What I Learned in the First 99 Days of Building LivingOS
Dear Readers,
This is the 99th article I’ve written for LivingOS.
After building this brand for three months, I have attracted hundreds of daily active readers, launched LivingOS University, and hired a team of seven awesome people.
At the same time, I have struggled with one key question: What’s the positioning of LivingOS?
My team has kindly shared a lot of helpful feedback from the users. Some thought LivingOS is about product management or career growth. According to Medium statistics, my articles on how to write your resume or do job interviews have received thousands of views. While I like to be as helpful as possible, I am hesitant about defining myself by any specific titles.
At the end of the day, those fancy titles don’t matter. One of my teammates told me:
“You shouldn’t let the things you’re doing define you. You define yourself.”
So What Do I Write About?
As one of my lovely teammates pointed out, I don’t quite fit into those conventional buckets. Yes, I write about product, productivity, and interviewing. Yet, I also write about mindset, relationships, and personal growth.
So Why Did I Touch Upon So Many Topics?
Because that’s life.
If I pigeonholed into a specific category, that might drive short-term engagement and sales. However, that dishonors my true self and passion.
There is this interesting trend of online course creators: People begin by selling to a specific niche — teaching you how to grow Instagram followers or be more productive — and get their initial traction. Once they are burnt out, they will hire a coach to take a deeper look into their holistic life. As they finally get work-life balance, they graduate from the early programs and move on to personal growth. This pivot enables them to make money at each stage of their life.
When I talked to other professors who are teaching life design, they told me that most early-career folks have a strong sense of work identity and don’t know how a full life looks like. Once they burn out or get to mid-thirties, they realize that they have sold out and pleased everyone but themselves. Then, they finally start to seek help on finding purpose and meaning in their life.
Now we can either accept the status quo or take the agency to change your life. Recently, a reader told me how my writing saved her at a major life event and “how my words have become part of her life.” I know how powerful these mindsets and models have changed my life, and I want to teach you how to create your own game of life.
Why Am I Telling You All This?
I want to let you know what to expect. Through LivingOS, I want to help you achieve the following:
- Get a deep understanding of who you are: I want to help you get rid of all the limiting beliefs you got from family, school, and society and own your greatness.
- Figure out how to show up in the world: It’s complicated out there, so I want to show you how I manage my life, how I pursue my dreams, and how I experiment with new ideas. I will also help you apply these experiences to your life.
What Does That Entail?
I may still write about product management because that’s a part of my career, but I will also dive deep into personal growth and other pillars of life.
- In my daily articles, I talk about the lies and stories that limit your potential, as well as the key mindsets that are critical to your growth.
- In LivingOS University, I provide step-by-step models that will help you immediately apply to your own life. We are launching a course on how to master social skills next week.
I will write about the topics I am most excited about. This may include some painful lessons, some anxiety towards life, and some experiences that help me become the person I want to be.
At this stage of life, I am fascinated by entrepreneurship, marriage, and learning. In the future, I may write about parenting or whatever crazy journey life takes me.
Who Is My Audience?
I want to serve everyone who takes their personal growth seriously. These are the people who are willing to step out of your comfort zone and learn from experiences in life.
My ultimate goal is to help you become the best manager of your own life.
Where Are We Heading Towards?
LivingOS is like an oak tree — this journey is never finished. I want to create huge value for the world, become the person I needed most when I was young, and live up to my true potential. Thus, I want to become the best person I can be and help you live your dream.
Thank you for your trust in me and my team. I can’t wait to share the wonderful journey with you.
With Love,
Charlene
P.S. Team, I’m sending a follow-up note to share the core values. Thank you for believing in me and joining in the early days.