Under the threat of tightening US visa laws, the furloughing of the immigration department, and international students getting kicked out, it’s visa time.

I’m going through 20 years of work and here’s what’s stuck with me.

1. I peaked before I knew what I was doing.

I happened to land in some great agencies in my 20s. They knew how to win awards. So we all won awards.

But, now, I actually know how to do my work.

2. Bad career decisions sting for years.

I’d say 3 out of my 4 moves in New York were not good decisions. I felt lied to and gaslit in a couple of them.

Still stings.

3. The traits that attract you to planning build and surge over time. However, you have to deal with troughs of disillusionment as well as fads and eras of shit behavior to survive.

4. It’s easy to get caught up in the trappings of the industry - such as contributing to trade publications. It’s good for a career.

But, if you want to express outside the day job, create your own projects so you have a body of work to stand on when you’re time is up.

5. If you’re in a place that does excellent work, you trust your boss, you get on with most of your clients, you win pitches, and you have a small pocket of colleagues you enjoy then you’re winning.

In the moment, it’s easy to want more. But I don’t think there is more.

6. Deep suspicion of authority mixed with a disdain for process and politics means you probably aren’t an employee and you won’t feel settled anywhere - especially in Corporate America

7. Now that I’ve quit drinking, when I go back through all the photos, I realize how much alcohol was almost a colleague I worked with. Same for when I was doing a lot of hip hop stuff.

I found it easier to drink than to do the harder work of committing to my creative spirit.

8. Not having work to show is confusing and embarrassing.

I don’t have much work to show from working on tens and tens of clients in America. It’s easier to do irreverent work in Australia than to do something mediocre in America.

Don’t hurt me.

9. You won’t work in many environments that really want you to succeed. They’ll say it but only a few will mean it.

If your company really supports you then you’re in a tiny minority.

10. As much as many people don’t have time or energy for side projects, the energy you create for yourself outside the job can help your job.

Also, if you’re working so much that you’re always exhausted, either you don’t know what you’re doing - or your boss or company doesn’t.