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Hi networkers,

Summer internships started this month and I’ve been hearing from you guys.

Some of you are worried about doing a poor job while others are sad about not landing a job.

Either way, there seems to be a common feeling that we’re not doing enough or are not where we need to be.

This, of course, is not fun. It invites stress, anxiety, envy, and a bunch of other negative thoughts.

So to those who are feeling this, and are looking for advice on achieving more and using their time well, read this post.

Here’s the route for today

πŸŽ™οΈ Topic: What True Productivity Is

πŸ‘Ÿ Running the Web: Interesting stuff I run across on the internet

βœ’οΈ Quote of the Week: Consistency is All You Need

πŸ“€ Track and Feels: Your Weekly Spotify Playlist

TOPIC
What True Productivity Is

The Context

If you’re on crunch time and need a quick TLDR, watch this 2-minute video. Then skip to the β€œWhy You Should Care” section.

Firstly, I’m no stranger to feeling unachieved. When I started this newsletter, I had no audience. I spent the first 4 months writing to <50 people.

It felt like I was throwing my emails into the void.

Social media didn’t help either. When I went online for advice, I was bombarded with gurus telling me how to be successful.

Wake up at 5:00 am, do a 2-hour workout, have 5 business calls, and shake hands with the president, otherwise you won’t make it. - That was the motto.

And I believed it too, I spent almost every waking hour I had β€œhustling”

  • redesigning my email

  • watching every video I could on writing

  • brainstorming new ideas

I did this every day for those 4 months, then I burned out, with nothing to show. My reader count barely hit 100.

Now, success is different for all of us. To me, it was this newsletter. To you, it could be starting a business, or learning a new skill.

Regardless, we’re all on the same journey of trying to achieve things.

But honestly, achieving something means little if we can’t enjoy the journey. So how can we enjoy that journey?

Why You Should Care

I tell you my story because I’m sure we’ve all experienced this before. The feeling of wanting to achieve the things we want.

The only question is, if hustle culture isn’t it, what is?

Well, it’s remembering to do 2 things.

  • Baby steps

    • Starting small to make the task easy and gradually adding more

  • And Consistency

    • Doing the task for at least 1 hour a day

That’s it. No 10-step formula, or 20-page PDF guide on my β€œsecret” productivity hack.

If you’re trying to achieve something, just do those 2 things.

❝

Being consistent won’t guarantee success, but not being consistent will guarantee that you won’t reach success.

Chris Williamson

Want proof? Here’s mine.

For those 4 months when I had 50-70 readers, I could have quit on any day. Most people would’ve.

But I didn’t. I slowly improved my writing, but even more importantly, I showed up every week.

Fast forward to now, we’ve grown to 1600 readers.

Being consistent takes time. Results don’t happen in 1 week. They may not even happen in 4 months.

But 8 months? 1 year? 2 years? You’ll start to see traction.

Ok, I’ve shown you how consistency helped me achieve my milestones, now it’s your turn. πŸ‘‡

Closing Thoughts:

Ask yourself these 3 questions:

  1. What do I want to learn/achieve this summer?

  2. What’s the easiest way for me to start?

  3. Can I dedicate 30-min to 1 hour a day on this?

Next week, I’ll dive into what to do if you didn’t land an internship this summer.

See you next Tuesday 🀝

-Michael Ly

TOGETHER WITH BAY AREA TIMES

We explain the latest business, finance, and tech news with visuals and data. πŸ“Š

All in one free newsletter that takes < 5 minutes to read. πŸ—ž

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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Running The Web

Interesting stuff I run across on the internet

βŒ› Productivity: Here’s that video on consistency in case you missed it

βœ’οΈ Tool: Rewrite or paraphrase your ai generated organically written piece with this website

🚨 Drama: Diddy responds to viral video of him assaulting ex-girlfriend

πŸŽ™οΈ Music: How Million Dollar Baby dropped in the middle of a rap beef and still became a hit song

INSPIRATION
Quote of the Week

From Chris Williamson

Why I like this quote:

Ok, I might have lied in the headlines, not ALL gurus are bad. Chris Williamson is one of the good ones and he understands productivity.

He says that people are waiting for the perfect conditions to start something when in reality, starting IS the perfect condition.

MUSIC
πŸ“€Track and FeelsπŸ“€

Music for your runs, road trips, and work sessions.
Access the weekly Spotify playlist here.

Miracle by Rini

summer nights by The Millennial Club

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