Not a Subscriber?

Read the Aevum Digest Newsletter for free and receive practical insights, implementation
strategies, and exclusive frameworks to maximize your potential and
break free from the default settings.

Not a Subscriber?

Read the Aevum Digest Newsletter for free and receive practical insights, implementation
strategies, and exclusive frameworks to maximize your potential and
break free from the default settings.

Not a Subscriber?

Read the Aevum Digest Newsletter for free and receive practical insights, implementation
strategies, and exclusive frameworks to maximize your potential and
break free from the default settings.

March 15, 2025

March 15, 2025

March 15, 2025

Chris Ruan

Chris Ruan

Chris Ruan

Escape Society's Broken Game

Most people design their lives the wrong way.

They map it out, thinking about all the beautiful things one has to achieve to be a high-status man or woman. But they chase after goals that aren't their own, and they only reflect what society wants you to believe.

But let me tell you something.

Society’s picture of success and a fulfilling life is a broken mess.

We all play the same game - the game of life.

And reading this means you are deep into self-improvement, just like I am. We want to maximize our potential, improve, and reach levels no one has ever considered reaching.

We aim to become the strongest of our bloodline.

But here comes the problem.

To do this, we must transform because we are not yet where we want to be.

However, a transformation requires more than motivation, random tactics, and hacks.

Still, that's what most people rely on.

They learn about a tactic or hack, feel that spark of motivation, implement it (and this not even fully, maybe up to 24%), and then wonder why their lives didn't change. They wonder why they are not making millions right now and why they are feeling the same pain as before.

This is because a transformation without a systematic approach, like an operating system, never came to their minds, but it is absolutely necessary to stack achievements like we aim for.

Just look at one of history's finest achievers, Benjamin Franklin.

Benjamin Franklin was a

  • Founding Father

  • Diplomat

  • Scientist

  • Writer

  • Inventor

  • Businessman

How do you think he got so far?

Not because of innate genius. Not because he relied on motivation but because of his personal operating system.

Imagine what we would have missed if Ben had not had his operating system up and running in 1740.

He sure would not have achieved 20% of the items on that list above.

He probably would have borrowed someone else's operating system. Because everyone needs one, and if you don't have your own, you borrow one from someone who you think has figured out life. Most likely from your parents or someone within your close social circle.

He then would follow their path to live a mediocre life. Never being able to maximize his potential. A life doomed to life with the feeling that he was meant for more but with the inability to act on it.

Can you spot the problem when you don't have a unique operating system you own yourself?

Gladly, Benjamin Franklin could, too.

Success does not come from random hacks and tactics but rather from building a personal operating system that drives you to success—an operating system tailored to your needs and uniqueness.

I can't stress this enough because 92% of people nowadays fail to achieve their goals due to a lack of systems.

This is also evidenced by productivity research by the Harvard Business Review. Individuals with clear systems and routines, AKA a personal operating system, are 3x more likely to achieve their long-term objectives than those who approach goals in an unstructured manner.

Reading this hopefully sparks that fire inside you.

You want to transform and change your life for the better.

But before we come to the practical section of this letter, I have to reveal something to you.


The System Illusion: Why Most Transformations Fail

You probably read about transformations all the time as they are widely spread, and everyone is going through some transformation. However, most of them have one weakness that makes them a short-lived phenomenon, not a life-changing event.

They heavily rely on motivation.

Forget about motivation. It's a myth. The key is to build systems and design your environment so that you don't need to be motivated

— BJ Fogg, founder of the Stanford Behavior Design Lab

Motivation fades, systems stay.

Or, as James Clear wrote, "You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems."

Motivation might be the starting force for tackling a goal or getting something done, but it will ultimately fade. That is why most transformations only last a few days or a month but most likely never change the way you view the world or handle your life in the coming years.

Most people go through this motivational phase and start their transformation, hoping to break the cycle. Only to then spiral down back to where they once started.

Eating unhealthy and ultra-processed foods, throwing their sleep routine out of the window, dumbing that business idea they had to leave the job they hate, and spending their free time scrolling on a 6.1-inch display or binging Netflix the whole night.

