The Strength Formula: Redefining Success from the Inside Out

What if success wasn’t about speed, hustle, or constant achievement?

What if, instead, success was a quiet, deliberate unfolding — a path walked with clarity, depth, and strength?

Over time, and through deep reflection, I’ve come to realize that success is not a singular event. It’s not a promotion, a number on a scale, or a round of applause. It’s the result of a process — an inner architecture built through daily choices, mindset, and values.

I call it: The Strength Formula.

Success = Self Awareness + Prioritization + Focus + Consistency + Patience + Slow + Curiosity + Flexibility + Courage ⇒ Strength

Each component plays a vital role — and together, they don’t just lead to success.

They become the very definition of it.

🔹 Self-Awareness

Everything begins here. Without knowing yourself — your values, limits, needs — it’s easy to chase someone else’s version of success. Self-awareness is the compass.

🔹 Prioritization

You can’t do it all, and you shouldn’t try. Prioritization is how you honor your energy, time, and vision. It’s not about saying “no” to everything — it’s about saying a resounding “yes” to what matters.

🔹 Focus

The art of being fully present. Focus turns scattered effort into meaningful progress. It’s what helps you go deep instead of wide — and deep is where growth lives.

🔹 Consistency

Not glamorous, but essential. Consistency turns sparks into fire. When you show up — especially when you don’t feel like it — you’re quietly becoming unstoppable.

🔹 Slow (Deliberate Action)

This one matters deeply to me. I separated slow from patience because slow still implies action — but it’s deliberate, thoughtful, intentional. In a world that rewards urgency, slow is a rebellion. It says: “I’m here for the long run.”

🔹 Patience (Stillness in Time)

Patience, on the other hand, is stillness. It’s the quiet strength of waiting, trusting, allowing things to unfold. It’s resting when needed. It’s knowing that some progress is invisible until it blooms.

🔹 Curiosity

Curiosity turns obstacles into questions. It keeps the journey playful. It’s the opposite of ego — curiosity is humble, open, and always willing to learn.

🔹 Flexibility

Because life will never go exactly as planned. Flexibility is how you adjust without losing your core. It’s strength in motion — like bamboo in the wind.

🔹 Courage

The glue. Courage is needed to start, to keep going, to speak up, to rest, to pivot. Without it, none of the above take root. It’s the quiet power to choose growth, even when it’s uncomfortable.

💪 Why Strength?

Because success without strength is fragile.

And strength — true, rooted, resilient strength — comes from living these values day by day. Mental strength, emotional strength, physical strength… they’re all connected.

This isn’t a formula for achieving more. It’s a formula for becoming more.

📝 Reflection

If this formula resonates with you, try asking yourself:

Where in this formula am I already strong?
Which part needs more attention right now?
What would happen if I lived this formula, one day at a time?

You don’t have to do it all perfectly. Just consistently. Just slowly. With curiosity, flexibility, and courage.

That’s how strength is built. That’s how success begins.

What I Learned in My Second Semester of the PhD (Beyond Theory and Methods)

I just finished my second semester of the PhD, and today I’m allowing myself to fully rest — and to fully celebrate.

These past weeks have been intense. Between final essays, presentations, and all the mental load that comes with academic life, I found myself running on pure determination at times. But here I am, on the other side of the storm, and it feels like a moment worth pausing for.

This semester wasn’t just about theories and research methods. It was about endurance. About carving out time to think while managing work, life, and everything in between. It was about showing up to class even when I was tired, and still finding myself moved by a line in a book, a discussion with classmates, or a quiet insight that came unexpectedly.

It was also a semester full of new skills and challenges — the kind I didn’t expect when I first signed up for this journey.

I learned about the publishing process, as the school is working on publishing a book that will include a chapter from each of our theses. Seeing our academic work take on a more public shape is both exciting and humbling.
I also learned how to conduct and edit a video interview, which was part of an assignment that pushed me to connect with someone else’s story in a deeper way.
And I recorded my first podcast episodes, learning the basics of scripting, recording, and sharing ideas through audio. I never thought I’d enjoy podcasting so much — but I did.

More than anything, this semester reminded me that growth often happens in silence — in the late-night reading sessions, the late classes on Mondays and Saturday mornings when I had to talk myself into staying focused, and the afternoons I spent editing the same paragraph over and over. It taught me that I’m more resilient than I thought, and that my desire to learn is stronger than any obstacle in my schedule.

