23 years in, Decades* to go.

As we complete another orbit around the sun, I felt like sharing the lessons and realizations that have marked this passing year.

2023 has been truly transformative for me on a personal level, characterized by significant shifts in my mindset. Following a challenging 2022—graduating from college amid a pandemic, securing a decent job, and relocating to Chennai (grateful for these opportunities, yet sensing something missing)—I entered 2023 without specific plans due to uncertainty about my next steps. Engaging in activities like staying informed through news, exploring startups and business models, and undertaking hobby projects occupied my time.

Continuing my role as a Design Engineer at MaDeIT until July, I returned home briefly before embarking on a Master’s program at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) later in July.

IIST

Pursuing my aspiration to study at an institution like an “IIT” led me to IIST. However, upon commencing classes, I quickly realized that the academic environment here was markedly different. Adapting to this new teaching style took a few weeks, particularly since I had been out of touch with academics for the past two years. Reacquainting myself with the basics and unlearning inaccuracies from my undergraduate studies became necessary. As time flew by like a hypersonic jet, quizzes and assignments piled up and I truly didn’t know how I completed all of those on time.

One aspect I truly enjoyed at IIST was the engaging assignments tailored to each subject, facilitating a deeper understanding of concepts and the effective use of tools.

Realizations:

After navigating this year, here are my realizations:

1. Faced a few significant personal challenges that profoundly impacted my mental health for several months. Although these issues are not entirely resolved, after meaningful discussions with my brother, I have found closure and am moving forward. This experience underscored the importance of living in the present rather than dwelling on the past.
2. The time required to acclimate at IIST made me realize the need to unlearn incorrect concepts swiftly and learn new ones even more rapidly to enhance productivity.
3. Creating wealth: Realizing that money is a by-product of the value you create for other people is one of the hard-hitting lessons that I learned in 2023. It made me think about creating wealth from a whole new perspective and reconsider my approach to making money in the future.
4. Taking my financial health seriously since my time at MaDeIT, I found the abundance of financial “content” online overwhelming. Consequently, I decided to reduce exposure and focus on a few key principles that truly make a difference: Live below your means, Spend less than your salary, and Distinguish between good debt and bad debt.
5. Physical and mental health: Recognizing their interdependence, I’ve learned that both must be addressed simultaneously. My personal experience over the past six months, where improvements in mental health and mindset positively impacted a physical health issue, reinforced the importance of caring for and enhancing both aspects to avoid regrets in the future.
   • Things helped me take care of my mental and physical health:
     • Consuming social media content mindfully and keeping an eye on screen time.
     • Cutting down on content, information that makes you feel bad.
     • Eating healthy food and avoiding junk.
     • Planning things in advance and using the available tools effectively. (by tools, I mean, the things I use to get things done. It could be a towel, software, hardware etc.)
     • Having an exercise routine.

Note

1. The title was inspired by an unlisted CRED YouTube video.
2. ChatGPT is used to polish the sentences, but the contents are mine.