Hey everyone, this is Vitoria Okuyama. Welcome back!
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Upcoming Events
Leaving a $200K consulting/banking job without a plan. Webinar with my friend Eric Liu where we will share what we wish we knew leading up to the point of leaving our $200K jobs and navigating the months of uncertainty that followed.
How did I get here?
I'll be honest: my habits suck right now.
There's a big gap between who I want to become and my day-to-day habits.
I have been sleeping less than 8 hours, spending breaks scrolling social media, skipping meditation, inconsistent with deep work, gym and diet.
The only habit I’m consistent in 2026 is writing 1,000 words per day (my Misogi for the year).
All other habits are bad.
I was deeply frustrated with myself but still struggling to make real changes.
The root of this:
1) Lack of external structure
I was #118 in tennis and worked 3 years in Wall Street, I know how to build habits. But I always did it inside an external structure and clear deadlines. Since leaving Citi 6 months ago, I've struggled to maintain them on my own.
2) I haven't fully embraced my new identities
Unlike 6 months ago, I now know what I value, what gives me energy and what puts me in flow. But I'm still navigating my messy middle. I’m not who I want to become yet, so it feels uncomfortable to embrace my new identities. The problem is that if I don’t believe I’m that person and act like they would, I’ll never become them.
So, what’s the solution?
1) Build the habits, systems and accountability that make it easy to become who I want to be.
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
2) Embrace the identities I want, even though I'm not there yet.
Athlete, writer, content creator and founder. What are the habits they have? Act like them, trust myself like them and decide like them.
You need to act like the person you want to become before you get there, not after.
What changed to inspire this reset?
My friend Dylan from Different Health posted on LinkedIn about his 8am wake-up challenge: wake up at the same time every day for 14 days.
I said yes immediately.
Dylan's 14-day challenge was the accountability I needed to get started. I’m using this challenge to recover all my habits.
People say those won't stick, but I'm running an experiment to find out.
My 3 guiding principles:
1) Delete all social media from phone (0 doomscrolling)
2) If you can’t do 100%, do the smallest possible version
3) Don’t miss 2 days in a row
Which habits am I building?
Wake up 8am
Meditation (10 minutes in the morning)
Workout, Walk or PT (Weekly: 2x gym, 2x Walk, 3x PT)
Write (1,000 words)
Deep Work (2h)
Learn (1h)
Read (30m)
Fun (30m)
Sleep 11pm (journal)
Weight tracking
Diet (2,400 calories, 6 meals)
My ideal day
Other productivity experiments
Second Brain
I built my second brain on Notion using this template. This has been a game changer for my weekly organization, task management and finding information quickly.
Learned this from my friend Lucas Duarte, a systems legend and ex-founder who just took a sabbatical focusing on climate action and AI safety.
My second brain
2026 at a glance
I created an Excel sheet to visualize not just my main work dates but also the life experiences I want to have. Every day and month with two columns: Life and Work. This allows me to visually see everything I have in work and life and plan accordingly.
The whole point of choosing to design my life was freedom of time, money and location. I want to prioritize my life and plan work around it, not the other way around.
Helpful resources
How to fix your entire life in 1 day by Dan Koe
You won't achieve your goals being who you are today by Poncho de los rios
Atomic habits by James Clear
Thank you for reading.
Please reply to this email with any comments, questions or things you would like me to dive deeper on.
Vitoria