Have you ever felt deeply drawn to a particular place or a particular thing?

You don’t always know why. And often, it’s not even the most “responsible” or secure route. It’s a path full of unknowns, thousands of miles away from comfort or safety (or completely opposite from what you’re doing now).

It’s exciting.

And sometimes, it’s a completely different identity from who you are and who everyone thinks you are. But deep down, you know it’s true. You’ve had this voice for a while and it used to whisper, but now it screams at you “Pursue the vision, dammit!”

Maybe you can relate. Maybe you have a creative vision or a particular place in mind. It’s that thing you’re drawn to because it makes you feel authentic and alive and excited and relaxed all at once.

And so, as for me, I’m heading back to Tokyo in less than 2 weeks.

But this time is totally different.

If you know me, or you’ve followed me for a minute, then you know I like to spend around half the year in Japan (at least). It’s my home base and it feels like a second home.

But I’ve always gone there without any real plan or intention. I’d have a loose idea, but most days I ended up just staring at my screen waiting for motivation. Or I’d tinker on things randomly without any clear North Star. I had projects, but no clarity or reason.

But there’s nothing wrong with this either!

I mean, this newsletter and my whole philosophy on life is inspired by this way of figuring things out (no compass).

It wasn’t wrong because sometimes, no plan is the right plan (at least, for the moment).

I was in an exploratory phase and figuring things out. And there were so many times I thought I had it figured out—only to realize that…nope, that wasn’t quite it either.

I’m sure this process never really ends lol…

But with each mistake or failure or step backwards, I got clearer.

Embracing unknowns and pursuing intuitive paths is how you discover what you actually want in life and what you’re meant to be doing.

It’s also skill-building.

And sometimes, you need to try something to realize it’s not for you.

Contrast creates clarity.

It’s a weird exciting difficult annoying journey. Feeling like you’re meant for something else, trying lots of different things, but none of them last or quite feel right. Maybe it’s burnout, a loss of interest, a new shiny object, or something entirely. And so, square one becomes your friend.

I’ve been on that path for about 8 years (*if we’re only including my travel era…).

Over the past (almost) decade, I’ve gone through 5 blogs, numerous rebrands, a couple newsletters, lots of failed product launches, and multiple unfinished or unrealized projects—ultimately leaving me…nowhere?

Not quite.

For one, “nowhere” sounds like a great place to be. Also, this is assuming success only means money, followers and praise.

But those things are just vanity metrics—nothing against vanity, they’re great and exciting, but there are other ways to measure growth.

Because I did get something. I did get somewhere.

I got clarity and insight.

Clarity about who I am, what I want and why. And insights about what works and what doesn’t for so many random things.

So really, every failure, every bad job, every unfinished project…all led to here.

This doesn’t sound super groundbreaking or sexy, but I promise you, it’s uniquely exciting when it does happen.

And so, I’m heading back to Tokyo with all that.

I’m flying 6,495 miles to do creative work. I haven’t shared the details with anyone. No one knows what I’m doing…that’s kind of nice and lessens the pressure (but keeps it special too, if you know what I mean).

I’ve even made a daily schedule, I’ll be treating all my projects like an actual job. I’m still open to pivots and ready for setbacks (of course), but this time, it just feels…different.

So if you find yourself in a loop of starting, stopping, pivoting, failing and restarting…not getting anywhere…just know that you’re not lost or doing anything wrong. You’re on the dang path!

As long as you’re taking some action and actually making something, you’re good. And always forget about perfection.

The first videos I’ve been making (as part of my creative vision) are not that great. I’m well aware lol.

I see many flaws and areas to improve. The vision in my head looks nothing like what I’m watching.

But I love it.

I’m fcking proud of them because they have a clear purpose and I know things will improve. I’m actually pursuing the creative vision I’ve had in my mind for years. And that feels good.

If you sit on ideas and creative ambitions for too long (without action), they will turn into anxiety, anger and jealousy.

But you don’t need to move across the globe to pursue something great. And the tools don’t matter either. A story, an idea or experience, and a human, those are all that’s needed.

Btw, if you’re curious about living a nomadic creative life like me, I’m putting together a full guide on that. It’ll share everything I’ve done up until now to travel more and turn experiences into creative projects.

Alright then, I’ll see you in Tokyo for the next letter (well, I might squeeze one more in before then, but either way, chat soon).

Later ✌️