Ola! Wednesday Wonders incoming (26th April)
It's that time again for the weekly dose of random
Ola from picture-perfect Portugal!
After 24hrs+ of travel and lots of jetlag, this newsletter is coming to you from Lisbon, Portugal. Sorry about the delay😅
More on that below, but for now, the weekly nudge to share this newsletter with your nearest and dearest by using the link below:
Working on this week
Starting with your why
This is a new section in the newsletter that will focus on lessons/tips/advice I’m trying to implement or updates on previous projects.
This week, I’ve been reading up on works by Simon Sinek, notably Start with Why* & Find your Why*. For those curious, check out his TED talks as a great primer on his philosophies. The point is to try and identify the core drivers that actually get you up in the morning (not just the superficial - I need to pay the bills) so that you can develop a lens where you do more of that in your own life.
The short version of the steps is this: ask someone you know (but not too well) to sit with you for an hour or so and go through some stories that come to mind with some general prompts (think - what was a very challenging day, when were you most satisfied with something you’d done) and drill deep into WHY that specific story came to mind. Ask the observer to list out the obvious things that seem to drive you so you can start what is essentially your own personal motto/mission statement.
So on the plane ride over, I started to go through his recommended way of “finding your why” with a couple of modifications since I didn’t want to ask the strangers next to me to listen to my tales and help identify common threads.
For me, in the VERY biased version where I’m trying to see my own themes, the common things I found were these:
Creating things/Making things efficiently - I like making stuff but also getting things to work that’s more efficient or elegant than before. This was new to me: I knew I loved building stuff, but the fact that optimising processes was ALSO something I actually enjoyed was a bit of a realisation.
Helping/Solving problems - This was another big one. Not so much that I liked either but that they occupy the same space in my brain. Doing medical work and solving someone’s tech issues satisfies the same spot for me. The other big realisation was that I REALLY enjoy business-y things. Not so much because of money, but because unlike in medical world, most business-y things I’m involved in (like this newsletter) are not essential. So if people choose to subscribe/follow/pay, they MUST be getting some value and I find that very satisfying to know that.
Exploring/Tinkering - This is similar to the “creating” things but ever so slightly different. I love finding new ways of doing things or exploring new places. Maybe it’s too similar to every other point but it feels different to me
Anyway, I’m only a very short way through and am looking forward to actually doing this when I’m back with friends who I don’t know too well to see what I can actually find out (wanna volunteer for a Zoom call on this?). One thing it made me realise is that my day job DOES tick a lot of the boxes so even though I get frustrated with how invasive it is on my calendar, it DOES actually tick a lot of boxes that I didn’t realise.
Could this process be something you should explore?
Weekly update
Ola (or hello) from Lisbon, Portugal! It was a hectic 48 hours before and after getting here, hence apologies for the late newsletter!
It’s been spectacular weather here so far and a fairly chilled out day given we arrived on their Freedom Day holiday. More on the trip over on the blog
Brought to you by
AirAlo Travelling eSim*
Being off overseas and staying connected used to be tricky and cost an arm and a leg. With new phones now having “eSIM” technology built in (both Android and iPhones), it’s now easier than ever to roam overseas while staying connected. Here’s were Airalo come in: they provide data eSIMs almost anywhere in the world. Yes, even in Greenland, I used their service! You select the country or region you want, the data amount and then activate the eSIM when ready. No fumbling with paperclips to get your old SIM out. I tend to install the eSIMs before I travel and activate when I land (Youtube video of this will be coming soon!).
Code RAFFY5733 should get both of us some free credit.
Creative update
photosbyraffy stories
With all travels and what not, it’s been hectic and even the podcast episodes are a bit delayed. That said, you can follow along on Instagram via the stories if you wanna stay up to date.
Just as I typed this, I tried to get the link to the direct stories and managed to lock myself out of my Instagram account 🤦
Watch
Earth in 4K
This is for those who love having Lofi beats or visuals to work to. This video is from NASA showing some spectacular clips from the ISS for nearly an hour! As you can see from the preview, cities at night, the aurora and more pass by in a mesmerising display…
Weekly Quote
“Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress; working hard for something we love is called passion.”
—Simon Sinek
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