What's Inside:

• 💯 Values > Goals
• 🩺 Med-Diaries: #7
• ✏️ Insights - This week's podcasts, movies, books and other cool things

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I didn’t get round to the thumbnail in time so here’s an unrelated picture of me from at sunrise.

Values > Goals

In the world of self-development, goal setting is a big theme but it can get unhealthy since you never have your goals, you're always chasing them. People tend to attach a level of happiness to achieving goals too - not good.

I think I have a solution to this. I had a thought last week and it changed my whole approach to goal setting, and it might change yours too.

Instead of chasing goals, we should chase values. Let me explain.

The Problem with Goal Setting

No one ever wrote a book about how they almost achieved their dreams. People only talk about goals when they've achieved them. It's an all-or-nothing pursuit.

Goals are great in the beginning, but when you don't achieve them, they can be self-destructive.

It doesn't feel good to almost achieve a goal. It feels disappointing. Imagine spending your whole life dreaming of a certain career, only to find out it's not the one for you. How would you feel, having invested years of hard work and energy in something that didn't end up as you imagined?

That's toxic.

Instead, we should strive for values.

Every goal or achievement you strive for can be converted into a value. Goals can be stripped away at any point, but values cannot. So if you were to attach yourself to either, you should choose the latter.

You can take away my family, my possessions, my friends, my achievements and my career but you can never take away my core values, my character and conduct. They will always stay with me.

One of my goals is to become a Psychiatrist, but a number of factors could block me from achieving that. If I finished medical school and found out I wasn't able to practice Psychiatry, after attaching myself to that goal for so many years I'd be heartbroken. In contrast, if I dissect the core values that being a psychiatrist brings and focus on those instead, whether I become a Psychiatrist or not doesn't matter, because those values will always be with me. Instead of claiming 'I want to be a psychiatrist’ as a goal, I rephrase that as 'I want to be a person who supports those in mental difficulty'. Now I've detached myself from the outcome of becoming a Psychiatrist whilst maintaining the ambition of its core values.

You should do the same.

Do you see the difference between goals and values now?

With this outlook, you remove the possibility of disappointment. You also reduce the chances of losing your values in the pursuit of a goal. Some people work so hard to achieve their goals, but they forget about their core values in the process.

The successful businessman who neglected his friends and family in the pursuit of goals will not be satisfied with the outcome, even if he once dreamed of building an empire.

Focusing on values will still bring about the same, if not more success than goals, here's how you can get started.

Rephrasing Your Goals

Write out your goals, then underneath each one list the values they bring. Remove the goals and chase after the values, for they will bring you a life of fulfilment far more than any goal could.

I think life looks a lot more interesting this way because it leaves the career side of things to chance. You focus on what sort of human you want to be, rather than what you want to be. I think if you continue on this path, you will inevitably fall into the perfect career regardless.

PS. I still want to be a Psychiatrist. I'm just not attaching myself to that outcome as much as I used to.

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🩺 Med-Diaries #7

I finished my GI block!! I had a mock exam this week - in Medicine, they give mock exams immediately after finishing a module to replenish the stress levels. You're meant to revise as you go along with the work since there's so much content but with freshers and the social events...that didn't exactly go to plan. Alhamdulillah, I still did fine and managed to get through the work but this next block (Head & Neck) I am NOT falling behind.

Today is Sunday - the new block starts tomorrow. I woke up at 7, did my usual morning routine and set out a weekly plan for my lectures and revision. I'm sticking to it. No more late nights. I have approx 8 weeks before my December exams so this is the week where I start revising daily. Nothing strenuous, just a session of flashcards every morning to keep my memory sharp.

My fresher's flu has transitioned into a chest infection but I'm looking after myself and it's slowly improving. I'm so sick of being sick - I think I kinda needed this to throw me back into my health routine. I'm back on good sleep, gym, plenty of fluids and home-cooked food.

I'm just so excited and happy right now. Idk why. I've had an overwhelming sense of support from my new friends and medics in Aberdeen which is nice. I'm ready to record a YouTube video - but I lost my voice...again...so once it recovers I'll get on that.

So Head & Neck. Notoriously known as the most difficult part of anatomy in med school - I mean take a look at this picture below...we have 3 weeks to learn the muscles, nerves, vessels, skin and bones of the head and neck 🤯 I'm excited about the challenge though. I think I'm in the best headspace to tackle this right now. I feel focused and I just want to do well in my exams at this point.

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✏️Insights

• 🎙️ Podcast - The Diary of a CEO with Steven Barlett​

This is becoming one of my favourite podcasts. I think this is also the top business podcast in the UK? Steven Barlett has some incredible guests - I was listening to the episode with Rio Ferdinand this week and it's just so incredible to be able to hear insights from people like that. Steven does a VERY good job to ask the right questions too. What I find fascinating is how someone as successful as Steven is always looking to learn from his guests, such a humble dude.

• 📚 Book - The 4 Agreements​

I've almost finished The 4 Agreements for the second time and oh my god what a book. Honestly, wait till next week's blog post (about the book). It's a must-read.

• 🎥 Movie/TV Show - Squid Game (There are no spoilers here. Don't worry)

I finished Squid Game this week. I'm sure most people have seen it but I had to mention it here. I LOVED it. I'm a big fan of dark TV shows like Black Mirror and this gave me that sort of vibe. I dislike the typical happy endings because they're too predictable - that's probably what made this so good for me, unpredictable and full of plot twists. Plus the acting was really good.