1 YEAR!

One year ago, I sat down and started typing.

No real plan. No grand vision. Just thoughts that needed somewhere to go.

What began as my personal diary somehow turned into this weekly letter that lands in your inbox every Monday.

It's been 52 weeks of showing up, thinking out loud, and figuring things out together.

Through the overthinking, the clarity, the obsessions, and the breathers - we've covered some ground, haven't we?

So, for newsletter #53, our first anniversary edition, I wanted to distill the most important lessons I've learned and shared.

These are my 22 biggest takeaways from a year of dialing in.

Let’s dive in.

(I tried to make these as bite-sized as possible and paired them with a framework, maxim, or quote so it’s easy to remember. I’ve also attached the names of the individual newsletters (dials) I took them from.

Oh and yes, did a bit of re-designing. 😉)

1. "You don’t stumble into clarity—you tune into it."

From: Trajectory > Position, Know Thyself, You vs You

Clarity isn’t a gift. It’s a reward.

The radio station analogy says it all:
“Life is full of static until you start adjusting the dial.”

Every decision, every misstep, every reflection is a micro-tune.
Eventually, the signal gets clear.

Framework: Clarity = (Reps × Reflection) ÷ Ego

2. "Most of our pain lives in future scenarios that never happen."

From: We Suffer More In Our Imagination, Overthinking, Regret

Anxiety is our brain’s worst fiction writer.

90% of what we fear never happens, and the rest is rarely as bad as we imagine.

The cure?

Stop fighting ghosts. Deal with what's actually in front of you right now.
Stop forecasting storms and start walking.

Quote: “We suffer more in imagination than in reality.” - Seneca

3. "You can’t outthink your way into action. You have to act your way into clarity."

From: Overthinking, Pros and Cons, Regret

Analysis paralysis is just procrastination wearing glasses.

We fool ourselves into believing more thinking equals better decisions, when often it just makes choices feel heavier.

Your brain creates certainty through movement, not through perfect pre-planning.

Action creates clarity. Thinking creates more thinking.

Maxim: Do first. Doubt second.

4. "The only wrong decision is no decision."

From: Pros and Cons, Regret, Fallacies and Biases pt.2

You can recover from a bad call. But not from standing still.
The cost of inaction compounds silently while we obsess over making the "right" choice.

Decision paralysis kills more dreams than bad decisions ever will.

Framework: Clarity = Movement → Feedback → Adjust

5. "Discipline is showing up even when no one’s watching—including you."

From: Discipline > Motivation, Pro-ductivity, Time

Motivation is a guest. Discipline is a tenant.

Writing every Monday was MY proof to you that habits shape identity, not the other way around.

It's not about feeling inspired; it's about honoring the commitment even when it's the last thing you want to do.

Quote: “The work needs working.”

6. "Your time is your most honest currency."

From: Time, Taking a Breather, Hardwork > Talent

Time is the only thing we spend without seeing the price tag.
Where your hours go is who you are, not who you claim to be.

Time is the currency that never inflates and never returns.

Maxim: You can lie with words. Not with your calendar.

7. "You don’t become yourself—you build yourself."

From: You vs You, Know Thyself, There is No 'Original' Version of You

Identity isn't excavation — it's construction.

You are not unveiling who you were meant to be; you are deciding, choice by choice, who you want to become.

Maxim: Who you are is just who you keep choosing to be.

8. "Who you surround yourself with is who you become."

From: Sum of 5, Obsession., Perspective is Everything

Your environment isn't just context—it's programming.

People shape energy. Proximity is power.

Their standards become your subconscious benchmarks.
Their ceiling can become your floor, or their limitations can become your excuses.

Be deliberate about the echo chamber you live in.

Framework: Environment = Default Settings

9. "Balance maintains. Obsession builds."

From: Obsession., Hardwork > Talent, Discipline > Motivation

No one accidentally builds something great.

The people who change industries, create masterpieces, or reinvent themselves don't do it with perfect work-life balance. They go through seasons of healthy obsession.

The grind requires unreasonable intensity — at least for a while.

Maxim: Balance is for maintenance. Obsession is for breakthroughs.

10. "Your mind is a playlist. Be your own DJ."

From: You Are What You Think About, Fear, Game Theory

Repetitive thoughts = unconscious programming.

What you repeatedly think about shapes how you experience everything.

The loops playing in your mind become the soundtrack to your life, influencing what you notice, how you feel, and ultimately, who you become.

Framework: Input → Loop → Identity

11. "The lens you wear matters more than what you’re looking at."

From: Perspective is Everything, The World Isn’t Linear, Taking a Breather

Reality is interpreted. Perspective is a lens, not a mirror.

Two people can look at identical circumstances and see entirely different realities. The difference isn't in what they're facing, but in the lens they're wearing.

Change your filter, you change your feel.

Quote: “Sometimes you don’t need a new situation. Just a new angle.”

12. "Fallacies run the show until you start calling them out."

From: Fallacies and Biases pt.1, pt.2, First Principles Thinking

We’re not rational beings, We’re rationalizing beings.

