#25: You won't change

Happy Friday 🎉 A man in Finland got fined $130,000 for going over the speed limit because speeding tickets in Finland are calculated based on an individual’s daily disposable income…
Pause…think about your bank balance, and ask yourself how much the state would charge you for overspeeding. Now finish reading this and get back to work.

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Estimated read time: 5 minutes

💡 1 thing I've learned

Seriously, you can change…

Don’t let anyone fool you, I work out to look good naked.

I was invited to speak on a fitness-related panel this weekend.

After shaking the blue out of my face from blushing, I pondered what I’d talk about. To do that, I had to go back to where it all started.

‘Twas the summer of 2010, Pitbull was giving us everything, Nokia phones were still cool; and fresh out of a horrible breakup, young Shem was sad.

So naturally, I spent two days watching TV shows in my pyjamas, eating meals at the wrong times and showering only when I had to leave the dorm.

Eventually, I unfolded myself from my couch, stepped outside and the thick searing Florida air punched me in the face. But something else punched me in the face—Sports bras, Lululemon leggings, tiny Nike running shorts, bare chests, a collage of glistening skin; it was a Calvin Klein commercial out there.

And while I couldn’t join the nudist colony (because—African mother), I also wanted to be hot.

I wanted to be an athlete.

That admission was the first (and most overlooked) step to getting on the panel:

Identity. Who do you want to be? An athlete? A good friend? An analyst? Wealthy? Name it first.

Step 2 involved the habits required to make me an athlete:

—I had to swap pizza for leafy greens, soda for smoothies, and ramen noodles for grilled chicken
—I had to swap lying on the couch daydreaming about the hot Mexican girl in my history class for touching grass and lifting brass
—I had to change my lifestyle

Step 2 was the hardest to sustain, but the secret was simple—some is better than none at all.

Step 3 was the good part—the outcomes. Immediately after my first five pushups, I did what everyone who exercises for the first time does—I checked for abs in the mirror.

Of course, they weren’t there.

But on day 15,…

…they still weren’t there.

But on day 30, when I squinted hard enough and dimmed the lights, I saw some tasteful bulges.

And once I started to see the results, I was hooked. More results led to more habits, and the cycle continued.

I became an athlete.

Who do you want to be?

🔌 Shameless plug

Soon you’ll be the only one in your friend group that doesn’t read TLDR Weekly and what a damn shame that would be!

🎁 My favourite things

A meal

For my Ugandans, the lemon and mint juice at Cafesserie has me by the short and curlies.

A quote

This scene and the banter between the two matriarchs in Downton Abbey:

Lady Grantham — "I haven't been in the kitchen in about 20 years"
Lady Crawley — "I hope you brought your passport"

A TV show

Really enjoying The Bear right now, and fortunately for you, Season 2 came out yesterday.

❤️ Enjoying The Friday Fix? SHARE IT WITH A FRIEND

🚀 Pro-tip

Group rows or columns in Google Sheets in 3,2,1…

Sometimes your sheet has a lot of information and you don’t always want to see it all at once.

In Google Sheets, you can group rows or columns and make them appear or disappear at a click of a button.

We’ll practice on rows, but the same logic applies to columns.

“But Shem, when can I really use this?”

For example, I use it in my budgeting document to reveal/hide details related to a specific month at a time:

I’m just here to make sure you’re not basic!

🧩 Games

Brain teaser

Brought to you by Braingle

When you curtail a word, you remove the last letter and still have a valid word. You will be given clues for the two words, the longer word first.
Example: Begin; Heavenly body
Answer: The words are Start and Star.

1. Attract or please through personality — To burn; scorch
2. Giving out moderate heat — Conflict between nations
3. Kingdom; domain — True; genuine
4. Solid, hard; fixed in place — Type of evergreen tree
5. Remove from the surface; glide on a surface — Narrow runner for gliding on snow
6. Line formed by sewing two pieces together — Large body of salt water
7. Sew the edge of a cloth — A male person
8. Agriculture site — At a great distance

Answer below

🔥 What's hot

Latest video

Shem’s picks

👯‍♀️ The absurd logistics of concert tours

🍩 Tasty doughnuts from around the world

🌳 A tree-top walkway in Norway

❓Riddle answer

Answer:

1. Charm — Char
2. Warm — War
3. Realm — Real
4. Firm — Fir
5. Skim — Ski
6. Seam — Sea
7. Hem — He
8. Farm — Far

Have a great weekend,

— Shem

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