Welcome to the second newsletter!

What’s up everyone! Hope you are all doing well and that your bracket is not too busted. Amil here again, and I’m excited to share that we got some new members here in March!! New subscribers, thank you for joining! Previous subscribers, thank you for not unsubscribing (yet)!

We are officially deep into MARCH MADNESS, the greatest time of the year. Basketball games starting as early as NOON on Thursdays and Fridays, Capital One ads with Charles Barkley, Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee, and Jennifer Garner, and 16-seeds upsetting 1-seeds: you cannot ask for a better way to exit winter and officially start spring.

That is exactly the theme for this month’s edition: embracing the madness. With so many things happening at once to you, both internally and externally, it can be hard to manage. But one day, all this stress you feel about projects and deadlines and tasks will go away, and you will miss it. In fact, you will crave it. So this month’s newsletter is going to dive deeper into how to manage all these simultaneous stressors, while also staying present and in the moment during the mayhem.

Whether you are the 16th-seed and are facing an uphill battle to the top, or the 1st-seed who needs to hold down the fort and ensure success, life can be stressful. Pressure can build quite easily, regardless of your position, and it can be hard to stay afloat.

I struggle with this a lot, and I often have a hard time setting clear boundaries when my plate is overflowing. Whether it is my personal, professional, academic, or social life, I have a hard time saying no and declining events or tasks when I genuinely want to participate, but know that I simply don’t have the bandwidth. Instead, I’ll think to myself: “Yeah, I can just sacrifice a few hours here and there doing what I want just to make it easier on them or as to not disappoint them.”

But one thing I am working on is coming to terms with the realization that I will disappoint someone. It is inevitable, and avoiding it just puts an unnecessary burden on myself. There will be a time where I can’t get something done in time, or I can’t attend someone’s invitation, or I can’t help out wherever. And that is okay. In fact, this has already happened several times, and each time it turned out okay.

Life happens, stuff come up, things go wrong, and we must all learn to accept these occurrences as gifts rather than fear them as failures. It is impossible to do everything, and so setting clear boundaries and practicing effective communication ensures a calm mind and quells the madness. I’m not saying not to help anyone ever again, but just make sure that you helping someone else is also you helping yourself.

TLDR: Don’t be afraid to say no. Saying yes to a million things for other people means that you are saying no to yourself. If you want to be able to help people, prioritize what’s on your plate right now so that you have enough room for others in the future.

Embracing the Madness

One day, the noise will die down. The pings will stop rolling in, calendar invites won’t be sent out, and to-do lists won’t be written. I don’t simply mean this in just the corporate world. One day, the birthday party planning will stop, the last-minute packing for vacations won’t be there, and items on your bucket list will (hopefully) all be checked off. You will find yourself sitting there thinking, now what? Now what do I do?

People, myself included, often say “I will relax once this thing is done” or “I just need to get to _____ and I’ll be happy.” Why! Why must our happiness be conditional on external events? Why can I not be present and thankful for the moment that I have worked so hard to get to?

You don’t go to years and years of school and work for decades just to reach the sweet, sweet bliss of retirement. That is not the reason we work so hard. We go to school and we work for companies and we start our own projects because we want to enjoy what we do and pursue our passions, not because we can’t wait to get out of it. Ask yourself, are you working to live or living to work?

Going through life waiting and waiting for a certain outcome is wasting the gift of each day. Each day we are stressed, each day we have so much on our plate that we feel like we are going to burst, each day that we are not sure if we can get it all done: these days are all blessings. They are all part of our journey. So next time you feel overwhelmed and stressed to the brim, remember that you worked hard to get to where you are at, and that this is what you were looking for. Embrace the madness, be thankful for the chaos, because one day it will all go away. You only notice the noise when it turns off.

TLDR: Don’t wait to be happy; don’t wait to relax. Do it now. Welcome the stress, appreciate the madness for what it is, and accept that it is beautiful. Right now, you are where you wanted to be several years ago. Don’t waste your days looking for what you currently have right now.

That’s all for this month’s newsletter! Let me know your thoughts! As I mentioned in February’s newsletter, my goal with this is to engage my network, build it out, and hold myself accountable while also tracking my and VasaVita’s growth. All the tips, ideas, steps, etc. that I put in here are things I am actively working on improving for myself. Writing them out also helps me to visualize what to work on and how to do it.

If you have any thoughts, comments, or feedback, please dish it to me! I am glad to have you here on my VasaVita journey.

If you want to talk more about anything I discussed in my newsletters, or want to learn more about VasaVita’s services, story, and goals, check out my website below or schedule a meeting with me! I appreciate you all!

See you in April!

And of course, the followers check

In the sprit of transparency and holding myself accountable, I include my audience count here to keep you apprised on my growth. We got some new joiners here in March! Looking forward to ~hopefully~ more growth in April!