I recently turned 30 in what was a month of milestones. As well as a momentous birthday, I celebrated my first wedding anniversary with my wife and had my first Father’s Day as a dad.
I decided to put pen to paper (figuratively speaking) and ponder over 30 lessons, thoughts, principles and quotes that I have come to appreciate over my 30 years on this planet we call Earth.
On Life
- Spend your time with people who add value to your life. Don’t waste time on those that don’t.
- Read books. Not only do you learn but they’re a great avenue to help you escape.
- If a book is bad, stop reading it. Life is too short to read books you don’t enjoy.
- Dads, take as much time as you can off work when your baby is born - whether that’s paternity leave, shared parental leave or annual leave. You’ll never get that time back.
- You can’t optimise every part of your life.
I’ve been guilty of trying to do this. Sometimes you have to let go and see what happens.
- Pause and think about your new idea for at least a week before committing.
Something I’ve had to learn over the years. At one point I owned a silly amount of domain names because I rushed to quickly to set up an idea I had, only to never touch it again.
- Enjoy sports but don’t let them consume you. When Cardiff lost, it used to ruin my Saturday. They’re pretty bad so that happened a lot.
- The best way to discover a city’s culture is through the food.
- Cats > Dogs
- As a new parent, everyone will want to give you advice but take most with a pinch of salt. Every baby is unique, you’ll learn what works for yours.
On Work & SEO
- Set clear expectations - at work and in your personal life
- Feedback is important - even if it’s uncomfortable.
- In-house > agency
- Forget vanity metrics. Connect your impact to what’s important to the business.
- Don’t copy what works well for others. Each site and audience is different; test and learn what works for yours.
- Try to finish every day at inbox zero. It’ll bring clarity and help you start the next day focused on what’s important.
- Keep a log of your wins, recognition and feedback you receive. It’s useful to take stock of what you’ve achieved and for when you are experiencing self-doubt or imposter syndrome. I call mine my “good vibes document” - I got the inspiration from Julia Evans’ ‘Brag Doc’.
- Say thanks and give recognition - even if it feels lame or insignificant. You never know what it’ll mean to someone.
- Tailor your CV for every job you apply for. A generic CV is obvious to a hiring manager.
- You don’t have to have a side project to be a successful SEO.
On Growth & Learning
- Get comfortable being uncomfortable. It’s where you grow.
- After every training course or piece of content you consume, ask yourself what 3 things you can implement today.
- Why is one of the most important questions you can ask yourself and others.
- Take notes. But don’t just take notes, make notes. Your notes should be atomic.
- Focus on systems, rather than tools.
Quotes & Inspiration
- “This too shall pass” - a Persian adage, but one of Abraham Lincoln’s favourite motos.
- “Sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.” - Benjamin Mee, We Bought A Zoo
- “Learn how to get stuff done” - Barack Obama
- “Every storm runs out of rain” - Maya Angelou
- “A fit body, a calm mind, a house full of love. These things cannot be bought — they must be earned.” - Naval