29

The year gone by and the year ahead

I turned 29 last week.

Throughout my twenties, I measured progress against imaginary finish lines. First, it was finishing medical school. Then, building an audience. Then, landing the visa. Then, something else.

The goal-posts kept moving.

I continued chasing.

However, this year, I stopped to look around and to my surprise, I figured out that I’m standing exactly where my 25-year-old self had always dreamed of being.

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There’s this strange amnesia that sets in when you’re building something.

You spend months, sometimes even years, setting your sights on a target, imagining what it would feel like to get there. Then you arrive. And within weeks, you’re looking at the next step on the ladder.

The place you’re standing right now — the one your past self would’ve traded anything for — has already become invisible.

But throughout 2025, I’ve tried to catch myself before that feeling sets in.

Some nights I’d journal and remind myself:

Two years ago, you were desperate for this. The work you do, the people you’re connected with, and even the city outside your window.

This is it. This is what you wanted.

It isn’t the final destination.

But it’s proof that the path is working.

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Naval once said: “Be impatient with your actions and patient with your results.”

For years, I had it backwards. I kept waiting for the right moment to act and got frustrated when results didn’t come fast enough.

But for the first time in ages, I treated my projects as experiments rather than pass-or-fail tests.

I stopped waiting to feel ready, just started, and let the readiness follow.

With that shift, I launched the YouTube channel I’d been avoiding for years. I said yes to all the writing and consulting projects that once scared me. Reached out to people I admired without worrying about what they’d think or say. And of course, brought Signal & Story to life.

The dots connected in ways I couldn’t have planned.

No matter how it all goes, I trust that the work will compound even if I can’t see it happening.

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To be honest, I’m terrified of turning 30.

I can’t fully explain it, but there’s something about the decade of “figuring things out” ending that makes me think: have I done enough?

In my mind, after 30, the window of opportunity closes. I know it’s not true, yet I can’t seem to look past it.

But I remember how 26 frightened me. As did 28.

And that fear never meant that something was wrong.

It just meant something was about to change.

I have to remind myself that if I could work out the last few years — the career pivot, the visa nightmares, the move to Sweden, the complete reinvention of who I am and what I do — what else is there to be afraid of?

The hardest part is behind me. Now the real fun is on the horizon.

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I won’t leave you an overbearing list of 29 lessons.

I have just three ideas I’ve noticed to share with you:

1. You’re probably already standing where your past self dreamed of being. Don’t forget to take notice.

2. Be impatient with your actions and patient with your results. Most people have it backwards.

3. Fear and excitement often feel the same. The difference is whether you let it stop you or push you forward.

With one year left in my twenties, my goal for the next 360-ish days is simple: make it unforgettable.

That’s the only target that matters now.

Talk soon,

Pranav

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