How to Change Your Life in Just One Year

In high school, I knew I was destined for great things. There was a fire from within me burning so strong that it has allowed me to conquer anything that went against my path.

It took a few minutes to spark the fire.

But it took almost 5 years to productively channel the fire into meaningful results.

I’ve always thought about the separation between those who make it vs. those who don’t. The doers versus the planners. The action-takers versus the thinkers.

In other words, the 1% versus the 99%.

Winners and losers all dream the same things:

• “I want to finish a marathon.”

• “I want to become an entrepreneur”

• “I want to create my own films”

But what makes someone actually accomplish those things versus those who just talk about it and never go about achieving them?

First, a little backstory:

One Year is All It Takes

I look at myself one year ago:

Miserable. Directionless. Stuck.

I had just burned all the boats of my previous 14 y/o reign as a classical pianist. My entire identity collapsed in a snap of a finger.

My path to a professional musician shone brightly like a full moon on a clear night sky.

It was so obvious. So incredibly obvious.

But instead of accepting the straightforwardness that could’ve come with my life, I barreled sideways into the thickets of the forest, hacking my way through the prickly pines to find another path beckoning my call.

And coming out of this long, dark march through the forest, I had created a path that felt more true, aligned, and alive than I have ever felt.

Here was I in August of last year:

And since then, I:

• Trained 4 months to race my first marathon (3:41:29, negative split)

• Ran 1,300+ miles in 2024, set PRs in 5k (20:28) and 10k (41:58)

• Started a podcast of 20 episodes, landed dream guests

• Went from knowing 0 people in my network to 100+ through cold DMs and calls

• Am working with and being in the same rooms as 8-figure multimillionaires

• Am spending the first half of 2025 living and studying abroad in Beijing, China

• Premiered 3 official films around the world + composing original soundtracks

This is to show what’s possible if you channel your fire into results, NOT dreaming about it and never taking action.

You probably hear the same advice regurgitated over and over again.

Advice like: “Learn by doing,” “just take action,” or “stop planning too much.”

By and large, these are good heuristics. But it’s preached so much to the point that it almost loses its meaning.

Instead, I’m not going to tell you to simply “take action.” I’ll tell you lesser-known secrets to actually mind-bend reality to your will.

Not just theoretically, but on a practical level on how you can actually change your life:

How to Win the Game of Life

You have to recognize you’re playing the game of life.

Like any game you play (e.g: my previous post on starting out on X/Twitter is also a game), this game has several characteristics:

• It’s 100% malleable

• Many “rules” are illusory and aren’t actually hard-set rules

• It’s a choose-your-own adventure

Think of the game of life as a series of levels. The people that are at a level of success you want to get to are simply several stages ahead of you.

In order to become the person to achieve your wildest dreams, you have to iterate into a version of yourself that can materialize these wishes with the snap of your finger.

By leveling up over and over again, you eventually create a version of yourself that is capable of living out your goals with complete ease.

By then, you simply being you will be enough to make these dreams come true.

The Recipe to Level Up

To elevate from one level to the next, there are several practical quests you need to fulfill. Think of yourself as going treasure hunting.

I find there to be 3 main objectives:

1. Skills

2. People

3. Experiences

Let’s run an example. What if you wanted to become the top 1% in classical piano?

• Skills: Deliberate practice for 2-3 hours a day, study the greats

• People: Learn from an expert who’s been there, done that, soak up everything

• Experiences: Perform and compete in competitions extensively

You can copy and paste this formula into literally anything. Business? Not a problem. Running your first marathon? Definitely.

The only caveat is - you have to know what you want to level up on. That, my friend, will be for a future post.

Most importantly, though, it’s about realizing the fact that you CAN change your life in a year, and that change starts NOW.

Get after it.

Cheers,

Jeston Lu

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