Hans
One of my best friends is named Hans. I met Hans playing Battlefield 3 about eight years ago in 2012 when I was fifteen. He was in The Netherlands. I was in the US. Hans was ranked Top 10 in the world for the attack helicopter. I was ranked Top 30 in the world for the attack helicopter. Naturally, we encountered each other in our games a lot. This fucker named “Zoutepoel” (Han’s tag) would always destroy me. One day, I finally got “Zoutepoel” in a Teamspeak server to talk strategy with him and learn some secrets. The rest is history.
We randomly texted and Facetimed each other for over five years (2012 - 2017) until we finally ended up meeting for the first time in real life in 2017. People are always super surprised when I tell them this story not because I made/met a friend from the internet. But, because Hans and I actually kept up communication for those first five years.
Here is a picture of us at Universal Studios from that week in 2017 we met!
I met Hans for the second time last week. We hung out and explored NYC. Went to Broadway. Paid $100 for a meal at Olive Garden. Observed people in Times Square do weird shit. It was dope. Here’s a picture of us from last week. As you can tell, I still do not smile.
The week prior when we were chilling on my balcony and Han’s asked me - '“Farza, what are the things you want to improve about yourself?”.
I didn’t really have a good answer. It felt bad.
This week I’m in SF, the land of hard questions. Someone yesterday asked me - “Farza, what is your 5-10 year plan for yourself?”.
I didn’t really have a good answer. It felt bad.
So it got me thinking - what am I even trying to accomplish in my life? It’s so hard to move forward when you aren’t sure where you want to go.
So, I wrote a letter to myself in the third-person. I think its mostly trash. It’s a good start I think. It’d be cool to know what you all think about it.
I’ll read this letter again in 6 months.
Letter2Me
Hey, future Farzain. It’s September 2019. Here are the things you want to get better at in the next 6 months.
Building cash flow positive businesses. Current state: $0 in MRR. Goal: $10,000 MRR.
Improving your ability to read analytically and actually retain knowledge. Books are your professors and you’re failing the exams bro. Current state: You retain perhaps 10%-20% of the knowledge from a book, the rest evaporates. Goal: 50%-60% retention.
Talking to new people about their life, job, and problems (ex. lawyers, doctors, retail workers, farmers, etc). Current state: 0-1 person per month. Goal: 1 person per week.
Exercising. Current state: You workout 0-3 times per week. Goal: Workout 3-5 times per week.
If you actually hit these goals you’ll be 5X - 7X better than your current Sept. 2019 version. Guaranteed.
What is your long term vision for yourself as of Sept. 2019? What are words you can wake up, read, and get hyped about for the next 5-10 years and actually work toward? Here’s the attempt:
The future is fucked and we will need millions of people to un-fuck it. Rise in population will lead to severe problems in: agriculture, medicine, education, climate, law/order, and everything else imaginable. These are fields experiencing problems even today. Imagine 25-50 years from now. Optimizations and revolutions are required accross the board. The human population needs to be properly empowered to change the world. It’s getting there. I am only one guy. No way I can do it myself in one lifespan. A multi generation solution is required. I think my time is would be well spent building things that empower people to build the future. This takes three phases that for sure need to happen.
1) A revolution in education. Kids and adults need to learn skills that will actually help them build the future not just live in the present. Access also needs to be expanded without sacraficing quality. I think this is remote education or micro schools. Not sure.
2) A revolution in work. We need more people working together on bigger problems. No one ever changed the world alone. I think this is remote work. I’m unsure though. I think remote has some ways to go. I need to think more about this one.
3) A revolution in creating revolutions. The future won’t be built purely by massive companies. We need more people starting companies where they can sustain themselves and build the future without the need for outside captial. Companies like Stripe feel like they are on their way to doing this though where they make it easier to get paid. But, all I know is there are millions of smart people in other countries right now who could be working on revolutionary shit right now but can’t because they wouldn’t be able to pay rent the next month. Idk. I need to think more on this.