Hi there,
It’s been a lovely week, in the British sense of the word - gorgeous sunshine, enjoying tasty food at home and having the IPL on. I’ve also gotten some exercise in every day, in a bid to right some wrongs of term time (I’ll leave you to understand what that means 😂). Alas, the Maths hasn’t been plentiful - at least I’ve got another 4 weeks on that front.
Highlight of the week: in truth, a Friday morning ‘Push’ session with Joe Y, a good friend from school. It was great to catch up1and get a fantastic gym session in too. 🤝💪
It’s been a week of using offers for me:
I got an Adidas jumper with RRP £60 for £17.10 with a clearance offer and a student discount + free shipping! 😁
I got 500 free ‘stars’ with Starbucks, enough to redeem a free drink at some point. ☕
We’ve just come home from a sweet Sunday evening at Heavenly Desserts, thanks to a ‘Mums eat free’ offer - Happy Mother’s Day amma and to all the mums reading 😊
Another offer which I knew about but couldn’t use was at Pizza Express. Marking their 60th anniversary, they rolled back their prices to 60 years ago. For example, a Margherita was at 33p.🤯🍕
One of the things Joe and I spoke about, among many things, during our gym session was how 33p is a misjudged cost of having the pizza.
The true cost is the amount of movement to work the calories off, how tiring that would be, the money it would take to pay for the ability to do that (the gym membership, a bit of a stretch though), and of course the 33p.
Let’s do another example - saying yes to something.
Time and again, I come across this message in different outfits - ‘less is more’, ‘do fewer things well’, the famous 80/20 Pareto principle.
This week, I heard it expressed well by Ryan Holiday, the Stoicism lover.
We need to say no. We need to say no to people who want to pick our brain, people who just need a few minutes of our time, meetings that could actually be an email, emails that could be a text. We need to be ruthless with the superfluous things that don't matter.
We need to realise that, whenever we say yes to things because we don't want to be rude, we are in fact being rude - we're being rude to ourselves. We're being rude to our family. We're being rude to our work. We have to say no.
No is a complete sentence. You don't need an excuse or a justification. You just need to say no. You need to say no to more things than you say yes to, because when we say no, what are we also doing? We're saying yes to ourselves, to the people we love, and to our most important and essential obligations.
That was an interesting portrayal which makes complete sense from the perspective of a world of finite resources - when we say yes to something, we’re implicitly saying no to another. Equally, when we powerfully say no, we’re leaving room to say yes.
Spring is supposed to be a time of cleaning and rebirth. As we move into a new season, I invite you to consider the hidden costs behind your actions and choices (which you’ll realise more if you spend more time in the clouds). Remember to then actively reconsider whether it deserves space in your life, now that you know the true costs - and likewise, take some time to evaluate the true benefits.
For a lot of students, now is a time of starting revision. Think about your revision habits, techniques and approaches - what are the hidden costs? Maybe going flat out for 4 hours in the morning renders the rest of the day useless. A hidden cost: you feel unproductive for the second half of the day.
The price on the label isn’t the true price, it never is. When you’re looking to make a decision with some fundamental cost-benefit analysis, remember to look under the hood - the shiny bonnet might be covering up a leak or a hidden piece of gold. You’ll never know if you don’t look and will be left at the mercy of ‘unknown unknowns’.
Podcast of the week🎙️
The Daily Stoic: Where Has The Time Gone? | 8 Stoic Strategies To Get Your Life In Order Today
Think the title is quite descriptive.😄Might be just what you need to get 2025 back on track.
What I’m grateful for this week 🙏
My gym in Sutton Coldfield - being larger and more equipped than my London gym has made the sessions feel nicer.
Quote of the week 💬
Every failure is a lesson. If you are not willing to fail, you are not ready to succeed - Ken Robinson
Looking forward to the week ahead, I hope it goes well for you - with a bit more light in the day.
Adi
That term hasn’t grown on me, I prefer reconnect.