Byron Wien, the Vice Chairman of Blackstone, is one of the most influential investors in the world today. Since 1986, he has been writing a letter at the start of each year called The Ten Surprises, which is one of the most widely read publications on Wall Street and beyond. Back in 2013, Byron wrote a piece about the biggest lessons he's learned in his first 80 years of life. We recently came across it and thought it was worth sharing. Here is a link to his letter: