Rahmeh Sameh's Blog
April 25, 2024
Surrounded by Perfection: How Atomic Habits Helped Me Overcome Discouragement and Find Success
surrounded by all the overly high achievers on social medias utopia, you as I certainly at least once felt discouraged, empty, even without a purpose, as a result your life start to deteriorate more even though you’re killing yourself trying to achieve it all at once.
and here is your first problem, you are constantly trying to uplift your life drastically, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, however you can’t just climb the ladder five steps at a time.
Now it is personal stories time, back in 2020, I was an intern dentist and I was already behind my colleagues who graduated a year before me, and I was seeing the progress they were doing, once my internship ended I was no where near them, cause if you remember covid-19 has held us all back.
jobs were not available as usual, people were still in fear state of any thing related to thier health, especially dentistry as one patient can infect multiple even in the most sterile practices.
Now, since I haven’t made any progress in my field of study, I felt so obligated to go back to my old talents, I used to draw and paint, also I used to write but never make to write a full book.
But with all the hard work I was doing in all of these aspects of my life, nothing was going well, with the intensive job hunt with no result, I felt so devastated, so I left it all hanging there and went back to my drugs, do not worry, I went back to reading, as it is the only thing which can give me any solace.
I literally read everything from novels, to non fiction books, including physics, psychology, history, religious, even philosophy books, and finally I got my hand on a self helping book.
but If I as a reader can hate anything, I couldn’t hate anything more bestsellers and self help books, nothing against them, but I didn’t believe in them.
so since I had nothing but time, I read my first book which is atomic habits, and I did not regret it at all, I’ll tell you a secret, I never regret reading any book no matter what. the book spoke with me as it was simple, easy to understand, the man broke big complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work.
I like how he packed his ideas with different domains of science, I finally could understand myself.
improving your life is never about big dramatic changes, it always start with small tiny but consistent steps and behaviors.
the book focuses on and made me too focus on these things :
1. Make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy)
2. Overcome a lack of motivation and willpower
3. Design my environment to make success easier.
4. Get back on track when I fall off course.
let me tell something, it was never easy, I highlighted and marked the pages I felt I will come back to over and over again, I did not finish the book from the first time, deep down I kept refusing to accept that I’m wrong and this person who knows nothing about my life and my struggles, knows more than I do, I wanted to stay in the victim role, it was something like hubris.
After multiple attempts to complete the book, I finally finished it and I decided to follow what he says exactly not because I believed it but to prove him wrong.
so I started my own atomic habits, started to apply for at least 3 jobs daily, if I could not find job listed on job boards, I would start contacting people and post on different social media groups, I did not adhere only to dentistry, my first job was an online job, so once I had my first job as a dentist, I kept my new routine.
I worked as a dentist at day part time, and as a transcriptionist at night, without burning myself out, because I kept my life balance by sticking to finishing small tasks daily no mater what.
in my days off, I set up a schedule to write at least a 500 words daily, and of course at least one hour before bed time to read, even that hour I used to divide it between fiction and non fiction books.
That was at the start of 2021, so by the end of 2021, I have completed my first book draft and revised it so many times, translated it to English as well, have my successful job and read my fair share of books and I was promoted to be a team lead in my online job.
by 2022, I have decided to start my own self publishing journey and I published my first book, then I continued to publish, some non fiction, some children’s books, and I’m still going at it.
here is my Amazon author page if you are interested https://amzn.to/3UhLODw
here is my first book
So the laugh is on me, I was wrong and he was right, I owe him a big thanks, because his book really changed my life, or did I changed it, hubris again.
lol no just kidding, the point is, you could read a thousand books but unless you are willing to take control of your life, it will never change.
however having an already written framework really helps, by following a proven strategies that will help you form new habits and break bad ones, you can finally win back your life.
If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.
“Changes that seem small and unimportant at first will compound into remarkable results if you’re willing to stick with them for years.” James clear.
follow this link to get your copy https://amzn.to/4aP6cTP
audio book is free.
and here is your first problem, you are constantly trying to uplift your life drastically, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, however you can’t just climb the ladder five steps at a time.
Now it is personal stories time, back in 2020, I was an intern dentist and I was already behind my colleagues who graduated a year before me, and I was seeing the progress they were doing, once my internship ended I was no where near them, cause if you remember covid-19 has held us all back.
jobs were not available as usual, people were still in fear state of any thing related to thier health, especially dentistry as one patient can infect multiple even in the most sterile practices.