Our minds are masterful at creating logical-sounding justifications for emotional decisions and biased perceptions.

These mental shortcuts work wonderfully until they don't, leaving us trapped in flawed thinking patterns we can't even see.

Framework: Better Thinking = Awareness × Honesty

13. "Originality is just honesty plus personality."

From: There is No 'Original' Version of You, You vs You, Know Thyself

The pressure to be original paralyzes so many voices. But true originality isn't about saying what's never been said—it's about saying what's true in a way only YOU can say it. (e.g. this newsletter)

You don’t need to say something new.
You just need to say something true in your voice.

That’s what makes it yours.

Maxim: Be real. That’s the rarest thing anyway.

14. "You’ve done hard things before. Go check the jar."

From: The Cookie Jar, Obsession, Discipline > Motivation

When doubt creeps in and challenges look insurmountable, our memory fails us. We forget our track record of surviving difficult things.

The cookie jar mental model is simple: deliberately catalog your past wins and hard-fought victories, then revisit them when confidence wavers.

When the voice of doubt creeps in, pull receipts from your past.
The cookie jar is filled with every hard thing you’ve already survived. 🍪

Framework: Resilience = Past Wins × Present Pressure

15. "Peace is knowing what you’re here to do, and ignoring the rest."

From: Euthymia, Know Thyself, You vs You

The Romans called it euthymia—that quiet confidence that comes from knowing your direction and refusing to be knocked off course by others' expectations or comparisons.

You don’t need to do more. You need to do what matters.

It’s that calm confidence that comes from knowing your direction and muting everything else.

Framework: Euthymia = Direction - Distraction

16. "Comfort is a slow death. Be suspicious of ease."

From: Comfortable Complacency, The Perfect Condition, Taking a Breather

Comfort tricks you into thinking you're fine. But ease often means erosion.

The most dangerous trap isn't obvious pain but subtle comfort—the kind that feels pleasant while slowly eroding your potential.

Growth requires friction. Comfort zones are cool, but nothing grows there.

Quote: “Not moving isn’t always rest. Sometimes it’s rot.”

17. "You’re not lazy. You’re just running the wrong race."

From: Hedonic Treadmill, What You Focus On, Euthymia

The dopamine treadmill never ends.

What looks like laziness is often misalignment. When you're chasing goals that don't resonate with your true values, motivation becomes an endless struggle.

We crave novelty, money, validation—but forget why we’re even running. When your scoreboard changes, your effort becomes aligned.

Framework: Satisfaction = Reality - Expectations

18. "Movement is not progress. Motion is not momentum."

From: Motion x Action, Blitzkrieg, Do the Damn Thing

Activity and achievement are different currencies.

You can move fast in the wrong direction. Or go in circles with no traction.

You can be incredibly busy without being remotely productive.
The real flex? Intentional velocity.

Maxim: Progress = Motion × Intention

19. "You don’t need more. You need leverage."

From: Power of Smart Leverage, Law of Effection, Pro-ductivity

Working harder is overrated.

Leverage is how tiny inputs create massive results. Stop lifting everything. Start engineering fulcrums.

Simply put, always get more for what you put in.

Framework: Leverage = Output ÷ Effort

20. "Start before it makes sense."

From: Raw Dial 0: The Startup Spiral, Perfection Stalls Progress, Do the Damn Thing

Waiting for clarity is the fastest way to stay stuck.

My stance on this is very simple: Start. Adjust later.

Quote: “If you wait for perfect, you’ll never start.”

21. "Ignore the noise. Tune into the signal."

From: Noise vs Signal, Perspective is Everything, What Catches You

The world is loud. Most of it isn’t useful.

Your ability to filter is a superpower. Focus is a form of rebellion.

Developing the discipline to distinguish between signal (what matters) and noise (what distracts) is the meta-skill that makes other progress possible.

Framework: Signal = Input - Distraction

22. "The only game worth playing is the one you can’t lose."

From: The Game You Can’t Lose, Choose Your Enemies Wisely, You vs You

External competition is a rigged game. There's always someone faster, smarter, luckier.

Compete with yesterday’s version. That’s the game you can’t lose.
And the only one worth showing up for.

Improvement, not comparison, is the only sustainable scorecard.

Maxim: You win by staying in the game.

So there you go: 365 days of thoughts, ideas, and experiences distilled into 22 takeaways worth keeping.

I tried to make these as bite-sized as possible and paired them with a framework, maxim, or quote so it’s easy to remember. I hope it helped. 🤞🏽

Tomorrow will officially mark one year since the newsletter began. I published my first post on April 1, 2024.

Truly means a lot that you’ve been on this ride with me.

Keep an eye out soon — I’m working on a special first-anniversary podcast episode where I'll dive deeper into why I created Dialed In, and an extended version of these takeaways.

As always, I hope the 1st quarter of the year was good to you. Fret not, there’s always Q2.

Have a beautiful week ahead,

Godspeed. ⚡️