My Mid-Year Review

Greetings from New York!

Today marks the halfway point of 2024.

Every quarter, I sit down and reflect on my wins, losses, and plans for the future. No one sets out to drift off course from their goals — but life has a way of steering us off course. These quarterly reflections help me realign with what truly matters.

My Q2 Reflection:

1) Wins

In March, I was promoted to Head of Content to Noah Kagan. Since it was a full-time role, I decided to shut down my ghostwriting business to focus on delivering the best results possible.

When people ask how I like working with Noah, my response is always, “It’s AWESOME!!” I get to ask him questions and give him prompts, write for 4-5 hours a day, and then log off and make memories with my high school friends.

How did an 18-year-old kid with no college degree get a job like that?

It’s simple. Your results are your resume. Before working with Noah, I worked at several ghostwriting agencies, interned at beehiiv, and grew and sold my own newsletter business. On top of that, I sent Noah a 19-slide pitch deck detailing all the things he could be doing better for his social media and email newsletter.

A hill I will gladly die on: You can outwork your inexperience with hustle and preparation. Especially if you’re young and have more time on your hands, USE that free time to practice and prepare.

I’ve always been camera-shy. I have no problems with walking up to strangers and striking up a conversation, but something about the beady black camera lens staring back at me makes me nervous.

So in April, I decided to do something about it. I started a 30-day video challenge where I’d turn on my phone and record a 60-second video.

When I first started, it was incredibly uncomfortable. I criticized every aspect of my videos. I hated the way my voice sounded, how I blinked too much, and when I’d stumble over certain words.

But over those 30 days, it slowly got easier. Or rather, I got more comfortable being on camera. When I rewatch my old videos, I still cringe at myself. But it’s also inspiring to see yourself progress with each rep.

A powerful lesson I never want to forget: You can just do things.

You don’t need permission to improve. If something is bothering you, create a personal challenge and do something about it!

I spent the majority of my high school experience longing for it to be over. The only thing that got me through was the fact that I could bring my laptop in and work during class.

But in the final few months, I had a sobering realization: the good ol’ days were happening now. Not in 5-10 years, but NOW!

Now that I’ve graduated, I don’t regret working so much during and outside of class. But I do wish I spent more time fostering relationships with people I usually ignored to type away on my laptop.

This summer, I’ve been more intentional about not letting work consume the rest of my life. While I still work a lot (what can I say, I really enjoy what I do) — I have been taking more adventures with some of my high school buddies.

If you’re in a similar position as I was, just know this: You can do both! It’ll be hard, but it’s worth it.

Just last Sunday, one of my friends sent me this text:

For more context, one of my goals by the end of the summer was to run a half marathon. I only started running consistently 30 days ago, and when I got this text, I was hesitant.

But sometimes in life, you just gotta say “fuck it” and do the thing.

A helpful mental model I use for decisions like this is “Which path makes for a better story?”

If I run the half marathon with my friend, the worst that could happen is I have to stop and walk the rest. The best case is I finish it and have an awesome story to tell!

Spoiler alert: I DID finish that half marathon!!

2) Losses

This past month, I got super busy with work for Noah Kagan. We batched several months of content before his paternity leave.

Some days, I was writing upwards of 4,000 words a day. It was a lot. And it left me feeling pretty burnt out on the creative side. So I decided to pause writing this newsletter and my social content.

My brief break from creating content coupled with algorithm changes, resulted in my reach on Twitter and Instagram going to pretty much zero.

It stung to see all my effort and progress fade away. But that just reinforced the importance of:

1. Growing this email list — so I can still connect and communicate with y’all.

2. Creating assets that compound — more timeless long-form content that can be reused and repurposed.

3. Writing for myself — even if no one sees my writing, am I learning, growing, and improving?

3) Future Plans

My #1 priority for the rest of the summer is to be as present as possible. What does that mean? It means being focused in work, but relaxed in life.

So often, we spend our lives wishing we were somewhere else, doing something else, with someone else. A question I’ve been reflecting on recently is, “How can I make this more enjoyable?”

When you work, work intensely. Put your phone away. Get off social media. Stay locked in.

When you play, play relaxed. Let loose. Say ‘yes’ to that adventure. Smile. Laugh. Have fun.

Tiptoeing that delicate balance is my goal for the rest of the summer.

On the fitness side, my goal is to bench 225 lbs.

My current bench is 205 lbs. — so I still have a while to go. But I’ve been training with my good friend Elijah, and I’m confident we’ll hit that goal by the end of the summer.

Know any bench press tips? Feel free to reply to this email and let me know :)

As you know, I LOVE writing. It feels weird to admit that, but I genuinely get tons of energy from sharing what I’m learning.

I’m still working out the details of where I want to take my “brand” and this newsletter. But the North Star is still the same: inspire others to do what inspires them.

In August, I’ll be moving to Champaign, Illinois. After countless hours going back and forth, I decided to attend the University of Illinois to study business (you can read more about my decision here).

I’m looking forward to meeting more like-minded and greater-minded people my age and learning how to live independently. I’ll still be working with Noah while going to school.

I have a feeling that these next few chapters of my life will be transformational. I’m excited to document the journey and bring you along with me 🤝

See you next Sunday,

Jay “Growing Up” Yang

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