Juan David's Newsletter - January 24, 2020
Giving Up Optionality: Updating 2020 (Annual Review 2020)
Hey everyone,
If you’re starting school tomorrow, remember to ask or answer a question (or say something dumb) on the first day of class. Do it and build momentum.
I’ve realized that if you don’t, you get scared and never talk again. I’ve also realized that classes where I talk more turn out to more enjoyable.
🤠
The second semester starts tomorrow, and I have few updates:
1) The calculus proficiency exam didn’t go well (reflection on today’s essay).
2) I’ve been preparing for my biophysics research. I’ve been learning Linux, biology, and simulation software.
3) I finished an essay about my 2020 where I summarized the year, reflect on the positive and the negative, and set goals for 2021.
I would love to hear your thoughts or feedback on the essay by replying to this email, leaving a comment below, or sending me a tweet.
Giving Up Optionality: Updating 2020
If you prefer, you can read this essay on my website.
I was excited about 2020, but then...I got more and more excited.
As convoluted as 2020 was, it was a year to be grateful for all the things that happened. This was the year I graduated from high school, I started college, I started sharing my ideas online, I started making videos, but it was also the year of a pandemic, my grandfather’s passing, and overall a foundational stage for years to come.
If we survived 2020, it means we learned many lessons that strengthen us.
Updating 2020 will focus on three parts: 1) 2020 Recap, 2) On Curious Equilibrium (Positive/Negative), 3) Goals for 2021.
I also shared my Spotify Top Songs of 2020, favorite books, and most popular video.
Curiosities 📹👨💻⏰
1. When To Start a Company? Before or After Getting A Job?
Last year, I had an insightful conversation with a good friend from college about when to start a company.
We both have different strategies and opinions, and that’s why I sat him down to continue the conversation and have a thoughtful disagreement.
Watch this video to learn the pros and cons of starting a company before/after getting a job as well as how to recover after startup failures.
PLUS! This video is worth watching for this dude’s personality.
2. How to Create an Internship?
If you want to get an internship, what do you do? Apply, right?
I want to do the opposite and create the internship. I’ll be sharing the entire journey in this thread.
If you’re looking for an internship or job, this thread might give you a new perspective.
3. Giving Up Optionality
My realization when writing this essay is how unintentional I was this year, meaning I didn’t have any clear or specific goals, I kind of knew what I wanted to do and accomplish but few of these goals were written nor had a plan. I hoped that if I put it in the work, they’d be accomplished. I couldn’t have been more wrong...
Looking back, this was largely on purpose because I feared limiting myself to things I wasn’t sure I wanted to do. I realized I need to be super specific with my goals and if I’m going to do something, I should go all in.
I used to think that if you were broad, you would get more opportunities, but I’ve realized the opposite is true.
This isn’t just me. This is a phenomenon my entire generation is facing, which is our unwillingness to commit, and our eagerness to keep our options open.
I’ll be honest.
I feared committing to sharing my ideas online, such as writing on my website, publishing newsletters, and making YouTube videos. All I wanted was to keep my options open, and as many open doors as possible.
However, the best way to open doors in the future is to close as many doors as you can in the present.
But if I want to increase the quality of my life, work on “important” and “meaningful” work, and help others, I need to commit! To commit to a field of study. To commit to projects. To commit to commitment.
This isn’t commitment for commitment’s sake because if I commit to the wrong activity or endeavor, I will have still learned to commit.
I want to do the type of work that requires working on important problems and being emotionally involved.
And my work will require commitment.
Excerpt from Giving Up Optionality: Updating 2020. If you skip this week’s essay, here’s your second chance to read it.
You can never be as bad as they say. You can never be as good as they say. Whether positive or negative, take praise as neutral.
See you next Sunday,
Juan David Campolargo