See You In A Decade

Yesterday, I got rejected from Stanford.

While it wasn’t my ultimate dream, it certainly stung.

But after further reflection, I appreciate how much I’ve already accomplished.

Today, I want to share both the visible and invisible progress I’ve made this past year.

Hopefully, it inspires someone.

Visible Progress

The Content Multiplication System — In early February, I released a course about how I create and distribute my content. It reached $10,000 in revenue in a single week. Having that capital cushion allowed me to explore different areas I was curious about.

My First Job — In March, I cold-emailed the CEO of beehiiv, my favorite company, and pitched ways I could add value to them. I got the job and was tasked with creating the beehiiv 101 course which helped our users better understand, unlock, and maximize the beehiiv platform (If you didn’t know, this newsletter is written with beehiiv).

Grew & Sold Several Media Assets — On the side, I grew several passion projects into decent-sized media assets. I grew an Instagram page to 122,000 followers and a B2B newsletter to 1,500 subscribers. I sold both to people I highly respect.

Health & Fitness — As a basketball player, I was always undersized. At the start of the year, my goal was to gain 10 lbs. of lean muscle. I crushed that goal going from 135 to 155 lbs. (shoutout to Cedric Bock, who helped create my workout routine). But more importantly, I fell in love with working out. It’s not about getting fit, it’s about staying fit.

Online Audience — At the start of the year, my goal was to hit 25,000 total followers on Twitter. While my focus shifted to other areas of my life (career and fitness), my momentum carried me to 43,000 followers on Twitter. I’m grateful that so many people find my writing and ideas inspirational and helpful.

Started Working With My Heroes & Mentors — While many young people optimize for income, my goal was to get around the people whose careers resembled the type of career I aspired to have. I’m grateful to share I’ve been working with Cory Levy at Z Fellows, Mike McGuiness at Startup Archive, as well as Noah Kagan, and Sahil Bloom.

Invisible Progress

Communication — At the beginning of the year, I struggled to express my thoughts. I hedged my opinion, stuttered when I spoke, and didn’t know how to engage people with my words. But after writing over 40,000 tweets, creating a course, hopping on hundreds of Zoom calls, and writing this newsletter… I’ve made a lot of progress. While I’m not yet where I aspire to be — it’s a good start.

Discipline — I’ve always been internally driven. I’ve always been a morning person. But there have been many days where all I wanted to do was hit the snooze button. But the older I get the more I realize that everything has a price. You can either pay the immediate price of doing the work now or the long-term price of not achieving your goals. Discipline is ignoring what you want in the current moment for what you want in the future.

Emotions — This has been a big improvement for me. When I was younger, I was careless with my words and actions. I’ve made it a huge focus to be less frustrated with things outside of my control, to be kinder to strangers, to envy less, and to in general, be more patient. It’s a work in progress. However, learning about psychology and persuasion has helped me be more empathetic to others.

Network — Your network is hard to quantify. But long-term. it’s one of the most powerful assets you have. I’ve made it a priority to help as many people as I can (with no expectations in return). Introduce people to each other, share cool resources, and send notes of encouragement. Even if you don’t get anything in return, it makes you feel good.

Time Management — Last year, it was difficult to balance school, sports, and work. This year, I’ve been much more consistent. Much of that can be attributed to learning how to say no without feeling guilty. I also make a conscious effort to block off time to organize my calendar. Every Sunday, I realign with my priorities, create systems and templates, and plan for the week ahead. Fifteen minutes of planning can save you fifteen hours of unneeded stress.

Self-Love — As an extremely driven and ambitious person, sometimes I get so caught up in the future that I don’t realize I’m in the middle of what I used to wish for. I wrestle with doubt. I struggle with insecurity. I overthink and get anxious. But I’m slowly realizing that’s a part of the journey. That’s a part of growing up. We’re all figuring it out as we go.

Takeaways

A lot can change in one year — Don’t underestimate how much progress you can make with one year of focused effort. I’m not anything special. I simply kept going when most people stopped. Make a little progress each day. Even if you don’t have time to do the full thing, do something. Anything above zero compounds.

Don’t forget the invisible progress — When things get tough and you aren’t seeing the results you want to see, don’t forget about the invisible progress behind the scenes. At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. With boiling water, comes steam. With steam, you can power a train. But it’s not the last degree that made the difference, but all the degrees that came before it. Just because you can’t see results doesn’t mean you’re not making progress.

Document so you don’t forget — Document, document document. If I had to advise my past self, I’d tell little Jay to document your journey more. Take pictures. Take screenshots. Keep a journal. Write a weekly newsletter. Not only will you learn from yourself, but you’ll also be able to look back and reflect on how far you’ve come.

What are a few of your visible and invisible accomplishments?

Jay “We’re Just Getting Warmed Up” Yang