Prépa is a Marathon

"I started dividing my to-do list into 1) things I have to do, 2) things I want to do, and 3) things other people want me to do. Life changing! I often don’t get to #3 and I finally realized... this is what it means to have boundaries." Jenée Desmond-Harris

Finally on holiday. This week was actually alright. Prépa directly relates motivation to your performance. Of course even without motivation you just keep going because otherwise there will be a truckload of work that will hit you in the face later on. It is smarter to do a little work every day than to take a full on break. This week I got back a few exams that I scored nicely on so I was happy. Furthermore I got done a half-year research project. It was done in groups. We did research on the infrared thermometer and even though I struggled with understanding the science at first I got a grasp towards the end of it. I also noticed how much I struggle with working with others.

I am very much able to work with others when there is not much on the line but when it comes to such a project I have certain expectations (my fault I guess). Funnily enough in volleyball I tend to only criticise my own game but in a work environment I am able to and usually do comment on others' work. We turned in the project a solid hour before it was due. I cannot say that I am truly satisfied with it, but it is a decent piece of research. What I can say is that thanks to this I understand some things better. To be fair, what more is there to desire?

This week one of my classmates said that prépa is a marathon and I could not agree more. It does not matter how fast you run one of the 42 kilometres, nor how slow the following kilometre is. What matters is that you actually make it to the end. Even if you do not it is okay, but trying to beat Eliud Kipchoge is not the point. The point is to cross that finish line alive. I am glad that I have reasonably good grades and that I manage to stick to a workout routine.

On the thought of working out, since the moment I set the goal of doing my daily pushups, I have created a pushup tracker on Notion. It is great because this means I can constantly see the sum of my pushups. Right now I am on day 29 and I have done 858 pushups. This means approximately 30 pushups per day. I am pretty happy with that. I once again feel that I just might have some strength. Just today I did a total of 110 pushups which I did not even struggle that much with. Of course I spaced them out a little, but still.

This week's suggestions:

📩 The Newsletter: If there's one newsletter I would suggest for everyone it is James Clear's 3-2-1 Thursday. The structure is simple: 3 thoughts, 2 quotes, 1 question. It is a very concise format and it works. It is a quick read that is very much worth it in my opinion. Free value is always cool! The quote at the start of this blogpost was taken from this week's newsletter.

📖 The Book: I have been reading Camus' "Plague" for the past few months and I am now in the last 10 pages. Almost every evening before bed I would read a few pages. The book is very entertaining for me, during some parts I could not put the book down because the story was so captivating. It is a very relevant story especially now that the virus has been around for a while and we have had some time to reflect on its presence. I recognised a lot of behavioural patterns on the part of the authorities and more generally in the everyday life of people.

🎬 The Video: This week I watched Yes Theory's documentation of the group going to the Ukrainian border to help out. It is a very well done production. I got very emotional at some points. The video is long and it seems to tell the story of months of work, but as the title says it represents only 4 days. Great reminder that this crisis is still going.

That is it for today! Have an amazing week!