There were also small victories that I hold close: the moment an assignment came together, a thoughtful comment from a professor, or the realization that a concept I struggled with last semester now feels like second nature. Those moments remind me that this journey is working — little by little, it’s shaping the way I see the world and the way I see myself.

Next semester, I want to carry this learning with more gentleness. I want to keep being disciplined, yes, but also kinder to myself in the process. I’ve come to understand that rest is not a reward — it’s part of the work.

Today, I’m simply resting. But beneath the calm, there’s a quiet sense of pride. Because this wasn’t easy — and I did it anyway.

How to Make Better Decisions: Practical Strategies and Tools That Help

Decisions shape our lives — from the tiny ones (like what to eat for dinner) to the ones that change our paths entirely (like moving to a new city, changing jobs, or starting a PhD… 😉). We all want to make better decisions, but how do we actually do it? Especially when things feel uncertain, fast-paced, or emotionally charged?

Over time, I’ve found that the key is intentionality. Making space to think clearly, aligning with what truly matters, and using simple tools can turn a decision from overwhelming to manageable. Here’s what has helped me — a mix of mindset shifts and practical frameworks.

Mindset Shifts for Better Decision-Making

1. Start With Clarity: What Really Matters to You?

Before diving into any decision, pause and ask:

What do I value most in this context?

Is it freedom, stability, learning, connection, growth, impact, health?

When you get clear on your values, decisions become easier — not because they’re less complex, but because your compass is working. You’re not choosing randomly. You’re aligning.

2. Think Beyond “Either/Or”

Sometimes we fall into binary thinking — should I stay or go? Say yes or no?

Instead, ask:

What other options am I not seeing?

Could I propose a middle ground? Delay the decision? Test it with a small experiment?

Creative solutions often emerge once we escape the trap of “A vs B.”

3. Give It Time (If You Can)

Your brain is processing even when you’re not thinking consciously. Sleeping on a decision — or simply stepping away for a walk — can reveal what really feels right. I’ve found that if something still feels off after 24–48 hours, there’s probably a reason.

Decision-Making Tools That Actually Help

Sometimes, a little structure goes a long way. These are the tools I turn to when my thoughts feel foggy or the stakes are high.

1. Pros and Cons List

Simple but powerful. Listing the positives and negatives of each option helps externalize your thought process.

Tip:

Make two lists per option — one for short-term pros/cons and one for long-term. This gives you a fuller picture and surfaces trade-offs that aren’t immediately obvious.

2. Decision Matrix (Pugh Matrix)

Ideal when you’re comparing three or more options across multiple criteria.

Steps:

List your options (A, B, C…)
Choose evaluation criteria (e.g., cost, time, alignment with goals, learning potential)
Score each option (e.g., 1–5)
Add up the scores

It brings clarity and structure — and can often highlight a clear frontrunner that wasn’t obvious at first.

3. Pre-Mortem Analysis

Before making a decision, imagine it failed. Ask:

“What could go wrong?”

This reversal exercise helps you anticipate potential risks and weaknesses ahead of time. It’s a great way to shift from blind optimism to thoughtful preparation — without falling into fear.

4. The Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule)

The Pareto Principle suggests that 80% of results often come from 20% of the effort. When facing a decision, ask:

What’s the 20% of this decision that will give me 80% of the value?

Which option simplifies things while still creating meaningful progress?

This is especially useful when you’re overthinking or trying to “optimize” too much.

5. SWOT Matrix (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)

Great for strategic decisions — especially when you need to weigh internal and external factors.

Strengths	Weaknesses
Higher salary	Far from family
More responsibilities	Unfamiliar culture

Opportunities	Threats
Expand your network	Risk of burnout
Learn something new	Cost of living

Once it’s visual, the decision becomes less abstract and more grounded.

6. Eisenhower Matrix (Urgent vs Important)

This tool helps you prioritize by distinguishing between urgency and importance.

	Urgent	Not Urgent
Important	Do First	Schedule It
Not Important	Delegate	Eliminate

Ask yourself:

Is this truly important, or just demanding attention?

Use this to cut through noise and focus on decisions that actually move the needle.

✨ Final Thoughts

Better decisions don’t come from knowing everything — they come from slowing down, tuning in, and having a few tools in your back pocket. Over time, decision-making becomes less about stress and more about trust — in your values, your thinking, and your ability to adapt.

What’s one decision you’ve made recently that taught you something?

