagnation. The fear of loss invites loss. The fear of abandonment invites abandonment.”
Podcast Episode:
A politically incorrect psychiatrist who reexamines social norms.
Check Out:
“One of the great insights of psychoanalysis is that you never really want an object, you only want the wanting, which means the solution is to set your sights on an impossible ideal and work hard to reach it. You won't. That's not just okay, that's the point. It's ok if you fantasize about knowing kung fu if you then try to actually learn kung fu, eventually you will understand you can never really know kung fu, and then you will die. And it will have been worth it.”
Desc: It’s been said that history doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme. Dan Carlin is not a historian, but he is a fantastic storyteller. He makes the stories of history relevant and exciting. He allows us to truly delve deeper into the characters and we feel like we are re-living the history instead of just hearing about it. Words can’t do his work justice it’s fantastic.
Fav Podcast of the year:
The parallels to our current political climate is terrifying. This is a podcast that details the end of the Roman Republic covering the political climate during the time and goin
My favorite books are books I read very very slowly. These books are so good it may take you years to read because they’re so profound you have to sit, savor, and digest its learnings.
The following are books are books I may not have totally finished, but are almost all complete.
Body Keeps The Score by Bessel van der Kolk
Desc: A book about how trauma (mini or major) gets embedded within the body and what we can do to release and integrate that trauma. Trauma and chronic stress can prevent us from fully using and feeling our bodies which prevents us from feeling deep pleasure and love.
Best Quotes:
Awakening the Heroes Within by Carol S. Pearson
Desc: Cheesy name, but a truly profound book. It is about the archetypes in every person’s life. And how knowing archetpyes can allow you to conquer life.
Best Quotes:
The Alabaster Girl by Zan Perrion
Desc: This is a tough book to describe it is a philosophical reflection on femininity and masculinity in the modern world. But most of all it’s about how we can find and appreciate human beauty more readily in our lives.
Best Quotes:
How to Decide by Annie Duke
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The Denial of Death by Ernst Becker
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Listened to a lot of Ye, Kendrick Lamar, Bob Dylan, and John Mayer.
...What did you expect tho
A short essay about witnessing beauty:
An article about how to live in the fourth dimension:
The Trick to deal with life’s difficulties:
🔥 What were this year’s highlights?
This year was a really really busy one. I’ve listed out 5 of my big highlights, but there are some big highlights that I haven’t gone public with yet.
I started the difficult work of healing my stomach.
Found a nutritionist who would help me
Started reading the research and getting a better understanding of general nutrition through people found through places like twitter.
I quit my job as a healthcare technology consultant slash data person and pivoted to growth marketing. I’m helping creators and startups create their growth engines. I’ve worked with many great people and been learning A LOT.
I learned a lot from CXL’s classes
I took Billy Broas’s Keystone Accelerator
Expanded spiritual and psychological understanding of myself
Learn more about Tibetan buddhism (binged David Chapman’s two web books about this)
Took Joe Hudson’s Art of Accomplishment Course
In the process of taking Joe Hudson’s Connection Course
More actively starting using Sam Harris Waking Up App
Created meta systems that have guided me deeply
PASTE
Refined this system and been using
CENT
Ce
Quarterly Review Character Creation
GTD based on wants
Quit data tech consultant job to pivot to growth marketing
Take CXL classes
Take Billy Broas’ Keystone Accelerator
Work with various creators — Nick Wignall and Mood Mastery for the longest time
Working with CommandDot
Learning from Asher founder of GotUsers, previous founder of DemandCurve
🥠 2. What concepts changed me and guided me this year?
1. Mindful Hedonism: Choosing Want over Should and Play over Hard Work
Beauty Needs a Witness. Great beauty, both with people and with the world around us
2. Concept-less awareness
3. Character-Creation w/ PASTE
4. Productivity and Happiness by Accident
5. How to be a God: 4th Dimension Anti-fragility
🔮 3. What intentions/ideas will guide me next year?
Train like an athlete
Early to bed, early to rise
Focus on supplementation to kill bad gut bacteria and grow the right gut bacteria
Eat extremely nutritious food like liver, egg yolks, etc to make
Deep Rest for the Mind athlete
Growth Marketing
New friend-making & Deeping Old Relationships
Specialist in they years, polymath in the decades
Productivity/Happiness by Accident
🤔 4. Open Questions
Where's the line between doubling down on your strengths and focusing on bottlenecks?
How can a person be aware of the unconscious scripts they play in their lives?
🍾 5. Celebrate and Gratitude
I’m most grateful for the people in my life. I’ve had a fantastic year and it’s all been because the people in my life. So thank you to you all. If I forgot you that’s almost certainly because of a brain fart...
Friends and Family:
Aniket Mutatkar, Kirti Mutatkar, Manoj Mutatkar, Sarah Ahmad, Nate Kadlac, Ritesh Reddy, Mitch Schwartz, Melody Vinci, Madebo Fatunde, Asher King-Abramson, David Mangold, Pronit Dutta, Nihal Satyadev, Sanjay Reddy, David Perell, Will Mannon, all my WOP mentor crew, my WOP writing mentees, Deepa Shiva, Kayla Hughes,Vivek Manickam, Akshay Desai, Adrian Cornejo, Idean Roohani, Baillie Aaron, Johnson Mulia, Evan Lim, Suresh kaka, Paul leCrone, Andrew Barry, Nick Wignall, Richard Nguyen, David Tran, Venk Potula, Rahul Chabra, DJ Fuji, Ben Wan, Anup Sarakki, Nilay Modi, Andi Docktor, Anika and Arnav Dashaputra, and so much more.