Humphrey Yang: 6 Key Habits That Made Me $100K by Age 26
Written by
Jake Safane
Edited by
T. Woods
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If you want to earn six figures per year but aren’t sure how to get there, you may need to take a closer look at your habits. Are you engaging in routines that set you up for success, or ones that keep you stuck?
For example, are you using your free time to learn new skills that can help you get a job that pays six figures, or are you only using your free time to watch TV?
One idea is to look at the habits of other successful people. Humphrey Yang, a former financial advisor and current entrepreneur, explained in a YouTube video how the following six habits helped him earn six figures by the time he was 26. These include:
1. Time Blocking
The first habit Yang discussed is time blocking, which means organizing your day with blocks of time dedicated to specific tasks, rather than taking a scattered approach.
For example, instead of jumping back and forth between email, meetings, and working on projects, you might start your morning with an hour and a half of deep work on a particular project. After that block, you would move on to another block, like a half hour dedicated to catching up on emails, rather than checking emails every few minutes, which can be distracting.
By time blocking, you can have a more efficient, productive workday.
2. Journaling
Another habit Yang suggested is journaling, which he said he does for both his professional and personal life. Writing down goals, Yang noted, makes you 42% more likely to achieve them, according to a study from Dominican University.
Yang also said that journaling helps him have something he can look back on to assess his progress.
3. Dipping Your Toes
To earn more, Yang suggested engaging in the act of dipping your toes, meaning trying different endeavors without necessarily jumping all the way in. For example, while Yang had a full-time job, he started a side project to develop a budgeting app. Even though the app wasn’t successful, he learned a lot along the way, which ultimately helped him as an entrepreneur.
However, if you dive fully into every new idea right away, you could be hampering your progress. If you quit your job to explore a side hustle before you have any clue whether it will work out, for example, then you might experience a career setback if you end up having to go back to a full-time job. But if you dip your toes, you might find the right path for yourself without taking on too much risk, and eventually you’ll find where to fully jump in.
4. Everyone’s an NPC
Video game fans are familiar with the concept of NPCs — non-player characters. NPCs exist, but these aren’t the characters you control within a video game. So, Yang suggested taking this outlook on life to help your finances.
In other words, you can’t control what other people think or do. You only get to play the game of life as yourself. If you spend too much time and effort worrying about what others think of you, then you won’t get as far as if you worry about yourself.
That doesn’t mean to be insensitive to other people’s feelings, but more so to not worry about potentially embarrassing yourself by trying new things, failing and learning along the way. A lot of times, people are focused on themselves and don’t notice your so-called failures or embarrassments anyway.
5. There’s No Perfect Time
Yang said that early in his career, he was a wantrepreneur, meaning he wanted to be an entrepreneur but wasn’t taking the necessary steps to get there. One problem can be trying to find the perfect time to start a business or make a career move.
Yet as Yang noted, there’s no such thing as the perfect time, even when it comes to areas like picking up a new hobby. If you want to make progress in life, you have to be willing to fail, so try not to worry about finding the perfect time.
6. Take Time to Reflect
Lastly, Yang noted that it’s important to also take a step back and reflect, rather than getting so caught up in your day-to-day work. Doing so can help you figure out what big-picture steps you need to take to advance.
Yang admitted that he struggles to do this now, but when he had more free time in his early 20s, he was able to spend more time reflecting and figuring out what he wanted his life to look like.
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