I spent the first few days of 2022 going through my calendar of 2021.
My initial goal was just to create a list of all the founders I had met through the year. 1300+ founders interacted with me, and I met 600+ at least once. It was insightful to see that kind of volume objectively.
I even got a data-driven analysis of the flow from the 1300 first touchpoints to the 8 investments I did in the year.
I’ve intuitively known about this funnel since I started venture investing. But the objective analysis let off a chain of thoughts on venture investing in general.
The power of reflection was unleashed.
We are so caught up in our day to day lives that we never pause. Constantly moving, stressing, thinking about the next steps. Even time off is for vacations, which involves constantly moving, having fun, thinking about the next steps.
Getting off the treadmill of life helps you understand what the treadmill really is.
Is it working? Is it slow? Should you be running on a treadmill altogether?
We don’t realize that reflections are important. “What good is it to think about the past?”, we think?
But if you’re intellectually honest and objective, the outcomes could be rich.
Reflection should be your present talking to your past in an open, objective manner. Your present self is asking your past self questions, in an empathetic manner.
Empathy is important but all of us are judgmental. Not just to others, but a lot to ourselves. One of the reasons why people don’t like to reflect is because it is a mirror to yourself.
It can be harsh because you feel defensive.
People have various ways to reflect. Journaling, talking, sitting quietly are various ways to do this.
I found the calendar a very good way to reflect, as it’s my journal of time. I calendar everything I do. Going through it helped me think about every key event and decisions throughout the year.
It took me days, not hours, to reflect. It wasn’t easy. But it was worth it.
I think the first big outcome was how far I’d come in this year itself. Personal growth is something you rarely realize unless you reflect.
I also realized where I was spending my time, and where I actually wanted to spend my time. Those gaps are helping me reorient my coming year.
Even more importantly, it helped me understand where I wanted to spend my energies.
The process of reflection is critical and underrated. I strongly recommend doing it before we get into the thick end of this year.
Happy reflecting