Learning How to Delegate, in Life
A Letter to My Future Self
Dear Zake,
I’m the 27-year-old of you from 2021, how have you been? Since 2015, I decided to take a day every month to reflect on work, life, relationship, and mental clarity. This is the 61st mail that I’m writing to you.
Learning How to Delegate, in Life
In March and April, I made a commitment to wake up at 7:30AM and start a “study with me” livestreaming session on my channel. Anyone who spot me not streaming or late for the streaming, can win ¥100 CNY from me with proof screenshots.
This structure basically changes many things that happen later in the day. I moved my workout hour from 11PM to 9AM, gained 3–4 more extra hours for side hustle besides my day job, and I felt more confident and energetic to start the day at work.
However, I still fail to finish all the work I plan myself to do. Let’s break them down in this review, what are the things in my side hustle?
- 30-day challenge: This is how I started the video channel back in 2019, I want to make at least a video every month, documenting me learning some new skills or habits.
- Side dreamer project: I officially named the project moments ago. As 30-day challenge goes deeper, it would be fun to consider every video project as a dream come true. For example, it could be recording your first album in studio and become a rockstar, or flying to the moon and floating in space. I don’t want to limit the topics on myself, this could be helping one of my fans realize their dream that doesn’t sounds that hard for me.
- “Notebook vlog”: I called it notebook vlog, because I find it pointless to take notes when you are learning something other than standard exams. I prefer applying everything I’m interested in real life, documenting the process and experience, so that I can release the pressure of chunks of knowledge I have to remember. The process of applying it and making it a video dedicated to yourself, works way more better than taking notes and never planning to read them again.
- LIFE IS A DRUG workshop: I started the workshop back in 2020 when I left my last corporate job. As the workshop is helping more people and holding more expectations, the weight of responsibility also grows on me. I want to be able to help people and have deep connections, not scaling or completely making profits at the moment.
- Lifelong learning: Reading a book, joining a new workshop, meeting different kinds of people and signing up for online courses on certain subject, all these help our mind stay active and sharp for new opportunities and possibilities.
- Workout & body: Working on sculpting the body — body fat 10%, build more muscle, and maintain at least 6-hour-sleep every night.
What are the top 3?
All these things above create huge amount of work, and they all consume your energy and time. It’s vital to set the most important ones as high priorities. How do we prioritize? Let’s put our annual objective here first:
Annual Objective: Become a self-reliant, confident human being who has more freedom over his life.
Apparently, 1) Workout & body takes the first place, 2) lifelong-learning comes the second, and 3) “Notebook vlog” the third.
30-day challenge and side-dreamer are both video series and projects that might help me get more audience and traction, so that I will have the chance to influence more people and grow with them through the workshop.
Why delegating?
The simple answer is: there’re plenty of things I want to do within a short period of time, I won’t be able to have them all done by myself, otherwise I won’t be able to stick with the most important top 3.
For example, the huge problem right now is that every time I started a new workshop program, at least one of the top 3 needs to be replaced by it. I can only either suffer having less sleep, or stop lifelong-learning or video updates until the workshop ends.
So now I’m working on building a system that modularizes everything, and delegates the parts I’m not really good at and enjoying doing. In this way, none of your priorities will be affected by the amount of work you want to do.
Why side hustle?
You might also wonder, why are you putting so much work besides a 996 full-time job? Why can’t you stick with what you should do and relax during off times?
I cannot speak for everyone, but I strongly believe that:
In most cases, a company’s vision is to make a profit, but an individual purpose of living cannot be purely dependent on those numbers. It’s so fragile.
You will miss the real beauty of life, and plenty of opportunities by thinking that way, with tears and regrets on the deathbed.
I encourage everyone who’s reading my blog, take a moment to think about this:
Your life should not only contain of other people’s priorities and desires, those things are always secondaries. You got to build up the skills and confidence to say no, and protect your life — the last oasis.
What are the ideals look like?
It’s hard to persist a side hustle, especially when you get off the work at 10PM, when you have to be at office on Sunday, when the work that you put all you heart won’t get seen by many people, and when you receive hate and negative comments…
And that’s the point, the purpose of chasing a dream, which most people are not even willing to putting into the work, and fear being seen as “weirdo”.
Write down or draw your ideas on paper, not only helps you figure out what should be taken more seriously, but provides continuous drive and mental clarity.
Review March & April OKRs
KR1: Cinematography skill — Make sure every B-roll shot is visually appealing
Seeing this KR again, I feel a bit narrow-minded back in March. In order to grow my audience on Bilibili and YouTube, it’s better to enhance my overall content-creation ability, including cinematography, editing, content picking and expression etc.
Improving cinematography alone, cannot secure I will be better at creating content and having more freedom over my life, so reframing the KR is a must.
KR2: Grow my channel to 65K and make at least one more 100K-view content
Failing at this one without a doubt. Currently, I have 58K subs on Bilibili, and I just realized my YouTube turned 2K. 🎉 🎉 🎉
I did post 2 personal development videos and a hiking video, unfortunately, none of them have more than 20K views. I’ve been thinking about creating more contrast in my content.
KR3: Lose belly fat and gain a 6-pack, body fat percentage to 13%
Well, I fail at cutting body fat to 13%, but I successfully make the number from almost 18% to 14%, cutting down around 5kg body weight and having a six-pack.
The best part is, I’m not feeling I need to do anything different to maintain this lifestyle, I’m not feeling I have to control myself from eating anything unhealthy or high-calories.
All I did during the past 2 months is, making sure you work out for 30 minutes every day, 6 days a week. My workout plan includes no equipment home HIIT exercise, or swimming and boxing for around 1.5hrs on some days.
OKR for May & June
Annual Objective: Become a self-reliant, confident human being who has more freedom over his life
KR1: Lifelong learning on running a online course and community — completion rate to 35%, interaction rate to 50%
- Increase the workshop completion rate to 35%, high interaction rate to 50% by setting incentives and more customized guidence
- Build a workshop system and framework that can delegate to anyone
KR2: Grow my channel to 70K and make at least one more 100K-view content
- Post 3+ new videos before the next review (eye-catching content /30-day challenge series / fun lifestyles)
- Dedicate more to scripting and content planning (5 elements: topic, value, connection, fun and rhythm)
KR3: Maintain body fat to 12%, and gaining (more?) muscle on the pectoralis and biceps
- 30 minutes HIIT/strength workout every day at 9AM.
- Every Wednesday/Thursday night for Muay Thai/BJJ, Friday night for swimming
- Have a 6.5-hour sleep every night, bedtime 12 AM
What I’m Digesting
1. Google Director Of Engineering: This is how fast the world will change in ten years
2. 产品思维30讲 — 梁宁
The original online course was posted back in 2018, and I was recommended by many friends and colleagues but always forgot to pick it up.
The course holds very intensive and valuable framework, methodology and stories to our every day life, highly recommended to anyone who is interested in learning product/serivce skills, being more thoughtful for things around them, and planning to get in to Internet/technology companies.
3. Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman
4. Akimbo Podcast — Seth Godin
I asked Seth a question back in Feb, it was surprisingly lucky to hear him answering my question on the show and providing a ton of value and thoughts.
5. Side Hustle — Chris Guillebeau
I bought this book due to the title, “side hustle” “from idea to income in 27 days”. All these elements sounds familiar and are exactly the things I’m interested. However, the book lack stories and examples for supporting the framework and methods. Not recommended.
LIFE IS A DRUG. LOVE IT. LIVE IT.
Zake
