At the end of every round trip around the sun, I write a summary of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt. They’re like software release notes and this is version 37. As I think of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt, I look for the biggest ways I’ve changed how I operate. To learn and not to do is not to learn after all.
On the face of it, this past year had a lot going on.
The craft of product management changed completely thanks to Large Language Models – both in what we build and how we build. I spent much of the year learning the new “what,” shipping two products that rank among the most meaningful of my career. I went through a full career exploration and made a significant change. Health stayed a high priority – walking more, eating better, being more thoughtful about what I put into my body and when. I made progress on some significant learning projects with my kids. And late in the year, I made a commitment to be the most patient version of myself with my wife – realizing, only 13 and a half years after marriage, that I’d had my priorities backward. Better late than never.
Any one of those could make for a significant year. All of them happened in the same twelve months. And of course, interspersed were all the expected fumbles, stumbles, and downs that are part of the day to day.
But when I look underneath all of what went well, there’s just one foundation – learning how to learn.
In every single case, the same process played out.
First, get clear on what I’m solving for – block out the noise, identify the real priority.
Second, break the goal into smaller commitments and make progress in daily increments, sometimes weekly.
Third, check in every week without fail. When setbacks inevitably come – and they always do – tune out the noise, focus on what I control, change what I need to, and recommit.
That’s it. That’s the whole system.
This blog started nearly 19 years ago from a simple realization – I needed to become a learning-focused person. I wasn’t one. And 19 years of daily writing later, I’m only now beginning to appreciate just how much learning how to learn changes a life.
I think it is the foundation of a life with agency. When you commit to learning in small, daily increments, the benefits compound in ways you simply cannot see when you start. You build proficiency through practice. You build insight through reflection. And slowly – thread by thin thread – you build the kind of quiet unshakeable confidence that flows from insight and proficiency.
Perhaps most importantly, you start to see yourself as someone who can make and keep commitments – the foundation of integrity. The kind that makes you a person of value to the people around you.
19 years in. Still learning that learning follows pain and that the obstacle is the way.
Still a beginner (maybe always a beginner?).
But finally, hopefully, learning how to learn.
(past birthday notes/version updates :) – 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31, 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23)
A Learning a Day 