2019: The Year of ______
I’m living proof that a single choice can completely change your life.
Before I dropped out of college to make YouTube videos… Before I started Jumpcut…
And way before I ever got the chance to travel the world doing cool shit like this:
I was this:
Just Kong, the cute asian baby.
Kong, the son of two immigrant parents who came to this country with nothing. Kong, the kid who was supposed to go to school, get good grades and become a doctor.
So you can imagine how hard it was for me when I wanted to drop out of college. My mom and dad left everyone and everything they knew just so I could have a shot at a better life. And I wanted to throw it all away ONE semester before graduating.
The problem was I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right.
It wasn’t just that the stuff my professors taught didn’t seem practical (Sorry Adam Smith, but theories from 1783 don’t really help you start and run a company today).
It wasn’t just that the stuff I did want to learn — like how to make YouTube videos and run Facebook ads — wasn’t even covered in any classes.
It wasn’t even just that I was in debt up to my eyeballs for a freaking piece of paper.
It was that it seemed like I was wasting my life.
All I could think is: It’s time to decide.
I realized I could keep complaining about how useless school was… About how much I wanted to be an entrepreneur and college was stopping me… or I could choose a path that wasn’t predetermined and definitely wasn’t going to be easy, but was what I knew deep inside I wanted.
Today, Jumpcut is bigger than I ever could have imagined (we’ve been backed by Y Combinator, have over 60 employees and, most importantly, tens of thousands of loyal customers all around the world).
The funny thing is a lot of people think that success came from a great idea or great timing or special connections.
But the real reason was because I chose what I wanted.
I didn’t do what society said I should do. I didn’t do what my parents wanted. I chose to listen to the voice inside of me saying I needed to change.
That’s why I’m publicly declaring 2019 The Year of ____.
☝Yes, that’s a big fat blank space for YOU to fill in.
Because unlike some gurus who sit on their pedestal and pretend they know what your year should entail, I’m purposely leaving the theme up to you to decide.
After all… Nobody knows what you want from your life better than YOU.
Of course, I’ll be there to share hard-won lessons and guide you toward more freedom, more success, more passion, and yes, more money than you’ve ever had.
But I want to be clear that the ball is in your court.
Because once you choose what you want, you can achieve things that might seem so crazy right now you can barely imagine them.
It’s true for me and anyone who’s achieved at a high level. You don’t find success by staying stagnant. You find success through ACTION.
If You Want It, Go Get It.
Recently I got this text from my friend who’s in medical residency.
I’ve blurred out his face and name for his privacy. But look what he says when I asked how things are going:
Notice my response:
“Why don’t you?”
Choosing to change may be one of the hardest decisions he’ll ever make in his life. But you can only silence that voice in your head for so long before you kill your own dreams.
When I dropped out of college, my family thought I was insane.
But I promise — you always have the choice to do something different.
If you don’t like your job, you can can choose to tell yourself that your circumstances are stopping you from succeeding OR you can make them the REASON why you must get out.
You can tell yourself that the only way to make it is to get a 9–5 job and show up at a desk for 40 years OR you can start building a business this year.
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If you want to start a YouTube channel, you can choose to tell yourself that you’re not the kind of person who’s good on video. OR you can choose to see that you have a unique personality that some people will love.
Make this the year you choose.
Look at Amanda Hocking. She’s a 34 year old social worker turned famous novelist.
She’s the perfect example of what it means to choose a better way for your life.
She always had a passion for writing, but never figured out a way to turn it into a career.
She made the choice to do something about it.
So while employed as a group home worker, she wrote novels in her spare time. And in 2010, she chose to self-publish those books on Amazon.
By 2011, she’d sold over a million copies. Not long after, her books were optioned for a film. A Hollywood movie!
That’s the power of making a choice.
And she’s not alone in experiencing this kind of growth once she chose what she wanted to do with her life.
Jumpcut students Laurie and Kevin were both working in a furniture refinishing shop when they chose to do something entirely different with their lives.
They started a YouTube channel, The Icing Artist, where they teach people how to make cool desserts. Today their channel has 2,919,269 subscribers.
It’s incredible.
There’s also Christian, another Jumpcut student.
Eighteen months ago, he was working at a department store selling clothes. He felt like he wanted so much more. And then he chose to do something different with his life.
He turned his passion for clothing into The Frugal Aesthetic, a YouTube channel where he teaches people how to dress their best.
Today, he’s got more than 500,000 subscribers and is banking over $150,000 a year.
I could go on and on with more examples but the one thing they all have in common is they chose what they wanted … and then went after it.
YOUR CHOICES = YOUR DESTINY
If you want this to be the year you finally launch your YouTube channel…
If you want to make more money than you ever have…
If you want to have a bigger impact on the world…
Let’s make this the year you do.
Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to release some of the most game-changing training Jumpcut has ever created.
Fair warning…
This isn’t the bullshit they teach in the “The Secret” where we just say “we choose to be millionaires” and sit around hoping big checks come in the mail.
If that’s what you’re looking for, just go ahead and close this window now. Block me on Medium. And never watch any of my videos again.
But if you choose to come on the journey with us, this could be the start of an entirely new chapter in your life.
Like I said, I can’t force you to do it. It’s always a choice.
You might have just read to the bottom of a 1,600 word article only to go back to work and living another ho-hum day.
Or this might be the moment when you choose something different for yourself.
If you choose greatness…
If you choose more…
If you choose to make 2019 your best year ever…
Stay tuned for the BIG reveal coming next week.
***LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW***
Let me know how will you fill in the blank?
2019 is The Year of _____.
Is The Year of Adventure? The Year of Travel? The Year of Doubling Your Business? The Year of Finally Starting?
Let’s hear yours.
