Overwhelm And Taxes

I finally finished my taxes on Friday, and it took a lot out of me.

Tax season always sucks, but this year it came at a particularly bad time for me.

I think about the future a lot. With the emergence of AI, thinking about the future is getting harder and harder to do. Plus, the bills don't stop coming in!

Like many people in CurrentYear I find myself with too many interests and hobbies.

It's hard enough to stay afloat when you're focused! It's even harder to do when you're scatterbrained! 😅

With the world accelerating towards a destination that's hard to see — and even if you could see it, what you see today might be different tomorrow — it can lead to MASSIVE amounts of anxiety.

There's also possibility that comes with that.

When I'm contemplating the future, and my place in it, I typically turn to the famous Wayne Gretzky quote: "Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been."

In practice, I ask:

• Where do I think the puck is going to be?
• How can I position myself to be useful?

Mind you, "being useful" doesn't necessarily mean scoring the goal; if you get an assist, that's great too. To paraphrase GaryVee, the #2 guy at Facebook has made more money than most solopreneurs will see in their lifetimes!

I look at my interests and skills and try to project which ones are the least at risk of being outsourced to AI. At first, I thought I could get an edge by getting into web development.

Recently, I realized I can be even more useful to people in a manner that's far more fulfilling to me in data visualization rather than webdev.

Then tax season came. 😅

I'm at the beginning of the process and haven't worked on it much since, but I know where I want to go and I know the next few steps to get there. That's usually all you need.

A bad plan is infinitely better than no plan. And execution is the heartbeat that makes the plan go.

You can adjust from there as you get feedback.

The key is to keep moving forward, and as long as you know where you want to put your foot down next, all you have to do is keep walking. Remember that everyone's path is different — what matters is finding the direction that resonates with you and taking those first steps.