Consider this example and ask yourself if you are currently going through the same cycle? Have you fallen for the same trap in the last couple of years?

Visualize how Michael, a 26-year-old marketing associate, has been trying to get things going for years, but every transformation he tries to start fails. Every few months, he would feel that rush again - that fire inside that makes him want to achieve things he has always dreamed of.

Sparked by a motivational video on YouTube (yes, we all watch them from time to time), he wants to up his fitness game. He buys all the fancy workout clothes, supplements, and expensive gym membership, and meal prep containers. But in February, he is already dragging himself to the gym once a week, then not at all.

Then, April rolled around. He drops money on a coding boot camp to "level up" his career. Two weeks of consistent lessons, then work got "busy." The login page collected digital dust.

In August, the 5 AM club seemed like the answer. He'd write that novel he'd been thinking about for years—three solid days of early mornings. Then one night of Netflix turned into 1 AM, and that alarm at 5? Michael never heard it go off.

Don't get me wrong, I was there, too.

Each new start feels like "this is it" — the energy you feel is undeniable.

You tell everyone about your new path and goals and buy all that new gear to get invested in what you are starting.

But the achievement never gets unlocked.

You are stuck in a cycle.

The cycle of initial energy.

However, this initial energy fades because you rely on motivation instead of a personal operating system.

I think we all have to go through something like this—to hit rock bottom, to learn and realize that this isn't the way to make long-term progress, that we need more than motivation to achieve the things we dream of.

This is why I've built Aevum OS, my personal operating system.

Aevum OS provides a complete framework for designing a life in which every decision, action, and skill contributes to meaningful goals.

Because most of us have the same problem: We live in someone else's operating system.

The operating system owned by our parents, society, and social media, though you have to understand that the world's highest performers design their own.

And we are going to install yours now!


The 7-Day Aevum Launch

"If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much."

— Jim Rohn

Most self-improvement approaches ask for months of commitment before you see results. But that's another reason why they fail.

Installing your life's operating system doesn't need to take 30, 60, or 90 days. The core framework can be set up in just one week.

Think of it as installing the essential software first, then adding features as you go.

Let's break down this 7-day installation process:

Day 1-2: Define Your Anti-Vision

The Foundation of Your Operating System

Most people start with goals. They create vision boards and repeat affirmations about what they want.

But there's a problem with this approach.

Vision without urgency is just daydreaming.

That's where the anti-vision comes in. An anti-vision isn't what you want—it's what you absolutely refuse to accept in your life.

When I was 19, my anti-vision crystallized: I refused to be the guy still playing video games 8 hours a day at 30, living in a run-down apartment, living from paycheck to paycheck, watching life pass me by while others built careers, relationships, and legacies.

That anti-vision created more urgency than any positive goal ever could.

Here's your 2-day installation process:

Day 1: Create Your Life Rejection Statement

  • Take 30 minutes of complete silence

  • Write a detailed description of the daily life you absolutely refuse to live

  • Be specific and brutal - how does this rejected version of you wake up? What do they eat? How do they spend their time? Who are they with?

  • The more vivid this picture, the more powerful it becomes

Day 2: Establish Your Minimum Standards

  • Define the boundaries you refuse to cross in three areas:

  • Personal standards (physical, mental, financial)

  • Relationship standards (who you spend time with)

  • Impact standards (your minimum acceptable contribution)

  • Write these down and place them somewhere you'll see daily

By the end of Day 2, you'll have more clarity and motivation than most people develop in years. This anti-vision will serve as the operating system's foundation, creating the urgency that powers everything else.

Day 3-4: Build Your Execution Engine

The Core Processor of Your System

Knowledge without action is useless. Action without system is unsustainable.

Most people fail not because they lack information but because they lack an execution engine that converts knowledge into consistent action.

