Every three months, I take some time to reflect on the time that’s passed. The clarity and excitement that comes from these posts is enormous and they’re always a pleasure to write. As usual, we’ll be tackling the questions:

What was good?
What wasn’t so good?
Goals for the months ahead?

Let’s go.

The Good

1. Happiness

I’ve been in a great mood recently. I think part of it has been due to me doing things I’ve always wanted to do but have been too scared to in the past. These include:

• Interviewing strangers (video here)
• Having a conversation with friends on camera (video here, more incoming)
• Baking bread
• Starting a book analysis/review video (to be finished)
• Finishing a 28-day ab challenge with my partner (oh Emi Wong, the pain you’ve caused…)
• Cutting toxic friendships

And so, these months have passed fairly slowly as I never felt too stuck in a routine. When August rolled around, my first reaction was wow, took you long enough. Novel things slow down time.

2. Learning

Since April, my daily Anki review challenge has increased from 50 to 300 and it’s really paying off. Medical concepts that were previously foreign to me have become less bizarre. Limb anatomy now no longer terrifies me. It’s amazing how much progress you can make with consistent habits.

Schooling-aside, I’ve also changed my views on various ideas over the last few months, from morality, psychology and friendships. Many of these have been the result of reading and reflecting upon books, which I still firmly believe is the greatest form of knowledge available. The practice of re-examining a dusty idea and polishing it into a diamond is beautiful, and I’m glad to have had many opportunities these months to do so.

The not-so-good

1. Prioritising time

Sometimes, I feel like a piece of paper floating in the wind. There’s so many things I want to do each day: write, read, film a video, clean my apartment, study, catch up with loved ones, exercise, eat, work, sleep… and still leave room for novelty. It’s also increasingly difficult to define which ones are wants and which ones are needs. Sometimes, I’ll neglect sleep, eating and exercise to edit a video and it seems totally fine in the moment. But maybe it’s not.

It’s nice to have ambitions, but sometimes I feel myself being stretched a bit thin. I wonder what would happen if I devoted more energy into mastering one hobby, rather than having various pots simmering lukewarm.

2. Fatigue

Somewhat related to the last point, but I’m feeling more tired than usual these days. I have a few suspicions as to why, such as low iron and dehydration, so the next few months will be a hunt to find out the cause.

I’m still in a great mental mood, but just a little fatigued underneath; like a gentle happiness, one that won’t erupt, but simmers gently, giving off a soft level of contentment.

Goals

1. 3x YouTube videos a month and 3x posts a week;
2. Keep up accountability challenges;
3. Sleep more, drink more water and get a blood test.