Hi! Welcome to our 14th newsletter! 💡learnshiv is here to make learning easy for you, whether it’s tech, social justice, or self-improvement content. In this constantly changing world, the only way to future-proof yourself is diversification, and that’s what I’m here to help you do.

This week’s newsletter involved a lot of career/tech content - I hope that’s okay!

PS. What’s the biggest challenge you’re facing right now? In life, at work or with the state of the world? Reply to this email, and let’s see what we can do to point you toward the right resources.

💡 GLOSSARY OF GROWTH

Here’s a new section where I’ll define three terms in each of our verticals: tech/career, politics/social justice and mindset/self-development.

TECH — Markdown: Markdown is a lightweight markup language with plain-text formatting syntax. It is designed to be easy to write and read in its raw form, making it an accessible tool for creating formatted text on the web.

SOCIAL JUSTICE — Grassroots: Grassroots refers to a type of movement or campaign that originates from the community level rather than being driven by centralized organizations, leaders, or established institutions.

SELF-DEVELOPMENT — Blue Zones: The term “Blue Zones” refers to regions where people live much longer than average. Researchers have adopted it to study and apply the lifestyle habits of communities within these zones.

💡 LESSON LEARNED

Have you ever had to cut people out of your life for your own mental health? I have. To make sure I’m okay with not having someone in my life anymore (for good) I always try to ask myself these questions:

1. Is this someone you’d think about on a daily basis if they weren’t in your life? — If someone is making me feel stressed, or we have a big fight that we can't fix, or I see that we're not good for each other, whether it's a friend or family, I ask myself: does this person even cross your mind? Like every day or every week? Are they a big part of my life? Is our relationship really important? If I think it over and the answer is no, then I know they are someone I can let go of. It means they don't have a big impact on my daily happiness, and it's okay to move on from them.

2. Did you give them a fair chance to change over a number of situations or years of your relationship? — If it's our first big disagreement, maybe they deserve a second chance. Perhaps I've made a mistake and need to look inward. However, if we've been going through the same troubles for years or keep fighting over the same issues, then it might be clear that things aren't getting better. When I see that despite giving it my all, the relationship isn't healing, then I feel it's okay to let go. That's how I know it's time to move on – when I've tried enough, and there's nothing more to fix.

3. If you never saw this person again, if they left this earth and you weren’t speaking, could you live with that? — I deeply consider whether I would have any regrets if I never saw this person again, even under tragic circumstances. This typically applies to individuals I feel have consistently wronged me, those who have never treated me well, or those with whom I share fundamental differences. I also consider whether their presence genuinely affects my life; if their absence wouldn't impact me and I feel at peace with never seeing them again without any regrets, then I feel justified in my decision to cut ties permanently.

I haven’t done this much in my life, but I can confidently say I have never regretted cutting anyone out of my life. If you’re not there, you’re not supposed to be. If you’re wondering about this, I hope these questions will help!

💡 F R E E B I E

Do you feel stressed about journaling when you see a blank page? Sometimes, I do. I’ve been trying out different Notion templates to help me with this, and I liked this one! You can rate each day and choose a category for your mood. I find that even doing those simple things before I start writing helps me figure out the direction of my thoughts. Try it out, and let me know what you think!

💡 LEARNSHIV CONTENT

Did you file your taxes recently? One of my favourite podcasts is Pitchfork Economics. They did an episode about taxes in which they interviewed journalist David Cay Johnston and I found it really interesting. I started doing podcast recaps as part of learnshiv video content: so here it is.

Are there any podcasts you’d like me to recap? Reply and let me know!

Thanks for reading our 14th newsletter. I want you to be prepared for the ways in which our world may change and affect our lives, careers, relationships, and more in the future. 💡learnshiv is meant to share my three passions with you, share what I learn, and make your life easier by helping you learn, too, in a digestible way.

If you have suggestions for improvements, please reply and send them my way.

Have a great week, and stay curious,

Shiv 💁🏽‍♀️