No Limitations Only Innovations
Rayan's Monthly Check-in!
Sup ya’ll! Welcome to my (late 😶) September newsletter, my name is Rayan, and I’m an energetic, emoji-loving, ultra-ambitious teenager chasing some really big dreams. Through this newsletter, you will see my life through my lens as I dedicate my time to growing at supersonic speed. Stay tuned!
Joining The Knowledge Society! 🚀
September has marked an important month in my life because I got accepted into the most awesome program called The Knowledge Society (TKS), where we’re taught life-changing skills that have brought out my ultra-ambitious dream-chasing personality. TKS teaches us at 10x the pace the average person learns 🧠 and some skills are so valuable yet unconventional that some people never even get the chance to learn them. When we have our weekly sessions, we’re never told how to complete a task. There are no steps or instructions given. Instead, we’re taught to deploy what we call the ‘figure it out mindset.’ 😎. You see, we aren’t just taught fundamental skills, but invaluable ones, the type of skills that have gotten some of the TKS Alumni insane opportunities, from speaking on a TEDx stage to working at Neurolink!
September’s Growth Insights
In school, we’re always told to learn but never taught how to? So this month I learnt how to learn. In the last semester of my previous year, I had a 54% average 😬 . Currently, I’m standing proud with 92% off my progress report! I’m not just excelling in my education. I’m spending less time studying than when I had a 54% average 🤯. Essentially all it took was a free online course on the science of learning and a Major shift in mindset to change my life, no joke.
Throughout my first month of school, I struggled tirelessly with time management. Don’t get me wrong, I had a google calendar with every little detail planned out and time-blocked. But I experienced an unfortunate failure in my time management through something I like to call overfitting. This means I was trying to be overly efficient to the point it was not healthy 🤕. Through the book I’ve been reading, Indistractable and coaching calls with my incredible mentors, I’ve learnt the importance of rest. I’m not referring to the type of rest you’re thinking of, like binging Netflix or taking a nap. I mean mental rest, as in family time, reading, exercise, and even for me, meditation has been very impactful.
Recommended Reads
Key Takeaways:
While reading indistractable, there were so many concepts I learned that just made me go, “oh, damn.” 😄 I picked up this book because of my struggles with time management, like I spoke of above, more specifically because I wanted to become more productive in the time I blocked for specific tasks 🤔.
Well, like everything else In life, I discovered there are no secret tricks and gimmicks to being more productive. But understanding these concepts has definitely taken me to another level!
How to Become an Over-Achiever
At the end of the day, when you sit on your couch, crack open a soda and turn on the TV, you justify this to yourself by saying, “I’m tired.” This common phrase has alone killed more dreams than you could’ve ever imagined. 😔 All those aspirations and goals that were ditched in the dust because “I’m tired.” What you need to know is there is no such thing as a biological limitation to what you can do. There is no fuel tank that begins draining from the morning til’ night. It is all mental, and you can take advantage of this by seeing willpower as not being a finite source. In the last couple of weeks, this simple yet powerful mindset change has increased my productivity drastically. But remember, you must genuinely believe you’re in control, and once you do, then you’re truly limitless!
Improve Your Work by Improving Your Fun
Nir Eyal, the author of Indistractable, talks about putting "You" time at the core of your three time spent aspects (You, Relationships, & Work). I've come to realize that the way we spend our downtime, between tasks, after work, and before school has an insane impact on how we feel while we work. Not too long ago, I'd use my free time to scroll through Tiktok or watch Netflix etc... Nowadays, I've replaced my downtime with reading, meditating, exercising, and self-reflecting. Literally just sitting in silence for 30 minutes a day, outside enjoying a coffee has become so substantial in my day, I can't live without it. When I would do homework for two hours, then scroll for 10 minutes, I'd feel restless, dread the work, and want to ditch all my tasks. Instead, by dedicating my downtime to healthy activities, I stroll into my 8AM math class 20 minutes early with a big smile 😁 and feeling like I'm floating on a cloud! So remember, when scheduling your day, don't just time-box your tasks, meetings, and events. Time-box time to read, relax, reflect, or even try meditation if that works for you.
As you can tell, I'm a fanatic for growth/development books 🤟. I tend to struggle to hold attention for a long time, but when a book can give me that “uh-huh” moment when reading new concepts, It absolutely encompasses my attention.
Atomic Habits ← was a fantastic read that taught me the psychological cues and cravings I need to be aware of to quash bad habits and slowly build better ones.
Beginning The Blue Ocean Challenge
If you’re not aware, this is an entrepreneurship competition where high school students are challenged to innovate to create a new marketplace with an idea that positively impacts millions! A few peers and I have teamed up to give our go at the challenge, 🤗 It will be a blast and an insane opportunity to grow, so regardless of the outcome, I’m pumped!
Here’s what I’ve written this month!
- Are We On the Brink of the 2nd Industrial Revolution?
In October I’m Going to be Intentional About…
Being Uncomfortable, I have a huge passion for leadership and love being part of a team, but I tend to have issues with putting myself out there. I do consider myself an extrovert, but I still see myself in math class holding my questions to myself because I feel they’re "stupid.'’ Well, It’s October, and there are no stupid questions, so I’m going to ask all the questions I please, start conversations with my peers, I'm going to become comfortable being uncomfortable!
Unconventional learning, all outstanding achievements, require a challenge. Whether it’s learning about an emerging technology or just math homework, there comes the point I find myself needing to deploy my "figure it out” mindset. But this mindset is often not fun. It’s challenging, it’s difficult, but it’s required to cross that barrier of good — to great 🏅. I want to be great, and like I tell myself literally every single day, “He who has a why can bare any how." Well, I got a damn good “why,” so I’m going to be intentional about taking whatever unconventional path I’ll need when a challenge arises so that I can be great!