Turning 24
By: Lukas Linemayr
Tags: Stoicism, Birthday, Reflections, Personal, Personal Development

I want to start by saying thank you to all those who have been in my life. Good, bad, close, distant, new, old…I appreciate all of you.

The notion of time has been very strange for me, and most people going through the tumultuous year that is 2020. I vividly remember a trip I went on in March, to see my college friend Alan in Madrid. On a whim I went for a long weekend, stayed with him (in exchange for as many croquettes as he wanted), and frankly had some of my favorite memories this year. We played pickup soccer, ran around the city, reminisced on old times, and created new friendships along the way. I left that trip feeling full (in multiple senses of the word). I made it a point to take note of certain feelings in the journal I carry around, and dissected what made me so happy. Done in an attempt to go all in on these feelings moving forward, I was excited for the future.

Then, the world shut down only a couple days after landing in New York. My parents were unable to leave Europe and work quickly shifted from traveling every week to sitting on my couch, yelling at my brother to be quiet while I joined video calls. Since then I feel like life has been set on warp-speed mode. Days can easily all blend together, and external stimulation has decreased greatly. That being said I’m incredibly lucky to have had my brother and girlfriend through all of this madness, without whom I would’ve gone insane. Long story short-time flew by and it’s insane to me that I just turned 24.

There are aspects of the lockdown/WFH period that I have thoroughly enjoyed. While I was undoubtedly pent up when gyms were closed, other aspects of life slowing down have been great. The important fact is that we must control what we can control. I have ZERO impact on whether governments let me go to a restaurant, mandate I wear a mask, or prohibit me from seeing greater than a certain amount of people at once (I think it’s 10 now). But I can certainly control how I choose to react to such things. Do you decide to sit on the couch all day, lose contact with friends since you can’t see them in person, or lose all sense of accountability with health because gyms are closed? NO. You do what you should always do, make the most of whatever present moment you find yourself in. That is true for good times or bad times. Stoicism has guided much of these beliefs I have and serves as an incredible anchor during this period.

As I’ve kept personal journals for the past few years, in which I do such a birthday review, I’m inspired to start sharing these thoughts publicly. It’s also a great way for me to collect data on myself, stay accountable, measure what matters, and be more open.

How I spent my birthday: I had a pre-birthday celebration with a small group of friends on the 4th, which even included some carrot cake (my ultimate weakness). I was also lucky enough to go surfing in my old hometown in NH. Caught some waves, spent time on the rocks drinking coffee afterwards, and headed to get my favorite breakfast burrito once the cold became unbearable. After warming up and talking to friends/family on the drive home I had some more coffee, went to the gym to do my favorite workout, and am currently in my car headed to New York (don’t worry I’m not driving). Tonight my brother and I are having a joint birthday dinner at our favorite Korean Steakhouse. Excited to be able to spend this day being so active and around friends. I will however definitely need to fast tomorrow! Way too much food.

In terms of how to review the last year and set an intention for the next, I‘d like to give credit to Steve Schlafman for inspiring me with the following framework. He continuously inspires me with his grounded and thoughtful approach to all aspects of life. I adapted his framework from a previous post and appreciate it’s simplicity, as I am someone who could ramble on with such things.

PS. I highly recommend you take a look at Steve’s Annual Review post as well. An amazing tool as we come to the end of 2020.