January is Sunday Afternoon

Welcome to Monday!

Author

Zia Yusuf
February 01, 2024

I am sitting in a Cafe, high on sugar and anxiety and all the things I have to do. Happy New Year! Here’s hoping this year is better than the last.

Regularly Scheduled Programming

Happy New Year!

It might be February but it’s the start of the new year to me. 

I saw this tweet in the beginning of January and decided that it was not the month to change my life. 

Does January set the tone for your year? Of course. But so does February. And May. And a random Tuesday afternoon in the middle of August. Halfway through last year, I decided to tell all my New Year plans ‘fuck it’ and made new plans. That’s the thing, plans are not set in stone; they will change, you will change. You might not want the same things that you wanted last year - hell, you might not want the same things you wanted last month. Don’t put so much faith in New Year plans. Put some faith, not all of your faith. 

There is no timeline for when you can change your life. Whether you wake up by 5 am or 2 pm in the afternoon. What matters is your consistency. And your discipline. And the conscious decision to wake up every day and say, “I am going to do one little thing that changes my life today, and I am going to do it halfway well.”

January is Sunday Afternoon. February is Monday morning. You hate it, you dread it, but it’s here nonetheless. February is when you start thinking, “Maybe I should actually register for the gym?”

Welcome to Monday Afternoon! Your life can change today!

On Life

Capitalism wants to finish me, send help. I made the decision this year to move up to mid-level, and that involves learning more, doing more projects, and ultimately, being more.

When I made this decision at the end of last year, and made the unfortunate action of telling my mentor about this, he decided that he was going to hold me to my word. I do not know why men do these things. I said it doesn’t mean I want to do it. (I do, I just like complaining.)

I am swamped, but it’s a good kind of swamped. It comes with plenty of anxiety - what doesn’t these days? - but I’m holding on to the goal of being better at my job and pushing through. 

I am also trying to not neglect my personal life - self-care, writing, finding new music, the way I did last year. To that effect, I wrote a piece on Social Media fueled jealousy.

all i see, is what i should be; an article on social media fueled jealousy. | Zia Yusuf

Inspired by Olivia Rodrigo's Jealousy, Jealousy, this article is a shallow dive into how social media makes this writer feel like she is not good enough. cover image: Pinterest.

www.ikoafrica.com/user/read/659ff1b26634637a76cb8f92

Here’s hoping I write something more this month. 

On Books

I am currently reading Clear Thinking by Shane Parrish. I really took that level up thing seriously this year. An article I read that you can say is the prelude to what Clear Thinking is, is this one -

First Principles: The Building Blocks of True Knowledge

First Principles thinking breaks down true understanding into building blocks we can reassemble into something that simplifies our problem.

fs.blog/first-principles

On Music

Obsessed with Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things (It actually just started playing as I got to this section). I found it on TikTok, and I think the chorus is beautiful. 

Lemonade

I have a lot more clarity on where I want to be in life. Have I fixed my time management problem? Not yet, but there is still time! (Get it?)

A couple of days ago, I got a message from someone I really respect telling me that he believed I could be a star if I put in the work and the validation I got? Took me over the moon.

Here’s to putting in the work and hoping to get to where we want to be.

Cheers,

Zia.

P.S - This letter is unedited. Have fun.