25 incredible things I learned in 2017
And some I Re-learned
Each year brings with it some unexpected and yet welcome surprises. You never know what will happen or whom you may meet.
The thing that is certain is what you choose to learn. 2017 has been an incredible year for me because I have learned a lot of new things that will set my next year up pretty well.
I organized this list to the areas I learned the most in this year, from Writing, Acquiring Knowledge, Business, Self Development, Perspectives, and Mindfulness. There are many other areas I learned from as well, but these consistently expanded my knowledge.
So without further adieu, here are 25 incredible things I learned in 2017, and some I relearned.
Writing
#1- Writing consistently is an asset.
The act of writing helps you in more ways then you know. The physical act of writing brings the info you are writing to the forefront and triggers your brain to pay close attention.
In March I started writing consistently, it made me want to read more and thus made me want to write more. This year was the most I have written in years, and I am grateful for it.
#2- Grammarly.
I came across this app from reading various articles. I kept hearing writers say how much they love this app, so I purchased it in October, and I love it.
I didn’t realize how much I didn’t follow grammar rules. Utilizing this app helps me structure my writing in a significant way. I am learning a lot more about writing the more I write. I would highly recommend it.
#3- Think up ten ideas daily and write them down.
This tip I got from reading an article from James Altucher, an American hedge-fund manager and entrepreneur.
I started doing this in October, and I found it immediately beneficial for me. For example, if I am thinking of articles to write, this exercise stimulates my mind tremendously. I don’t usually stop at ten ideas I just use ten as a minimum.
I find myself am thinking outside the box more often and am looking forward to my creations.
Acquiring Knowledge
#4- Twitter is excellent for researching, right behind Google and YouTube.
Twitter is not just a place you post bullshit or say what you’ve eaten recently and share food pics, yes people do that, but it is honestly much more.
Twitter has an incredible reach, regarding its usage. Depends on what you are researching you will find relevant information.
Just by typing the hashtag(#) or what you’re looking for in the search field and reading the conversations you will learn a lot. You will see what people are talking about. As in the example below.
You can read the top news, the latest news, people talking about the topic, photos, videos, and news in general.
You will find a lot of drivel too, but it comes with the territory. Also, you can see what’s trending in your region or worldwide and connect with interesting people and various experts.
Twitter is an excellent source of interesting articles that will take you to a place of discovery that you never knew about previously.
#5- Practice daily experiments and recording them in a journal.
I will try a series of different things throughout the day and see how it makes me feel. The stuff I liked I keep doing, the others I discard. I have done mini-experiments throughout the day in previous years, but I never use to record them in a journal until this year.
My best moments with this exercise is when I do a review for the month, and I see the beneficial outcome of the good ones.
#6- Work with the basics to increase your learning.
When you first start to study a subject or field, it seems like you have to memorize everything. The good news is you don’t. Keep in mind that the many things you thought you had to remember are just various combinations of the core principles. Once you confidently know those core principles, your understanding of the subject matter will be more natural.
Business
#7-Weed industry will be booming next year in Canada.
According to a study by Deloitte, the Marijuana industry in Canada could become a 22.6 billion dollar industry. It will officially be legal to spark up in Canada Approximately June 1, 2018. Legalization will be massive on many scales. It will not only be a new industry but will additionally spark new growth and opportunities for many people in various sectors.
Interesting enough people won’t have to fly all the way to Amsterdam to be able to smoke in the open or worry about the ramifications in the United States where it is legal in some states but still illegal federally.
#8- Toronto will become a major player in the tech industry.
There is a tremendous pool of talent coming out of Toronto, it is cheaper to live in than San Francisco. And the Ontario government is investing heavily in this industry. Plus Toronto is a world-class city. A note of disclosure, I currently live in Toronto and am excited about these opportunities, but it is a great place to be right now.
#9- Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain.
There is so much to learn about this game-changing technology. The chart below gives a good summary so that you can get the gist.
Self Development
#10- Schedule for the year.
There is an actual saying;
“Whatever gets measured will get done.”
I haven’t been active in this area in years past. However, I now understand the advantage of this strategy. Businesses run this way. They have their outlook for years out and merely execute as per plan.
