To some, the title might sound a bit dark—but rest assured, I mean it in the most positive sense…
It is so incredibly easy to get lost in life…
Everyone around us has so many expectations of us that we forget to fulfill our own.
The desire for money, love, power, respect… it keeps us in this hamster wheel we like to call “work-life balance”. But if you pause and step out of the hamster wheel, it becomes disgustingly clear that there is no balance.
This feeling of clarity is experienced time and again when someone who has held a job for years is let go or decides to take an extended break (2+ months) from their career. If you’ve done this, you’ll know what I’m talking about. You feel truly free for the first time in your life. You’ll find yourself doing things you have always wanted to do but never had the time do—painting, writing, reading, whatever. Even something as routine as cooking dinner becomes a joyful activity, where previously you might have dreaded it because it takes up too much of your time and you have to get up early for bed tomorrow. But now you can take your time and enjoy carefully arranging the garnish cilantro.
Time. Our most valuable asset. We spend it carelessly, chasing someone else’s dream instead of our own.
I started my adult life, like most of us, working to live. You need money to eat, after all. This quickly turned into living to work to fulfill others’ expectations of me. I found the light of money, prestige, and clout blinding my own aspirations. I thought I would be happier if I made more money, slept with a hotter girl, and flexed harder on Instagram.
None of it made me happy.
So in 2022, I decided to find a way to put an end to this. I thought I was succeeding at first, but eventually I failed.
So it goes.
Now in 2024, I’m trying again. And while doing so it is important to remind myself of where I was and where I am…
I have legitimately had a very eventful life so far.
Now, obviously, eventful means both good and bad experiences. Everyone has to have the bad with the good. It’s canon.
I’m writing this because some days I wake up and catch myself thinking: “Wow I’ve come far in life. I’ve had quite a come up, and have had the privilege to do and experience a lot of things in life that most people don’t.”
I want to capture that feeling. Save it. Use it when I need it the most.
I write this, but I don’t mean to flex or come off as a braggart. I write this blog primarily for myself; your reading this is a secondary, unintentional happenstance.
I think it’s good, every now and then, to remind yourself of the notable things you have done in life. The day-to-day grind makes us forget the things we have achieved—but is quick to remind us of things that cause us regret and cringe.
So here’s a list of notable things I’ve achieved or experienced in life:
- I’m good at making friends easily. Not everyone has this privilege
- I graduated with good grades and bagged a sought-after degree from a great school (Purdue University)
- Got to experience true love pretty early in life
- Got my heart broken, and overcame it in a healthy way
- Have had the opportunity to work in a wide variety of business departments by age 27: product design, sales, marketing, project management, and community—and saw success all around
- Got to travel to Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, India, and Nepal… all while making comfortable enough money working remotely
- I got to experience so much culture and food, and learned so many things about myself through the travel
- I got to indulge in the exploits of being in my 20s and dating so many amazing people—something I couldn’t have imagined at the beginning of the decade
- I experienced the freedom of freelancing
- Started my own business
- Succeeded in giving back to humanity by establishing a social community that has 10/10 wholesome vibes and full of supportive members from all walks of life. New friendships, budding relationships. Absolutely thriving, and I can’t wait to see the impact on the lives of people years down the line.
- Have a healthy relationship with an amazing partner who supports my dreams, strives to maintain a healthy, two-way relationship, and is great at communication. Not to mention she’s a bombshell. Incredibly lucky
- I changed careers twice in 5 years and have been fairly successful at doing so. So much so that sometimes clients seek my help without me having to do outreach. Again, incredible
- I learned Javascript and Python within a matter of 4-5 weeks and have an MVP SaaS tool ready to launch soon. It wasn’t easy, and I’m proud of this achievement. If this project brings in a modest, mostly passive, income, it will allow me to continue to explore experiences and projects I care about (instead of having to go back the drudgery of corporate slavery… ugh)
- Separated myself from a toxic family environment that was absolutely bringing down my mental health for years. It was a hard pill to swallow. But that is often the case with serious ailments. I could have gone down a very different path and I’m proud of my, often invisible, struggle and coming out of it
- Now I have set up my life in a way that lets me work on projects that truly I care about, without having to worry too much about money. An incredible privilege and an experience that I wish more people would let themselves have given the chance
This is a non-exhaustive list and I’ll try to add more as and when I recall. It’ll serve as a good reminder to myself.