34 Mistakes I’ve Made on the Way to 34
A list of things I’ve learned the hard way
The great Admiral Hyman Rickover used to say that success teaches nothing; only failure is educational. I don’t know if that’s completely true, but I will say that my own short time on this planet has had its share of teachable moments rooted in mistakes, usually of my own making.
For going on 10 years now, I have written a piece on my birthday around the idea of lessons learned. This year, at 34, I thought I’d focus exclusively on my failures and what they’ve taught me. And I can assure you, 10 years into my career as a published author, 10 years into entrepreneurship, and going on 15 years with my wife and five years into parenthood, I have made lots of mistakes.
If I have been successful at all, it’s been through learning from these mistakes (painfully) and by benefiting from the mistakes of others (a less painful way to learn). With that, I share these things I learned the hard way…or continue to struggle with.
Also check out my pieces from 33, 32, 31, and however else long I have been writing this annual list.
- If I had to go back and give a younger version of myself one word of advice it would be: “Relax.” It’s almost preposterous how intensely, passionately, anxiously I was worked up about certain…