Now, since I haven’t made any progress in my field of study, I felt so obligated to go back to my old talents, I used to draw and paint, also I used to write but never make to write a full book.
But with all the hard work I was doing in all of these aspects of my life, nothing was going well, with the intensive job hunt with no result, I felt so devastated, so I left it all hanging there and went back to my drugs, do not worry, I went back to reading, as it is the only thing which can give me any solace.
I literally read everything from novels, to non fiction books, including physics, psychology, history, religious, even philosophy books, and finally I got my hand on a self helping book.
but If I as a reader can hate anything, I couldn’t hate anything more bestsellers and self help books, nothing against them, but I didn’t believe in them.
so since I had nothing but time, I read my first book which is atomic habits, and I did not regret it at all, I’ll tell you a secret, I never regret reading any book no matter what. the book spoke with me as it was simple, easy to understand, the man broke big complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work.
I like how he packed his ideas with different domains of science, I finally could understand myself.
improving your life is never about big dramatic changes, it always start with small tiny but consistent steps and behaviors.
the book focuses on and made me too focus on these things :
1. Make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy)
2. Overcome a lack of motivation and willpower
3. Design my environment to make success easier.
4. Get back on track when I fall off course.
let me tell something, it was never easy, I highlighted and marked the pages I felt I will come back to over and over again, I did not finish the book from the first time, deep down I kept refusing to accept that I’m wrong and this person who knows nothing about my life and my struggles, knows more than I do, I wanted to stay in the victim role, it was something like hubris.
After multiple attempts to complete the book, I finally finished it and I decided to follow what he says exactly not because I believed it but to prove him wrong.
so I started my own atomic habits, started to apply for at least 3 jobs daily, if I could not find job listed on job boards, I would start contacting people and post on different social media groups, I did not adhere only to dentistry, my first job was an online job, so once I had my first job as a dentist, I kept my new routine.
I worked as a dentist at day part time, and as a transcriptionist at night, without burning myself out, because I kept my life balance by sticking to finishing small tasks daily no mater what.
in my days off, I set up a schedule to write at least a 500 words daily, and of course at least one hour before bed time to read, even that hour I used to divide it between fiction and non fiction books.
That was at the start of 2021, so by the end of 2021, I have completed my first book draft and revised it so many times, translated it to English as well, have my successful job and read my fair share of books and I was promoted to be a team lead in my online job.
by 2022, I have decided to start my own self publishing journey and I published my first book, then I continued to publish, some non fiction, some children’s books, and I’m still going at it.
here is my Amazon author page if you are interested https://amzn.to/3UhLODw
here is my first book
So the laugh is on me, I was wrong and he was right, I owe him a big thanks, because his book really changed my life, or did I changed it, hubris again.
lol no just kidding, the point is, you could read a thousand books but unless you are willing to take control of your life, it will never change.
however having an already written framework really helps, by following a proven strategies that will help you form new habits and break bad ones, you can finally win back your life.
If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.
“Changes that seem small and unimportant at first will compound into remarkable results if you’re willing to stick with them for years.” James clear.
follow this link to get your copy https://amzn.to/4aP6cTP
audio book is free.
March 16, 2024
عالقٌ أنا في الحياة
أريد أن أكون وأن لا أكون
بين بين...
بين وجودي الخفي
وعدمي الحتمي ...
هناك في إحدى الزوايا تعشعش روحي المتعبة
كروح شيطانٍ أبديّ الوجود
غادره نصفه الملائكي منذ الأزل
بين بين...
بين وجودي الخفي
وعدمي الحتمي ...
هناك في إحدى الزوايا تعشعش روحي المتعبة
كروح شيطانٍ أبديّ الوجود
غادره نصفه الملائكي منذ الأزل
March 8, 2024
how to make reading a habit
You have a plenty of time on your hand, love to read but don’t know where to start or what to read.
Well, I’m here to help you make reading a habit.
First you need to determine, what kind of reader are you? which is highly depends on you as a person, your life style, your work schedule, and your interest, for instance if you have a changing work schedule or you don’t have a fixed routine, you might not be able to set an exact time to read every day, but normally I would recommend you to set a specific time let’s say 10–40 minutes read before bedtime, or early on the morning with a cup of your favorite drink.
the time period and its frequency are totally depends on you but as I said I highly- recommend you to start a routine, start small at first, it is the perfect way to not lose interest.