Here's your 2-day installation process:

Day 3: Deep Work Protocol

  • Identify your optimal 2-hour deep work window (mine is 5:00-7:00 AM)

  • Create a simple focus trigger ritual (a 2-minute sequence that signals your brain it's time for depth)

  • Designate a distraction-free environment for deep work

  • Plan tomorrow's deep work session with a specific focus

  • Start with just one 2-hour deep work block or even 1-hour - this alone puts you ahead of 95% of people

Day 4: Decision Minimization System

  • Identify the top 5 decisions that drain your mental energy daily

  • Create default settings for each (pre-determined choices that eliminate deliberation)

  • Design 3 decision rules (if-then statements that automate common choices)

  • Establish a recovery practice (a 10-minute ritual to restore mental energy)

By the end of Day 4, you'll have a basic execution engine installed. Your progress will no longer depend solely on motivation or discipline but on a system that makes output more consistent.

Day 5-6: Install Your Distraction Firewall

Protecting Your Potential

Your attention is under constant attack.

Every app, notification, and feed is designed by teams of engineers to hijack your focus and redirect it toward their goals, not yours.

Without a distraction firewall, your potential slowly leaks away, one notification at a time.

Here's your 2-day installation process:

Day 5: Digital Hygiene Protocol

  • Perform a device audit (which apps consumed most of your time in the last week?)

  • Implement the notification triage system:

  • Level 1: Real-time alerts (only from essential people/services)

  • Level 2: Batch-processed alerts (checked 2-3 times daily)

  • Level 3: Eliminated alerts (anything not serving your goals)

  • Establish tech boundaries (when devices are allowed and when they're off-limits)

  • I reduced my phone pickups from 157 to 32 per day using this system. My focus immediately deepened.

Day 6: Environment & Relationship Reset

  • Optimize your primary workspace:

  • Remove all digital distractions

  • Add visual reminders of your anti-vision

  • Create physical barriers to common interruptions

  • Perform a quick relationship audit:\

  • Identify the 3 people who most elevate your standards

  • Identify the 3 people who most lower your standards

  • Schedule more time with the first group

  • Create boundaries with the second group

By the end of Day 6, your basic distraction firewall will be operational, protecting your most valuable resource—your attention—and directing it toward what truly matters.

Day 7: Activate Your Impact Multiplier

Maximum Results from Minimum Effort

Most people work hard but achieve little because they focus on low-leverage activities.

Your impact multiplier ensures that every action you take creates disproportionate results.

Here's your 1-day installation process:

Day 7: Leverage Identification

  • Ask yourself: "What 20% of my activities create 80% of my desired results?"

  • Identify your current highest-leverage skill (what creates disproportionate value?)

  • Find one skill to add that would multiply your existing abilities

  • Create your first legacy document (capturing your system or knowledge)

  • Schedule 3 hours per week dedicated to high-leverage activities

The impact multiplier transforms your operating system from efficient to extraordinary.

Maintaining Your Operating System

This 7-day installation is just the beginning. Your system needs regular maintenance to grow more powerful over time.

Daily Maintenance (5 minutes)

  • Anti-vision reminder

  • Deep work scheduling

  • Distraction check

  • Leverage focus

Weekly Upgrade (30 minutes, every Sunday)

  • Review system performance

  • Identify and fix bugs

  • Install enhancements

  • Plan next week's priorities

This isn't just another productivity hack.

It's a complete operating system for extraordinary results.

Installing it is the most important investment you'll ever make—because it determines how effectively you'll use every other investment of time, energy, and focus for the rest of your life.

Remember: Transformation isn't about working harder. It's about operating on a more effective system.

The question is: Are you ready to begin the installation today?

We will dive into each specific component in the following letters and I am currently creating a full course on this to share my full OS with you in the future.

Until now, please share this letter with anyone you think might run on an operating system that is not their own and consider following me on X.

Together, we can build a widely spread operating system that will help like-minded people like us overcome the grip that holds us down.

Thank you for reading.

— Chris


Ready to break free?

Subscribe to Aevum Digest and receive practical insights, implementation
strategies, and exclusive frameworks to maximize your potential and
break free from the default settings.

Ready to break free?

Subscribe to Aevum Digest and receive practical insights, implementation
strategies, and exclusive frameworks to maximize your potential and
break free from the default settings.

Ready to break free?

Subscribe to Aevum Digest and receive practical insights, implementation
strategies, and exclusive frameworks to maximize your potential and
break free from the default settings.