The Weekly Hustle Episode 2: Nootropics, Ultimate Home Office Setups, Joe Rogan Popularity

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Welcome to the Weekly Hustle

Welcome to the Weekly Hustle, where I do three things:

1. To share cool people, processes, tools, and ideas for entrepreneurial hustlers who want to be great and in the “know”
2. To give the “IRL” how-to tutorial and document the process of the long term game of hitting 10 million dollars
3. To attract the next generation of great people to work on great products that impact real problems

Every week we share 5 cool things to help you focus, get more done, and document the long term game of not only being good, but great.

This week I’m going to be sharing:

• What nootropics I’m experimenting with 🧪
• What I’m doing to stay fit in quarantine 🏋️
• What article I’m reading 📚
• What I’m struggling with this week (YouTube Copyright Takedown) 🥵
• What my ultimate home office setup looks like 💼

Also if you want to shoot me a question or even updates updates on your end feel free to directly to this email or email me here.

If you want to check out the video version of this, make sure to subscribe go to kevinyee.tv.

Kevin

How’s life going for you?

Kevin from quarantine life here.

I miss hanging out with my friends in person, going to the gym, yoga, and jiujitsu. While I know it’s temporary, I’m an extrovert by nature and thrive off the energy of people.

But if there’s one benefit about quarantine, isolation is helping me stay more productive and focused that I ever have before.

Some cool things that happened in quarantine:

• I finished 95% of Kickass Investing 2.0 Masterclass and the Academy on Kartra 🎓
• I started my podcast account on Apple and Google podcast 🎤
• I wrote out my Youtube marketing strategy based off the Gary Vee model 📺

While this has been really insightful in terms of focus and self awareness, I’m also blocked out my weekends from work and scheduling free time in my life where I can go back into my interests.

Here’s a list of things I want to work on and learn:

• Listening and catching up on hip hop 🎵
• Creating hip hop beats in Logic X 🎹
• Brushing up on my Cantonese (one of my biggest insecurities by the way) 👲
• Learning how to color grade in Final Cut Pro X 📸
• Watching hip hop dance tutorials on YouTube 📺

The biggest insight that I’ve had is that while I want to learn these things, I need to commit time to these things. After all I’m not going to just wake up one day knowing it like the Matrix.

Also I’m going to focus on one thing at a time – rather than half ass everything.

Question of the week:

How are you doing in quarantine life? I’d love to hear what you’re up to and what’s on your mind! 🤪

What I’m experimenting with 🧪

Nootropics

By the way, I’m not recommending you dive into nootropics, but I wanted to share my experience with them.

Ever since quarantine, I’m running through intense focus sessions during the weekday. Here’s how my day is broken down:

• The mornings are focused on creating content for my YouTube channel and Kickass Investing (…which by the way 2.0 will be FIRE 🔥
• My later afternoon is focused on fulfillment on my high ticket sales client 💸

Of course though out the day – it includes a lot of caffeine, yoga, working out, and fasting. And sometimes the days run from 8-20 hours long.

No lie – the last time I could remember intensive days like this was back in pharmacy school. And the last time I ever used any nootropics was also during pharmacy school 💊

While I typically do experiment with “adaptogens” like ashwagandha, rhodiola rosea, and Korean ginseng, I need something to get me over the hurdle of the next product launch of Kickass Investing 2.0.

So that’s where nootropics come into play. Don’t know what nootropics are? Wikipedia defines nootropics as:

Nootropics are drugs, supplements, and other substances that may improve cognitive function, particularly executive functions, memory, creativity, or motivation, in healthy individuals

Some people will call them “smart drugs” and there’s a whole Reddit forum dedicated to them.

Back in pharmacy school and undergrad, they worked extremely well and helped me focus when I was on academic warning. Keep in mind – this is when my diet, sleep, and fitness weren’t optimized.

So I’m curious to see the effect of this stack 5+ years later when I’m in a position to prioritize my health and have control over my schedule.

If you’re curious about the exact stack, I’m experimenting with the PAN stack. I made some adjustments to start off at the lower end and I might experiment increasing the doses later.

• Pramiracetam: 500 mg
• Aniracetam: 750 mg
• Noopept: 10 mg
• Alpha GPC: 150 mg

If you want to learn more about them, these are some of the articles I read on the /r/nootropic subreddit.

• Nootropic Reddit Wiki
• Racetams and You: A Guide of the Popular Racetam Family

What I’m doing to stay fit in quarantine 🏋️

The last time I went to the gym, yoga studio, or jiujitsu gym was about a month ago. And it looks like we’re not going back anytime soon.

Since the start of the quarantine, I’m experimenting with 48 hour fasts, slow cardio, and mobility.

While home yoga sessions and walking on a home treadmill definitely isn’t the same, I recently invested in some strength conditioning equipment.

It won’t replace your “powerlifting” gym or routine, but it’s better than nothing.

Here’s are THREE pieces of equipment that I invested in that are helping me keep my “gains”… LOL.

