Cheers to 2013: An Unforgettable Year

Cheers to an UNFORGETTABLE and AMAZING Year in 2013. A year filled with exploration and travel – from Wall Street to Silicon Valley to Hollywood. This was the year when I faced my fears, recognized my true interests and passions, and started an inner revolution to establish a new me.

This year I took a leap of faith and followed my desires. I took a dive into the unknown of life. It was scary. Half the time I didn’t know what I was doing. But armed with patience, courage, and persistence, I learned a ton. We often live in a society where we give too much attention to the thoughts and opinions of others. I finally realized that this life was handed to me as a gift, uniquely mine, and I must choose to live it of my own accord. You can only be the best version of yourself, so embrace yourself and let your abilities, talents, interests, and passions shine and guide your path.

I left a comfortable and lucrative job on Wall Street to pursue my dreams of entrepreneurship. I manifested my efforts to create Zafaré and start a revolution in the fashion world.  Luxury Lites breaks into Wal Mart and expands to 3 continents. I realized my passion for writing and turned it into reality by starting my own blog which in turn helped me become a writer on Elite Daily.  My close friends helped persuade me to embrace my love for style and fashion and helped me launch my own fashion blog. I became more active in digital marketing and found myself working with Spotify. In my free time, learned website design, video production, and creative content creation and suddenly found myself as a Google Glass Explorer.

I read more books in this one year than what I’ve read throughout my entire high school and college career combined – twenty-eight to be exact. I’ve always been fascinated by the entertainment industry and convinced a top entertainment publicist and friend to start our own PR firm together (More about this later).  I traveled more than I ever have before and met people who blew me away with their diversity, ambitions, passions, and unique stories. I actively took on new experiences to discover more about myself and the world around me – from adventure sports to music and art. I found myself at the center of the startup world as not only an entrepreneur but also as a venture capitalist with Wasabi Ventures. Mixing business with pleasure slowly became my modus operandi – participating only in experiences and activities that I enjoy AND gain value out of. I invested more time into the people in my life whom I value and who support and challenge me and push me to improve and eliminate the people that brought mere negativity.  However, some things don’t change like the warm love and pride of a family and how much I’ve enjoyed being at home spending time with them for the holidays.

Looking back, this was the first year in a very long time, that I REDISCOVERED what it means to LIVE – to TRULY LIVE by quenching the thirsts of my interests and passions and live with the mindset that every moment is a fleeting moment.  Who am I to waste it? We all only have only one precious life to live. It should be spent doing what you enjoy most.  I kindled new and meaningful friendships along the way. And throughout my adventures, I learned more than I ever thought possible. This year was UNFORGETTABLE.

Thank you, 2013, for giving me the year of rediscovery – a year where I planted the seeds of my growth. For all of my friends and family out there who made this year extra special, I want to thank you and wish you a safe and Happy New Year from the depths of my heart!
If you thought I was crazy this year, I’m calling out for 2014, the year to actualize my growth. Let’s make this upcoming year the year to remember!

This article was originally written by Rayyan I. Patwari, Founder of the Industrial Decarbonization Fund at 8090 Partners.