There's no speed limit

In partnership with

This is an excerpt from my upcoming book…

In the early 1990s, Derek Sivers was a 17-year-old musician preparing to attend Berklee College of Music, one of the most prestigious institutions for aspiring artists. Like many incoming students, he was excited, eager—and maybe a little unsure of what was coming.

A few weeks before school began, Derek came across an ad in the paper for a local recording studio in Chicago. Curious about music typesetting, he called the number, expecting a simple answer. On the other end of the line was Kimo Williams, the studio owner and a Berklee alumnus. When Kimo heard Derek was heading to Berklee, he didn’t just answer the question—he issued a challenge.

“I have a theory,” Kimo said. “With the right training, I can help you graduate in two years. Come by my studio tomorrow at 9:00 AM. No charge.”

For Derek, it wasn’t blind luck. He was the kind of person who followed his curiosity and took action. He could have ignored the ad or hesitated to make the call, but he didn’t. When the opportunity presented itself, he didn’t overthink it—he showed up the next morning, early but waiting outside until exactly 8:59 before ringing the bell.

Kimo wasn’t just another studio musician—he was a Berklee graduate who had built a career composing music that defied boundaries, blending jazz fusion, classical symphonies, and rock. His compositions had been performed by symphonies, celebrated by critics, and shaped by the discipline of a Vietnam veteran. If anyone could collapse years of learning into hours, it was Kimo.

Kimo wasted no time. He sat Derek down at the piano and started explaining complex jazz harmonies: substitute chords, tri-tones, resolution theory. He didn’t just lecture—he made Derek apply the concepts on the spot. Kimo crammed months of material into hours, pushing Derek to keep up. It was fast. It was overwhelming. And it was thrilling.

By the end of the first three-hour lesson, Derek had absorbed an entire semester’s worth of Berklee’s harmony curriculum. Over the next four lessons, Kimo covered four more semesters. When Derek arrived at Berklee, he tested out of six semesters of classes.

Six semesters. Just gone.

While his peers spent years plodding through the basics, Derek surged ahead. But he didn’t stop there. Kimo had shown him what was possible, and Derek took the lesson to heart. He began teaching himself additional classes, buying course materials, completing the work on his own, and taking final exams for credit. By challenging the traditional pace of the system, Derek graduated with a bachelor’s degree in just two and a half years. He was twenty.

Years later, Derek reflected on what Kimo taught him:

“The system is designed so anyone can keep up. But if you’re more driven than most people, you can do way more than anyone expects. There’s no speed limit.”

Most people assume success follows a linear process—one semester at a time, one promotion at a time, one carefully measured step after another. These systems weren’t designed for excellence; they were designed to accommodate the average person.

The standard pace feels safe. It gives us excuses: “I’ll get there eventually,” we tell ourselves. But that’s the voice of comfort, not progress.

The truth is, there’s always a way to go faster if you’re willing to look for it. Derek could have taken four years. He didn’t. But this wasn’t about rushing or cutting corners—it was about moving with clarity and intention. He saw the standard pace for what it was: a choice, not a rule.

Most people accept the system’s default speed because it feels comfortable. But comfort is a trap. It’s sloth disguised as safety, inertia posing as progress. To go faster, you don’t need to rush past everything; you need to focus on mastering the essentials and cutting away what doesn’t matter. It’s not speed versus depth—it’s speed through depth.

The real question isn’t, Can you go faster? It’s, What’s holding you back? The system wasn’t designed for people who want more. If you know where you’re going, there’s no limit to how fast you can get there—so long as you’re willing to push, adapt, and keep going when it gets hard.

The world doesn’t reward those who wait. It rewards those who act.

See you next Sunday,

Jay “I am speed!” Yang

The future of presentations, powered by AI

Gamma is a modern alternative to slides, powered by AI. Create beautiful and engaging presentations in minutes. Try it free today.

Jay’s Finds

Some of the best content I found on the internet this week…

• I’ve been using this productivity tool from my buddy Jason Levin. Every Sunday I tell Elon Email what I did this past week, and it sends me feedback on what to improve on/work on next. It’s been incredibly helpful.

• As I mentioned in a previous newsletter, I’m in the process of writing a book. This article from Charlie Hoehn was super insightful. How to sell a million copies of your non-fiction book.

• Mr. Beast is one of the largest creators on YouTube. His videos garner hundreds of millions of views. This was a leaked handbook of how to succeed on his production team. Worth reading and rereading.

Forwarded this email? Sign up here
Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn