I didn't know how much I needed this
A transformative break + my new social media experiment (building in public)
Hello friend
Welcome to this week’s edition of Be Your Best Friend with Anangsha, the weekly newsletter that believes in hustling, but also realizes the transformative power of taking a break.
The past few months have been hectic. What with work, writing assignments, and making videos for my YouTube channel, I haven’t really taken a holiday in a long time.
This weekend, I forced myself to turn off my computer and take a few hours to myself. I “wasted” the whole of Saturday - cooking food, working out, going on a long walk, and jumping into random rooms on Clubhouse to talk about topics I know nothing of.
Sunday was pretty much the same. I slept in till 12 PM, then did a few minutes of Yoga. After that, I watched two movies and played with my neighbor’s toddlers. It was a fun, relaxing day.
My only complaint is that summer has hit Assam hard, and amid the 36 degrees heat, I’m trying hard to stay cool. Multiple showers a day help. I don’t have an air conditioner, and if you have any tips on how to be more comfortable in this maddening heat, I’d be super grateful.
That said, my break was super refreshing and fun. Here are a few lessons I learned:
No matter how much you enjoy your work, it’s important to take some time off to recharge. It might feel hard, but you’ll return with renewed inspiration and better, fresher ideas.
You don’t need to “deserve” a break. You can take time off from your work. You owe your body that much.
Looking back, I didn’t know how much I needed this break until I actually took one and started enjoying the multiple benefits.
If you’ve been feeling overworked lately, this is your sign to take a few moments (hours? Days?) to yourself. Relax. You deserve it.
A newsletter I recommend
A Better Life is a weekly newsletter to help you live a happier, healthier, and better life.
Writer Neeramitra Reddy shares his best posts and a weekly Sunday Self-Scaler to kick your week off to a splendid start.
Videos of the week
How much money can a writer from India earn in a month?
How can a writer or a freelancer develop multiple streams of income so they don't have to rely on just one project?
If you've ever asked yourself this question, my new video is just for you. It discusses the six income streams I built for myself as a freelance writer that helped me earn a decent amount (a little over $5000 US) in May 2021.
Aside from this, I also made several short videos (60 seconds or shorter) discussing various aspects of making a living as a writer. You can watch them here:
How I Stay "Motivated" All The Time | The Secret to Being Consistent (28 seconds)
Visualize Who You Want To Be And Show Up As Them Every Day (14 seconds)
An Editing Tip All Writers Must Use | Read out loud before publishing (47 seconds)
I also made a video discussing how freelance writers can write a pitch for an article to online publications and websites to minimize their chances of rejection?
In this video, I discuss that a successful pitch has 5 components:
Introduction and greetings
Introduction to your article
What makes your article credible (what research you've done, etc.)
Why you are the best person to write this?
How will the reader benefit from reading your article?
The video also has a sample pitch that got me accepted into a publication that paid $150 for the article. Watch and let me know your thoughts.
Book recommendation of the week
Age Later: Secrets of the Healthiest, Sharpest Centenarians by Nir Barzilai
Genre: Non-fiction (research-based ways to live a longer life)
The author and his team of researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva have been working with a group of centenarians (a person who is a hundred or more years old) to understand why some people live healthy, happy lives until age 120+, while some fall sick and die before they hit 60.
In this book, he shares the story of how his research has shaped over the years and the fascinating discoveries his team made along the way. The tone is conversational, but you've to pay a lot of attention so you don't miss out on what's being conveyed.
The author discusses some fascinating concepts, namely:
- By treating one disease at a time, we're just exchanging one disease for another. If we found a way to delay the onset of all diseases by at least 20 years, we could delay aging, enabling humans to contribute to society for a far longer period.
- By practicing certain habits, we can reverse the biological clock and actually become "younger." The author discusses what you should do and how to go about it.
Stories I recently wrote
This week, I didn’t get much writing done on Medium. I wrote two posts, and both of these are about establishing yourself as a freelance writer and earning more money.
You can check them out here:
5 Ways To Convert Your Newsletter to A Powerful Income Stream: If you already have a newsletter, this post lays out all the details on how you can convert your email list into a valuable income stream.
May Freelance Earnings: 10x My Job’s Salary from 6 Income Streams: A detailed post breaking down all the income streams I built for May 2021 and a glimpse into how I plan to continue on this journey of being a full-time writer.
My new experiment: Twitter
After hearing several writers claim that Twitter is one of the most powerful places on the internet to publish your work as a writer, I decided to conduct my own small experiment.
The past week, I published three threads containing a lot of valuable information on building better reading habits. You can read them here:
If you’re someone who loves books and identifies themselves as a “book nerd”, you should definitely join the Books Are Our Superpower Book Club: an exclusive, informative, and super fun community of 700+ readers.
For $5 a month, you will learn how to develop better reading habits, read personalized insights & summaries from hundreds of books, and nerd out about the books you love.
Welcome to the coolest place on the internet for book lovers.
Before I sign off, I want to remind you that no matter how busy your schedule might look like, you deserve a break.
The world (and your work) can go on without you pushing yourself to the limit.
So, go watch a movie, spend some time in nature, talk to your friends and family members, and let your hair down.
Here’s a virtual hug.🤗
Note that I create this newsletter for you every week with lots of love. If you’d like to support me, here’s a link you can use to buy me a book.
If you found this letter useful, don’t forget to forward this to a friend or ask them to sign up for my newsletter. It’s free, and you know me, I only send valuable content.
That’s all from my end today. I’ll see you again next week. Till then, stay strong. Keep smiling and be awesome.
With love,
Anangsha.