Why everyday starts at 0
In life, as in Cricket, your previous accomplishment does not guarantee your next one.
Every Sunday I share what I learn about health, money and business. I don't use AI to summarize my learnings because, for me, the real learning happens when I write and reflect on these notes myself. Here is what I learnt last week:
Is it better to gain healthy weight by eating peanuts or carbohydrates?
Why are the hardest work days the most fulfilling?
How does this registered dietician make $1 million in profits by posting once a day on Instagram?
Why everyday starts at 0?
You can access previous editions of my weekly emails here. Let’s begin!
(1) Is it better to gain healthy weight by eating peanuts or carbohydrates?
In this research study, 32 participants performed whole-body resistance exercise 3 times a week for 10 weeks and received snacks that provided 500 kcal per day.
The question the researchers were trying to answer was whether the macronutrients that provide the energy surplus influence changes in body weight and body composition (measured using DXA scan).
The results?
The carbohydrate group gained more weight than the peanut/peanut based snacks group (2.7 kg vs 1.6 kg),
The carbohydrate group gained more fat mass than the peanut/peanut based snacks group (0.9 kg vs 0.4 kg),
The carbohydrate group gained more lean body mass than the peanut/peanut based snacks group (1.9 kg vs 1.3 kg).
The difference in weight gain between eating peanuts and carbohydrates is not significant.
(2) Why are the hardest work days the most fulfilling?
Whether it's building a great marriage, excelling in your career, or achieving the best physique, it all comes down to one thing: work.
Embracing the grind can transform your life.
Working is the goal. Be proud of yourself for working.
If your goal is to have the best marriage, that's work! If your goal is to be an awesome parent, that's work. The best physique? Work! Best career? Work! No matter what you look at it is backed by work.
It's this whole fallacy that you can finish. That you can work so hard that you can never have to work again. People spend their lives trying to find that one goal that will satisfy them for good. It never does.
Whenever you want something, it means you don't have it. So you create deprivation in yourself to motivate behavior. A lot of champions get depressed after achieving their goals because they don't know what's next. How people react to victory tells you what motivates them i.e. what they were deprived of.
They were married to the outcome. Not the process. This changes how long you can play.
If you want the challenge then you can create goals to create challenges. The only way to be better is to do the work you know you should do.
Notes I took by listening to Alex Hormozi talk about "How loving the work fuels unstoppable success."
(3) How does this registered dietician make $1 million in profits by posting once a day on Instagram??
Can you really make big money even if you have a small audience?
This is an example of a registered dietician making $1 million in "profit" by helping other registered dietitians bill insurance correctly in the US. Talk about a niche!
How does she do it?
She does 1 post and 1 reel on Instagram once a day. All she posts about is billing insurance. All her acquisitions come from here.
And where does she figure out what to post about?
She gets her content by answering questions she gets from registered dietitians. And then she follows up the answer with "By the way there is a link in my bio that has more stuff that you may like." That's it!
Can you imagine how many likes and comments she gets from her posts?
On average 19 likes and 1 comment.
Her reach for 30 days is only 2800.
That's ridiculously unimpressive!
And how many followers does she have?
A measly 5800!
Can you guess how many sales she gets from her posts?
On average she's doing 10+ sales a day at a low ticket price (cheat sheets DIY) and 3 sales a week at a high ticket price (done-for-you) solution ($5000).
By solving a real problem, she is making real money. There is a real person on the other end of the likes and comments. The algorithms have become so good that they will show your stuff to the relevant people if you're super focused.
Can you guess how much dietitians end up making by following her instructions to bill correctly?
An additional $100,000 in income!
So what's the moral of the story?
The followers will make you famous. Understanding business will make you rich.
Some become rich and famous but most don't.
Solve real problems by understanding business like she does.
She says "I'm going to talk to the people I want to serve. And I'm only going to serve them. And I'm going to answer all their questions. I just want to be useful. I just want to help them out."
Source: "She Turned 5800 Followers Into $1 Million Per Year" - Alex Hormozi on YouTube
(4) Why everyday starts at 0?
Just like it is in Cricket so it is in life.
I like to remind myself that it does not matter if I scored a century yesterday because when I walk up to bat today, my score will be 0.
This is how I went from 0 to 100 on Wednesday:
6.30am - 12pm
Deep work. My TO-DOs for this time have a bracket at the end which says (THINK). During the morning hours when everyone is asleep is the best time to do uninterrupted work.
I put a timer on my watch which goes off in 30 minutes. That is a signal for me to get up, stretch, look out at a distance to reset my eyes (there is science behind this) and walk up and down. This lasts 5 minutes. I then sit back down for another 30 minute stretch till the alarm goes off again. By 12pm, I have put in 4-6 hours of work depending on when I woke up.
If I am home my dad walked in to give me a hug and sat with me for 10 minutes. I reset my timer. These moments are precious.
On Wednesday my mom walked in to the office. She was upset because she lost something precious. She eventually found it. I usually get upset at her for interrupting my work. This week I was kinder. I reassured her.
12pm
Hunger strikes. The brain is possibly the hungriest organ of the body, taking up as much as 20% of your energy. I break my fast with about 60 grams of protein with whatever I find in the kitchen like blueberries, creatine, banana and some honey. I supplement with fish oil, maca, magnesium and curcumin. Yummy!
I followed this up with a coffee if I haven’t had coffee in the morning.
I also call my wife to tell her that I love her. As always she reciprocates! That makes me happy :)
12.30pm - 3.30pm
I answer calls, make calls and speak to the team. This Wednesday, in between all of this, I tried to look for a new laptop bag for myself. My current bag has lasted me a good 18 years with its handles showing wear and tear. I wasn't happy with the stuff I was finding online. My mom then gave me a bag she barely used. I loved it. Hope this bag lasts me another 18 years.
3.30pm - 10.30pm
Things I did on Wednesday:
- Ate lunch.
- 30 minutes kettlebell workout. This pumped me up for the remainder of the day.
- Had meeting at 5.30pm.
- Had meeting at 7.30pm.
- Had meeting at 9.30pm.
End of Day
By the time I hit my bed, I was exhausted. But I was happy. I left it all on the field. I put in the time. I prepared. I worked. I moved the needle. I focused on the process and stepped towards the reward.
Tomorrow will be a new day. I will start again at 0.
Harsh Batra (LinkedIn)
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