🌄 New Levels, New Devils

Hey guys! I hope you all had a fantastic week.

It’s crazy to be here writing to you after my first month as a full-time entrepreneur. It has been absolutely fantastic over the last three weeks to have so much freedom and time on my hands. To be honest with you, it’s what I’ve been waiting for over the last two years. I’ve been able to control my own time, plan future events, and catch up on the aspects of my life that I missed out on during my foundation training as a doctor. I’ve also been able to really sky-rocket my learning by getting through a good number of book summaries, through the help of Shortform (more on that later).

However, as you might expect, it hasn’t all been sunshine and rainbows. Here’s the thing: this has also been my most profitable month ever. I really thought that once I reached this stage, all of my worries and struggles would disappear. Surprisingly, as you might expect, that simply hasn’t been the case. I thought that once I reached a certain financial figure, everything would be calm and my mind could finally be at ease. However, over the last three weeks, I’ve also had multiple mini-mental panic attacks, questioning many aspects of my recent decisions. What if everything goes wrong? What if next month I make no money? How will I pay my bills? Will be on the streets? Will I have to return to full-time medicine already? I’ve had many highs, but also a few lows, where I find myself thinking that I was foolish to take a break from such a stable and rewarding career.

Yesterday, I finally sat down to think and reflect. To be honest, I haven’t really had much time to do this because life has been moving so fast over the last few weeks—not just with work, but also with certain milestones I’ve met in other aspects of my life. When I sat down yesterday and watched a video from a friend who’s also on a similar path, I was reassured that everyone, from the person living paycheck to paycheck to the billionaire on a yacht, experiences this exact same feeling that I’m experiencing. This feeling of worry comes at all stages of entrepreneurship, from someone earning £500 a month to someone earning £10,000 a month. If you’ve ever experienced the same sort of feeling, it’s confirmation that you’re doing something right in your life. Because if you ever reach a stage where you have no feelings of imposter syndrome or anxiety, it probably means you’re not growing. I’m a big believer that in life, you’re either moving forward or moving backward—there’s no in-between. So I was reassured that this is a new feeling I’ll have to become comfortable with over the next year, until I am ready to return to complete my specialty training as a doctor. Not knowing how much I might earn next month is a curse, but it’s also a blessing that the upside can be as high as possible, depending on how hard I work. Freedom also means that I’m not tied to a full-time job, and every positive experience I’m having now must come with a negative. Once I came to terms with the fact that this is a very normal feeling, it was almost as though a cloud lifted from over my head, and I was able to continue moving forward toward the goals that matter to me.

So this week, if you ever feel imposter syndrome or anxiety, as hard as it might be, look at yourself in the mirror and smile, because it means that you’re growing. It means that you’re challenging yourself. And as they say, “New levels, new devils.” Just know that I’m going through the same thing, and you have my full support.

Enjoy your week, and I’ll see you in the next one.

Doctor Kenji.

👍🏾 Things I’ve enjoyed this week

• The Diary of a CEO by Stephen Bartlett (Podcast Episode) - This week, I listened to an incredible interview with a divorce lawyer on The Diary of a CEO by Stephen Bartlett. It was a fascinating listen, as the lawyer shared unique insights from his years of experience handling divorces. Some parts were a bit sad, but overall, his take on love and marriage was very insightful. If you’re interested in understanding relationships from a different perspective, I highly recommend giving this episode a listen.

• Dyson V11 Advanced Hoover (Home Tech) - My partner and I finally got our hands on the Dyson V11 Advanced Hoover, and it’s been life-changing. We’ve wanted one for years, and after finally taking the plunge, we couldn’t be happier. It’s so easy to use that we find ourselves cleaning up our apartment multiple times a day. It’s been so effective that we haven’t even needed to use our robot vacuum since we got it. If you’re looking for a powerful, easy-to-use hoover, this is it.

• Electric Drill (Tool) - I finally bought myself an electric drill, and it’s been a game changer. For years, I’ve been borrowing one whenever I needed to drill something into the wall, but now that I have my own, I can tackle projects instantly. I’ve already used it so much, finding things around the house that needed to be fixed or hung. It feels great to have this tool at my disposal, and I’m really happy with this purchase.