Once I start to deliberately plan my events/goals on a calendar it makes them easier to execute. It was not hard being in the gym or working on a project once I realized it was on my schedule.
#11- Listening to Podcasts at 1.5x is incredible.
I have listened to a lot of podcasts this year, and I love them. I used to listen to them at regular speed and enjoyed it. However, there was so much more I wanted to hear. One day I was listening to a snippet of Tim Ferriss Podcast, and he mentioned to listen to your podcast at a faster speed.
At first I thought it was crazy, so I didn’t experiment with doing fast listening.
Weeks later as I was washing dishes, I put on a podcast and went to rewind 15 seconds button and accidentally clicked the speed button. When it went to 1.5 it sounded weird at first, however I quickly got used to it.
That tip Ferriss gave was essential. It is single-handedly the reason why I can listen to a lot more material.
#12- Action cures fear.
“Ask, and ye shall receive- act on it, and ye shall prosper whether that be in the success or the lesson of failure.” — Anonymous
Right now is always the best time to act on your primary aim. No matter how much I study, I will never have all the information. No one is ever 100% ready.
I already knew the benefits of action, but I must continuously relearn this lesson yearly because fear and self-doubt can make you quickly forget.
Ideas are so commonplace; yet the execution on them are rare. The speed of implementation is what separates highly effective doers from dreamers. It is best to get things done in the present, and not get used to deferring things to the future.
Learning is great, but the only way to make any real progress is if you stop reading and start DOING, make it happen now.
“Hear something, you forget it. See something, you remember it. Do something, you understand it.”
#13. You have to invest in your success in a big way.
One of the differences that separate us from massively successful people is the level of training they have received.
CEOs, high-level performers and professional athletes hire trainers and coaches. This action is instrumental because they know the power of investing in their success. Just One piece of info learned through your training can reap huge rewards.
You never know what can give you an advantage.
#14- Find a “dream killer.”
Dream killers seem to be a dime a dozen. People will hate you for virtually everything. In this case, The “dream killer” is the person you know, someone whose opinion you respect. That will give you sound advice that may go against your plan.
A Mentor is an excellent example of this, when your idea may not be so sound. Talking with people who are not in your same emotional situation as you will provide you with enormous perspective. You might be super excited about that “Ice cream soda shop business,” but that dream killer might hit you with some logic by saying “Who the hell wants to buy ice cream soda?”.
After their advice, you can scrutinize your idea to see ways you can make it work, or you can abandon it. That is left to you.
#15- Setting a reading goal will improve your life.
A reading goal was one of the more essential habits I learned this year. It all started in January when I read an article that said you should read a minimum of ten pages a day before bed. I did that and went well beyond the ten pages. Not always at bedtime though.
I started carrying books everywhere like I did in years past. My goal is one book a week from this day on. I won’t wait until the new year there is no time like the present.
#16- Travelling is not as expensive as you may think it is.
Photo by Valentina Locatelli on Unsplash
There is always an affordable way to travel. It all depends on your comfort. I used to think it was costly to travel.
Last summer my wife and Kids went back to New York City for an extended visit, it had been three years since I last visited. I am a family of 5 now. Wife and three kids. And I am inspired reading about families that travel with the same amount of kids like me and go everywhere. When I understand how they afford to do it, I am amazed how easy it is.
Perspectives
#17- Nothing is as it seems. Ask questions to uncover the truth.
Sometimes things are not what they appear. Nothing is ever just black and white. There are greys and other colors thrown into the mix.
I find myself asking more questions about life, spirituality, politics, business and nearly everything. In the age of information, a lot of things can be misinformation.
Nowadays people prefer a pundit who is confident to one who is accurate and pundits are happy to oblige. For example, Trump proved anything is possible if you lie or try. A lot of people thought he was going to lose yet he won.
Simply put; no one knows anything. There are some that are surer than others, but there is no way to know everything with absolute certainty.
“We’re all just guessing, but some of us have fancier math,” — Josh Brown.
#18- 5 reasons why you fail
According to Godin, five reasons you might fail to become the best in the world include:
You run out of time (and quit)
You run out of money (and quit)
You get scared (and quit)
You’re not serious about it (and quit)
You lose interest (and quit) — in other words, you quit
#19- Do something every day that terrifies you.
