In today’s newsletter:

• What is journaling all about? (From my point of view)

• The crazy week I had and how I managed it

What is journaling all about?

This is a question I have been asking myself in the last couple of weeks. Is it really as beneficial as people say?

So I decided to try it out 4-5 times a week and to be honest I just didn’t get it. I didn’t see these great benefits people are always talking about - until yesterday…

Most of the times I just jot down what’s in my head, to clear out the noise and get my thoughts on paper. What I’m feeling, how my day went, what I want to accomplish and some memories I want to save.

And sometimes I choose a question to journal on. One that forces me to take some time and reflect. One that makes me look inward and be honest with myself.

Yesterday my question was “What 5 things make me happiest in life?”  

It was harder than I expected. The first 2 came easily but for the other 3 I needed to be really honest with myself and take some time to dig deep.

The answers I got from this 10min exercise was the first time I felt the real power of journaling. These answers had an immediate impact on how I view my days and where I spend my time. It also showed me that there are things I need to appreciate more and things I need to let go of.

Now I am an enthusiast of journaling 10min every morning and I’m excited to see the results of doing the inner work 2-3 years from now.

I challenge you to do the same. Take this question, sit with no distractions, a pen and paper and be honest with yourself for a couple of minutes. You might be surprised what comes up.

My Crazy Week - And How I Managed

As you might know by now, I am a 4th year medical student, so from time to time my schedule can get pretty hectic. Most of the times it’s pretty chilled to be honest but the last week was one of those crazy ones.

Last week Wednesday I finished my ENT (ear, nose and throat) rotation and today I had the exam for that. The content was way more complex than I expected and ENT isn’t one of my natural aptitudes.

Just a few days prior to that me and my friends decided to sign up for a half marathon only 10 days before race day! No preparation, big exam on the way and many other tasks to do regarding my business and research.

Was the first time in ages that I felt some real stress. Stress can be such a great motivator when you don’t let it cripple you.

So in the last 7 days I trained for and successfully completed my first half marathon and had to find time to study for this exam…

After the marathon on Sunday I still had so much left to study and I was dead so I decided I want to move my exam to Friday. To my surprise there were no slots available. I had no choice but to manage all of that studying in 2 days.

This is exactly the moments I prepared for. Practicing speed reading and memory techniques 4 years ago so that I can have the freedom and time to live my life however I want.

On Monday I studied for 4 hours and Tuesday for 3 hours. And guess what? I ended up acing my exam. Got a 4 (which is equivalent to 80-90%).

It’s days like these where I appreciate my past self for putting in the effort to learn the right skills. One decision I made 4 years ago and it pays off every day.

I swear this wasn’t a sales pitch, I genuinely just wanted to show you the power of learning the right skills and the real world impact it has on my life.

That being said, this skill is being taught in the Read2Rise community and if you wish to learn it you can sign up by clicking the link below ⬇️

That’s all for this week’s newsletter. I hope you got some value for it and have a great and productive week 💪