16 Thoughts for 28 Years on Earth
In the grand scheme of the cosmos, our time on the big blue marble is short. And for that reason, it deserves to be savored, cataloged, and reflected upon.
This week is my birthday. I’m turning 28 years old, which in the birthday power rankings is probably somewhere in the middle of the pack alongside 22, 34, and 57. All perfectly fine years, but without the pizazz of turning 21, 16, or even 25 — renting a car is an underrated perk of life. This is not an essay about ranking birthdays (btw, any birthday in middle school is undoubtedly in the bottom), rather I felt I could use this as an opportunity to start a birthday tradition of reflection.
In the grand scheme of the cosmos, our time on the big blue marble is short. And for that reason, it deserves to be savored, cataloged, and reflected upon. Plus, I also needed something to write about this week and you only get one chance a year to write about your birthday. Let’s jump in.
1. The single best purchase of my 20s cost me less than $200 — an Amazon Kindle. I’ve always loved reading, but this has supercharged my book habit. I’m not just excited to read, but I crave it. The investment has already paid off at a 50x clip and I’ve only owned my Kindle for a little over a year. If you want to cultivate a reading habit, it’s at least worth trying out.
2. Before proposing to my fiancé, I sought advice from other men who had recently proposed to their significant other. The one common thread between all of them was that from the moment they got down on one knee to hearing their significant other say yes, they blacked out. I thought this was strange and had complete confidence it wouldn’t happen to me. Then, of course, I blacked out, too. She said yes, by the way. I’m the luckiest guy in the world because of her.
3. This past year, we got a cat. Her name is Winnie. We love her so much and spoil her even more. Having her around has made our lives so much more rich. There’s something about caring for an animal which depends completely on you that gets you out of your own head in the best way possible. It’s tough to have crippling stress when Winnie wants to play or is sitting next to me at my desk, quietly napping.
4. In addition to reading more, writing has been one of the great re-found joys of the last year. As a life rule, I feel like “creating more than you consume” is pretty good. Writing has helped to inch me closer to that ideal.
5. The easiest way to get better at golf is by practicing one element of your game for 10 minutes every single day. I’ve been doing this for the last 10 months and it’s legitimately improved my game. I haven’t turned into Tiger by any stretch, but I’ve lowered my handicap by a couple of strokes and saved a bundle on range balls.
6. We could all use more sleep and benefit from better sleep habits. Plain and simple.
7. I’ve found the Peter Drucker saying, “What gets measured, gets improved,” to be true both professionally and personally. In a world of life hacks and productivity porn, the simplicity of just measuring your progress is liberating. No need to complicate things, just measure and improve.
8. Speaking of not overthinking, that’s also something I’ve tried to work on over the last year. It’s easy to use the veil of complexity as an excuse to not get started or give the appearance of work. In 99 percent of the cases, the best way forward is to find a quick, simple solution and then iterate from there. Complexity seems cool, but, in reality, is lame and will only bog you down. Simple makes you fast and puts you in a position to get better. Your first version of something will rarely ever be your final version.
9. The best movie I’ve seen in the last year is easily Dune: Part 2. The best TV show is Silo.
10. The urge to eat like a twelve-year-old never goes away. A night of chicken fingers and a DQ Blizzard remains absolutely undefeated.
11. My favorite thing I’ve written this year comes from the story of the 1999 US Open and is:
Golf is a family affair for us. But where I feel that connection the strongest is with my dad. From Snoopy clubs to caddying to the course, we’ve worn our way through fairways together. We’ve seen more shots than a CVS and more chips than the Lay’s factory. There have been highs, lows and many Uncrustables consumed walking to our next shot. Every time a golfer brings up their dad in a post-round interview or a TV camera pans to a proud pops watching his son putt out to win, I get misty-eyed. Then, I call up my dad just to tell him I love him and I miss him. It’s like clockwork for me and I don’t think I’m alone here, either.
Golf is a weird and frustrating game. There’s something about hitting a little white ball that breaks our brains, pushes our buttons, and makes every moment feel Sunday at Augusta. But that is all hogwash compared to sharing the game with the people we love.
12. I have a theory that you should always overbuy deodorant. This is because you never run out of deodorant at a good time. It always seems to run out right before a big presentation, trip, wedding, etc. Next time you go to buy deodorant, order an extra stick or two and thank me later.
13. Whenever I need a little push to go for a walk, run, or head to the gym, I think of this quote from Ed Thorpe: “I think of each hour spent on fitness as one day less that I’ll spend in a hospital.” For background, Thorpe is an über successful investor and a pioneer in blackjack card counting. His net worth is estimated to exceed $800 million. But that’s not even close to the most impressive thing about him. He’s 92 years old and looks like he’s in his early 70s. It looks like all those hours in the gym paid off.
14. Speaking of fitness and longevity, I think working out with the goal of a long life is massively underrated and requires zero justification. If all you do for the rest of your life is follow a basic weight training and cardio regimen, that’s wonderful. You don’t need to train to get jacked or to leave yourself splayed out on the floor from exhaustion (btw, if those are your goals, more power to you), just show up and sweat. It will always be better than nothing.
15. We overestimate what we can do in the present and underestimate what we can do in the future. Long-term thinking is hard. For some reason, it seems to short circuit our brains. Five years ago, I had adult braces and was still sleeping in my childhood bedroom. Tom Brady was still a member of the New England Patriots, Scottie Scheffler had just been named Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year, and WeWork seemed destined to take over the world. Now Brady is in the booth. Scottie has two Masters Championships. And Adam Neumann is trying to start a crappy WeWork clone because original WeWork turned out to be a tire fire soaked in free kombucha and cold brew. I also don’t have braces and live at home anymore, but you get the point.
16. It really does go by all too fast. Enjoy every moment. I know that’s what I’ll be doing as I enter year 28 on this beautiful planet.