Lesson for a lifetime

Knock knock.

It’s me, Atharva, back from a loooong 2-week break from writing.

Initially, it was supposed to be a 1-week detox, but after not doing the usual grind for a week, I lost my momentum.

I lost my interest and the spark to progress.

Not even lying.

And basically, got complacent.

It wasn’t all that bad to be very honest, I did some introspection, journaled, and planned a lot of things for the future.

But most importantly, I learned a few lessons, that I am not gonna forget for life.

Today, I am here to share one of such lessons with you, bare with me, this email might be longer than usual.

So if you are someone who scrolls Instagram all day and has a shit attention span, leave this page right now.

Oh, you’re staying?

You stand out.

Anyway, let’s get to the point, about momentum and fulfillment.

I got sick exactly 2 weeks ago, weather change, fever, cough, and cold, and I was exhausted.

I took a rest from everything for 3 days straight.

I thought I would get back to my normal routine once I recovered completely and got to my 100%.

But man, the truth couldn’t be far from this.

What once felt like fun and motivating to me, (working for 4+ hours daily), it started overwhelming me.

Completing even 1 hour of work now was getting tough.

What the heck?

I used to work for hours every day, and now? I am struggling to get 1 hour of work in?

This isn’t me.

After introspecting for 2 days, I found out the reason I was slacking off.

Momentum.

What I had in the past was momentum, work didn’t feel like work, it was play, of course, I didn’t enjoy grinding Leetcode every day.

Which normal person enjoys waking up at 6 in the morning and opening up a new question on Leetcode?

But at the end of the day, I used to sleep well, because I knew I gave my 100%.

And now, I am not able to sleep because I know I haven’t been living up to my potential.

What is the cure then?

Starting slow.

For the past few days, I have been managing to get 2.5 hours minimum of work every day.

It’s not much, I know.

But after 2 weeks? It’ll be 3 hours.

After 4 weeks? 3.5 hours.

After 2 months? 4.5 hours.

And mind that, it’s EVERY DAY.

I don’t give a damn about how I feel when I wake up, if something needs to be done, I will get it done.

Because let’s be honest, nobody cares if you ‘FEEL IT’ today or not.

Everyone only cares when you win.

So the thing I am following for now is:

• Choose a priority task for the day

• Complete it first thing in the morning

• Spend the rest of the day doing the bare minimum

Now, this will not be the way forever, I used to do 4-5 priority tasks, EVERYDAY, but as you slack off, it gets tough.

And you cannot just get back up to your previous routine, in a shock, and get going.

It’s just not possible.

Let’s unmask delusion.

And that’s what I have for you today, let me know if you find this format interesting too.

Sharing random lessons from my own experiences, and making our life better.

1 lesson at a time.

I hope this helps you in any way possible.

I will see you soon.

-Atharva

Wait

I forgot to tell you about this, if you are following me on X consistently, I made an announcement about a FREE course I am building.

The Topic is simple: Bursting out of Tutorial Hell.

And for that, I specially made a wait list, so I can notify you of it asap when I launch it.

Want to stay updated and get the FREE guide before everyone else?

Join below:

See you later.