🏃🏻‍♂️ Are You Ready to Hit the Ground Running in 2025?

Author

kenji tomita
December 15, 2024

Hey guys!

I hope you’ve all had a fantastic week!

This week, I was listening to a podcast featuring a personal trainer who shared a powerful insight: the start of the year is the most crucial time for personal trainers. It’s when people decide to pursue their fitness goals, so trainers need to be in their best physical shape by the end of the year to capitalize on this momentum.

This got me thinking—this principle doesn’t just apply to personal trainers. It’s relevant to anyone setting goals. Yet, society often tells us to wait until January 1st to start pursuing New Year’s resolutions. But, as the trainer mentioned, it makes much more sense to use January 1st to hit the ground running, rather than just starting to build momentum.

Think of it like pulling a rubber band: would you prefer to start pulling it when it’s time to shoot, or have it ready in position so all you need to do is release? Similarly, soldiers don’t prepare for battle when it’s time to fight—they prepare beforehand so they’re ready for the challenge ahead.

With just a few weeks left in the year, I’ve packed my calendar to work toward my goals. I’ve scheduled six workout sessions per week, I’m actively pursuing sponsorship deals and I’ve signed up for as many locum shifts as I can at my hospital. My goal is to start 2025 ahead of the game—ready to tackle my goals ahead of the competition, not warming up for what’s to come.

So, I want to ask you: where do you want to be at the start of 2025?

Are you comfortable taking it easy for the rest of the year and beginning your goals in January? (And let me emphasize, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that as long as it’s a conscious decision.) Or, do you want to press down on the pedal for these last few weeks of 2024, setting yourself up for the best possible start to the new year?

I’d love to hear what you decide and what your New Year’s goals are—just hit reply to this email and let me know.

See you in next week’s issue!

Dr. Kenji

👍🏾 Things I’ve enjoyed this week

• Dredge (Game) - I recently downloaded Dredge on my Steam Deck, and I’ve absolutely loved it! It’s essentially a fishing game with missions and quests sprinkled in. I’ve been playing it for a few minutes each evening, and it’s incredibly chilled and relaxing. Highly recommend it if you’re looking for a low-key game to unwind with.

• VeinFinder (Health Tech) - This is a fascinating gadget I discovered this week. It shines a bright light through a patient’s hand to make veins easily visible, which is especially helpful for procedures like cannulating or taking blood. I first saw my registrars in pediatrics using it on small babies and neonates, who can be tricky to cannulate. I’m excited to try it on my next night shift—it works for adults too, so it might be worth the investment if you frequently encounter challenging veins.

• Label Printer Machine (Tech) - I recently purchased a label printer, and it’s been a game-changer for home organization. I initially bought it to label the food organizers in our kitchen, but I’m already excited about its other uses like labeling Christmas presents. It’s a simple gadget, but it’s made organizing and labeling fun and efficient.

• Dave Ramsey Interview with Tucker Carlson - This week, I watched an amazing interview featuring Dave Ramsey discussing financial management and the dangers of debt. It’s packed with practical advice and insights for anyone looking to improve their financial literacy. If you’re keen to grow your knowledge in this area, I’d highly recommend checking it out.

📹 The latest video in case you missed it:

📚 Highlight of the week

You have to focus on the most wonderful relationship you can have: the relationship with yourself. It is not about being selfish; it is about self-love. These are not the same. You are selfish with yourself because there is no love there. You need to love yourself, and the love will grow more and more. Then, when you enter a relationship, you don’t go into it because you need to be loved. It becomes a choice. You can choose someone if you want to, and you can see who he really is. When you don’t need his love, you don’t have to lie to yourself. 

As humans, we spend a lot of time fantasizing about that next job. Next promotion. Next pay raise. But we rarely think about what we’re giving up: time. You want to know my definition of wealth? Being able to wake up every day and do whatever I want. I’m not there yet, but I will be. I’m confident that I’ll be able to make the money that I want over time, but I’m not going to chase money for money’s sake. There’s no specific dollar amount that signifies “wealth”, because that point varies from person to person. No two lifestyles are the same. That being said, constantly sacrificing your time to chase money is a dangerous game to play. Opportunity cost is everything in life.

Walker argues that human beings are the only creatures who “deliberately deprive themselves of sleep for no sound reason.” Yet we invent countless reasons we “can’t” get enough: be it work, recreation, partying, or general busyness, sleep takes the back burner because it’s not as exciting as its alternatives, even though without sleep, we can’t be our optimal self. A lack of sleep isn’t a badge of honor—it is a marker of a chaotic life.

Resurfaced to me by Readwise

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