Then you have to set the perfect environment, a cozy place that you consider it your own spot whether in or outside the house, whatever works best for you, from now on this going to be you reading spot, mark it, decorate it if you like, set the mood.
You might want to start with something simple and light, something you can understand easily and enjoy it as well.
Now let’s get the most important part of making reading a habit which is your interests, what fields you really want to know more about, what do you truly love, for example I really like psychology amongst other things, for you it might be physics or history, again that is for you to figure out, sometimes you will be recommended to read a book which really hard for you no matter how hard you try you couldn’t get through it, here is a tip from my personal experience, I really love Greek mythology and I start reading the odyssey, I was completely stuck, so I find an online course about Greek mythology and I took it, it really helped me reading what I loved in the simplest way possible, for you it doesn’t have to be a complete course, it might be an experienced person you know, YouTube video, any external valid source, believe me if you’re passionate about your reading materials, any extra troubles will be worth it.
If you haven’t read a book ever, then you might start with something simpler, like a novel, but try to choose one that matches your own interest, let’s get back to my personal experience, I love psychology but didn’t start reading carl Jung or Freud, no I started reading Dostoevsky novels, they really touches the human psyche in a very nice way, while some of my friends really hate them.
it is a personal taste, but remember it is really important that you make the most of your reading experience so please, don’t stick to novels only, books are great way to gain knowledge, and for you to grow as a person.
That being said, here are some of my personal recommendations:
crime and punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
The Interpretation of Dreams by Freud
Thus spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
The hunchback of Notre-dame by victor Hugo.
Escape from freedom by Erich Fromm.
Relativity: The Special and the General Theory by Albert Einstein
the theory of everything by Stephen hawking.
the complete works of Khalil Gibran.
Divine comedy by Dante Alighieri.
The odyssey.
The prince by Machiavelli.
1984 by George Orwell.
Thousand brains.
Those are my personal recommendations, of course there are plenty more, eventually you’ll have your own list, make reading your new habit and you’ll be rewarded.
Well, I’m here to help you make reading a habit.
First you need to determine, what kind of reader are you? which is highly depends on you as a person, your life style, your work schedule, and your interest, for instance if you have a changing work schedule or you don’t have a fixed routine, you might not be able to set an exact time to read every day, but normally I would recommend you to set a specific time let’s say 10–40 minutes read before bedtime, or early on the morning with a cup of your favorite drink.
the time period and its frequency are totally depends on you but as I said I highly- recommend you to start a routine, start small at first, it is the perfect way to not lose interest.
Then you have to set the perfect environment, a cozy place that you consider it your own spot whether in or outside the house, whatever works best for you, from now on this going to be you reading spot, mark it, decorate it if you like, set the mood.
You might want to start with something simple and light, something you can understand easily and enjoy it as well.
Now let’s get the most important part of making reading a habit which is your interests, what fields you really want to know more about, what do you truly love, for example I really like psychology amongst other things, for you it might be physics or history, again that is for you to figure out, sometimes you will be recommended to read a book which really hard for you no matter how hard you try you couldn’t get through it, here is a tip from my personal experience, I really love Greek mythology and I start reading the odyssey, I was completely stuck, so I find an online course about Greek mythology and I took it, it really helped me reading what I loved in the simplest way possible, for you it doesn’t have to be a complete course, it might be an experienced person you know, YouTube video, any external valid source, believe me if you’re passionate about your reading materials, any extra troubles will be worth it.
If you haven’t read a book ever, then you might start with something simpler, like a novel, but try to choose one that matches your own interest, let’s get back to my personal experience, I love psychology but didn’t start reading carl Jung or Freud, no I started reading Dostoevsky novels, they really touches the human psyche in a very nice way, while some of my friends really hate them.
it is a personal taste, but remember it is really important that you make the most of your reading experience so please, don’t stick to novels only, books are great way to gain knowledge, and for you to grow as a person.
That being said, here are some of my personal recommendations:
crime and punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
The Interpretation of Dreams by Freud
Thus spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
The hunchback of Notre-dame by victor Hugo.
Escape from freedom by Erich Fromm.
Relativity: The Special and the General Theory by Albert Einstein
the theory of everything by Stephen hawking.
the complete works of Khalil Gibran.
Divine comedy by Dante Alighieri.
The odyssey.
The prince by Machiavelli.
1984 by George Orwell.
Thousand brains.
Those are my personal recommendations, of course there are plenty more, eventually you’ll have your own list, make reading your new habit and you’ll be rewarded.
