2011: Just the Beginning

I turned 20 this year. Looking back on 2011, it seems losing my teenager label and turning the page onto the third decade of my life (20′s – often labeled the greatest and most fun), made me make a lot of unique and heavy decisions that will – without a doubt – reflect on who I am for the rest of my life. Not yet old enough to legally enjoy a beer with friends and colleagues, I made a firm decision to pursue my passion of entrepreneurship full-time and left school after my sophomore year at Babson.

I had gigantic goals for myself in 2011 – many of which were seemingly impossible.  Through that decision to bite down hard, decide what I truly wanted out of my life and really pursue after my goals, its many sacrifices, and countless days, weeks, and months gone without rest, it feels good to be able to reflect on the last 364 days with some sense of accomplishment.  Just around this time last year, I started getting plugged into the startup scene in Boston and took my first dive into tech. I knew nothing about UI/UX, engineering, and certainly nothing about how to build a product.  Hell, last year, I was rejected in getting into Babson’s entrepreneurship society.

There are a couple of things I am very proud of myself for having done in the year of 2011 that I believe had the greatest impact on getting me to where I am now:

• From November ’10 to January/Feb ’11, having spent 8 hours a day on top of classes and 12 hours a day on weekends and during winter break teaching myself the fundamentals of web development through Michael Hartl’s Ruby on Rails guide. These three months didn’t make me into a proficient developer, but rather allowed me to understand the fundamentals and insight on back-end development which ended up playing a large part in allowing me to develop a great relationship and partner chemistry with my now tech co-founder, Murry, in February.
• Knowing what I wanted to do in life, who I wanted to become, and deciding to drop out of college once I realized my goals and current path (education in academia) were not complementary.  I want to be the greatest entrepreneur and innovator of my generation.  I believe starting out earlier than the rest gives me a head start in a setting where we all have only a finite amount of time.  Once my understanding of failure became greater than my fear of failure, it became a clear choice.  I would rather die knowing I pushed myself forward until failure than being ordinary and not knowing what it feels like.

However, there are several things I failed. Obviously, they are part of my 2012 New Years Resolutions:

• Managing and setting expectations.  This bit me on the ass quite a few times this year for the first time in my life from professional settings such as staying on the same page with my teammates, to personal ones with family and friendships.
• Bullshitting to myself that it’s impossible to fit in extra time into living a healthy and sustainable life schedule. 2pm-8am schedule is NOT healthy nor sustainable.  Also, after 2 years of football then 4 years of rugby from high school into college until leaving for the Valley this past May, I am in the worst physical shape of my life – at the age of 20! I will eat healthier, sleep sufficiently, and spend time in the gym frequently.
• Celebrating the most miniscule of achievements. Just as choices imply sacrifices, celebrations imply complacency. It’s a dangerous drug. I must to learn to keep my head down and keep moving forward.
• Being a less-than-satisfactory friend, son, and brother. This is in-line with me bullshitting to myself about my lack of time. I failed to keep in touch with some of my best friends from the previous years in 2011, and largely due to my fault, lost touch with great friends. I plan to repair these relationships as well as being a better family member to my parents and younger brother.

For me, 2012 is the Year of Discipline. My career and life goals are complementary with the root of discipline. Many of my faults and mistakes sprout from my lack of discipline in certain areas. I’m only getting older and need to live as a driven and disciplined adult, no longer does just being a driven young adult work for me. It shouldn’t.

Here’s to the New Years. Bring on 2012. Friends, I hope you achieve everything you want and more this upcoming year.