Hi, I'm Nina Iordanova and this is the 13th edition of Something Good, a newsletter filtered through my 🧠, 🖐, and ❤️. Coming your way every two weeks, I hope you find something good here.
Hi!
I’ve spent the last week living in crop tops and working in the sun. It feels like the first few real days of summer here in Toronto. Where you don’t need a sweater (even though I bring one just in case) and it’s a pleasure just to be outside and have a reason to sit in the sun.
I usually wake up at 7 and do a mindless scroll through my (tiny) crypto investments, emails, Slack, text messages, the weather - anything that has the slightest chance of having changed since I last checked my phone.
Then I work out for 30 minutes, shower, grab my laptop and head outside. I order a medium blonde roast coffee with steamed soy milk from Balzac’s (doesn’t matter how hot it is outside, I’ll live and die with a hot coffee in my hand) and get to work.
It’s nice to have a routine. It’s nice to feel like by showing up every day, you’re making progress. That there’s a direction you’re moving towards.
I read a quote this week that said, “Don’t just exercise. Train.”
I’ve been thinking about it a lot.
When exercise is just exercise, I hate doing it. Haaaaate it. I get angry at this stupid thing that hurts and takes time out of my day and is hard. But when I’m exercising with a goal in mind - to be able to do a handstand, touch my forehead to my legs in a forward fold, run for 2 kms without stopping - it’s easier to stay on course.
It feels like the effort is being transmuted into something, and yes it’ll take time, but it has a direction. It builds on itself instead of disappearing into the air the moment it’s over.
I think that’s really cool.
✨
Warmly yours,
Nina
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