31st Edition: Rejuvenating offline, Taking control of your content diet & Applauding yourself for effort
Thanks for being here
Hey everyone, hope you’re having a wonder-full week
On Mother’s Day, my niece made a friend in the park.
At 20-months-old, their friendship was built mostly on gibberish as they filled plastic pails with sand, and then dumped them out to repeat the process. His mother, however, shared that they’re Ukrainian refugees, who’d recently arrived in Montreal after a couple of months in France.
The boy’s father had to stay in Ukraine.
Later, as my family left the park to head in separate directions, we talked about how fortunate we are to be able to gather for simple things like brunch by the water and a stroll through the park. Peace and proximity to the people we love are the biggest blessings.
I hope you all have those blessings, and find time this week to make the most of them.
The gorgeous spring weather in Montreal has inspired me to give this newsletter a fresh feel. You’ll notice some changes to this edition, and I plan to make more—so please free to send me any suggestions you have.
Until then, here are three prompts I have for you:
Check-in on spending time offline
Article recommendation to consume better content
Challenge to celebrate your wins
🌻 Experience of the week
I shook up my routine last week.
My cousin and I got a 10-day trial pass for a new fitness studio that’s perfectly situated between our apartments, and we made a pact to try as many classes as possible.
Working from home combined with self-employment poses an ongoing struggle of “where to draw the line”. It’s easy to work long hours into the night and burn myself out. But if I have to be at a cardio pilates or barre class by 6pm (and I know I’m going to get my butt kicked), I have no choice but to power down. That makes it easier to mentally check out of “work mode” and enjoy my evening offline.
CHECK-IN: Are you respecting your work schedule and rejuvenating offline? If not, consider what changes you need to make to embrace a healthier lifestyle.
🍎 Content diet
I’d never heard of a ‘content diet’ until I joined Twitter. Here’s what it means:
“While most of us are willing to invest in our health, we often neglect our "content diet," which refers to the type of information we choose to feed our brains on a daily basis.”—Polina Pompliano, The Profile
The takeaway is to stop mindlessly scrolling and be more intentional about what you read, watch, and listen to. Not only will this give you better vantage points to solve problems from, you’ll be less stressed, and become a more interesting person.
Going forward, I’ll share something I’ve enjoyed each week in hopes it’s helpful and interesting to you too. In the meantime…
READ: This article by Polina Pompliano on how to curate a better content diet.
💭 Question to ponder
“Do your best, knowing that your best may look different today than it did yesterday. Accept where you are and don’t try to force anything.”—My sage pilates instructor
Growth isn’t linear. Progress isn’t linear.
School conditioned us to think of them that way, but here’s a more accurate portrayal:
As long as you’re consistently practicing your craft, you’re guaranteed to grow and progress over time. Don’t stress if you feel like you’re regressing in the short term. Sometimes you need to take the scenic route and circle back to a previous state in order to drive forward with more gusto.
CHALLENGE: What’s one thing you can applaud yourself for doing your best on today? Think of something for each day this week and notice how it makes you feel.
Thanks for being one of the 130 people sharing this journey with me.
Hit reply if you have any feedback or suggestions on how I can make future editions beneficial. Also, feel free to just say hi. I’d love to hear from you.
Have a wonder-full week,