Hi everybody,
I am writing this on the last day of 2024. Somewhat symbolically - this will be my first post on this platform (I will post a bunch of older ones retroactively).
I hope y’all had a good 2024.
Well, I didn’t.
It was what felt like the hardest and longest year so far. But, as already Ralph Waldo Emerson put it:
“Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss.”
So, I am using this year as an opportunity to learn and sharing my journey. Here are 10 lessons I am going into the new year with.
I started this year with a plan to read 20 books. Not exactly scaling Everest for someone who loves to read like me – after all, crossed off 25 in 2023. Surely, twenty should have been a walk in the park. Well, it wasn’t. I ended up reading a grand total of four.
Sounds pretty bad? Maybe. But I’m OK with that. I didn’t have the energy or the mental bandwidth for books this year, and forcing it would’ve made reading feel like a chore. Instead, I chose to read tons of blog posts and research papers, quicker reads that met me where I was this year.
When circumstances change, your goals can change too.
This year was a grind, mostly because I wrote and submitted my PhD thesis – academia really is just an endurance test in disguise. Right after submitting, I fled to California for a short, much-needed break. I soaked up the scenery and connected with great people.
Sure, I caught the classic post-hustle cold - call it stress hangover - but I still felt more alive than I had in months. That experience gave me clarity: whenever I find myself spending time on things that don’t give me energy, I will either stop doing them immediately or give myself a deadline by when I expect to see a major improvement.
Spend the precious time you have on doing things that energize you.
This spring, before fully plunging into the work grind, I escaped to Barcelona for one of the world’s biggest bachata festivals. It was a blast, but more than that, I felt it really helped me enjoy bachata more and get better at it. The secret sauce? Immersing myself among dancers much better than me, observing and mimicking them.
To increase the rate of learning, find opportunities to mingle with masters.
This year, I dove into the post-PhD job market. Spoiler alert: it sucks. The overwhelming response was silence, with rejection as the runner-up. After momentarily feeling worthless, I decided to flip the script and turn it to my advantage. I started working on a side projects and focused on building my network. My experience so far has been that if you approach people you respect and share your passions and goals, they love to help and collaborate. This will create new doors to walk through.
If you don’t see the right opportunity, create it.
This year, I really gave intermittent fasting a serious try. I wanted it to work. The science is compelling: better gut health, improved metabolism, and maybe even longer health span. Plus, skipping meals saves time - you even shave off minutes on brushing your teeth! Objectively, it’s the closest thing to a free lunch (especially if you skip it!).
Well, it just did not work for me. I skipped breakfast for over six months, which was fantastic at first. Mornings became more energizing, and I loved the extra time. So far, so good. But, my focus would dwindle in late morning and by midafternoon, I would be a coffee zombie. Evenings? Hunger games. Without the games. I also lost a ton of weight, which certainly was not my goal given that I was skinny to start with. So, I ditched the habit, and felt more productive, and overall healthier, from then on.
Listen to advice but run your own experiments.
I grew up in a small town in southern Czechia but have spent the last eight years living abroad. Every time I’d return home for the holidays, it felt like another high-school friend was leveling up: proposing to their partner, getting married, buying a house, or raising a child - or three. For years, this triggered the worst case of FOMO.
This year, I decided to accept that I am simply on a different track. I have more freedom and flexibility, and this allows me to take on significantly more risks. It opens doors to better opportunities. This reframing made me realize that, right now, this is exactly what I want.
Live your life, not somebody else’s.
I’m grateful for the people in my life, but let’s be honest - they’re not perfect. There’s the forgetful friend. The loving family member who just doesn’t get my ambitions. The buddy who’s always changing plans at the last minute. The list goes on.
I think most of us go through life projecting ourselves and our wishes on people we meet. We expect others to follow similar patterns of thinking as we do. Until this year, I thought, ok that’s how things are, and maybe that’s somewhat annoying for both sides, but that’s it.
This year, I realized it’s more than annoying; it’s limiting. It holds back on the depth and quality of the relationships we develop with others. And, because of that, it is a very disrespectful thing to do.
Build better relationships by replacing judgment with curiosity.
This year was a blur of work, and, as you could expect, a lot of things got stranded by the wayside. I did not exercise much, reduced time spent on hobbies, and overall lived as a minimalist. Beyond my thesis, I barely wrote. But I did manage to carve out time for some travel, and these experiences turned out to be some of my highlights.
Chances are, you will always feel busy. Take time to think about experiences, milestones, hobbies, and ways of maintaining balance that matter to you and be ruthless about planning them in before they get crowded out. Don’t second guess.
Identify what matters to you and be uncompromising about protecting time for it.
Get a PhD, lead a few projects, or hit a milestone of success, and suddenly people assume you’re some kind of genius who has it all figured out. Most folks lean into this - feeding the image, dodging risks that might crack it. If you can be the smart one, why wouldn’t you, right?
But here’s what I learned this year: it’s often better to be taken for a little too dumb than a little too smart. When you’re not busy defending your "smartness," you’re free to ask naïve questions, poke at assumptions, and challenge the status quo. People let their guard down, show their real selves, and share insights they might otherwise withhold.
To grow, let go of looking clever. Sometimes, being “dumb” is the smartest move.
In June of this year, we launched Nucleate Netherlands, a part of a global trainee-led nonprofit empowering the next generation of life sciences talent. We are building a community for entrepreneurial students, PhDs and postdocs, giving them the resources to kickstart entrepreneurial journeys, beginning with their academic projects.
I joined the effort because I’m convinced Europe needs more entrepreneurship, and I wanted to spark change in the corner where I was this year - academic research.
Communities like Nucleate’s are exactly what the Netherlands and Europe need. We’ve mostly got the resources and the opportunities, but what’s missing is the ambition and entrepreneurial mindset. These are the puzzle pieces we need to cultivate.
Nurture entrepreneurial communities to fuel Europe’s innovation economy.
That was it, 10 lessons I am leaving this year with. I am excited for 2025 and wish you all to find ways to make it the best year yet!
Credits: The cover photo is by Marjan.
Martin (aka 'JJ')
