Product, Noise And Speed

2025 is a year of uncertainty or rather surprises. Surprises in the sense that there's much of a distraction as much as many events occurring simultaneously, which makes it difficult to maintain a clear perspective.

But when you look back at what has already transipred, one could neatly tell how patterns emerge from chaos, certain trends were all along inevitable.

I don't know what the future holds, not by a long shot. But I would say that I definitely wouldn't be surprised on whatever happens on rest of the year, partly because I've read and anticipated most of the possible outcomes that experts have been signalling for years.

The most head shaking for me is a possible scam-demic, as builderofcastles often puts it.

Against that backdrop however, it's important or perhaps, necessary to calibrate one's focus/energy on what remains when the noise subsides.

Working On Oneself

Distraction is one of the most prevalent themes this year and I'm thinking of really reducing my social media content consumption, specifically on Twitter/X.

But it's like the good, bad and the ugly all wrapped up in one endless, scrollable feed. To experience the good, one must brush with the bad and ugly.

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A practical outlet to focus on is simply working on oneself. The keyword is ON. Oftentimes, it's easier to blame external factors than take personal responsibility and ignore the elephant in the room, as if it's someone else's problem to solve.

Sometimes, a mental framework I like to employ is viewing myself as a product. Ignoring the consumption aspect, a product is constantly being refined based on feedback. It needs to be improved upon and tested against reality, not just theory.

At this point in time, there's enough feedback to process and integrate on improving the product.

Just after the pandemic year, there was this subjective trend that I noticed on productizing oneself, which basically was centered around taking a skill or set of skills that one is really good at and then making a digital product out of it. I think building a personal brand is the apex example of this.

Speed.
Let's say, an opened door is ahead of you and it's gradually closing with each step you take forward. This door can be defined as the window of opportunity that connects who you are today with who you could become tomorrow.

With each passing day, the door narrows, partly because time is limited and also our capacity for meaningful change diminishes when diluted by distraction.

An equation based on the above mentioned scenario could play out as: Product (your evolving self) minus Noise (the countless distractions) equals your effective Speed toward that closing door.

The more we invest in refining our "product" while reducing the "noise," the faster we move, and the more likely we are to pass through that door of opportunity before it closes completely.

In simple terms, what you eliminate matters as much as what you pursue. And it only takes consistent focus on what truly matters to pass through that narrowing door.


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