2022 has proven to be a year filled with tumultuous events, filled with unpredictability and uncertainty. The end of the year offers an opportunity to reflect on what happened, what we can learn from, and determine how we want to take that knowledge into the future. With the volatile year, I wanted to share some of my lessons in the form of principles that I want to apply in 2023.

The year started with what felt like an endless search for post-school tech roles while subsequently coming out of a relationship, driving feelings of instability and uncertainty about what the future held (if you know me, you know much I love planning ahead). After months of interviews and chats with various companies and exciting teams, I was able to join the Wealthsimple Crypto team with the aim of helping to build a user-friendly onboarding ramp into the Web3 space for Canadians everywhere.

With my future set in stone (or so I thought), I decided to take some time to explore the world with some of my best friends. This proved to be one of the best experiences in my life, navigating the canals of Amsterdam, walking amongst historic sites in Berlin, and experiencing the dolce vita in Italy. It allowed me to finally take a breath and take in the scenery.

Coming back to Canada, I was eager to jump headfirst into building with my new team at Wealthsimple. Instead, I was hit with the news that I would be affected by a layoff that would eliminate 13% of the team less than two weeks from starting.

Despite the initial shock, I decided to waste no time and used it as a chance to explore new opportunities in product management. After a rigorous month of coffee chats, interviews, and case studies, I found a new role in product at a rapidly growing company.

Ever since joining this new role, I have felt a sense of stability, while also feeling enormous growth both personally and professionally. It has allowed me to explore new relationships, new interests, and continue to build up my product sense in an exciting and nascent space.

As a result of a year filled with ups and downs, it came along with many lessons that have helped me shape the principles which I will be taking into the new year.

From the past year, I’ve learned the importance of default optimism, which is the tendency to believe that one is more likely to experience positive outcomes than negative ones. This can be directed towards objectives you are trying to accomplish, the intentions of people around you, or even the direction of society’s progression.

While I think optimism should be the default, this does not mean that positive rewards will come without taking action, or that everything will go as planned. Instead, I take the approach of pragmatic optimism.

As Thomas Oppong put it, “Optimists believe they can overcome any challenge and see the good in everything. Pessimists believe they will never overcome their problems, so they don’t try. Pragmatic optimists avoid both reactions by not giving up on themselves or believing everything will be rosy from now on, but instead work to find solutions to their problems and remain hopeful for the future.”

In the past year, it is this pragmatic optimism that has proven to be essential in achieving my goals and dealing with unfortunate circumstances. It was this principle that helped me deal with instability at the beginning of the year, react to layoffs in the middle, and solve complex problems at work in the present day.

In an age where media headlines are often driven by negativity, and relentless hate is seen through social media, it is my hope that more people take on an optimistic mindset, pragmatic or not. Progress, whether that be technological or social, is driven by hope and opportunity, and the optimism that things will get better.

It is often believed that universities are the only places where we "learn" and we should then apply that knowledge at work. I think that thinking is quite flawed, as are the institutions in question (but that is a topic for another day). I have found that my most significant knowledge growth has come from pursuing personal interests outside the classroom, rather than relying solely on my formal education.

At a baseline, start by determining what areas you are interested in and what goals you have for yourself. Whether that means setting a 5-year personal plan for growth or just picking up a book to explore an interest. The most important thing you can do is set your direction and determine the game that you are playing in.

I am sure I am not alone in my flaw of having a million tabs open and aimlessly diving down rabbit holes around the web. I stay up to date on new technologies by reading articles and listening to podcasts, particularly on topics such as AI, start-ups, and technology's impact on the developing world.

Something that I have found to have an outsized impact on learning is to seek out mentors in your desired field, whether through social media, personal connections, or work. For me, this has taken the form of people I have had one-off coffee chats with or my managers. These individuals, with their firsthand experience, can greatly accelerate your learning and development.

Finally, I believe the most important thing one can do for their growth is to be put in positions in which you have a high frequency of decisions, especially in ambiguous, uncertain, or high-stakes situations. This was one of the largest factors in choosing a smaller company, rather than a large one in which you are restricted to your team or a pre-defined role.

Earlier in the year, I found one of my favourite tweets of all time. John Collison wrote, “As you become an adult, you realize that things around you weren't just always there; people made them happen. But only recently have I started to internalize how much tenacity everything requires. That hotel, that park, that railway. The world is a museum of passion projects.”

Now actually take a second to think about this. The coffee shop in which I am writing this article, the bridge you walk across every day, or the virtual worlds that we increasingly spend our time in. Every single one has been driven by individuals as they were pushing to make a change in the world, requiring an extensive amount of focus and hard work. Now, this sentiment is similar to other entrepreneurs, from Steve Jobs to John McAfee. The difference I love is that it shows that change is evident not only in rapid-growth start-ups or governments, but in the world around us.

In today's connected world, it's an ideal time to pursue your passions and build something, whether it's a solution to a global problem or a personal project for self-expression. The internet provides access to endless knowledge, and mentors are just a message or phone call away. Use these resources as fuel to better yourself and the world around you. As Michelle Obama wrote in Becoming, “You may live in the world as it is, but you can still work to create the world as it should be”.

As we look back on the past year, let's make a resolution to make 2023 one of the best yet. It's time to take control and actively seek out knowledge, growth, and opportunity. Let's get back to building and making a positive impact on the world.

So, what passion project will you create that will leave a lasting legacy in the "museum" that is our world? What will you build that can stand the test of time?

As a recap for 2022, I have also shared some areas that I have become really interested in heading into 2023 and some resources around them here.

This post was written in conjunction with ChatGPT. All ideas and thoughts are my own, but I utilized ChatGPT as a writing partner to formulate thoughts and improve conciseness. On the same note, the header image was also created through the open-source library Stable Diffusion.