Better Inside EP 34

Author

Ammar Sheikh
January 29, 2024

Better Inside Newsletter

Hello Adventurers! 

I love challenging myself and overcoming limiting beliefs because that's how I become stronger. Most of the time, we're afraid to face discomfort, and I used to be in the same boat in 2016. However, when I started facing discomfort, I noticed growth and success in various aspects of my life.

I've recently begun a life experiment series where I record myself trying different experiments. My first experiment involves nasal breathing. I've started sleeping with my mouth taped to encourage nasal breathing, and I've also incorporated nasal breathing into my jogging routine. It was a bit uncomfortable at first, but afterward, I feel much better.

I'll be sharing this life experiment series on my YouTube channel weekly, similar to how Andrew Huberman's Daily Blueprint has helped me improve my health. If you're curious about your breathing quality, you can try a simple exercise. Pause your breath for 45 seconds and observe when you start feeling stressed or wanting to give up. Measure your time holding your breath and see how it goes

Hold your breath and measure your time.

  1. Start in a seated position and have your stopwatch ready.

  2. Take a normal breath in through the nose, then exhale out normally through the nose. It’s a relaxed exhale, so don’t empty your lungs completely.

  3. Pinch your nose with your fingers. This is to prevent sneaky inhales.

  4. Start your stopwatch and count how many seconds until you feel the first indicators of air hunger. A good indicator is the involuntary movement of your muscles. Your belly my contract or twitch. Your neck and throat may contract.

  5. Stop the stopwatch, release your nose and take a breath in gently. If you feel like you need to take a big gasp of air, then you’ve held your breath for too long. You should be able to breath normally and calmly straight away.

You can check afterwards how much time you took for this exercise, then grade yourself accordingly.

  • 10 seconds and Under: Grade D ( Your physical, mental and/or emotional health is likely being severely affected by your breathing)

  • 10-20 seconds: Grade C ( Your breathing is still not optimal)

  • 20-40 seconds: Grade B ( Your breathing is likely adequate at rest. However, in certain situation (e.g. times of stress), your breathing is not serving you as well as it could)

  • 40 seconds and more: Grade A ( Your breathing is optimized to serve your physical health, mental performance and emotional well being- keep it up!

    Happy Monday! Take it easy and don't overwhelm yourself with too much.

Love,

Ammar

💌 Things I Love the Most

AI Tools for Productivity

  1. Durable: An AI-powered website builder for small businesses.

  2. Grantable: AI-powered grant writing software that helps you get funding for your organization in the fastest and easiest way possible.

  3. Guidde*: Magically create video documentation with AI. Try it now

  4. Talently: Evaluate hundreds of candidates effortlessly and identify top performers using AI.

  5. Listening: Listen to academic papers instead of reading them.

  6. Decktopus: Easily generate presentations and customize them with a wide range of themes, fonts, and colors.

  7. Potis AI: An AI copilot that helps you prepare for your interviews.

  8. Sharly: Summarize long documents and simplify complex PDFs using AI.

  9. Threado: An AI-powered customer support assistant trained on your knowledge base, past resolutions, workspace and community conversations.

  10. Xembly: The AI executive assistant that handles admin tasks like scheduling, note-taking, and calendar optimization – saving every employee 400 hours a year.

  11. Brainstory: A virtual coach to help you communicate ideas to your team.

  12. Yuna: An AI-powered mental health app to track your progress over time

Weekly Quote:

❝

You can mute people in real life too, Its called boundaries.

Unknown

My Weekly Journaling Prompts:

  1. What's one small, daring step you can take today to disrupt your usual thought patterns?

  2. Where have you gained wisdom throughout your life?

  3. List three things you are grateful for today. How did these positive aspects contribute to your day?

Video Of The Week :

A Podcast Worth Listening: 🦻 

Remote Jobs: 🧑‍🏭 

  1. Strategy development, reporting, and planning - Conservation International (Multiple Locations)

  2. Part-time photo archivist – Global Press

  3. Assistant researcher – Includovate​

  4. ​Multiple roles – Ijeruka Have we convinced you to apply

  5. Communications Ninja - Pollinate Impact (Global South Preferred)

  6. Community & events choreographer - Pollinate Impact (Global South Preferred)

  7. Senior knowledge management specialist - Water.org (Multiple Locations)

  8. Development director - Ecologists Without Borders

  9. Daffodil Digital needs a remote social media coordinator

  10. The Trek needs a TikTok personality

  11. Jellyfish needs a freelance social media strategist

  12. CrowdPharm needs freelance pharma social media content developers

  13. IZEA needs sport and outdoor enthusiasts for Instagram/TikTok/Facebook content promoting a major retailer

  14. Twill needs a freelance editorial assistant ($40/hour)

  15. Copywriter - School of Traditional Skills

  16. Content Writer - Hellotickets

  17. Writer/Analyst - Insider Intelligence

  18. Copywriter - Simply Business

  19. Blog Writer - SaaSpirin

  20. Content Writer - EvenUp

Tweets of the Week:

Meme Of The Week:

Reminder:

Don't forget that every dead body on 'Mount Everest' was once a highly motivated person, so maybe you need to calm down this week.

Global Fellowships:

​British Academy Fellowship: 2-year program for outstanding early career researchers to make a first step towards developing an independent research career through gaining experience across international borders. The fellowship covers research expenses of up to GBP 12,000 and relocation costs of up to GBP 8,000.

​Fellowship to the 2024 Women’s Global Leadership Forum: Successful applicants will receive a complimentary ticket to the event (retail value USD 695) and be eligible to participate in 6-months of leadership development activities.
​
​H.J. Heinz Fellowship: Fully-funded fellowship to students from developing countries who wish to pursue a Master’s degree and demonstrate potential as future leaders in the public, government, non-profit, or private sectors.
​
​West African Research Association Residency Fellowship: Promoting transatlantic collaboration, the fellowships offer 4-8 week residencies for West African Scholars. Scholars engage in library research, guest lecturing, and collaborative work with American colleagues. WARA covers round-trip travel and provides a USD 3500 stipend, while host institutions are encouraged to offer additional support like housing and office space.

Connect to see my daily writing content:

See you next week. 🙂