the most important 6 months of my life

after graduating from uni last year, i felt a huge weight off my shoulders.

for the first time in my life, i wouldn’t be going back to school in September, which meant i could actually start working on stuff with a longer timeline than summer vacation.

at that point, i already owned a car detailing business that supported me for 2 summers, so the plan was simple:

1. earn money by detailing cars

2. put my free time into making YouTube videos

i thought that was a great plan.

but it only took a few weeks of the summer to realize that splitting my attention between 2 things at once just meant i wasn’t doing either of them well.

so i asked myself a question:

what if i just went for it with YouTube?

it was a crazy idea in the moment, & it still feels kinda crazy in hindsight.

but if there’s 1 thing i know, it’s that the only way to guarantee failure is to never try.

so, i went for it.

come September, schools started up again & my girlfriend went to work as a ‘real’ adult for the first time, which left me alone with my laptop, my camera, & a dream.

for the first time in my life, i had uninterrupted, guilt-free time to work on my YouTube channel, to write my newsletter, & to start really thinking about the business-side of things.

& in the first week… i did nothing.

i mean, i did some things — i wrote my newsletter, i brainstormed some videos, i started planning the business — but there was no real output.

weird.

must be an adjustment to this new life.

then week 2 came along, & guess what?

i did the same thing.

if anything, i probably did a bit less than the week before.

the only thing i was really producing was my highest screen time ever — & i was furious at myself for it.

my first month of total freedom was an absolute flop.

i had accidentally got myself into this routine of wanting to do work, getting distracted, not doing enough work, & then being mad at myself for wasting time.

& i felt like a loser for it.

but then — i don’t know exactly when it happened — i remembered a quote from a podcast episode i had brainwashed myself with in the year prior:

‘you are the output of your own work.’

in other words:

the work i’m doing isn’t just building a successful business.

the work i’m doing is becoming the type of person who deserves a successful business.

see, i knew entrepreneurship was a great way of building the life i want.

but one thing that i overlooked was the fact that it might also be the single best tool for personal development that exists.

that’s because it leaves nowhere for your flaws to hide.

i’m the only real bottleneck of the business, which means whether it succeeds or not, it’s all on me.

& that’s not a downside of entrepreneurship — it’s the best thing about it.

these last few months, i learned more about myself than i did in the last few years.

spending so much time alone, working day & night towards 1 goal, has forced me to confront all of my flaws that i had been hiding from:

• my fear of not being ‘good enough.’

• my reluctance to trade comfort for effort.

• my constant planning that was just a way of avoiding the real work.

• my jealousy for people who had already ‘made it.’

• my anger towards things out of my control.

• my weakness in saying no to new opportunities & sticking to the plan.

• my perfectionism that was just a fear of failure in disguise.

you can basically pick any of my newsletters from the past 6 months & see what my dilemma à la carte was on any given week.

part of me is embarrassed to even write about how short i fell from my own (ridiculously high) standards.

but another part of me knows that if i’m scared to write about something, it’s very important to write about that thing.

i can’t sugar coat stuff when a blank page is staring at me.

i think i had secretly hoped that it would just take 1 more video, & then my channel would blow up & people would flood my mailing list & line up to give me money to solve their problems.

but i was wrong.

& as a result, i still don’t have the hugely successful online business that i’ve been working towards.

that might look like a failure, but i would actually consider these past 6 months as anything but that.

hear me out:

look at the amount of time between uploads on my YouTube channel:

i went from taking 6 whole months in between uploads, to finally nearing my goal of 1 high quality video every week.

not only that, but look at my channel now:

i almost look like a real YouTuber!

& sponsors seem to think so too — this past week, i was offered deals from 2 companies that are actually worth considering!

also, look at the growth of this !

building this community (& the online business attached to it) has been one of the hardest things i’ve ever had the privilege to work on in my life.

i’ve learned so many more lessons than i could possibly write about in 1 newsletter, & i’m definitely on my way to being that person who deserves the things i want.

so now, as i approach this big push to launch my first ever program at the end of March, i just wanted to say:

thank you.

i look through my email list all the time just to see your names, & it makes me feel so grateful to be able to do what i do.

i know that you’re working on yourself too, & just because you might not have your own shitty newsletter to share your progress with the world, it doesn’t mean you’re not growing.

either way, i hope it brings you comfort knowing that i’m still a work in progress too.

let’s keep growing together.

~ liam (:

some things i learned

1. in a world designed to take your attention, focus is a skill

   

2. more AI data centres are being built than offices

   

3. flying cars are a thing now btw
   you can buy yourself a ‘personal electric aerial vehicle’ from Jetson Aero for about the same cost as a 2026 BMW 7 Series. also, Uber announced they’ll be launching Uber Air this year, featuring similar aircraft.

   

cool stuff i found

1. a movie that instantly became one of my all-time favourites
   if i were to make a movie, it would look something like Train Dreams. i think it’s best to go in blind, so all i’ll say is that it’s a simple story of a man’s life that sits with you for a few hours after you watch it.
   
   also, every single shot in the movie was beautiful to look at. i could literally watch it on mute lol.
   
   give it a chance!

   

2. a book i’ve been recommending to friends
   Maintenance: Of Everything by Stewart Brand is a cool mix of philosophy, history, & practical tips that’s hard to describe but makes for a good read.
   
   plus, look how cool the cover is:

   

   bring back judging books by their covers!!!

3. an easy way to make anywhere beautiful — plant trees
   look at this street with & without trees:

   

bonus: a wholesome video to make you smile

that’s all for this week!

if you couldn’t tell from what i wrote about today, i’ve been reflecting a lot on the work i’ve been doing, & where i’d like to go with it.

there are a million lessons that flood my mind when i look back on these past few months, & it got me thinking:

how cool is it to just be alive, doing stuff?

like we really just get to wake up every day with a clean slate & use it to go in any direction we choose.

i mean that — like if you woke up tomorrow & decided for some reason that you really wanted to become a sheep herder in rural Ireland, there’s a reasonable path towards actually making that happen within the next few months.

that’s crazy to me.

you can just do things.

anyways, i hope this made your day better!

go make yourself proud this week.

~ liam (:

PS - if you haven’t joined the waitlist yet for my super top secret exciting launch at the end of the month, you’re missing out! click here to join the waitlist, & i’ll reach out to you personally in a few weeks!