In relation to #20, I am not the only one who is afraid to fail. It can feel embarrassing to do so. But it is necessary. I learned that those lessons you gain through failure are what leads you to success.
Doing something everyday that terrifies you can increase your success rate by increasing how much you fail.
I realized the best way to do something is to fail in public; you learn the lessons to improve immediately from those failures.
So
Make that call.
Ask that question.
Pitch that idea.
Post that video.
Start that podcast.
Learn that skill.
Start that business.
Whatever it is that you aim to do, just get it done. End that inner conflict, The anticipation of the event is far more painful than the event itself. In most cases, your fears are unfounded.
#20- A lot more people are nervous at networking than you think.
“A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.” — Tim Ferriss
Knowing this will calm your nerves when meeting new people.
It is ironic. Nowadays we are so connected via our smartphones, yet it seems people are more afraid to communicate in person. In recently going to a few networking events I am amazed when I notice people nervously clutching their phones, as a “crutch,” and when someone goes over to talk with them, they light up as if being rescued.
I am no expert networker, but I am comfortable talking with others because I like to listen. When I ask questions, I often hear different people say “ I am nervous at these events” and I reply “Trust me you’re not the only one.”
Mindfulness
#21- Summarize what you consume.
We are bombarded with so much information nowadays. Via notifications, social media, TV, books; you name it. I learned a very useful trick in August, and that was to summarize what I was consuming in approximately in 2–3 sentences.
This trick is helpful for me when I am scanning, reading or taking in information continuously. It is easy to get lost in this age of information we are in. When I started to summarize my consumption, I started getting better with my information recall.
I also became more selective in the information I was consuming. I guess this was due to me growing more mindful of my content instead of aimlessly watching or reading.
#22- Take a phone fast.
Studies show that we spend upwards of 6 hours daily looking at our smartphones. In February I downloaded an app called Moment that tracks your phone usage. Because I was using my phone too much and felt I needed to track how much time I was spending.
When I started to track it, I was at roughly 5–7 hours daily. It’s crazy right? I find it useful to measure my usage because it will keep me from going overboard.
The thing is that our phones are becoming utterly indispensable. Besides the obvious communicating, I use mines for reading, researching, banking, writing, etc., It’s getting to a point where the phone is another appendage.
I learned a tip from a friend of mines who meditates often. They told me to take a phone fast. The same way you should fast for your health at least once a month, fasting from your phone will be just as beneficial. He recommended once a week for optimal results.
I am not on that level of giving up my phone for a complete fast once a week, but I am working towards it. I do small phone fasts a few hours a day. And weekends 6 hours. During that time I put my phone in a drawer and don’t check on it for a bit. I aim to build up to a 24 hour period of phone fasting per month.
#23 -Take the time to breathe.
I learned this when I took a Bikram yoga steadily for two months this year. The instructor showed us a 5 step breathing technique that he uses to center himself. He said;
* Find a quiet and comfortable place, preferably an area with plenty of fresh air.
*Breathe a deep full breath for around 5 seconds and let the air fill your belly not your lungs, this way the air is flowing through your entire system;
* Then hold your breath in for twenty seconds.
* Afterwards, slowly exhale all of the air out.
* Repeat this ten times.
I do this when I want to relax. It is quite useful.
#24- Embrace simplicity
I got this right off of the website mnmlist.com. It is a useful guideline when decluttering.
mnmlist: less
Stop buying the unnecessary.
Toss half your stuff, learn contentedness.
Reduce half again.
List 4 essential things in your life, do these first,
stop doing the non-essential.
Clear distractions, focus on each moment.
Let go of attachment to doing, having more.
Fall in love with less.
In addition,
Eliminating the excess bottom 30 percent of activities will be great for you. This can help you can focus on what’s important.
#25- Gratitude is a great gift to give yourself
I am grateful for my wife.
I am grateful for my kids.
I am grateful for my health.
I am grateful for mindstate.
I am grateful for my ambition.
I am grateful for my books.
I am grateful for peace in my life.
I am grateful for the will to want to improve.
I am grateful for my options.
I am grateful for friends.
I am grateful for so much.
There is so much to be grateful for, so be sure to give the gift of gratitude to yourself.
