Celebrating 21 years on Linkedin- Sharing More Than 40 Things That I’ve Learned

If I’ve learned anything, it’s that career, community, and life move fast (sometimes too fast) —and the things that really matter are how you show up, how you treat people, how you respect yourself, and whether you’re building a life you actually want.

Here’s some of what the last two decades have taught me (and yes, I’m most certainly learning) :

Lead with Heart & Integrity

·      Give First and do no harm.

·      Presume good intent. I once loaned someone 10k and never saw it again, but I still presume good intent.

·      Be kind — Life is HARD, and you have no idea what someone else is going through.

·      Express gratitude daily and lead with curiosity.

·      Lift others up whenever you can.

·      Leave people and places better than you found them.

Work, Leadership & Boundaries

·      Meaningful work matters.

·      Working with great people matters even more.

·      Lead by example.

·      Quit if your boss is an intolerable asshole.

·      Always give notice — don’t ghost and don’t burn bridges.

·      Take at least a month off between jobs.

·      Say NO more than you say yes.

·      Protect your boundaries.

·      Putting yourself first is healthy.

·      Perfection is the enemy of progress — ship it.

·      Trust but verify.

Growth, Accountability & Self-Awareness

·      You’re going to fuck up — own it.

·      Be accountable to yourself above all.

·      Mistakes and failure are the path, don’t be ashamed, don’t repeat them.

·      Trust your intuition, it’s ALWAYS right.

·      Don’t believe everything you think.

·      Don’t waste time convincing people determined to misunderstand you.

·      Surround yourself with people who root for you, win or fail, and advocate for you in rooms you’re not in

·      Give yourself grace — we’re all figuring it out as we go.

Community & Connection

·      Build community and bridges without expectation of anything in return.

·      Make introductions, create opportunity, lift others up.

·      You’ll lose friends and colleagues along the way — let them go.

·      Find your tribe and then help expand it.

·      Be a good person. Ignore the haters.

Life Design & What Actually Matters

·      Build the life you want — you get one shot.

·      Your health and well-being matter more than your job title.

·      You are not your job. No, really.

·      Play more. Embrace adventure. The work will still be there tomorrow.

·      Slow down — you think better with space, not pressure.

Courage & Self-Worth

·      Courage matters.

·      You are far more resilient than you'll ever know.

·      Trust that it's all going to work out, because it always does.

·      Know your worth — and stand in it.

·      Gary Vaynerchuck said it best “Don’t stop until you’re insanely fucking proud of yourself”

Thank you for being here on this journey with me — for the heartfelt conversations, the support, and the shared humanity. Here’s to the next decade of building meaningful things, helping good people, and choosing kindness every time.

Cheers all,

Dave