#47: How writing changed my life
And why I think it can change your life too.
Hey friends,
Welcome to the 47th edition of the “Level Up Ladder” newsletter.
This week’s action tip: start your morning by writing about 3 things you’re grateful for
1/ A few updates from my side
Last week I traveled to my hometown to celebrate my mom’s birthday, a bit ahead of time, as her birthday is actually today, on the 8th of March. Yes, she is born on Women’s Day.
Unfortunately, I have classes this weekend so I had to prepone my visit (is that a word? Grammarly says it’s not).
Anyway, we went to Braila, had a nice lunch with the family, and then got back to Bucharest to have dinner with my wife’s family, as it was also her mom’s birthday. A lot of people are born this month.
Oh, and I also got a quick run on the Danube’s shore.
It was a long weekend but it energized me for the week. Contrary to popular belief, spending time with people you care about relaxes and energizes you a lot more than sitting in bed all day watching Netflix and scrolling Instagram.
I think I told you about buying tickets for Hyrox in Valencia in November, well, I thought it was a lot until then, so I bought tickets for the Hyrox event in Rimini, Italy too. So, on the 1st of June, I will compete in my first Hyrox event and I’m very excited about that.
I’m very excited about these competitions, getting closer to my 40s I want to be in the best shape of my life and I want to compete more, for the motivation and the fun of it.
The first race of the year is a half-marathon in the forest, in a month or so.
I’ll keep you posted.
2/ Writing for success
I have ignored the power of writing for too many years.
I started writing poetry when I was in my 20s, but it was now and then. About 6 years ago, I think, I started a productivity blog, but that didn’t last long, as it took too much to write the articles and didn’t have that much traction.
The real breakthrough came when I started journalling about 4 years ago. With some ups and downs, I have been mostly consistent in writing in my journal some thoughts every morning.
From journalling, I moved to writing on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, and this newsletter.
Writing got me to 17K followers on X, close to 3K on LinkedIn and more than 1500 readers here. More than that, it helped me meet like-minded individuals from around the globe.
People, who, like me, have a desire to constantly improve and help other people in the process.
But, the most beneficial thing was a shift in my mindset. I have a lot more clarity in my life, as I know each day what are the things I need to focus on, the things that are on my mind, and the challenges I am facing. Putting them all on paper (or in my Notion app, in my case) subconsciously makes my mind think about them during the day and come up with solutions.
Even if I don’t write a lot each day, I have a minimum amount I never skip, and that’s the “gratitude journal”.
I know this sounds like parapsychological mambo-jambo for some of you. At least it did for me.
I start the day by writing 3 things I am grateful for in the day before, either 3 achievements or things I enjoyed or am grateful for.
By doing this, my mindset shifts towards seeing the positive aspects of life. We are bombarded by sensational, most of the time negative news. Psychologically, we are a lot more inclined to see the bad aspects of life, this means we need to make an active and conscious effort of bringing the positive in our lives.
And, believe me, we have a lot more things we should be grateful for than the things we should not.
"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough."
Oprah Winfrey
If you want to start a habit of writing, especially online, my “online friend” just released an updated version of his best-selling course, “High Impact Writing”.
It’s perfect for creative, online entrepreneurs who understand the power of audience but also for people who want to share their ideas online.
You can find more details and buy the course here, it’s an affiliate link, but I only affiliate with products I am using and believe in.
PS: Kieran is one of my favorite creators, he is an ex-dentist, and has an incredible life story that you can read by clicking below.
3/ Recommendations
A heart rate monitor
If you’re getting more serious about sports and running, I recommend you buy a chest-strap heart rate monitor. I also have an Apple Watch Ultra but the Apple Watch is not as accurate as you might think. Actually, none of the watches are. And they only read your pulse every 3 seconds, while the chest strap reads them every second.
As I’m trying to improve my running speed, I have to run more in Zone 2(it’s different for everyone, for me it’s somewhere between 132-143 BPM), and having the monitor I get updated right away by my watch when I’m above or below that zone.
I use the Polar H10 strap and had no problems with it.
2. Moriarty audiobooks
If you’re a Sherlock Holmes and mystery novels fan, you’ll love the two Moriarty “plays” on Audible. Especially since they add a twist to the original stories.
With Dominic Monaghan and Helen Mirren among the voices, it’s a great way to unwind at the end of the day.
Creating PPTs from Word documents
This week I found a very nice way to create PowerPoint presentations from a Word document. It’s very useful for people who need to make presentations (like us consultants) and even if you need to make a lot of modifications it’s a very good start.
You can only do it from the online version, check out more information below.
Thank you for reading, and let me know if you liked something in particular in this newsletter.
I hope you have a great weekend, friends!
Leo
P.S.: If you want to read my content daily, don’t forget to follow me on Linkedin.
P.S. 2: If you want to take your productivity to the next level, check out my extensive Productivity course that can accelerate your career.