Who I'll Be By 32

Note: This piece was written on May 7th, 2023.

Today — May 7th, 2023 — I’m 29 years old. Today I’ll share a few thoughts about who I’ll be when I’m 32.

Sharing this vision flows out of me so naturally, the way this fresh new keyboard allows the words to effortlessly spill out of my mind.

As I sit here typing on my new computer, I can feel limitless potential in my fingertips. The world is open, malleable. I am free. I’m free to pursue the goals and vision I find most meaningful and fulfilling. I have my freedom of time, freedom of money, freedom of relationships, and freedom of purpose.

On July 29th, 2025, I will turn 32 years old. There are three things I want to accomplish by then.

ONE: I will have recorded 300 episodes of the “Will Learns Chinese” podcast.

I’m already on track to hit this goal. I’m not starting from scratch. I’m not starting from zero. I’ve already recorded 74 episodes of the “Will Learns Chinese” podcast. I just need to record around two episodes per week moving forward to hit this target. That means 76 more episodes this year (for 150 by the end of the year), then 100 episodes in 2024, and then 50 more episodes by July 2025. I’ll be at 300 episodes. And then Will Learns Chinese podcast will be a force in the world.

Centering around the podcast makes my Chinese efforts direct and focused. It also makes my efforts legible to the outside world — people get podcasts. They understand the idea of building a podcast, interviewing guests, and growing an audience slowly but surely.

This goal also focuses my attention properly. My long-term dream is not to make 60 second videos. That might be a means to an end. But my ultimate end if to have long conversations exploring the topics that make me feel most alive, all in Chinese. I’ll post videos to XiaoHongShu and BiliBili in addition to my podcast. But the Will Learns Chinese podcast will be my main focus. It’s the most fun to create, it’s the most legible to the outside world, and it’s most aligned with my long-term goals.

TWO: I’ll write and publish a book called “Will Learns Chinese”> I love studying Chinese. It’s my soul-mate activity. In a world of lost souls, I’ve found my passion, beyond a shadow of a doubt. I know exactly where I’m going. I’m going to speak fluent Chinese. I’m going to build a Chinese media empire. I’m going to carve my own unique path through life.

Til now, I’ve thought that the English-speaking world won’t care much about my chase of Chinese. Not so. My Tweet last week made me realize — my pursuit of Chinese is remarkable. People are captivated even if they can’t understand a single word. By writing my story, I’ll inspire others to find the things they find most enjoyable and pursue them mercilessly.

Writing this book will also serve myself. I feel this passion so strongly, but til now, I’ve only shared it in fragments — brief screenshot essays, passing journal entries, or frenzied conversation with close friends and loved ones. Writing this book will help me to crystallize the essence of my journey — how I got started, where I’ve been, and where I’m going. I’ll publish a series of Substack articles over the next 18 months, and then spend the first half of 2025 tying it all together into a single book. If my audience grows quickly in the next 18 months, I’ll look a formal publishers. Otherwise I’ll self-publish.

THREE: I’ll write and publish a book called “Mundane Miracles”. This book will be a summary of my life’s philosophy through the first 32 years of my life. I’ll draw from the rich variety of books and articles I’ve read over the past decade, as well as my own writing and ideas that I’ve developed. Each chapter will be a new coined phrase. I’ll weave together my phrases and ideas into a central argument for wielding the sword of ignorance to slash away the pesky and elevate the grand.

I’m bursting with ideas about how to live a good life in the Age of Abundance. This book will be my foundational theory of how to wrangle the web for good, and how to harness and savor your time without getting tossed by the waves of endless information. I’ll explore themes like the Outward Tug, the Inward Turn, You Are Everest, and the Infinity hiding within. Through small perceptions, all of us can transform the mundane into the miraculous. And now, thanks to the Internet, it’s easier than ever before. 3,000 generations trudged along the earth, craning their necks up at the sky. Now, thanks only to our lucky birth years, we get to fly. Ladies and gentleman, lift the plastic and take a glorious look!

From now until I’m 32, I won’t celebritize others. I will reify myself, my ideas, my enthusiasms, my great devotions. I will reify the people I love, and ignore the noise of the world. I am Everest. People I love are the mighty Himalayas. All else is pebbles.