Embracing 'good enough' + Happy holidays!

Author

Olga Koroleva
December 31, 2023

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Hi,

I received many emails this December about everyone's 2023 life learnings (below is the most interesting one I read) and goal-setting rules for next year.

Goal-setting is actually quite easy: if you add a date to your dream, you turn it into a goal. Then every day you take a step towards your goal - and results eventually show up. There is nothing more to it.

We create our 10-year goals, then identify 1-year or 3-year milestones, track 90-day progress, write down our goals daily (per Brian Tracy), etc.

We make these lists and then we obsess over our goals, we stress and ruminate over all the things that could go wrong.

I encourage you to consider a different perspective.

Researchers from DTU, the University of Copenhagen, ITU, and Northeastern University in the US have developed an artificial intelligence model, life2vec, capable of predicting life events by analyzing extensive health and labor market data. The model has demonstrated superior predictive capabilities in forecasting outcomes such as personality traits and even accurately estimating the time of death.

If we can predict the future, why worry about it?

In the post-Covid world the preference for part-time work has been on the rise. Employers have been dealing with "quiet quitting" phenomenon as workers started questioning the concept of ambition, having a preference for doing the bare minimum at work instead. Gartner’s research found, people these days look for purpose, meaning, and joy in their jobs.

We actually could live joyful lives if we embrace "good enough" and don't make ambition the main driver in life. If we learn to enjoy the journey and not the destination. If we pursue intrinsic goals instead of striving toward external motivators.

We still need to know where the summit is to make sure we are following the right trail.

But don't wait for a particular date or time to start enjoying life. Just live that life now. Whatever happens happens. We are doing our best.

Perhaps, 2024 could be the year when we stop obsessing over achieving every goal on the list and consider that "good enough" is well, good enough.

Happy New Year!

IF I HAD MY LIFE OVER - I’D PICK MORE DAISIES, by NADINE STAIR

In the spirit of encouraging you to enjoy the journey, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite poems. It is thought to be written by an 87-year old woman reflecting on her life…

If I had my life to live over, I'd dare to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax, I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I'm one of those people who lived sensibly and sanely, hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute. If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter than I have.

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would have more dogs. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies.

13 WAYS THE WORLD GOT BETTER IN 2023

It's easy to say 2023 was a tough year in many ways. That's why I'd like to focus on the positive. This TIME article mentions enough good things that happened this year.

52 THINGS LIST FOR 2023

It gets better... another post on annual learnings (one of many that I've read). This one was the best.

Some fun facts:

  • A specialness spiral is when you wait for the perfect time to use something, then end up never using it at all, becomes … seen more as a treasure.

  • In the 19th Century, champagne was sweetened depending on local tastes. Russians had 300 grams of sugar added, the British just 50 grams. In 1842 Perrier-Jouët introduced unsweetened champagne. It failed and people called it ‘Brut’, but that’s how all champagne tastes today.

  • The average US fridge uses 3–5 times more electricity than an entire human being consumes in Nigeria.

  • Only 28 books sold more than 500,000 copies in the US in 2022. Eight of them were by romance novelist Colleen Hoover.

  • In 2004, it took one year to install 1 gigaWatt of solar power. In 2023, installed 1 gigaWatt of solar power every day.

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RESULTS ARE IN: REAL ESTATE AI POLL

Is your real estate firm adopting AI?

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ Not planning to use AI/ML tech (28)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Started pilots in 2023 (18)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Have fully deployed AI products (42)

REAL ESTATE AI USE CASES

I presented some ideas on the novel risks of AI that investment companies should be considering when I spoke at the CREW/Financial Women of San Francisco and a Menlo College FinTech conferences. I also discussed specific real estate AI uses cases that Capital Brain built over the years for various companies. You can download the uses cases guide in the link below.

I am off to Panama for some shark diving. Enjoy your New Year Eve's parties!

Keep climbing,

Olya & the Capital Brain team