my 2021 reflection, better late than never. and better done than perfect. deal with it.

tldr: this is the tale of two 2021s

the best part about 2021 was watching the success stories. there’s nothing more fun than watching the underdog succeed - watching a new artist sell their first piece, watching a flipper do the seemingly impossible, watching others go from paying off debt to buying their parents homes.

but that’s only ever part of the story. one small part of one person’s long story.

as I reflect on what has been the craziest year of my life (by far), and gear up for what will no doubt be another wildly exciting, difficult, fun, and transformational year -- a clear theme emerges.

with great change comes growing pains.

while it’s incredibly fun to celebrate the wins, I don’t think there’s enough talk about the other side of “successes”. I’ve been doing a lot of personal reflection this year, and will use this piece simply to chronicle my own experiences - in the hopes of helping others feel less alone in their journeys, and more comfortable sharing both the good and bad experiences they’ve learned from. as we enter 2022, filled with the promise of what can be - I wanted to look back with clarity not just on the highlight reel, but the sacrifices, the areas of improvement, and most importantly, the growth.

while sometimes this looks like normalizing and disclosing the reality of losses as well as the gains (which is important), it can also look like the unintended or conscious consequences of the successes you do see.

for example:

• what you see: anon X can’t stop tweeting about the life changing money they’ve made this year. they went all in and it paid off and you’re wondering how you can too.

• what you don’t see: anon X has made life changing money this year by going all-in on NFTs. 6 months prior to their public success, they were sleeping 4 hours per night, constantly getting in fights at home and isolating from friends.

this leads us to ask a more interesting question than “is anon X successful?” which is, “what is success?”

this is important because it’s subjective. my definition of success will be different than yours, and will continue to evolve as time goes on. maybe that’s all life is about in the end. defining, redefining, and seeking success. most times, we’ll fall prey to either:

1. incorrectly defining

2. or over-optimizing for one portion of

success.

you see - it’s easy to get addicted to the chase. especially in the always-on, digital world of web3. crypto markets don’t turn off, we don’t clock out, and it’s impossible to keep up with all of the latest NFT drops. it can feel like the people around us are printing money, changing their lives or finding happiness.

but at what cost?

for me personally, it’s been thrilling to dive into web3 headfirst. there is a never-ending amount to learn and try, so many people to meet and learn from, and near-perfect freedom to explore it all.

in fact, many of the things I’d been craving - and what have brought me success before this year. and before you knew me. (remember, I only just joined Twitter in July 2021)

in 2021, I left not one but two roles in big tech, each for a progressively more “risky” bet on shifting the majority of my time closer to my personal values, closer to autonomy, and further from my comfort zone. to NFT twitter, leaving my final corporate job to venture into the unknown, beginning to take myself seriously as an artist (but never too seriously 😉 ), and assuming my role as the chief gm officer of the open metaverse was nothing but exciting.

in fact, so many people reached out to me to say they hoped to do the same - I knew it was not only right but necessary that I not over-glorify my own path, and certainly never impose decisions on others.

this is all to say, don’t judge a success by it’s highlight, and don’t idolize something you see other people accomplish. we’re all on our own paths, doing the best we can, and nothing is as simple as good or bad.

oh, and I’m sorry mom and dad, I know I’ve been bad about answering all the time, I’m working on it..

embrace complexity, embrace nuance, and free yourself from comparison.

LFG 2022,

LDF

my 2021 reflection, better late than never. and better done than perfect. deal with it.

tldr: this is the tale of two 2021s

the best part about 2021 was watching the success stories. there’s nothing more fun than watching the underdog succeed - watching a new artist sell their first piece, watching a flipper do the seemingly impossible, watching others go from paying off debt to buying their parents homes.

but that’s only ever part of the story. one small part of one person’s long story.

as I reflect on what has been the craziest year of my life (by far), and gear up for what will no doubt be another wildly exciting, difficult, fun, and transformational year -- a clear theme emerges.

with great change comes growing pains.

while it’s incredibly fun to celebrate the wins, I don’t think there’s enough talk about the other side of “successes”. I’ve been doing a lot of personal reflection this year, and will use this piece simply to chronicle my own experiences - in the hopes of helping others feel less alone in their journeys, and more comfortable sharing both the good and bad experiences they’ve learned from. as we enter 2022, filled with the promise of what can be - I wanted to look back with clarity not just on the highlight reel, but the sacrifices, the areas of improvement, and most importantly, the growth.

while sometimes this looks like normalizing and disclosing the reality of losses as well as the gains (which is important), it can also look like the unintended or conscious consequences of the successes you do see.

for example:

• what you see: anon X can’t stop tweeting about the life changing money they’ve made this year. they went all in and it paid off and you’re wondering how you can too.

• what you don’t see: anon X has made life changing money this year by going all-in on NFTs. 6 months prior to their public success, they were sleeping 4 hours per night, constantly getting in fights at home and isolating from friends.

this leads us to ask a more interesting question than “is anon X successful?” which is, “what is success?”

this is important because it’s subjective. my definition of success will be different than yours, and will continue to evolve as time goes on. maybe that’s all life is about in the end. defining, redefining, and seeking success. most times, we’ll fall prey to either:

1. incorrectly defining

2. or over-optimizing for one portion of

success.

you see - it’s easy to get addicted to the chase. especially in the always-on, digital world of web3. crypto markets don’t turn off, we don’t clock out, and it’s impossible to keep up with all of the latest NFT drops. it can feel like the people around us are printing money, changing their lives or finding happiness.

but at what cost?

for me personally, it’s been thrilling to dive into web3 headfirst. there is a never-ending amount to learn and try, so many people to meet and learn from, and near-perfect freedom to explore it all.

in fact, many of the things I’d been craving - and what have brought me success before this year. and before you knew me. (remember, I only just joined Twitter in July 2021)

in 2021, I left not one but two roles in big tech, each for a progressively more “risky” bet on shifting the majority of my time closer to my personal values, closer to autonomy, and further from my comfort zone. to NFT twitter, leaving my final corporate job to venture into the unknown, beginning to take myself seriously as an artist (but never too seriously 😉 ), and assuming my role as the chief gm officer of the open metaverse was nothing but exciting.

in fact, so many people reached out to me to say they hoped to do the same - I knew it was not only right but necessary that I not over-glorify my own path, and certainly never impose decisions on others.

this is all to say, don’t judge a success by it’s highlight, and don’t idolize something you see other people accomplish. we’re all on our own paths, doing the best we can, and nothing is as simple as good or bad.

oh, and I’m sorry mom and dad, I know I’ve been bad about answering all the time, I’m working on it..

embrace complexity, embrace nuance, and free yourself from comparison.

LFG 2022,

LDF