Background

When I worked at NerdWallet I learned how company values are used to shape every day decisions. For example NerdWallet had a value of “Consumer, Company, Team, Self” which represented the order of prioritization of work based on person/entity it effects.

In a similar vein these values are the ones I admire and want to help shape my day to day decision making.

Values

• Leave things better than I found them

What this means to me be a positive influence for others. Clean up after myself. If someone needs help, help them. Be a good friend, partner, citizen. That sort of thing.

• Discomfort over resentment

An example of this is saying “no” to something I don’t really want to do (discomfort) vs saying “yes” and potentially doing the thing and feeling resentment

Corollary: Fuck yes or no

• One thing at a time

Multi-tasking usually results in doing many things poorly. I think I’m a huge victim of this. I can get bored doing one thing at a time but when I reflect back, the times I have given my all to one thing at a time (e.g when starting out my career doing Dev Bootcamp) it was soo much more effective. A lot of the last X years I’ve succumbed to multi-tasking and have felt less productive than ever.

• 1% better

If I want to improve at something I don’t need to strive for perfection just be a little bit better than I was the day or week before.

Corollary: Invest in yourself, Long term thinking, optimize for an outcome 5+ years for now. Relentless self improvement.

• Playfulness

I actively seek moments of laughter, playfulness, and light-heartedness, infusing my life with positive energy and respecting when my inner child just wants to have fun.

Corollary: What’s the most fun or funny thing I can do in this moment?

• The greatest wealth is health

Being mentally and physically healthy is my #1 priority above money, career, etc. It’s the core foundation for everything else.

Considering

• If you don’t fail you’re not even trying
• Rest at the end not in the middle

Quote from Kobe - he used to live by this. Don’t stop until the jobs done.

• Long term thinking
• Particularly when investing in yourself, optimize for an outcome 3-5 years
• What would Steph Curry do?
• He’s only a few years older than me but I’d definitely consider him a role model / maybe the person I most strive to live like
• Daily gratitude practice
• Vulnerability
• Willingness to sharing my thoughts and feelings even if they are uncomfortable or put me at risk for rejection of some format. This is really the full expression of myself.
• How you do anything is how you do everything

What this means to me is do things the way my uncle Warren would have done them (he was a super hard worker). Do things with excellence. This is the only value that immediately popped in my head when I first attempted this. Make my bed in the morning.

Corollary: Do things the right way Corollary: Use the right tool for the job

• I’m allowed to make mistakes

This is something I tell myself regularly to counter my normal perfectionist mindset