11th Mar 2021
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In 2030

These are my current thoughts on what the world will be like in 2030. This was last updated in March 2021.

In 2030…

data & technology

  • devices are hyper-connected and are constantly talking with each other
  • highly networked devices helps drive decentralisation as computing power is distributed across people and not specific data center’s
  • greater ownership of data by individuals
  • greater monitoring and invasive technology/software in exchange for convenience

retail / eCommerce

  • at least 50% of retail spend will be online
  • non-physical goods will have a significant increase in market share
  • amazon will offer delivery to custom locations other than home and office
  • brick and mortar stores will begin to become more service-driven

payments

  • BTC and ETH will be used for large scale transactions between organisations and decentralised services
  • a layer-2 protocol on BTC and ETH will be more widely accepted for day-to-day transactions with businesses
  • increase in direct peer-to-peer transactions separate from centralised entities (banks)

business

  • a handful of leaders will figure out how to operate a business that uses decentralisation as a lever
  • market cap of large tech companies continue to outpace other industries
  • businesses that aim to create infrastructure for a future world will grow fast. industries such as EV and batteries, space travel and colonisation, biomedicine and life extension (a couple of big winners with many, many losers)

consulting

  • Large consulting firms will reach a tipping point and need to make a decision – are we a strategy-focused, design-focused or implementation-focused
  • The current Big 4 will attempt all 3 but lose share to smaller, more focused players
  • Progressive firms will divest dedicated resources to focus on niche competencies
  • organisations will reduce consulting spend as knowledge and skills become more decentralised

manufacturing

  • the Chinese wave of manufacturing leadership will remain but begin to slow
  • large-scale manufacturing hubs will be created in South America (Brazil, Columbia and Peru) and Africa (Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia)
  • initial experiments of space manufacturing (either in-orbit or on the moon) will commence from SpaceX and Blue Origin

vehicles

  • significant increase in % of EVs on the roads
  • government subsidies at some point to increase adoption of EVs
  • battery infrastructure will continue to grow
  • some EV leaders will begin testing battery-as-a-service more widely – connected with a push for greater decentralisation, perhaps even paid for by a coin/token of some sort

travel

  • global travel will reach new highs following steady return to mobility post-COVID-19

climate / environment

  • irrevocable damage already done to the environment
  • advanced countries and organisations have or are close to achieving carbon neutrality
  • reminder commit to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 using processes and technology developed by the advanced

pop culture

  • social media platforms will be reformed as advertisers look to utilise direct relationships between people and idols
  • western culture will adopt their own version of eastern ‘idol’ culture when celebrities start connecting directly with fans

media

  • traditional distribution and payment models will no longer generate enough revenue to justify increasing cost of creating AAA movies, tv shows and video games will become unsustainable
  • subscription models continue to thrive
  • significant increase in media consumed via mobile
  • increase in media that is decentralised and shared on a blockchain

10th Mar 2021
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29 Thoughts at 29

  1. You are not the voice in your head. You are the one who observes it.
  2. If you can’t control it, let it be. If you can, do something about it.
  3. No one owes you anything. You don’t owe anyone anything.
  4. Avoid making any decisions until after you’ve gotten out of bed and showered.
  5. Don’t expect something or someone to save you. Do what you can to save yourself.
  6. The less you use social media, the better the day becomes.
  7. You don’t have to argue everything. Sometimes it’s okay to let it go. And if no one agrees with you, it’s okay to stand alone. 
  8. Be kind to everyone, especially yourself.
  9. The longer you go without checking your phone in the morning, the better your day will be.
  10. Have a philosophy or some sort of framework for life and decision-making. Life is way too complex and random to wing it and you are fooling yourself if you think you can.
  11. Make your biggest goals about what you want to be, not what you want to do.
  12. The sooner you learn to handle rejection, the better. Rejection comes in many forms; relationships, friendships, career, self etc.
  13. Always prioritise a healthy sleep cycle and diet.
  14. You sleep better when you avoid electronics for at least an hour before bed.
  15. Reflect often. You’re not who you were in the past and there’s opportunity to learn from the changes in your life.
  16. Find a way to get thoughts out of your head. It doesn’t need to be pretty, just write them down somewhere.
  17. It’s okay to spend time on activities that only service the purpose of joy.
  18. You doubt yourself on the things you most seek validation for, usually from a particular person or group. Ask yourself first, why do I need validation for this?
  19. Keep healthy. When you’re fit and eat well, you are happier and more productive.
  20. Be someone people want to be around. Let go of language and behaviour that impact this; argumentativeness, snobbishness, self-deprecation, condescending tones.
  21. Surround yourself with people who challenge you, support you and want you to succeed.
  22. Listen with the intent to learn and empathise. You can benefit from responding after consideration, not immediately.
  23. You choose how you react to your experiences. Choose wisely.
  24. Stand up for your morals and ethics. Speak up for those who cannot.
  25. Ask yourself; what could you do, that you would do, to make life better?
  26. Ask for help.
  27. Remember your purpose.
  28. Sacrifice. Delay gratification. Share. These are synonymous and they must be lived.
  29. If you don’t have time to do it right, what makes you think you have time to do it over?
10th Mar 2021
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28 Thoughts at 28

