Hey — It’s Jay!

This letter was inspired by a question one of my followers asked me:

While I don’t have a specific framework, I do have a few mental models for trampolining your way out of mental ruts. This letter is my attempt to share them with you.

But before we begin... a message from a friend:

Okay, now on to today's piece.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been in a mental rut.

Not in my personal life — but in the behind-the-scenes business backend.

At first, I wasn’t worried. Lack of clarity usually resolves itself. But then it began to affect other facets of my life.

My routine fell apart. I reverted back to long-forgotten, bad habits: scrolling social media, not drinking enough water, and not maintaining order in my physical space.

My physical environment mirrored my mental environment.

How does this happen? How does something as small as the lack of clarity manifest into a mental rut? What causes people to slide into unwanted habits and feel stuck?

Problems Are Patterns

Prevailing wisdom will tell you that it’s cause and effect. You feel tired because you didn’t go to the gym. You feel overwhelmed because you didn’t take enough time to rest. You feel uncertain because you didn’t journal this morning. This way of thinking makes things simple.

The problem with linear thinking? Nothing is ever that simple. Imagine you have a messy room and you want to clean it. The linear thinker would grab a vacuum and clean it. Problem solved, right?

Wrong. The systems thinker understands if you don’t identify the pattern behind why your room keeps being messy, you’ll repeat those messy habits. Treat the cause, not the symptom.

Same thing with business. If you don’t identify the root cause of your problem, the problem will persist.

Life Acts In Seasons

Life is cyclical in nature. Winter and Summer. Spring and Fall. Birth and rebirth. That is the way of the universe. It’s also how we live our lives.

We live in 4 primary phases (or chapters) of life:

I: The Limbo Phase

This is a time when you may feel lost, uncertain, or anxious about the future.

This is when you review lessons from your last chapter. The best athletes review their game films. The best public speakers play back their speeches. The best writers edit their writing. The Limbo Phase is the “offseason” of your life.

Maybe you’re past business failed. Maybe you just got out of a relationship. Maybe your sports season just ended. This is a time for reflection and redirection.

It’s a phase to take time off and decompress. You may feel depressed. You may feel like this phase will never end. Relax. It will. Just like a wave in an infinite ocean, this too will pass.

II: The Clarity Phase

This is a time when you’ve gained a new sense of direction. You have a clear vision. You’re taking action and building momentum. Things are starting to go well.

Maybe you started that business idea and you’re starting to make progress. Maybe you just met someone on a date and you felt sparks. Maybe you just started another sports season.

Maintain that momentum. Keep making progress. Keep stacking wins. Put the pedal to the metal.

III: The Creation Phase

This is a time of success. You’re in the zone, in your groove, and in a flow state. Everything is working smoothly. You’re at your peak.

You’ve achieved your vision. Maybe you just launched your product and it sold out. Maybe you won your spelling bee competition. Maybe you won the basketball championship.

The key in this phase is to keep doing what’s been working. Try to “ride the wave” of your momentum for as long as possible. And equally as important, enjoy your success. You’ve earned it.

But also understand that all good things come to an end. Eventually, a new chapter will begin.

IV: The End Phase

This is a time of stagnation. Your energy is low, you’re going through the motions, and you don’t feel inspired. You’ve maxed out your vision, and now you need a new one.

You may fear losing whatever success you had in The Creation Phase. Maybe your success caused you to lose meaning in your prior work.

Maybe building products doesn’t make you excited anymore. Maybe practicing your spelling makes you bored. Maybe playing basketball isn’t fun anymore. That’s okay. You can’t have a life of never-ending expansion.

It’s by going through this process that you learn about yourself. You peel the layers of your onion. Layer by layer, phase by phase, you gain a deeper understanding of who you are.

Each phase has its own set of problems and benefits. Understanding what phase you’re in better helps you navigate through it.

But let’s get tactical. How can you get out of The End or Limbo Phase into the Clarity or Creation Phase?

Act With Intention

What’s the commonality between clarity and creation? Consciousness.

• Consuming is unconscious, creation is conscious.
• Confusion is unconscious, clarity is conscious.
• Chaos is unconscious, order is conscious.

The key to escaping your mental rut is through intentional actions.

1) Identify What Phase You’re In

The first step in behavior change is to acknowledge where you’re currently at.

Psychologists will ask you introspective questions. Personal trainers will have you weigh yourself before you start working out with them. When you journal, you begin by asking self-reflection questions.

Awareness is the first step to change.

