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30 Bits of Advice for 30 Years

· Frankfurt, Germany · HN, Lobsters

I’m turning 30 this year.

Inspired by Kevin Kelly’s incredible 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice1, I collected bits of advice I’ve picked up over the years—mostly by people wiser than me.

Here they are, in no particular order:

  • Communication is your most important skill, get good at it.
  • Be kind first, be right later.2
  • Don’t make your problems other people’s problems.
  • Read more books.
  • Help others succeed, and they’ll help you succeed in the long term.
  • It’s only awkward if you make it awkward.
  • When giving presents, the perceived value counts, not the actual value (this goes in both directions).
  • Your vacation starts when you leave your house and ends when you’re back in your house.
  • People care more about stories than facts.
  • Find someone outside your bubble that you can talk to and make sure you’re both able to understand where the other comes from.
  • Think of yourself as the person you want to be, not the person you are.3
  • Trust is the most important ingredient when building a team.
  • Always choose the long-term option to leverage the compound effect.3
  • Create systems instead of chasing goals.3
  • Don’t let your expenses rise as fast as your income.
  • Make time for your brain to work without distractions to allow the mind to wander.4
  • Less is more.5
  • Always expand your knowledge, skills and network to be ready when opportunities arise.6
  • Curious people are smart. Be curious.7
  • Don’t be afraid to look stupid.8
  • Keep a can-do mindset.9
  • Don’t get discouraged because of existing work. Instead, try to find ways to put your own spin on it.
  • It’s never as easy as it looks.10
  • Perfection is the enemy of good.11
  • Good design requires as little cognitive overhead as possible to use.12
  • When creating, take all the shortcuts you can to get a prototype which you can iterate on.
  • Under-promise and over-deliver.
  • Always do extra.13
  • Keep a brag document.14
  • Surround yourself with people who are passionate about their work.

Thoughts? I’d love to hear from you!

  1. The Internet Archive has the full version. ↩

  2. See Why Facts Don’t Change Our Minds. ↩

  3. Atomic Habits (Clear, 2018) ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. See The science of why you have great ideas in the shower. ↩

  5. See Adding is favoured over subtracting in problem solving ↩

  6. See How to Create Luck ↩

  7. See Why Curiosity Is Better Than Being Smart? ↩

  8. See Willingness to look stupid ↩

  9. See The most powerful word in the world ↩

  10. See Harder Than It Looks, Not As Fun as It Seems ↩

  11. Philosophical Dictionary (Voltaire, 1764) ↩

  12. The Design of Everyday Things (Norman, 2013) ↩

  13. See Always do Extra ↩

  14. See Get your work recognized: write a brag document ↩