23 Lessons I learned in 2023

Thoughts on personal development, philosophy and life

It's been quite a year in terms of personal and professional development. I quit my job, moved out, started college, started teaching, organized one of the biggest events in town, made a lot of new friends along the way, had a couple of failed projects, and discovered new parts of me seen never before.

Although a lot of great things happened this year, I went through a lot of uncertainty and difficulties, fear and sadness, but they only provoked me to dig deeper into my core and find my true inner self. As the year ends, I feel reborn and refreshed, ready to kick it into the new 2024 (I hope you are too!).

I’ve prepared one of my most scarce and important personal thoughts, conclusions and quotes to help you learn or recall important lessons that can be helpful in any situation.

Enjoy! ❤️

1. Be the initiator in social groups
   
   Stop waiting to be invited, called, emailed etc. Organize events, create group chats bring people together. No tennis club in university? Start one!
   

2. Slow down and try not to rush your projects. Also, don't chase the quick buck on any level of life - it will greatly affect the quality of the product/result.
   

3. Networking is not scary at all. We are all the same - people with passion, love, problems and successes...
   

4. Do not judge, respect everyone. Do not gossip. [Inspired by the The Four Agreements]
   

5. Include love in everything you do. Love the cup on your desk, love the leaves on the ground, love the mountain on the horizon.
   
   Love will save the world.

6. Do your best work, whatever the task. Otherwise, self-esteem hurts and satisfaction diminishes.
   

7. Do the hard work especially when you do not feel like it. This builds discipline.
   
   Maybe you've seen those New Year's resolution challenges like 75 hard and stuff.
   Maybe you picked one of them but decided to drop (let’s say) morning runs. The message is that you need to do especially the morning runs now. Do the shit work.

8. Learning without action is beneficial in a big way.

   I am tired of hearing how useless it is to consume content without acting on it (the statement became kind of viral in 2023). It is not.

9. Focus on relationships, health and freedom, also known as the three F's - family, fitness and freedom. It's the ultimate happiness cocktail.
   

10. Being happy is a skill.
    

    Aim to learn it, and appreciate what you have without dismissing desires.

11. Building something great takes time. Years. This is not scary, it makes it beautiful.
    
    If it was THAT easy, would it be interesting? No.

12. Take the good out of bad situations. If they didn’t exist nothing, would be alright.
    

13. Facetime, message and call people you care about or find interesting. Nobody has that important stuff to do, and no, you won’t humiliate yourself by checking up on them. Deepen your relationships, or else you will feel lonely.
    

14. It's important not to be afraid of cutting people out of your life. It's necessary to be a little lonely in order to find the right people. Once you find them, they will form the new you.
    

15. Analyse and question your beliefs. Whenever something stops you, irritates you or causes you anxiety, ask yourself, “Why do I think this is a problem? Is it really one?”
    

16. Less is more. Especially in a day and age where we are exposed to too much information - it is an anxiety machine. Aim for simplicity, sustainability and organisation.
    
    Delete all the apps that clutter your life. Delete any bookmarks you haven’t opened in the last 4 months, clean up your notes, and delete to-do's that have been sitting for more than a week.

17. Listen to your body. It’s a powerful machine and knows best, not the sleep tracker or the macros app.
    

18. Language is powerful. Do not hesitate to express yourself and be flawless when you speak.
    

19. Prioritize sleep over almost everything. There are many resources on the web about this but remember - sleep benefits EVERY single aspect of our body. To this day, nothing else is known to affect us in this way.

    (An exception is made if the aim is to wake at the same time)

20. When negotiating (or making friends) - think like the person in front of you. What does he want? What does he like? What does he hate?
    

21. People have insecurities and rarely care about anything but themselves.
    

22. Learn to be honest with others all the time. Then learn to be honest with yourself all the time.
    

23. Act like a free bird and don’t take anything too seriously. Do silly things because we are alive and we can.

I would love to hear your thoughts on any of these! Most of them seem to be rather philosophical and ambiguous, which I like, and some may not. I am open to disagreement and discussion. Let your new year be your best and stay relentless.

Ending the post with a quote I saw on Reels not too long ago

2023 was the warm-up. 2024 will be our prime 💪