I Plan My Days Like This — And It Keeps Me 10x More Focused (and Balanced)

When you’re balancing work, studies, leadership roles, and personal growth, managing your time well becomes essential. Over the years, I’ve tried different productivity tools, but one simple habit has made the biggest difference: using my calendar intentionally. Whether it’s for work or personal life, my calendar has become a key tool for designing days that are balanced, productive, and meaningful.

Why I Rely on My Calendar

There are many calendar apps available — and honestly, which one you use matters less than how you use it. What matters most is building a system where your calendar reflects your priorities, protects your focus, and helps you navigate the week with clarity.

For me, a good calendar setup is simple, accessible across all my devices, and flexible enough to adapt as my plans evolve. I don’t just use it for meetings — I use it as a framework for my entire day.

How I Organize My Calendar

One of the biggest changes I made was introducing a priority-based system. Instead of organizing by life areas like “work” or “personal,” I categorize events based on how important or time-sensitive they are.

Here’s a simple breakdown of how I use color-coding:

High Priority (critical meetings, deadlines, must-do activities, school classes, social time)
Low Priority (optional activities, flexible events, things that can be rescheduled if needed)
Tasks (work tasks, project steps, study assignments that I schedule time to complete)
Personal Well-Being (exercise, lunch, rest, self-care, planning)

Each evening, I take a few minutes to review my calendar for the next day. During this review, I timeblock dedicated spaces for productive focus time — those important windows where I can work on tasks without interruptions. This habit ensures that my most important work has protected space, rather than getting squeezed between meetings and distractions.

I also rely on recurring events to create structure: team meetings, classes, exercise sessions, and deep work blocks are already scheduled. This reduces decision fatigue and brings stability to my schedule.

Key Practices That Keep Me on Track

Time Blocking: I reserve specific blocks of time for meetings, deep work, learning, and personal activities — and adjust them each evening based on my priorities.
Buffer Time: I always leave small gaps between meetings and tasks to reset and prepare calmly for the next activity.
Three Meetings Rule: I try to limit myself to no more than three meetings a day to protect my focus and energy. Of course, this isn’t always possible — I’ve had seasons where I’ve sat through 35 meetings in a week. But I’ve learned that when I stick to just three, I end the day feeling more productive, balanced, and in control of my time.
Reminders and Alerts: I set up reminders not just for meetings, but for important work sessions too, helping me transition without feeling rushed.

Tips for Making Any Calendar Work for You

Update your calendar daily — treat it as a living document, not a static one.
Review your calendar the night before and timeblock focused work periods.
Schedule personal priorities alongside professional ones — both matter equally.
Leave open spaces — creativity and reflection need room too.
Stay flexible — plans change, and your calendar should be able to change with you.

Final Thoughts

Using my calendar intentionally has transformed the way I live and work. It’s not about filling every moment or working nonstop — it’s about giving the things that matter most the time and space they deserve.

Whatever calendar app you use, the real magic happens when you stop seeing it as a tool for appointments, and start using it as a tool for designing a better, more meaningful day.

It’s Not About the Answers — It’s About the Questions

Learning has always felt like an old friend to me — a companion that has walked beside me through every stage of my life. From the time I opened my dad’s books and realized that entire worlds lived inside its pages, to the many times I’ve sat in classrooms, webinars, coffee shops, or simply by myself with a notebook, chasing a new idea — learning has been one of the purest sources of joy, curiosity, and growth for me.

In a world that moves faster than ever, where knowledge doubles and industries transform seemingly overnight, the ability to learn is no longer just a nice-to-have. It’s essential. But beyond necessity, I believe learning is what keeps us vibrant, humble, and connected to the vastness of life. It’s the art of becoming — again and again.

In this post, I want to share a little bit about where my love for learning comes from, how my understanding of learning has evolved, and a few strategies that have helped me become a better learner over time. Whether you consider yourself a lifelong student or are simply looking to reconnect with your curiosity, I hope you’ll find something here that inspires you to embrace learning in your own way.

Where My Love for Learning Comes From

My love of learning comes from my parents. My dad loves reading, and my mom loves schools—it’s probably the most beautiful gift they could have given me. Growing up surrounded by books, curiosity, and encouragement made learning feel less like a task and more like an exciting part of life.

Through my academic journey, I’ve had the chance to develop solid learning skills. I graduated at the top of my class in high school and earned an Excellence Award at university for maintaining grades above 95 (out of 100). But beyond the grades, what stayed with me was a deep belief: learning is something natural. I trust our brain’s and body’s innate abilities—just as our body knows how to move, our brain knows how to learn. The key is consistency. Small daily steps, in both movement and learning, lead to steady and lasting growth.

