Weekly Snapshot: Prioritization, Confrontation & Focus

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Hi friends!

It's my first summer in Dubai and it's quite hot - I've been told that August is as hot as it gets so I'm looking forward to a cool September.

Anyways, I've been documenting my life decisions for a while now but never thought to share them until now. The motivation is intrinsic - a call to help and add value to people who might benefit from my experience.

The format will be simple: I'll share my wins, challenges and learnings, and goals for the upcoming week.

In this weekly newsletter, I will share my latest YouTube video, what I'm, and a quote to conclude the snapshot.

I hope you, the reader, find some value in my words - something that opens a door, unblocks a thought, sheds light, or entertains you.

Let's dive right in.

💪 Wins of the week

  1. I'm feeling excited and confident at my work. I'm surrounded by motivated people working their asses off to make CAFU the most successful startup in the MENA region and I feel I'm fitting in and contributing positively.
  2. I also just published my first-ever YouTube video which is a critical milestone for me. I have been wanting to do it for a while now but kept delaying for many months.  Now that it has happened, I see it as a clear indication that my internal grit and persistence muscles are getting stronger - overcoming my lazy side.
  3. I feel mentally and emotionally in control. This week, I carefully analyzed each situation and consciously decided my response, without letting emotions get in the way. I guess, I'm getting better at emotional maturity.
  4. After two months of recovery from my rhinoplasty surgery, I am back in the gym. I took a 45 minute core class and did a fitness test - could have performed better but I did go all the way to the end! (Still got it)

🧐 Challenges & Learnings

  1. I tend to avoid confrontation and try to always find ways to cooperate. However, I feel, at times, I'm unable to truly express myself and be honest with the other person which creates an internal conflict that upsets me. The reason, I've found, is an expectation of a negative response and maybe some harsh words. So I'm working hard to be more expressive and making sure I get my word across - regardless of the reaction.
  2. "Am I being rude? Should I ask this question? Should I follow up on it even though he just explained?" - it was quite a struggle handling such thoughts this week. I like to properly understand directions once but I find myself hesitant to ask follow-up questions to further investigate an issue with the feeling that it might amplify and lead to confrontation. Ideally, I should be shameless and ask until I completely understand.
  3. I did have some issues managing my focus. I found myself context-switching a lot and it was challenging to stay on track. It was because of overload and haphazardly picking up tasks - eventually leading to anxiety. So I'm going to stay organized and focused - if it's not on the list, it's not happening today.

🎯 Goals for Next Week

Next week is all about focus, health, and networking.

  1. I am kicking off new work at CAFU which I'm really excited about. My aim is to document everything and organize it to ensure smooth operations. Outcome is a solid plan of action.
  2. I'm aiming to make at least 5 new professional connections to learn more about real estate investing and financing in Dubai.
  3. Publish 1 article and 1 YouTube video.
  4. Go to the gym - five days - and eat healthy!

📖 My Readings

Currently, I'm reading The Price of Time: The Real Story of Interest by Edward Chancellor. I'm reading this book because, over the past year, I've seen economies and stock markets react to one thing: Rate increase or decrease by US Central Bank. So I got curious about the power of interest rates and how it moves markets. This book offers 5000 years of history of interest and its impact on our society today. It's quite verbose with financial lingo but I highly recommend it.

Here are a few other articles that I had fun reading:

  1. LK-99 Superconductor: Maybe a Breakthrough, Maybe Not So Much (CNET)
  2. China’s Latest Problem: People Don’t Want to Go There (WSJ)
  3. Higher rents, cheaper properties: Here's why tenants in UAE are increasingly becoming owners (Khaleej Times)
  4. Debt financing emerging as panacea as UAE startups ward off ‘painful down rounds’ by VCs, PEs (Arabian Business)
  5. MENA startup ventures experience troubled quarter with 26% funding plunge in Q2 (Arabian Business)
  6. Bidenomics Boosts US Economy, Fanning Soft-Landing Hopes, Inflation Fears (Bloomberg)

🎬 My Latest Video

How to prioritize goals for a successful life: I have been working on improving my prioritization skills. Time is finite and valuable so choosing what to dedicate your energy on is extremely crucial. Here's my framework in 10 minutes.

How to prioritize goals for a successful life

✍️ Quote of the Week

“The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything” - Warren Buffet

Till next time.

Raheel Ahmad