Piotr Soluch

5 Lessons learned in 2015

2015 was a year full of challenges. With few ups and downs, it turned out to be a source of several valuable life lessons. I’m a bit wiser now.

1. Be honest with yourself

Last year I was struggling with a bit of a burnout. It took a while before I understood what was going on. And even then, I played down the symptoms and though it will just go away. Deep down in my heart I knew something was wrong and I needed help, but I wasn’t honest with myself.

Now I know that admitting that I have a problem is not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of courage and first step in solving a problem. I can’t solve problems I don’t know about.

2. Ask for help if you need to

I don’t know what is it… maybe pride, maybe something else, I’m not sure… but there’s something that make me physically hurt when I have to ask for help. And yet, there are things that I can’t do by myself.

I have a loving wife, few great friends, a powerful circle of support. But it all won’t do me any good if I won’t ask for help. It’s hard, but I have to remember that they are there for me when I need them. So I will swallow my pride and ask for help when I need to.

3. Rest

I have 30 days of holidays per year. I know… a lot! So what? Last year I only took 10… And my version of rest was watching tv series and reading industry blogs… That’s not real rest.

In order to stay productive and sane I need proper rest. I need at least a week of holidays every quarter, no work during weekends. And rest isn’t just ‘not working’. I need to find a way to reset my brain, forget work and enjoy life.

4. Focus

Last year I had a lot of goals related to my big hobby – cycling. There’s nothing wrong about cycling and nothing bad about goals either. But in my case, I got so deeply involved in my hobby, that I almost lost touch with reality. And I haven’t won Tour de France either…

I need to be very careful about emotional involvement. I can’t be equally involved in family, work and hobbies. There needs to be a clear set of priorities. I need to focus on what’s most important for me.

5. I will never be satisfied

There are people that are always satisfied. They are very lucky, I’m the very opposite. I’m never satisfied, never happy. I always think all I did is not good enough. But it’s not all bad, it actually drives me to improve and become better.

The key in all of this is to realize that I will never be satisfied. This simple realizations lifts the pressure of me just a bit. I can then look back and be proud of my accomplishments just a tiny bit.

Overall

2015 was hard, but it turned out to be a great lesson for me. I’ve grew a lot. Now I look forward to 2016, I hope that this year will be a lot better. But I hope that this year I will learn something too.