External Achievement: Notes from James #06

Hey {{first_name}}

Last night I hit 100,000 followers on Instagram. An absolutely unfathomable number to comprehend.

Thank you all so much for following along with my learning journey, I hope you have been enjoying it as much as I have.

Here’s my one-sentence reflection: It doesn’t make me feel any different.

While the external validation of having 100,000 people decide to click a follow button on a social media platform looks really rewarding in theory, it’s not even close to what matters.

After journaling and reflecting this morning on this “monumental achievement,” I came to the conclusion that the number of followers I have doesn’t matter to me because it’s not why I started posting.

I started posting learning videos with the ambitious challenge of posting every single day for a year. Not for any external achievements, but because I wanted to become a more valuable version of myself.

Learning something new every single day gets me one step closer, daily.

However, there is something that I have felt as a result of gaining followers over the past 274 days.

The best feeling is when someone messages, DMs, comments, or emails that I have made an impact on their life.

I love hearing that I have inspired someone to start learning more on their own.

So while my follower count doesn’t motivate me, the feeling I get when someone tells me that I have made them want to improve their life will never get old.

Thank you all again.

Last Week’s Learning

All learning videos can be found on my Instagram

Day 268 What is adopting a highway?

Day 269 How to calm down when you’re stressed

Day 270 What do AM and PM stand for?

Day 271 Our expectations and perceptions of reality inform our reality

Day 272 What is the nervous system?

Day 273 Where do all of the empty shells at the beach come from?

Day 274 The Cassandra Complex

From James

As mentioned last week, the 7-day learning challenge that I shared in last week’s newsletter is still available on my website. I am starting to hear some amazing feedback from the people who started the challenge and I highly recommend you start for yourself (it is completely free, nothing is stopping you from joining).

The email prompts you receive after you sign up will guide you immensely:

- James