I made a massive mistake.

Read time: 7 minutes

Welcome 1351 readers to the Learning Lab.

A newsletter that helps you build your learning systems and become lifelong learners.

I won't preach or sell you anything in this post; I want to share a few things with you.

The last time I posted a single newsletter was November 16.

Not only that, I also disappeared from X for quite some time, so it would be nice for you to know what I have been up to lately and the direction of this newsletter.

Where have I been?

Honestly, things have been hard for me. In June, I got 3 ghostwriting clients, and for the next 6 months, I have been working on their brand. Which has consumed me. I made a promise to them, and one of my core values is to follow through on my promises, therefore, I am stuck in this sticky situation.

On the positive side, they enjoy my work, and I might get a promotion after 6 months of creating content for them.

I am learning a lot; maybe this is just what "hard "feels like.

But, like anything, this comes with an expense.

My progress in "learning how to learn "with Justin Sung's ICanStudy course.

I have been in the course for almost a year, and recently, I realized that I wasn't practicing enough, and that my skill level is not where I am supposed to be. There is a good chance I will have to re-learn the course. This interfered with many of my plans, but this is the reality.

Learning how to learn is hard—very hard.

I screwed up, and now I will do what is required. This is frustrating, and I am the only one I can blame. I know what I need to do in the long run, and now I need to put my head down and work.

I think, once again, I made the same mistakes as what I described in this one thread:

I tried to cut corners, and now things are returning to bite me.

I made the mistake, and now I will have to make up for it.

What am I working on right now?

As mentioned, I spend most of my days creating content for a brand in the learning science niche. I spend most of my time building out the SOPs, content database, etc.… I actually learned a lot about this process of building out their systems, and I am grateful that I got this opportunity.

Other than that, I am working on some personal projects that are important but I don't want to talk about yet. ;-)

Meanwhile, I am allocating time to work on myself, improving my learning techniques with ICanStudy.

Between both roles + managing my personal brand + other projects, I am accounting for anywhere from 40 - 60 hours per week. This is like a full-time job for me.

I have friends who consistently reach over 100+ hours per week without burning out, and at some point, I want to try this out.

But something in me has changed, and something is wrong. I no longer feel that fire burning in me.

I don’t feel like I am the same naive kid with the dream of changing education; maybe it’s maturity or reality, but when I started putting in the work, I came to realize that changing is hard and comes with sacrifices.

Why did I stop posting on X and the Learning Lab?

I don't know. After that one viral post about how I graduated school early, I lost momentum, and times just flew by.

I was too conscious of building someone's account, and I sacrificed my personal growth in the process.

For the Learning Lab, it's a similar story.

I don't know if the newsletters are helpful for people or not. And when zoomed into the big picture, how important is this newsletter?

I felt disconnected from my work, and distractions masked my eyes from making the right decisions.

My projects require complete focus and dedication; otherwise, things will fall and collapse.

I do want to get back to posting, but I don't want to post about studying, learning, and education, as I feel I am not even qualified to post anymore.

Moving forward in 2024?

Here are the New Year's resolutions I set for myself a year ago:

Let’s go down the list:

1. 100k followers on Twitter > 8k followers

2. $10k MRR by Dec 31 > $2k MRR

3. Graduate bachelor > DONE

4. + 7kg if muscle mass > Probably like 1 - 2 kg

5. Become an ICS learning coach > Another 12 months away.
   

From this list, finishing university at 18 is my only achievement.

I overestimated my progress, and honestly, if I had put in more effort, I would have accomplished so much more.

I don’t want to set goals anymore for 2024, as I feel they’re counterproductive and don’t get me far.

My #1 priority is to finish the ICanStudy course. Then continue growing my Twitter account to reach something like 10k or 20k.

Also, the pros of creating content for my clients in the last six months are that I have had so much time to experiment. And now, if I need to grow my audience, I know what to do.

In general, I want to document more and create something that my future self can reflect on and say, "Wow, this is you in 2024."

This reminds me of the → B → Z framework by Shaan Puri.

A is right here. B is my next step, and Z is my destination.

All I will do is take the next step, and my ultimate goal has always been to create the most impact on the education system possible.

On a side note, most people around me don't understand what I am doing, and my parents trust me but at some point, they will tell me to get a real job if things don't work out.

What is next for the Learning Lab?

I can switch to more sporadic writing, where I will only post something to you when I feel I have something meaningful to share.

This newsletter could be more personal and with infrequent posting scheduling. I will try to post learning tips, but I will simplify the message and keep everything short and light for you all.

But I want to hear from you.

Reply back and let me know what you want me to do with this newsletter.

This is getting long. Thank you for reading this post. I might be rambling a lot, and I'll try to simplify and edit down a bit before posting this. :-)

It’s great to get these thoughts out of my head.

I can’t make any promises in the future.

Until then lab partner!

Toan