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Welcome to Curious Jay, a weekly newsletter where I share actionable ideas on life, work, & business.

What do you want out of life?

So many know how important that question is, yet so few take the time to truly think about it.

The hard part isn’t getting what you want, it’s knowing what you want in the first place.

This week’s newsletter is about how to set a macro vision for your life.

Let’s dive in…

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You don’t need motivation, you need clarity

You witness its impact all the time…

Houses get messy. People grow older. Relationships fall apart.

That’s entropy.

Put simply, when left to their own devices, all things trend toward disorder.

Just as the external world feels the effects of entropy, so does the internal world. If we’re not careful, we become complacent, get distracted, and lose sight of our goals.

I call this ‘Mental Entropy’.

I used to think I needed more motivation to fight against mental entropy.

The truth?

I just needed to structure my focus with a clear vision, a hierarchy of goals, and ruthless daily action.

If you feel lost in life, keep reading…

Craft Your Vision

I want you to do this exercise with me.

Set a timer for 30 minutes and write out everything you want your ideal future to look like. Seriously. Grab a pen and a piece of paper. Let’s do this together.

• If money was no issue, how would you spend your time?

• Where do you want to live? House or apartment? City or suburbs?

• Who do you want to be with? Close friends or many friends? Big family or small family?

• How do you want to feel? Low energy or high energy? How do you want to look? Soft and pudgy or in shape?

• What else comes to mind? Be as specific as possible.

A few key points:

• Focus on identity over achievement (WHO > WHAT) - what you achieve is less important than who you become.

• Start with lifestyle first (your life is simply the culmination of your days. If you want to live a good life, first start by living a good day.)

My Vision

1) Happiness

• I want to be in a loving relationship with a kind, smart, beautiful, and supportive spouse.

• I want to spend as much time as possible with my family who love me unconditionally.

• I want to be surrounded by a few close friends who share similar goals, values, and beliefs.

2) Health

• I want to be physically “dangerous”. I want to be able to lift, squat, jump, climb, run, and do what is necessary to protect my loved ones.

• I want to have a calm mind that can balance both thinking long-term and fully enjoying the present.

• I want to be at peace with myself. Aware of both my strengths and flaws. Willing to progress and evolve with time.

3) Wealth

• I want to continuously pursue the greatest version of myself.

• I want to impact and inspire one billion lives with my writing and work.

• I want to make enough money to not have to worry about it.

Done? Now summarize what you wrote in one sentence.

My North Star in one sentence:

“A calm mind, fit body, house full of love, meaningful work, and enough wealth not to have to worry about it.”

Set Your Anti-Vision

Anti-vision: Within the confines of what you want, what do you not want to happen?

To set your anti-vision, ask yourself these questions:

1. What would it look like to win the battle but lose the war?

2. What is the worst possible outcome?

3. What do I not want to happen?

My Anti-Vision

• I don’t want to sacrifice my physical health or well-being for work.

• I don’t want to have to adhere to a strict diet to be healthy.

• I don’t want to sacrifice my long walks or free time.

• I don’t want to sacrifice my family time.

Okay, so now you have a better understanding of what you want and don’t want in life. Now what?

Become A Mad Scientist

1) Reverse-engineer your way from the vision.

The next step is to get started, get moving, get momentum.

What is preventing you from getting to where you want to go?

• Do you need certain skills?

• Do you need to develop certain relationships?

• Do you need to adopt a certain mindset?

Once you know what’s holding you back, you can start working toward improving that area of your life.

My example:

Skills:

• Communication - both written and spoken communication

• Leadership - to inspire others to join the mission

• Operations - to create systems to remove myself from the business

Relationships:

• Meet other driven, ambitious people who are into self-improvement.

• Connect with other entrepreneurs and content creators whom I can lean on for feedback and accountability.

• Learn from those who have achieved what I want to achieve so I can be inspired and look for guidance.

Mindset:

• Positive-sum mindset

• “Now, not how” mindset

• “Luck rewards the prepared” mindset

2) Self-reflect and iterate

Consistency is easy. Anyone repeat an action for 100 days. Few can repeat AND improve each day.

After every rep, analyze the result and seek feedback.

Keep pivoting and doubling down until you have a winning recipe. Then triple down.

3) Document a replicable process then teach others

Documenting your journey will not only solidify your learnings but help you become aware of where you can improve.

Every time you write, you expose the gaps in your understanding.

When I write this weekly newsletter, I have a better understanding of where my head is at and what I need to do next.

If you feel lost, remember these 5 steps:

1. Set a macro vision

2. Create an anti-vision

3. Develop skills & relationships

4. Self-reflect and course-correct

5. Document and teach along the way

See you next Sunday,

Jay Yang

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