The Turn of a Decade

Hello everyone 👋

The forecast is calling for a substantial next few days of rain and cloud, but I’m really hoping for a couple good days at least. Realizing how lethargic I get during these rainy days, and I don’t like it. If you have any advice, please let me know 😭

Dang. I just turned 20 this week. I’m getting super old and also, it’s my 2nd COVID birthday. Gotta thank my friends (and family of course) for making that special for me, especially Alessia and Victor.

I honestly couldn’t be happier with how I ended my 2nd decade. From last June until now, I’ve definitely had momentous milestones that have really redirected my life trajectory — things that I could have never planned out.

Looking back at everything I’ve had the opportunity to do as a 19 year old, it lowkey gets me a little bit emotional. It was only a few conversations that really spiralled me into this life — lots of doors were opened that I would have never expected, and to have all of these opportunities in the midst of the pandemic? I’m just so fortunate and so lucky.

Saying yes to things have really helped me exploit these opportunities. Upon almost every application or preceding every opportunity, was an innate fear of failure and a really loud voice telling me that I should just “give it up for this year.” Believe me, I succumbed to this influence many times. It was those few opportunities where I just decided to put my head down and give 100%, that really changed my life. Oh, and helped me become more confident as well.

One of the biggest things that I’m taking away from this past year of being 19 is the value of friendship. Like I mentioned in my last newsletter: I have the best friends in the world, and they have really been the foundations for my inspiration, drive, and also development as an individual. I owe them a lot, and I try to repay it by reciprocating that throughout all of my interactions.

I’m also taking away the value of mentorship away from my 19s. I spent a lot of time reaching out to incredible people who have given me so much valuable advice on life, school, and everything in between. I’ve been learning a lot of the workflows, best practices, and habits from people I look up to, and trying to see where I can use them to enhance many of my practices.

I’m heading into Year 20 with a lot of momentum, but also being grounded by my values, my friends, and my family. I have an outpouring of love to everyone who has been a part of my journey — those of you who read my newsletters and watch my videos, those who I’ve had the opportunity to talk to and get to know, and those of you who I’ve looked up to from a distance.

I’ve never been big on celebrating birthdays but for some reason this one feels a little different. Probably because I owe a lot of what has happened over the past year to all of you. So thank you — thanks for all of the support and for believing in me. I’m excited to see how 20 looks on me.

Love,Brandon

I reached out on twitter to see if anyone had any advice for me before I turned 20. Here’s what they had to say:

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