Another trip around the sun for me. Here are a few things I learned, believe, or hold tight to from my journey thus far.
Write more. I am a bad writer, which is why I rarely write. But after reading the few things i have written in the past, I quite admire them, so recently I have been writing more. Putting thoughts into written words also has helped me personally and professionally.
Marry early and marry well. Building anything worth it takes time, and that time is way more fun and fulfilling shared with someone you admire
No one is coming. I used to rely on coaches and mentors to tell me what to do next. Reality is no one will show you the ideal path for your life, you have to make fast decisions and not be afraid to pivot.
Reduce farm-to-table distance of your food. The best ingredients are always the closest to the source. This general guideline helps my family eat well.
Growth comes from discomfort. And aging comes from comfort.
Nutrition is individual. Experiment, document what works for you, and stick to it.
Motivation is a feeling, dedication is a behavior. Focus on the behavior, you will be able to control the feeling.
Hard thing rule. One of my family’s “rules” that came from the book Grit: everyone pick one thing that they enjoy doing and aim to challenge themselves to master that thing. It must require deliberate practice and you must do for at least 1-2 years. Mine for the past 6 years has been building blockchain tech to enable the freedom to transact future.
Fun thing rule. Another one of my family’s “rules” that came from the book Grit: everyone should be doing things they find interesting and enjoyable, even if it doesn’t seem that they could ever lead to anything serious. Each family member will choose their own fun thing. Mine this year is boating.
Novice mentality. Nothing more challenging than being a “noob”, and having that spirit for everything will expand your knowledge boundary.
Distance is the ultimate time machine. Living away from my family since I’m 15 years old has shown me how fast things change from afar. It’s like I go into a time machine, and whenever i step out, everyone’s older and in a different life chapter.
If it’s not an absolute yes, it’s an absolute no. Focus on the vital few vs. the trivial many.
Ninety minutes of focus time is gold. Manage to get that time in everyday and you will get anything done.
Discipline killer is the 2-consecutive negatives. If you miss training today, do not miss tomorrow, everything compounds.
1g/lb of bodyweight of protein. This has become common knowledge lately, specially in the tech community, but I have this guideline since the days of pro basketball
Intermittent fasting only works for cardio/HIIT workouts, and not heavy weight lifting. Again that’s what works for me.
Learn how to fight. It’s important to know you can crush someone, and just choose not to.
Men lead, provide, and protect their family. I live to be that man.
Tell me who you walk with, and ill tell you who you are. You are the average of the closest 5 people you spend time with. Choose those surgically.
Invest early, time is a beautiful thing. Time compounded is a wonderful thing.
Build & Iterate a product in public. It’s fun to make things people want, and also very humbling.
Making to the NBA is hard, really hard. All players I know that made it had to “all in” on the pursuit. But every single “all in” that made it, I know thousands more that did the same, did not make it, and are still having a hard time pivoting.
Have a blueprint. My family does a yearly blueprint retreat, where we go over our long-term (5 years), mid-term (3 years), and short-term (1 year) goals and micro-wins.
Attention is the ultimate resource. Take care of it.
Read. Read. Read. I read 5 books at a time, because I am a slow reader and get bored easily. It’s the best source of growth, so I learned how to read and digest information efficiently overtime.
ABCD. Most opportunities and wins will come from making connections across a diversity of subjects. ABCD = Always be connecting dots!
Take your coffee black. Sugar is a real killer!
Everything is temporary. Both good and bad things.
There is no place like America. Grateful for the opportunity of being here (shoutout Ferbers and many others). I aim to always be a net positive for this society, and that has been a great guiding principle.
Family is everything. I’m lucky to have a big family surrounding me, including from my wife’s side.
Cook good food and drink good wine. Those are the best memories, specially with the ones you love!
Grateful at 31. I will probably write this again at 40, let’s see what the next 9 years have in store for me.
Cheers!
Victor Rohlfs