  1. You are not the voice in your head. You are the one who observes it.
  2. If you can’t control it, let it be. If you can, do something about it.
  3. No one owes you anything. You don’t owe anyone anything.
  4. Avoid making any decisions until after you’ve gotten out of bed and showered.
  5. Don’t expect something or someone to save you. Do what you can to save yourself.
  6. There are lessons to be learnt from everyone, especially your parents.
  7. The less you use social media, the better the day becomes.
  8. You don’t have to argue everything. Sometimes it’s okay to let it go. And if no one agrees with you, it’s okay to stand alone. 
  9. Be kind to everyone, especially yourself.
  10. Don’t light yourself on fire to brighten someone else’s day. 
  11. The longer you go without checking your phone in the morning, the better your day will be.
  12. Read. Read often. Read a lot. Read to learn. Read to grow. Read for joy.
  13. The best way to build a connection with someone new is through laughter.
  14. Have a philosophy or some sort of framework for life and decision-making. Life is way too complex and random to wing it and you are fooling yourself if you think you can.
  15. Make your biggest goals about what you want to be, not what you want to do.
  16. The sooner you learn to handle rejection, the better. Rejection comes in many forms; relationships, friendships, career, yourself etc.
  17. Travel as much as you can. And when you do, open yourself up to new places, people and food.
  18. Never underestimate the importance of good sleep and healthy diet.
  19. You sleep better when you avoid electronics for at least an hour before bed.
  20. Reflect often. You’re not who you were in the past and there’s opportunity to learn from the changes in your life.
  21. Find a way to get thoughts out of your head. It doesn’t need to be pretty, just write them down somewhere.
  22. It’s okay to spend time on activities that only service the purpose of joy.
  23. You doubt yourself on the things you most seek validation for, usually from a particular person or group. Ask yourself first, why do I need validation for this?
  24. Keep healthy. When you’re fit and eat well, you are happier and more productive .
  25. Be someone people want to be around. Let go of language and behaviour that impact this; argumentativeness, snobbiness, self-deprecation, condescension etc.
  26. Surround yourself with people who challenge you, support you and want you to succeed.
  27. Listen with the intent to learn and empathise. You can benefit from responding after consideration, not immediately.
  28. You choose how you react to your experiences. Choose wisely.
10th Mar 2021
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Wake up at the same time everyday

Wake up at the same time everyday. This single principle has enabled me the time and freedom to do so much more with each day.

Since January 16th, 2021, I have aimed to wake up at 6am everyday including weekends.
This is what it has done for me:

  • Ensured consistent and quality sleep
  • Changed my relationship with sleep
  • Given me more proactive time (as opposed to reactive time) in my day

I used to pride myself on being “able to operate well on even a couple hours sleep”. This was usually said as justification for staying up late either partying or playing video games (sometimes both) the night before a work day. I’d use this to rationalise how I survived when I went for months working 14+ hour days.

Recently I have spent considerable time reflecting on when I have been at my best and when I have been at my worst. The most striking factor was sleep consistency:

  • At my best I would average 7.5 hours sleep, wake up earlier than 7am and wake up within 30mins of the time I woke up the day before. I’d also wake up at least 90 minutes before I had to do anything for anyone else (work, social / familial commitments etc.)
  • At my worst I would also average 7.5 hours sleep however this was a combination of short sleeps and very, very long sleeps (i.e. 4 hours one night, 12 hours the next). I’d wake up at times all over the place and generally wake up within 15 to 30 minutes of having to do anything for anyone else. Sometimes even less (waking up and literally dialing straight into my first meeting for the day).

I decided to test the causality with situations when I was at my best. Was I at my best because of these sleep habits or did I have these sleep habits because I was at my best? Or, perhaps, is this a glorious cycle and the trick being to get into the cycle and resist the factors that pull me out?
To test this, I made a commitment that I would wake up at 6am every day for 2 weeks. No excuses allowed. No matter the situation, no matter how much sleep I got, no matter how cold it was. Wake up at 6am everyday for 2 weeks. Practically, these are the things I did to help;

  • Set my alarm to repeat and did not allow myself to change my alarm
  • Removed the snooze option
  • Put “Do not disturb” on my phone from 9pm to 7am every day (only exception are direct phone calls and texts from immediate family)
  • No technology for at least 30 mins before sleeping. Ideally, one hour.

To further help motivate this, I allowed myself 1 hour every morning between 730 and 830 to do literally whatever I wanted. Have to make use of this new time right? I used that time to play video games, watch TV, read, go for walks, go to the gym etc. Literally whatever I felt like would provide me the most joy. This meant that before I started work each day or opened myself up to the world (shifting from proactive time to reactive time) I had already achieved something just for myself that day.

I starting noticing that I didn’t mind going to sleep earlier than usual and landed naturally at a a rhythm where I was off technology by 9, in bed by 9:15 and just journaled and read until I felt ready to sleep. The morning free-time changed my relationship with sleep the night before. In the past, I would dread mornings causing me to do the things I enjoyed at night and postpone sleep. Now, because I knew I had my personal proactive time locked in, I was happy to go to sleep because it meant morning would come sooner.

Now, my morning routine looks like this after my 6am wake-up:

  • 6:00 – Mindfulness meditation
  • 6:20 – Morning Journal
  • 6:25 – Shower and dress
  • 6:45 – Breakfast and coffee
  • 7:00 – Walk (if working from home) or commute (if working at the office)
  • 7:30 – Free-time (gaming, tv, reading, writing etc.)
  • 8:30 – Begin work

Between 6 and 8:30 – the day is mine. I have done the things I now know contribute to a good day and done them on my own terms.

My evening routine is generally:

  • 9:00 – Prepare for bed (brush teeth etc.) – no more phone or devices from this point onwards
  • 9:10 – Evening Journal
  • 9:15 – Read
  • Once I feel ready to sleep I will put my book down and sleep

This sets me up well for a great sleep and ensures I’m ready for the day ahead.