1. Pull up straps – Back in high school I used to have a pullup bar, which connects to the door way. The only problem with these bars is that they ruin the wood and the frame. Plus they’re bulky and you can’t travel with them. Here comes the solution: Pull up straps, specifically WorldFit Pull-Up Grips. You literally stick them on top of your door, close it, and you can do your pull ups without springing the hinges. Now there’s no excuses to do my 100 pull ups. I also hang from them to decompress my back.
2. T-handle kettlebell – I first found out about this in Tim Ferriss’ 4 Hour Body book and this is my favorite alternative to a real kettlebell. The best part about the T-Handle Kettlebell is that you can easily adjust the weights with plates. While Tim Ferriss recommends the 3/4″, I actually recommend 1/2″ piping – especially if you have “standard” plates. The ones you find at the gym are olympic plates. I went to Home Depot and pulled these instructions from Tim Ferriss’ book.
   • One 3/4″ diameter X 12″ long pipe nipple for the vertical shaft. A “pipe nipple” is a short pipe threaded on both ends with male pipe thread. Consider 8″ if you’re shorter than 5’5.
   • Two 3/4″ diameter X 5″ long pipe nipples for handles
   • One 3/4″ diameter pipe “T” fitting
   • One 3/4″ floor flange
   • (Optional) – Irwin Quick-Grip 1″ clamp to keep plates from drifting up at the top of the swing.
   • (Optional) – Two 3/4″ diameter caps for the handles
   Assembly Instructions:
   • Connect the two pipe nipples into the handles of the T pipe
   • Connect the long pipe nipple into the single shaft of the T pipe
   • Slide weighted plates onto the body of the T-handle.
   • Attach the floor flange to keep the plates from falling off as you swing.
   • Optional: Attach the clamp to the pipe just above where the weight sits to keep the weights in place.
3. Body Back Buddy Trigger Point Back Massager – Recently I’m having some some hip issues and back issues. Not sure if it’s the lack of yoga or activity – but recently I had tight muscles and it’s pinching my nerves to the point where it hurts. Since my Thai massage therapist and acupuncturist is closed due to COVID-19, I’m having to self treat myself. It’s great because it forces me to spend time everyday to release my hamstring, glutes, and psoas.

What article I’m reading 📚 –

Why Is Joe Rogan So Popular?

One of my favorite YouTube channels is Joe Rogan. I watch almost all his episodes and share a lot of the same opinions and beliefs as Joe Rogan.

And I’m not alone.

When I speak to other people who also listen to Joe Rogan, they span across multiple audiences. Everyone from computer gaming nerds to Asian females to jiu jitsu addicts listen him.

…so I was always curious – why is Joe Rogan so popular?

So Tim Ferriss actually sent this article.

While I don’t necessarily agree with all the author’s thoughts, there were some interesting points brought up especially about why people follow.

And as a marketer, I was hooked to see the human psychology behind why people follow Joe Rogan.

Here are the THREE my main **take aways from the article:

1. Joe Rogan speaks the thoughts and asks the questions that we’re all thinking. The JRE (Joe Rogan Experience) is know for it’s unfiltered content and realness. He’s known for getting others to open up as well – but how does Joe Rogan do it? Rather than integrating his guests with inquisition, he opens them up through real conversation and curiosity. By expressing the thoughts and asking the questions we’re all thinking – it opens up new conversations that feel like a breath air.
2. Joe Rogan follows the Gary Vee content model to the tee. If you’re unfamiliar with the Gary Vee content model strategy, my friend Rich + Niche covers it here. Every week Joe Rogan releases 2-4 two hour episodes with topics and guests of his choosing. Joe Rogan’s guests tend to consist of comedians, fighters, and thinkers and documents his conversations with them and talks about all things that he loves, curious, or wants to learn about. If you follow Gary Vee, then you know he’s big on documentation. And when you listen to Joe Rogan, you get to learn with Joe when he brings in experts. Because of this, his channel is the gateway into alternative thoughts to help people live better lives and help people become more productive and happier lives. And he also has another channel called “JRE Clips”, which breakdown clips of the long form content and distrubutes his content for people strapped on time.
3. The Joe Rogan Experience isn’t focused on around a niche – they’re aligned around Joe Rogan. When you talk to most marketers to build a personal brand, what do they tell you to do? Find a niche. The magic of the Joe Rogan experience is that the whole show isn’t surrounded by one topic or niche – the whole show is aligned around documenting Joe and his experience with his guests. The one thing that holds Joe’s audience is that he shares interests with his audiences. And since he has a wide variety of interests, he has a wide audience. He talks about the downfalls of political correctness. And he continues to represent values that our society needs. Challenge your mind and body. Continue to learn. Always be curious. Show up everyday. Smoke weed err day… just kidding about the last one. He represents the concept of the long term game of mastery and total human optimization. It’s not about the goal, but the process and experience of hustling toward a unconceivable goal that you never stop trying. only to realize this trying is the whole point.