• Kingdom Rush Vengeance (Game) - I’ve been playing Kingdom Rush Vengeance on my Steam Deck, and I’m completely hooked. It’s a highly addictive game that I’ve been enjoying regularly. The best part is that it’s also available on mobile, so you can take the experience with you wherever you go. If you’re into gaming, I definitely recommend checking this one out.

📹 The latest video in case you missed it:

📚 Highlight of the week

The Arc of the Practical Creator - More to That moretothat.com

As a result, a Practical Creator doesn’t use the day job salary to buy everything they want, but saves as much of it as possible. They understand that every dollar saved today represents the freedom to create tomorrow. Patience is about learning to live with less, as this allows you to build up a bank account balance that could be later exchanged for agency. The great news is that if you find fulfillment in your creative work, it’s much easier to be satisfied with a minimal lifestyle.

The Good Enough Job by Simone Stolzoff

Much as an investor benefits from diversifying their investments, we, too, benefit from diversifying our sources of identity and meaning. Meaning is not something that is bestowed upon us. It’s something we create. And as with any act of creation, it requires time and energy—the time to invest in nonwork pursuits and the energy to actually do so.

The Manual #43 - End of Year Learnings 

It’s either one day or day one. You decide.

Resurfaced to me by Readwise

📚 How I Save Hours Each Week Using Shortform’s Book Summaries

Sponsored by Shortform

On the topic of income, one of the key resources that have helped me gain the skills I needed to scale my side hutles is Shortform. If you’re like me, you probably have a long list of books you’d love to read, but finding the time can be a real challenge. That’s where Shortform comes in.

Shortform is a service that produces high-quality guides to nonfiction books, covering all the key ideas in a way that’s simple and easy to understand. It’s like having your smartest friend explain a book to you—not only do they provide powerful summaries, but they also add their own commentary and analysis, helping you dive even deeper into the material.

Through the help of in-depth summaries, they offer chapter-by-chapter insights so that you understand what you are reading to an even greater extent. Each summary takes around 30 minutes or so to read or listen to, making it a perfect length for your spare time.

What I love about Shortform is that they cover a wide range of genres, including health, relationships, economics and business. So, no matter what nonfiction genre you’re interested in, Shortform has you covered.

Personally, I turn to Shortform whenever there’s a book on my reading list that I really want to understand but don’t have the time to read in full—whether it’s a 15-hour audiobook or a 400-page tome. Recently, I finally got around to The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco through Shortform, a book that had been on my reading list for over three years. The insights I gained helped me take my business to the next level while still managing my full-time job as a doctor.

And it doesn’t stop there. Shortform is constantly adding new features to cover every idea across every medium out there. Their new browser extension, Shortform AI, can summarize everything across the internet, from articles to YouTube videos, with just a click of a button. It’s a game changer for anyone who wants to learn quickly and efficiently.

Don't miss out on taking control of your learning and personal growth with Shortform. Try it out with a 5-day free trial and 20% off!

If you were forwarded this email, subscribe to Doctor Kenji's newsletter and get the next edition in your inbox. Subscribe here.

📧 Want to sponsor this email newsletter? Simply reply to this email and I'll get back to you soon.

Did you enjoy this week's issue? Help me improve!

Click on a link to vote:

• 👍 I enjoyed this. Thanks

• 😐 Meh - was ok.

• 👎 Not interesting to me.

Want to learn more from me? Check these out👇

🩺 (Free) How to Get into Medical School - From Application to Doctor: https://skl.sh/2TwpH0N

👨🏼‍💻 An Essay Writing Masterclass - The Best Essay Writing Technique: https://courses.kenjitomita.co.uk

🏥 My Online Medicine Interview Course: https://courses.kenjitomita.co.uk

📑 Study notes, my university personal statements, dissertation and more:https://www.kenjitomita.co.uk/shop 

Please note: all profits are re-invested into the Youtube channel to pay for our resources and team to allow me to continue making free and informative content on YouTube whilst working full-time as a doctor.

🛠 My favourite tools 🔨

📚 Listen to my favourite book of all time (or any other) free on Audible

🥼 My daily hospital scrubs: HappyThreads

🎒 My everyday and travel bag from Menos (use KENJI10 for 10% off)

📝 My favourite iPad screen protector: Paperlike

📱 My everyday carry as a doctor