Here’s The Thing About Change 🌱

Dear friend,

Hey, how’s it going? This month has been really busy, and along with it came so much tiredness. I now have to commute down to Cupertino three times a week and it’s going… fine. While having in-person meetings is surprisingly helpful, my workdays are sometimes stretched to 10+ hours in addition to the long commute. But as my no-nonsense friend Judy would say, “they’re paying you, so suck it up”!

Here’s what I did this month:

• 🏃🏻‍♂️ Ran 43.85 miles (average 4.38 miles per run) this month, down from 46.92 in August.
• 🏋🏻‍♂️ Spent 23 hours (~8.5k calories burned) in all workout exercises, down from 26 hours (~10k calories burned) in August.
• 🧘🏻‍♂️ Meditated 24 days (average 25 minutes per session), up from 14 days in August.
• 📷 Here are some of the photos I took in September (link should be viewable in any browser).

Social Gatherings:

• 9/10: Birthday Party at Livi’s
• 9/11: Drinks with Shannon and Dreya
• 9/24: Breakfast with Chris

Whether it be climate change, social injustice, political turmoil, or the COVID-19 pandemic, all of us had spent the past few years living in an “unprecedented times” stuck on repeat. And whenever I’d felt frustrated or helpless, the one advice I would hear repeatedly is to focus on things we have actual change over, while paying more attention to things happening on the local level. This month, I want to specifically highlight some of the podcasts that’s brought me more clarity — ranging from things I can change on my own to the ability to zoom out to things happening on the local and national level.

• 🙇🏻 You: Hidden Brain (You 2.0 series): While the overall series explores ways our daily lives are surrounded by hidden societal and human behaviors, their You 2.0 series focuses on ways we can actively change ourselves for the better. Whether it’s befriending your inner critic, overcoming stage fright, or becoming more open minded, the You 2.0 series is helpful to understand ourselves better.
• 🏫 Local: State of the Bay: Today’s headlines often surround things happening on the national and international level, it’s easier than ever to miss things happening right in our backyard. State of the Bay zooms in on local Bay Area issues like homelessness, monkeypox updates, and other things that actually impact our daily lives (not to mention SF introducing new trash can prototypes that cost up to $20k). This show is also produced by KALW, the other public radio station in SF that happens to locate in my old high school.
• 🇺🇸 National: Throughline: Like I said, there are endless ways to be frustrated by the news these days. And “unprecedented times” aside, Throughline has been helpful in providing me greater context, in that a lot of things we’re facing today had been discussed and argued over in America’s past. Topics like white racism, student loans, fighting inflation, and Socialism in America remind us just how much we can still learn from our past.
• 🌞 Something Different: Uncuffed: Another way to affect change is to put myself in someone else’s shoes, and Uncuffed is perfect in that it’s a podcast created by people behind bars in California’s San Quentin and Solano prisons. While our lives are so, so different, the desires to be something more is simply universal. Hearing these inmates share stories of fatherhood, gratitude, and even their resilience during the COVID pandemic is heartfelt and humbling. The show recently lost their funding the state had promised, so any donation is helpful.

▶️ YouTube Sundries:

• The Real Threat to American Democracy – Johnny Harris / NYT Opinion
• Britain’s new Hongkongers – BBC World Service
• What most productivity advice doesn’t tell you – The Bliss Bean

🤔 A Moment of Zen: Think of something you care deeply about. This can be a person, an object, a place, or even a cause. Now take a minute and ponder the things you can do to express your deep care for this thing. Are there specific actions you can do, or can you donate your time/attention/money toward it? How does this thought of applying your contribution toward something you value make you feel?

And that’s about it for the month of September! I hope it’s interesting for you as it was nice for me to recap for the month. Please also share this newsletter if you think other people can benefit from it! They can also subscribe to the newsletters directly below.

Love wins