I still remember walking around our living room with a stack of index cards, studying for exams. Pacing back and forth, reading the concepts aloud to myself, I could almost feel the ideas settling in deeper with every step. I also loved studying at the school library — it became one of my favorite places. I would find a quiet corner, put on my earphones, listen to music, and dive into my notes. Surrounded by the soft rustle of pages and the quiet hum of concentration, learning felt peaceful, almost like entering a world of my own.

At home, my mom was always by my side in her own way. She would never go to bed until I had finished studying or doing my homework. No matter how late it was, she stayed awake, sometimes offering me food, tea or tomato juice, quietly encouraging me without ever rushing me. Her silent support made those long nights feel less lonely and reminded me that I wasn’t on this journey alone.

Those small, focused moments, repeated over time, built not just knowledge but a deep sense of trust in the learning process — and a deep gratitude for the people who believed in me.

My Learning Methods

Over time, I’ve developed a simple and effective approach to learning that has supported me through school, work, and personal projects:

Mind Maps: I discovered mind maps in high school when one of our teachers would draw them on the whiteboard. Since then, they’ve become one of my favorite tools for breaking down new topics, organizing ideas, and planning complex work projects. Today, I use digital tools like Freemind, Freeplane, and MindNode (for Mac) to create mind maps more efficiently and keep them organized across different areas of my life.
Index Cards: I also love index cards. Whenever I learn something new, I summarize the concepts on cards—sometimes even drawing mini mind maps on them! Reviewing my cards became a habit, often while walking around or during short breaks. Nowadays, I also use Anki, a digital flashcard app that uses spaced repetition, reviewing information at carefully timed intervals. I’ve learned that spaced repetition helps knowledge settle more naturally into long-term memory compared to cramming everything at once.
Reading: Whenever I want to dive deep into a new topic, I find the three most relevant books and read them back to back. This method helps me grasp the essential ideas and see different perspectives without getting overwhelmed by too much information at once.
Notetaking: I’m a big fan of building a personal knowledge system. I enjoy using apps like Notion and Obsidian to organize my notes, capture insights from books, and track my learning progress. Having a digital space to connect ideas has made my learning deeper and more flexible over time.
Self-Explanation: Another technique that has helped me is explaining concepts out loud to myself, as if I were teaching them to someone else. If I can explain an idea clearly and simply, I know I truly understand it. It’s a small habit, but it has made a big difference in how deeply I learn.

A Lesson from Cambridge: The Power of Questions

A few years ago, I had the chance to meet Ali Abdaal in Cambridge. What surprised me the most wasn’t just his knowledge or accomplishments — it was the sheer amount of questions he asked. His curiosity was almost endless.

At that moment, something clicked for me: learning and intelligence aren’t about the answers we give, but about the questions we dare to ask ourselves.

School often emphasizes having the right replies, but true learning, the kind that stays with us and transforms us, begins with asking better and deeper questions.

Since then, I’ve tried to focus less on having immediate answers and more on nurturing thoughtful questions — trusting that the answers will come in their own time.

One practice that has helped me is elaborative questioning: asking myself “Why does this work this way?”, “What happens if I change this?”, or “How is this connected to what I already know?” Turning learning into a conversation with myself makes it richer and more memorable.

Learning Isn’t Always Easy

Learning is deeply rewarding, but it’s not always easy. There are days when the concepts seem confusing, the motivation feels low, or progress appears invisible. Over the years, I’ve realized these moments are not signs of failure — they are natural milestones. Learning is rarely a straight path; it’s full of little frustrations and moments of doubt.

But if we trust the process and stay consistent, these small efforts compound into something meaningful and lasting.

Micro-Tips for Better Learning

Here are a few simple strategies that have helped me along the way:

Start with questions. Curiosity lights the path far better than pressure.
Break it down. Small, manageable chunks make big goals feel less overwhelming.
Teach what you learn. Explaining it to someone else deepens your understanding.
Review regularly. A few minutes a week to revisit your notes can make a big difference.
Allow imperfection. Mastery grows through mistakes and revision, not instant perfection.

An Invitation to Curiosity

Learning, for me, has never been about rushing. It’s about building a relationship with curiosity, one small step at a time.

It’s about trusting that even on the days when progress feels invisible, growth is quietly happening underneath.

Wherever you are in your own learning journey, I invite you to nurture that spark of curiosity within you. Pick up a book. Ask a question. Make a mind map. Summarize what you just learned.

Because every small step you take adds to the lifelong adventure of becoming more of who you are meant to be.