Hi 👋, Shubham here.
How are you all doing?
I am doing fine. It rained🌧🌧 heavily last week, and as always all the roads of my city were flooded.
Moving on, few readers requested they want to read motivational stuff in the upcoming newsletter, so here I am back with a new edition of Soul Letter 🗞
Let’s begin.
Routine Update
What our subscribers are saying?🤔
I love the energy you put into it.!
Bhai tere liye ek din nikalna padega. Kuch to kar rha hai tu!
Likho likho.. bohat sahi likh raha hai tum
I am thrilled to inform, that Soul Letter crossed 100 subscribers last week 😁
The current count is 138, but more on that later.
Readers loved the Tokyo Olympics newsletter mailed last week. The open rate was 34% which means roughly 38 people read it.
The issue is the newsletter goes to the promotions folder, due to which many readers miss it. I recommend you set up an email filter.
One friend even asked me, you have made us subscribe, but when will you start writing? 😓
To tackle this issue, we have made an Instagram account with user id: lettercallsoul.
We will be posting updates about the newsletters so you won't miss them. No spamming, Aai shapath🤞
Sacrifice Is Inevitable
I started Engineering🎓 with a clear goal ‘‘Live Life To The Fullest’’. After studying for 12 long years, this was my time for redemption.
I studied the bare minimum to survive through college. Coding was something I always avoided.
But when I got a job as a software engineer, I realized the seriousness of my misjudgment.
During my initial days, I struggled a lot :(
If only I had dedicated a part of my time learning to code👨💻, I wouldn't be in such a hot mess.
Eventually, I had to start from the basics and build on them. For months I dedicated an hour to practice coding, either early in the morning or late in the evening.
Sacrifice is inevitable. Do the things that you have been avoiding till now.
If neglected for long, they’ll become hard to deal with.
Beginner's Pass
When you start as a fresher, society gives you a beginner's pass🎫
You are bound to screw up, which is acceptable since you are learning a new craft.
You are young👧
People sense your latent potential and place bets on you.
However, like any other pass, with time the beginner's pass expires.
4-5 years down the line, one can't be making the same rookie mistakes. You might have huge potential, but it's dross if you can’t churn out tangible results.
Master the skill sets relevant to your craft and provide genuine value.
Delaying Sacrifices
Everyone has limitations.
Working on these shortcomings is usually our sacrifice.
What if someone delays or avoids sacrifice?
As told sacrifice is unavoidable 🙅♂️, with time the penalty of avoiding sacrifice will amplify.
Consider a 30-year-old software engineer not knowing the basics of programming or a 40-year-old smoke addict struggling with health.
If you are trying to avoid sacrifices, you are being naive.
It’s better to acknowledge you are shit at 25 and work on it instead of finding it out at 40 or 50 when you have so little energy and time to do anything about it.
Choose your sacrifice
I assume, we have established that sacrifice is inevitable, but we get to choose our sacrifice.
Each of us has our priorities in life. Depending on the end goals choose your sacrifice.
For example, someone might avoid outings to spend time in the gym taking care of their health while someone may sacrifice their sleep to work on their side hustle.
I get up daily at 6:30 am⏰ to find an uninterrupted hour to work on my newsletter. Sure it’s hard, but I know the end product will be worth it.
Plus I don’t wanna end up with regrets thinking if I could have done more.
That's my sacrifice!
Do you have any sacrifices? We would love to know :)
Yup😬, That is Powerful
Video Recommendation
Today’s newsletter was based on the following video of Jordan Peterson.
Do go through the comments.
Take a Bow🙇♂️ Indian Cricket Team
Yesterday, the Indian team registered a historic win at Lord's, beating England by 151 runs💪🏻
It was an all-around performance from the entire team, with Rahul and Rohit providing a concrete start in the first innings. Rahane and Pujara with an innings saving stand in the second innings and the Bumrah-Shami show which left the England team scratching their heads and the Indian dressing room up on their feet. Mohammad Siraj rounded up with a wonderful bowling performance with 4 wickets each in both innings and Ishant striking at key moments to help India celebrate an independence day victory and take a 1-0 lead in the 5 match test series.
After the game, I couldn't help but think of Harsha Bhogle's words after the test-series win over Australia at Brisbane:
"This is young India at work — give them a stage and move out. Our generation thinks: Don’t lose. This one inhabits a different world. They see victory, opportunity."
Contributed by Mudit Goel.
Final Words
A couple of friends pinged me asking me to write on an encouraging theme.
Jordan Peterson is one of the best self-improvement speakers🗣
He is also known for his book 📖 12 Rules for Life, which I intend to read someday. In case you have already read it, do share your feedback!
By the way, I wanted to talk about the 100 subscribers milestone, and some other stuff however we will cover them in the upcoming newsletters.
We are considering allowing readers to submit articles for Soul Letter. Let’s see🤔
Lately, I have been obsessed😪 with the newsletter's stats. Checking the open rate or likes now and then.
To be frank, the numbers aren't that great, but then again this is only the 7th newsletter.
I know it's shallow of me to be focussing on aggregates so soon in the journey. It's like trying to sprint when I haven't even aced walking.
I keep reminding myself “Trust The Process” ✊
I hope you enjoyed today’s edition. Choose your sacrifice guys and have a productive week ahead.
Follow us on IG—lettercallsoul. Until next time, Houdoe! 🙋♂️
In case you missed the previous newsletter, check it out.
PS: If anything from today’s letter resonated with you, and you would like to share your views, mail me at shubhampcvn@gmail.com. We might include it in the upcoming letter.