Heyy!

I've been out and about most evenings, so I haven't had time to check in with y'all (or journal 😵‍💫), but here I am! Better late than never ;)

There are also a lot of newbies, so if you're looking for the past newsletters, they all are compiled here!

👀 My Musings

Okay, okay, I HAD to talk about this. Last week I dropped some wisdom from Tim Ferriss' The 4-Hour Workweek, and had to bring him back today. If you've talked to me in the last two weeks, there's likely a chance I've brought up Comfort Challenges, and for good reason (this also aligns with last week's thoughts on fear-setting!).

To do more, make more, experience more, and bring the life you want to fruition, you have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. We all get some level of social anxiety in situations, but we can take little steps forward, so it doesn't hold us back. If we can circumvent those fears, we're more likely to meet a person who could be a future friend/significant other, ask for help, and get a promotion, among several other things. Below are a few of Tim Ferris' Comfort Challenges:

1. ​Learn to Eye Gaze: Maintain eye contact in conversations or with people who meet your gaze, until they break it.
2. ​Learn to Make Decisions, Offer Suggestions, & Propose Solutions: If you're trying to make simple choices, such as the restaurant you're going to eat at, what you're going to do for the day, etc., don't reflect it back by asking "What do YOU want to do?", propose an actual solution.
3. ​Learn to "Say No": Say "no" to opportunities you aren't 100% on. Your most important non-renewable resource is your time!

These comfort challenges have benefited some friends, but for me, most of Ferriss' Comfort Challenges haven't been an issue (maybe not to the point of laying on the floor of a Starbucks as he asks of us 😳). But I've adapted this for myself. We all have irrational social anxiety about things (personally, when I'm in an Uber, I don't like telling the Uber driver to turn right instead of left at my apartment??). This fear is entirely irrational because you may be able to speak at big conferences or ask someone out -- but just may not be feelin' too hot about asking for a fork in the lunch line. My way of adapting this is to think about Comfort Challenges more generally. I'll tell myself "Comfort Challenge, go!" in my head, and not even give myself a second thought before acting on the impulse. You can do this if you're nervous to talk to someone new, ask a question in class, and more. Years ago, public speaking made me nervous -- now, not so much. Talking to new people made me nervous -- now, it also isn't an issue. As you keep putting yourself outside of your comfort zone, you aren't held back by the constraints you put on yourself.

As you keep doing little Comfort Challenges, it can help you build confidence and also convince you that what might seem impossible at first is actually something you can achieve. So, what have you been postponing doing because you're too nervous? What small things on the daily give you anxiety? My ask of you this week is to act on that by turning it into a Comfort Challenge!

🪄 Casual Magic (Loud Magic?)

This week's casual magic is a little less casual because I have all the gratitude in the world! I am forever grateful for my community and the people in my life. I've been running around all week spending time with some of the people important to me, from those that mean a lot to me in the nonprofit community, to good friends, to family that are in town, and just other wonderful humans :) Grateful for the experiences this week has brought me!

& special appreciation for the jillion people + GSF co-founders I spent time with!! Much love ❤️.

🧠 Productivity Tip

Reframing Your Time: We all have the same 24 hours, but I swear, it's not enough. In the past, I always used to fall into the "I don't have time" conundrum. It may be, "I don't have time" to spend time with certain people, up my makeup game, whatever it may be. But it made me (and probably most of you) feel powerless. In the past few months, I've removed "I don't have time" from my vocabulary and replaced it with, "I'm choosing not to make the time." Fundamentally speaking, we are in charge of our own time. Yes, you might have kids, or be working two jobs, among other things, but that just means you're prioritizing kids and your work. If you try to make everything a priority, nothing is really a priority. Find the few things most important to you, and expand on that! This concept came from Ali Abdaal, but I can't find the exact link to where he speaks on this.

I understand if it feels disempowering that you won't have time for everything you want to prioritize (cause man, me too!). In his book, Hell Yeah or No, Derek Sivers speaks on how we feel lost, not being able to achieve everything we want to; it's largely because we overestimate how much we can accomplish in the short-run and underestimate how much we can make happen in the long-run. You got it 💪!

🥳 Community Event Spotlight

​The Chinese Lantern Festival made its yearly debut two days ago! It's located at Kokabooth Amphitheatre to showcase the work of Chinese Artisans with displays, lights, and beautiful craftsmanship. Worth a visit :) Find tickets here.

❤️ My Favorite Things this Week

1. 📕 Book - Die with Zero by Bill Perkins blew my mind. Most of us grow up in a scarcity mindset around money, where we have to consistently save. But, if charities/your children would benefit further from you supporting them earlier in life, and experiences are what you're optimizing for, how much do we really need to save? He's shifted my perspective on how I view money, and so worth a read (especially for those who have more disposable income).
2. 🎙️ Podcast - Trevor Noah has started a new podcast called "What Now?" and his first guest was Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. It was a fun listen! Take a watch, here.
3. 📱 Productivity App - Canva is one of those apps that I'm surprised people don't know about because it's taking the world by storm! It's a quick and simple graphic design program that has templates, fonts, and themes you can pick from. It's perfect if you're trying to develop a professional flyer, create social media graphics, and everything in between.​
4. 🚀 Nonprofit - Wake Smiles is a nonprofit providing under-resourced adults with easy and affordable access to dental care.​

✍️Quote of the Week

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” ~ Neale Donald Walsch