i’m 34 and have already lived multiple lives. careers, relationships, cities, and physiques have all come and gone. i am incredibly grateful for this by the way. i don’t deserve any of it.
to absolve myself of “success guilt” — something every self aware yuppie experiences — i do a mix of writing, giving, and teaching on the side. comedian Ryan Long once said something like “advice is just telling people how to be you.” so i tried that too because “me” is a happy, optimistic, net good for society. i create jobs, encourage others, and pay taxes.
then last week happened. the America First (not Americans* first) scam got me thinking. maybe i don’t want to do this for much longer? maybe the tech bros i’ve been mentoring are not my people. i first had this insight in 2022, spurring a move from Seoul to a small town. but after 2 years in a small town i’ve realized that perhaps local tradesmen who don’t show up for work are also not my people. i will walk with my people when i can find them.
in 2025 i’m going to try something different. like you i have goals, dreams, and rough timelines to make them happen. off the top i’d like to have kids; sell another company; reduce my body fat from 16% to 12%; be a better disciple. but when?
“What’s preventing you from achieving your ten-year goals inside of six months?”
Thiel’s challenge was too scary for me to even consider when i first heard it. cool thought experiment, anyway what’s for lunch? but now i’m ready. by the grace of God i am ready to go Super Saiyan.
because it’s reasonable that i can regain 6-pack abs, manifest another 7 figure exit, and start a family before i’m 40. but i’m not interested in what is reasonable. i’m interested in not being called a sub-tard (Musk) for watching Boy Meets World (Vivek) after school.
to pull this off i need 2 tools:
- more time
- fewer distractions
and i can carve these out from the rubble as follows.
- pause support at my Founder/Hacker coding school. curriculum will remain available, but no more 1:1 emailing until further notice.
- outsource logistics at TRMNL. overpriced 3PL services aren’t a good fit but it appears a family member is willing to quit their job next week to take over this department.
- stop hosting bros at the ranch. you guys are awesome and whenever someone visits we get stuff done. but the stuff we get done is also being paused (see #4).
- pause ranch work. i have a lifetime to iterate on our compound but lately have spread myself too thin. a few Ranch Tracker projects are still in draft mode because they’re not done yet.
- less or no alcohol. i’ll admit that i love drinking, but i once did a 10 month stint without it and that was nice too. practically this just means spending less time at restaurants, more grinding.
- [even] fewer meetings. as a manager these are theoretically high leverage activities, but despite having ~20 direct reports i’m an individual contributor at heart. meetings destroy my ability to do the creative work for which i am uniquely qualified.
- increase schedule rigidity. i’ve always oscillated between “plan every minute of my day” and “do whatever i want with no alarms.” now is the time for more rules. remember: it’s not forever.
- put health first. i work hard physically and mentally but the physical aspect comes in waves. i’ll do a ton of labor outside, or go to the park for weeks to run, then take a week or 2 or 3 off. so i’m hopping on the early morning gym wagon to see how it suits me. i am skeptical but will try.
- ignore hobbies. i have several interests, from playing music to getting better at Nine-ball, learning 3D modeling, studying Korean, woodworking, starting side hustles… but these are incompatible with speedrunning the rest of my 30s in a single year.
the list above is not comprehensive. a punch list of action items is imminent. but i’m sharing anyway because my biggest accomplishments have 1 thing in common: i stated my intentions in public.
please hold me accountable. or join me and i’ll return the favor. Project 2025 starts… now.