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2020 threw a lot of curveballs at me, in fact all of us.

Not only did I lag on achieving some of my goals, but my reading and self-care goals were also not optimal. 

As an International Medical Graduate (IMG) who started on the path to the US residency and migration a little late, some days I race to achieve. I feel the burning fire to hurry to get caught up on my goals and aspirations.

Reading taught me that being in a hurry makes you miss out the big picture. It also takes away from appreciating relationships with family and friends.

So for 2021, I didn’t only create goals, I aimed at being intentional with my values, my decisions and in taking care of myself and  family.

How reading has helped me

I became obsessed with reading non-medical books in 2019- read a lot of autobiographies and self-help books. Like most of us, I got into 2020 charged to read more but I totally fell off the band wagon.

Towards the end of 2020, I read 4 new books that made me realize I needed to slow down a little more, focus on the big picture as well as savor the moment of my journey. 

These books were highly recommended by so many people who I find inspirational- Glo Atanmo and my sister- Anulika Enemuo. And I highly recommend them to you too to get you started and charged as I feel for 2021.

Ruthless elimination of hurry

This book helped me realize I have ‘Hurry Sickness. If any of these sound like you then you may have it too.

– If you move from 1 check out lane to another becuase if looks shorter?

– If you multitask to the point you forget one of the tasks?

Be ready to get judged and called out but you will learn on how to ‘ruthlessly eliminate hurry’.

Master of One

We were all called for a Purpose and finding that will not only give us peace but will allow others enjoy our gifts.

Yes we may have many gifts but 1 stands out.

Also, we can also maximise our different gifts but we will succeed better if we focused on them one by one.

After this book, I concluded that multi-tasking doesn’t get you so far.

The 12 week Year 

Are you one of those that feels rushed towards the end of the year to complete tasks and goals?

This book is a game changer. I never thought about managing my year as 12 weeks instead of 12 months.

This is great for setting goals and making yourself more productive. Also takes into consideration that you need rest to reset

Atomic habits

This is easy, fun and nerdy at the same time.

Did you know the part of the brain activated for ‘wanting‘  is the same part responsible for ‘liking’? But while 100% of the center- nucleus accumbens is acitvated during wanting, only 10% are active during liking?

Cool right? So when we make habits attractive enough to ‘want’ them it sticks. So many gems in this book, I’m reading it a 2nd time.