Breaking the Spiral: A Tough Week, A Fresh Start

I have been writing this newsletter since last year, March 2024, and this is the first time since I started that I woke up on a Sunday without the newsletter ready. 😬

This week was tough for me... really tough. 😓 I was frustrated with people; I was frustrated with the situation I was in—it was just one of those weeks where nothing seemed to go right. Because of that, I didn’t feel motivated to write the newsletter. Last night, I made a plan: wake up early and write the newsletter first thing in the morning, no excuses. ⏰

But guess what? When I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was check Instagram, YouTube—just for a few seconds, I thought—but then I realized: okay, I’m not in a good stage right now. 🚨 I need to do something better to get myself out of this spiral.

Sometimes, we think doing easy things will make us happy and then we’ll be motivated, but actually, it’s the opposite. When we do hard things in the morning, right when we wake up, we feel much more motivated for the rest of the day. 💪

A few weeks ago, while walking around campus, we found a really nice running track. 🏃‍♀️ It reminded me of the one at Middle East Technical University (METU) back in Turkey, my hometown, the Devrim Stadium. 🇹🇷 It was a bit emotional, seeing something that felt so familiar, bringing back memories of university days. So this morning, after scrolling social media for a few minutes, I decided—no, I won’t do this. ❌ I won’t go into the spiral again. Because this week, I was already in it. Looking at social media too much, drinking more than usual because of all the frustration... so I stopped. I made a decision to go for a run. 🏃‍♂️

I told myself it wouldn’t be a long, difficult run. The only goal was to go out, head to campus (just a few minutes' walk away), and run a little bit in the stadium. That was it. But if you run, you know—once you start, it feels so good. Almost nothing in life feels as good as running. So I kept going. And I enjoyed it—a lot. 😊

For this week’s newsletter, I was planning to share books I read and podcasts I listened to—maybe I’ll still list them below—but I wasn’t planning to share a story like this. Yet, while I was running, all these thoughts came rushing in. And while walking back home, I started recording this as a voice note so I could write it down later. 🎙️ I got this idea from Ali Abdaal—he sometimes goes for a walk and records ideas instead of sitting at a desk. He even developed an app called VoicePal, which turns voice notes into YouTube ideas, newsletters, posts, etc. Sounds amazing, right? 🤯 I haven’t signed up yet, but maybe one day.

Another thing that helped me get through this tough week? Spending time with friends. Though, let’s be real—when I spend time with friends, it often means drinking beer 🍻, which isn’t great for me, especially when I’m already feeling down. But still, being around people helped. And this morning, just avoiding social media as much as possible helped a lot. Because, you know, on social media, people mostly share the good moments, the highlights. When we’re not in a good mood, seeing that sometimes makes us question our life decisions. 🤔

Anyway. If you’re feeling stuck, go outside. 🌿 Do some exercise. 🏋️‍♂️ Scientifically proven technique—go check the research. 📖 Movement helps. And now, after that run, I feel super motivated again. ⚡ So this Sunday will be a good Sunday. ✨

Oh, by the way, below I’ve shared the book I finished this week, 📚 the one I just started reading (and already know I’ll love), and a few podcast episodes I really enjoyed. 🎧 Hope you like them too.

The book I finished this week. I loved it.

The book I just started (and already know I will love because I love Dr. Julie 🥰)

Favorite podcast episodes of the week

Have a good Sunday. 🌞 Go outside. Exercise. I know it’s freezing in Turkey, but honestly, walking in the snow is also pretty nice. ❄️ Spend time with your loved ones, burn some calories, and you’ll feel better. Trust me. See you next week. 👋

Cheers,

Sidika 🚀