Hi hi ✨
I hope this love letter meets you in a good place.
It's amazing how time flies. We're almost at the half point of 2022 and I have to say, this year has not been going how I planned but khair, in sha Allah. How has your year been?
Before we getting into today’s love letter, I want to give a huge huge shoutout to Amina. If I had only one subscriber, I know she would be it. Thank you so much for all your support 💜 May Allah perfect all that concerns you & may you be honeyed by Him.
This love letter is dedicated to you ✨
Now to today's love letter…
QUICK CHECK-IN
How are you doing? Really?
If you're a Nigerian student, you're dealing with the ASUU strike and maybe the discomfort of being home for a long period of time.
Generally, if you're a Nigerian , the country is a mess & everyone is struggling in one way or the other.
So how are you?
Please feel free to reply this email if you need someone to talk to or you just want to rant. You have a safe space with me, I promise.
If talking to someone isn't something you're interested in, I'll suggest that you try journalling, whether written or audio. It’ll help a lot.
The human body isn't designed to carry & hold this much stress and function optimally.
READING HACKS
If you know me at all, you know I loveeee to read books. And my biggest dilemma these days is how to read more books.
As I type this, I have about 2,000 books on my smartphone (Scribd + other ebooks combined) & before my iPad finally crashed, I had another 2,000 books on it ( i’m still reeling from this loss). And this is minus the hardcopy books I own.
Will I be ever able to finish reading all these books? I WISH.
There are just too many books & not enough time.
So what do I do?
I've learnt the following things & if you follow them, they just might change your life 😁 -
• Read as many fiction books as you can. Your creativity and imagination will thank you.
• When it comes to self-help books, don't get lost in it all. Only read books relating to the current season of your life. For example, are you struggling with managing your time, pick one or two books that cover this topic (e.g Make Time by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky)
• Read reviews & check book recommendations online. If everyone swears by a book, chances are it'll be worth your time (e.g Atomic Habits by James Clear)
• Skip chapters in books. Go through the table of content, read the chapters that speak to you.
• Invest in audiobooks, as an alternative to reading.
• And lastly, if you absolutely do not have time to read a book, search for a particular author who has written about the topic you need information on & watch their Ted talks or online talks. They'll have summarised the key concepts of their books (e.g as much as Limitless by Jim Kwik is a great book, you can get most of the information he shares in the book, from the content on his YouTube channel)
Do you have any other tips to add? Leave a comment!
SOME LIFE LESSONS I'VE LEARNT (these past few months)
Success (and a great life, really) is the sum of the daily positive routines you do. (& this is utterly boring and unsexy- that's where it gets hard)
I heard this from my coach, Steve Harris & it's stayed with me for a long time. “ It’s not what you have that limits you. It's what you have but do not know how to use” Another variation of it is, “What you don't have is not as important as what you have but do not use” (this is a good way to get out of the procrastination perspective, trust me it works)
You have to put in the work. To get good at anything, you have to put in the work. There are often no shortcuts.
I would like to expand on these lessons but in another love letter, in sha Allah.
RESOURCES
Book: The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown ( It's one of our BOTM at the TMB book club & it's a fantastic book)
Tool: A mental hygiene template by Elizabeth Filips.
It's a powerful tool to help you “reset”. Personally, I plan to use this at least once a month. (You can watch the YouTube video that talks about it in depth here)
Video: How to Create a Better Life for Yourself by Dan Koe ( I started consuming Dan's content just last month & my perspective has changed on a lot of things!)
P.S - Hop on a free call with me (to talk personal growth & everything productivity)
P.P.S - If you'd like to support me, kindly purchase any of my digital products or services.
Until next time,
Nusaybah XOXO