But how do you identify what phase you’re currently in?

Take a step back and self-reflect. You can take a walk, meditate, or simply stare at a wall, whatever you have to do to disconnect from the busyness of life and point your attention inwards towards yourself.

Do you feel energized? Full of life?

If yes, great. Then keep doing what’s working for you.

If not, then something must change.

2) Bring Awareness To Limiting Factors

A limiting factor is anything that prevents or hinders a system’s ability to function. No matter how much work you put in, if you don’t fix the limiting factor, you won’t achieve growth.

For example:

• Bread will not rise without yeast, no matter how much flour it has.
• Plants will not grow without sunlight, no matter how much water it has.
• Your muscles will not grow without protein, no matter how much carbohydrates they have.

What’s holding you back? No, what’s really holding you back? Go deeper. You can’t find an answer without truly understanding your problem.

Let’s do a quick thought experiment — It’s called The 5 Why’s Method.

The method is simple: when a problem occurs, you ask “Why” five times.

Problem statement: “I had trouble writing my newsletter today.”

Why? → I couldn’t focus without getting distracted.

Why? → I didn’t have enough energy to get up and put my phone in the other room.

Why? → I didn’t sleep very well last night.

Why? → I was stressed about my upcoming final exams.

Why? → I feel like my future depends on my performance on those exams.

Do you see where this is going? Each “Why” gets you closer and closer to the root problem.

3) Create Mental Order

There’s a reason why all the self-improvement gurus, psychologists, and Navy SEALs will tell you to make your bed, clean your room, or organize the physical space around you. A chaotic environment leads to a chaotic mind.

But even more crucial is your mental environment:

• What are you letting into your mind on a daily basis?
• Is what you consume on a daily basis helping or hurting you?
• Are you consciously consuming or letting your compulsions control you?

Guard your mind at all costs. Because your content diet leads to your thoughts, and your thoughts become your reality.

4) Pick A Vision (Or Anti-Vision)

A vision sets the outline for your decisions. Choose a vision that you actually want to achieve. If you don’t know what to choose, start with what you don’t want.

• What are NOT my values?
• What’s NOT important to me?
• What does my ideal day NOT look like?

And then you can slowly work towards what you do want:

• What do I actually care about?
• Who am I when I’m my best self?
• What is it that I really want?

Once you have a clear vision (and anti-vision), everything becomes an inspiration for you to achieve your vision.

James Clear once said, “When you have a big concept in the back of your mind, it becomes a filter that everything you experience runs through.”

Kobe Bryant said, once he knew his goal was to play in the NBA, everything was an opportunity to improve his game. He would watch a documentary about sharks and then ask: “How can I steal the way sharks use angles to hunt their prey to improve my own defense?”

A vision creates clarity. Clarity creates action.

5) Make Progress

The Limbo and End Phase are both phases of stagnation. What’s the opposite of stagnation? Movement.

But more specifically… progress. Progress is movement in a forward direction. Movement with a purpose.

In other words, the last step to going from being overwhelmed, uncertain, and anxious, is to take purposeful action.

Journaling without acting on your newfound clarity is fake progress. Watching game film without going to the gym is fake progress. Looking at your follower count every day without creating daily content is fake progress.

It’s only when those above activities are coupled with lever-moving actions that they become progress. You need a healthy balance of both if you are to make sustainable progress.

How do you calculate whether you’re making progress? By determining a hierarchy of goals to pursue:

I. Outcome-Based

Where do you see yourself in 6 months? A year? 5 years? How do you feel? What are you doing? This goal should be outcome-based.

Ex: I want to gain 20 lbs. of lean muscle.

II. System-Based

Your medium goal should be process-based. How are you going to get to your large goal?

Ex: I will implement a new workout routine at the gym.

III. Identity-Based

The goal for this goal (pun intended) is for you to change your beliefs about yourself. Who do you wish to become?

Ex: I am an athlete who goes to the gym every day.

If you want a deeper dive into setting goals, creating habits, and changing your behavior, I highly recommend Atomic Habits by James Clear.

If you’re currently in a rut and this came at a great time, I hope this helped.

If you’re not currently in a rut and you read all the way to the end, props to you. I hope this serves as an operating manual when things get hazy.

I wish you more than the best of luck.

Jay “You Don’t Need Motivation, You Need Clarity” Yang

JAY'S PICKS: 🔥

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• My friend Ross revealed the simple content system he used to grow over 213,000+ followers.

• 10 pieces of advice for high school graduates who want to make a living online.

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