Posts by Jaemin Yi

Get Out of Your Own Way

I always thought life was about force. Effort. Discipline.

That if I pushed myself hard enough, through sheer will, I could have the experience of life I always wanted.

That if I meditated hours every day, I’d finally achieve lasting inner peace.

That if I underwent years of therapeutic practices and healing modalities, I’d finally be free of my lifelong relationship attachment and sexual issues.

That if I painstakingly followed the right health regimens every hour of every day, I’d finally be free from my debilitating chronic health issues.

That if I woke up before dawn and followed a strict 3 hour morning routine, I’d finally achieve consistent fulfillment and invigoration.

And I was consistent AF.

I stuck to every routine, every regimen, every habit, with a relentless determination to get what I wanted or die trying.

But no matter how much damn effort I put in…it was never enough.

Continue reading

Rely on Your Own Compass

Relying on signs from the universe, angels/guides, gurus, astrology readings, etc to make decisions is placing your trust OUTSIDE of yourself.

Same with relying on logic, analysis, rules, research, best practices, Yelp reviews, Tim Ferris, etc.

Nothing wrong with using any of these tools as additional input, as supplementary information.

But as the entire compass for navigating your life??

Nah fam 😏

Only YOU can truly know what’s right for you.

Continue reading

Is Your Relationship Lacking Tension?

If your relationship isn’t feeling alive; if it’s feeling stuck or stagnant; if you’re constantly wondering if you’d be happier with someone else…

…then your relationship is lacking tension (the right kind of tension).

Tension that comes from the both of you fully owning the truth of yourselves with each other. Without sanding off the edges.

Tension that comes from a relationship constantly growing, evolving, and pushing up against it’s former bounds…then bursting straight through to richer, more intimate territory.

Continue reading

It’s Never About the External

Following your energy/aliveness/truth doesn’t LOOK any particular way.

It doesn’t look like extravagant trips to Bali. Or jumping out of planes. Or selling all your possessions to live in a cabin.

It CAN look like those things. But it can also look like: moving back home with your parents. Choosing a funny looking jar of salsa at the grocery store. Watching TV. Getting your eyebrows done.

Following your energy is never about what it looks like on the surface.

It’s entirely about the orientation behind it. WHERE it’s coming from.

Continue reading

It’s Not the Travel, It’s You

As a digital nomad of over 15 years – don’t get me wrong, travel is great.
But it’s overrated.

It doesn’t magically fix all your problems. Make you special. Or automatically give your life purpose.

However many people DO experience a magic in travel.

But it’s not from the travel itself, per se. From buying a plane ticket, landing in a new country, trying to speak a new language, or having adventures with new friends.

The magic comes from what it’s NOT.

Continue reading

Follow What Feels Good

Follow what feels good.

Not what looks good. Not what sounds good. Not what might-if-I-do-this-for-20-more-years-feel-good.

And not just surface-level pleasures or discomforts. I’m talking about a deeper “feeling good” underneath all of that.

It sounds too simple to be helpful. But that’s because we’ve spent a lifetime only listening to our mind, which thinks life needs to be so damn complicated.

Nature doesn’t think that’s too simple.

In fact, that’s how this insanely complex ecosystem with billions of moving parts conducts itself with such grace and ease.

Everything from the birds to the bees are just following what feels good (and pulling away from what feels bad).

Be like nature. Or more accurately, stop pretending you AREN’T nature. And follow what feels good.

Continue reading

The Problem with Self Improvement

Self improvement can only take you so far because it’s often based on a faulty premise:

That YOU are broken or deficient and need to be improved. Fixed. Made whole again.

And so no matter how many books you read, habits you create, routines you implement, “wins” you achieve – you’re often only ever reinforcing that core premise:

I am broken. I am flawed. I need to become “more” than I am.

Ironically, this is the ACTUAL underlying issue that made you get into self improvement in the first place!

And one that can never be alleviated by an endless parade of more accomplishments, more success, and more accolades.

Continue reading