27 Lessons for My 27th Birthday

What I’ve learned so far, mostly the hard way. These are reminders for myself, but maybe one or two will help you too.

1. We’re all living life for the first time.
2. Go easy on your past self. Some lessons only time can teach.
3. You are not your beliefs, so let go of the wrong ones.
4. It’s your life. Listen to others, but you’re the one who has to live it.
5. Someone out there would trade places with you. Remember that on hard days.
6. Do it scared. You’ll be okay on the other side.
7. Get comfortable being embarrassed. It’s the price of trying new things.
8. Don’t wait for permission. Do it yourself.
9. Shipped beats perfect.
10. Get 1% better every day. It compounds.
11. Learn by building something you’d actually use.
12. Frameworks change. Fundamentals don’t.
13. Do more of what you love. It all connects eventually.
14. You don’t need a title to lead.
15. Write things down. Memory is unreliable.
16. Guard your attention. It’s what your life is made of.
17. Learn to say no, and mean it.
18. Make time to be alone with your thoughts.
19. Rest isn’t a reward. Schedule it.
20. Take the walk.
21. You probably don’t need the new one. The old one still works.
22. Check in on your friends and family. Distance makes it easy to drift.
23. Sometimes people don’t need fixing. They just need you there.
24. The truth can hurt.
25. Find friends who’ll tell you what you don’t want to hear.
26. Assume good intent. Most criticism is useful if you don’t take it personally.
27. Life is just a bunch of todays. (Janis Joplin)