What I’m struggling with this week 🥵 –

YouTube Copyright Takedown

For anyone that has started a YouTube channel, chances are that every creator will have to deal with some sort of Copyright Takedown or Copyright Claim no matter how careful you try to be.

This week I got my first YouTube Copyright Takedown, but had it retracted.

Not going to lie – it was a huge headache going through the whole process, but I learned a lot. Here are three things I learned:

1. YouTube has a support chat channel for partners Honestly the support channel wasn’t that helpful in terms of resolving my situation, but at least it was there. YouTube is known for their lack of communication with their creators and partners. While it’s not directly speaking to a human, things are at least headed in the right direction.
2. How to send a retraction request email This was my first time ever having to deal with a Copyright Takedown. While you can immediately a “Submit Counter Notification” officially with YouTube, it binds you legally and they technically can take you to court. If there’s one thing, I have learned about communication and closing is that you need to take the time to put yourselves in the perspective of the other person or party. So I wanted to understand their perspective and come to a resolution outside of YouTube and decided to contact them directly via the YouTube contact they left. Keep in mind – you aren’t “guilty” just because someone says so. The primary focus is to encourage dialogue and handle this outside of YouTube’s system. The truth is YouTube should not be judge, jury, and executioner. And also it’s important to be positive and not be an asshole. I’ll include a general template of what I used below too!
3. Build your own funnel off the platform as well Even though I got the retraction through, it definitely opened my eyes to how reliant I am on YouTube and it’s platform. It happened with Brian Rose from London Real, but the truth is it’s a scary thought knowing that you can be taken off the platform with three strikes with no direct human communication from YouTube. While I love YouTube and the opportunity, I will be looking and consider expanding on to other platforms. I might consider Live Streaming on Twitch and have already opened up podcast accounts on Apple Podcast and Google Podcast. Of course – I’ll always have my blog at Refugee Hustle as well.

By the way, if you’re going through this some videos that were helped was Ian Corzine’s channel. And finally here’s the template I promised:

Headline: Copyright Takedown retraction request

Body:

Good morning [NAME],

My name is Kevin Yee. I’m the owner of my personal channel and Refugee Hustle.

First – I’m a raving fan of your [PRODUCT, INSERT WHY, KEEP THINGS POSITIVE]

With that being said, this morning I received a copyright strike on my video from YouTube and it has affected my monetization status with YouTube.

The original intent of this video was for educational purposes under Fair Use, to promote [PRODUCT], and to [ANY OTHER REASONS].

Anyways I’d love for you to consider retracting the takedown. If you believe that there is copyrighted material, no problem.

We can talk about taking the video down from my end or editing the video.

Either way – I’d love to resolve this outside of YouTube Copyright Claim’s system because I believe we can find a win-win situation through communication.

Please let me know if you are open to retracting the copyright strike.

If you have any questions, you can reply to this email or contact me directly at [PHONE NUMBER]

Have a great day!

Kevin Yee

What my ultimate home office setup looks like 💼 –

I get asked all the time… “Are you walking on a treadmill?” The answer? Yes I am.

One of the biggest questions I get is – what is your office setup like?

Here’s an example of all the things I do in my home office:

• Shoot YouTube videos
• Write articles
• Make calls for my high ticket sales clients
• Zoom meetings
• Build out websites and funnels
• Watch Jersey Shore while on the treadmill (yes the last one is legit)

This week I wrote an article about everything in my home office setup article 📝

But if you want the spark notes, here’s the quick breakdown:

If you don’t have time to see the setup here are the THREE things I use for the actual “desk” component.

• Walking Pad A1 – In the past, I avoided treadmills because of the space requirement. The Walking Pad A1 solves this problem because it FOLDS up! I use this when I’m on sales calls, editing videos, and planning my day… all while burning some calories. For example, the other day I lost track of time and walked about 30,000 steps while I took a few sales calls and edited videos. The key is to go at a slow pace. It was the easiest 1500 calories I burned in my life!
• Flexispot M3B 47 Inch Desk Riser – I was deciding between this or the Tresanti Adjustable Desk at Costco, but I didn’t want my perfectly great desk going into the landfill. When it comes to risers, bigger is better (insert sexual pun here). Don’t skimp on working space. This desk riser is heavy and won’t move. It’s also sturdy and supports my monitor, microphone, and camera boom arm. It’s pretty expensive, but well worth it. Also I went for a manual single handle design. Motors eventually die and I wanted to cut down on the cords.
• Walker Edison Corner L Shaped Glass Desk – This is a great sleek desk before the standing desk hype hit. It’s easy to disassemble, transport, and it’s low cost as well. You gotta love the L shaped desk too.

If you want to know more about the video, audio, and even the air filter I use, check out my **home office setup article 📝**

That’s it for this week

If you want to shoot me a question or even updates updates on your end feel free to directly to this email or email me here.

Until next week,

Kevin