My New Reality in 2024

How my sabbatical in 2023 influenced my ambitions

Last year was full of new experiences, but also quite a mentally challenging period. I abruptly found myself with a 2000+ hour surplus due to my decision to go on sabbatical. I often felt like I wasn’t doing enough with this abundance of time, while simultaneously lamenting that I was doing too much. 

I also had to actively resist the urge to disparage this “year off” as me simply standing still professionally. I definitely did not want to just end up trading my imposter syndrome for other self-doubts.

Here’s how this journey influenced my ambitions for 2024.

Less running, more walking

Prior to 2023 I would say I was running to keep up with the Joneses, but 2023 was all about getting acquainted with the “Walkers”.

I traveled over 70K miles last year, using Barbados and Manchester, UK as bases to explore regionally. 

In retrospect, that internal voice saying “do more” was misplaced

This extensive travel (including an unforgettable experience in the Arctic Circle, seeing the Northern Lights) continually immersed me in a wide array of cultures and lifestyles. It also led to me connecting with larger cohorts of like-minded folks than anticipated.

This cut across facets including age, profession, origin and race. Some folks were like me, in the early stages of trying something new, while others had been at it for years and had valuable insights to share. 

These interactions strengthened my conviction that rejecting “go big or go home” in favor of a more sustainable approach to my career and life was not just desirable, but feasible and distinctively rewarding.

Less DIY, more focus on highest value tasks

The allure of directly owning outcomes often had me operating at max speed. One consistent feedback item throughout my career was that I will jump in and run with any and everything you throw my way.

Perhaps as a holdover from my engineering days, I also often learn best in a DIY manner, embedding myself deeply into a project or process in order to understand it, getting so close to any stakeholders to the point that I could be them. This level of engrossment is not necessarily the highest value output for my time and effort, although it can often be fun and at worst, informative. 

Being increasingly targeted in how I apply my capability and knowledge means saying “no” (including to myself) more often, and frees me to focus on projects where I can uniquely add value.

This includes seemingly small things like building and maintaining my own personal website “just because” when tools like Squarespace can get me there in minutes, and for less than a latte at a hipster Brooklyn coffee shop.

This also enables me to amplify the work of those around me by enabling them to “lace up” more often, as we each have our own unique blend of high value skills.

Application over Novelty

I fundamentally believe there is a lot of high value “low-hanging fruit” in the world: the problem isn’t that the tech doesn’t exist, but more a factor of how inaccessible it often is, and how challenging it is for stakeholders to deploy capabilities to create impactful solutions.

I’m excited to begin partnering with my network on initiatives that expand access to those often left without in emerging markets. This could be a small business owner for whom technology is just an enablement tool. Or it could also be a first time founder facing product, operational or process challenges, faced with building out infrastructure that is taken for granted in other markets.

In addition to empowering others, I also want to build and launch my own products, working on small projects where I can deliver value within shorter time horizons than typical. Some of these initiatives may fail, but with multiple irons in the fire, I consider that to be a feature, not a bug.

Knowledge over credentials

I am incredibly proud of my amassed credentials, and acknowledge their ability to get me in a room that I wouldn’t otherwise be invited into. However, platforms like Coursera, Udemy and even YouTube enable us to be more targeted in our knowledge acquisition. They drastically lower costs (10-20x), reducing the barriers to entry and enable us to apply new skills faster than ever.

I leveraged this for hobbies during 2023, and I am now committing at least 20% of my time in 2024 to expanding my knowledge via these platforms. Looking to build on my Product Management background in payments, commerce and compliance-enabled blockchain products, I started the year diving headfirst into trendy topics like AI and GPTs, but also refreshing my skills in functional areas like Technical Writing.

Next Steps

I’m fired up for this year! It’s going to be uncomfortable for sure, but there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.

If you believe I could add value to you or others in your network, please get in touch. I would be happy to have an intro call to discuss ways we could partner. I also look forward to sharing more on my projects as they bake during 2024.

---