Hey friends,
Hope you had a good weekend.
Here’s this week’s 1 Doodle · 1 Do · 1 Direction.
1 Doodle
In 2002, I failed to get into a university. I planned for the next year and ended up getting into the least famous university in Iran. Throughout that year, I constantly questioned my talent. I thought, Maybe this is it. Others are just more talented than I am, and I should accept this as a fact.
Today, 24 years later, I have a PhD from the best university in Florida and work as an engineer at one of the most iconic companies in the world: Intel. Yet, when I think about my old classmates, I can count at least 15 of them who were far more talented than I was. It makes me wonder: How come I'm here? How did I make it here when others were more deserving in terms of raw talent?
What I have realized is that I simply put consistent effort toward my goals. For instance, back in 2007, for one year, I traveled 752 miles every single week. I was living in a small village in the southern part of Iran, teaching chemistry to high school students, and commuting all the way to Karaj, just west of Tehran, where I was pursuing my master's degree in chemistry. When I look back at my life, I see so many examples where relentless practice and effort were what truly helped me achieve my goals.
This week, I drew a little doodle as a reminder of what's hidden behind achievement. People looking from the outside usually think it's just pure talent. But in reality, you reach mastery with a little bit of talent and practice, and you reach true achievement with a loooooooot more practice, topped with a tiny bit of luck. Yes, having more raw talent might give someone a head start, but a massive column of practice is always what is needed to achieve your goal.
1 Do
This week, stop asking, “Am I talented enough?” Instead, write down the smallest repeatable practice that can move you forward. Then, do it every single day for the next 30 days.
Yes, doing it for 30 days straight, even on weekends! Why? Because when you do it every day, you don't wake up asking yourself, "Well, I did it yesterday, should I do it today too?" The answer is always yes. Doing it every day removes that daily debate and the friction it creates.
1 Direction
One of the things I have learned over the years is that I shouldn't only focus on how prestigious the labels on someone's resume are. Instead, I look for how much this person has practiced, and how much effort they have put in to get where they are.
If Person A was born in LA and went to UCLA, that’s great! But if Person B was born in a developing country and made their way all the way to a university in the USA, I prefer to have tea with Person B. That is the type of person who doesn't give up easily, and they always have a much more interesting life story.
That’s all for this week.
Warmly,
- Ehsan /a-🌞/
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