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Why I was at a party making thumbnails at 1:30am
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Hey everyone! Two nights ago, I was at a party, hunched over my computer at 1:30am in the morning working on some YouTube thumbnails. I was a few (fun) beverages in, and I wasn't sure if the work I was doing was productive, but I was doing it nonetheless. So why was I working on thumbnails at 1:30am? A couple of weeks ago, I went to an entrepreneur mixer (I know, very fancy) with some young professionals working in Melbourne. One of the icebreakers involved discussing the habits that we were proud of, and one person there talked about how they had become fluent in a language by studying it everyday for 30 minutes (shout out to Trang Nova!) I left feeling inspired, and set myself the goal to work on YouTube everyday for at least 30 minutes. Over the last couple of days, I went on a road trip for the Monash Medical Students Society’s committee retreat. This involved many meetings, team bonding activities and lots of fun, which meant my usual priorities were (happily) thrown aside. At 1:30am in the morning, I realised that I hadn’t done my YouTube work for the day so I made the choice to leave the party to do it. I'm now 10 days into my consistent work streak, and I'm incredibly happy that I've done it. Why 30 minutes a day is so powerful: I’m a strong believer in setting daily and weekly goals. I have been meditating daily for almost 5 years, and I’ve started a stretching routine which I have almost done every day this year. Daily goals are so powerful because they compound so quickly. From doing 30 minutes of YouTube work everyday for 10 days, I have accumulated 5 hours of work that I would not have done otherwise. I notice that I’m more proactive with my work, and I’m coming up with better ideas when I spend more time on YouTube. The fact that it’s only 30 minutes means that I can’t do things perfectly. On the other hand, It’s long enough that I can’t cheat by productively procrastinating. If there’s a long term goal that you’re working towards, I’d highly recommend setting a simple daily task that you can commit to. It should be hard enough that it feels worthwhile, but also not so hard that it’s impossible to do. Even though I went through the momentary pain of leaving the party, I was happy about staying true to my goal. I was back to having fun after not particularly long, and now I have a good story to tell 😊 - Emil |
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Hey everyone! It’s Emil, and I’m back! It’s been a while since my last email (31st December 2023, to be exact 😅), but I’ve been working on some exciting things behind the scenes! If these emails aren’t for you anymore, feel free to unsubscribe at the bottom - I’d rather not clutter your inbox 🙂 There’s one thing I want to share with you in this email - the power of consistency. I know, it’s a bit ironic considering I’m coming back from a year long hiatus, but hear me out. I’m now a final year...
Hi everyone, Happy New Year! I hope that this year has been kind to you, and that 2024 brings happiness and success to you all. For me, the end of the year has always been a time for introspection. I like to reflect on the progress I’ve made and plan ahead for the year to come. The holiday season usually has a nice mix of free time and sentimentality that allows for reflection to flow smoothly. That being said, it’s very easy for us to make well intentioned, actionable plans for the year to...
Hey everyone, I just finished my third year of medical school and I’ve realised that so many of my studying mistakes could have been prevented. Over the last three years I’ve discovered several strategies that would have saved me hours of time, effort and more importantly, my sanity. Today, I’ll try to share as many of these game-changers with you as possible. So, let’s discuss: The strategies that you can apply before class that will save you hours of time How you can consolidate learning...