A birthday, a run, and one less app

Hi {{ first_name | friend }},

It's November 1, and I wanted to send a short note before the month gets away from me.

October was my birthday month. I turned 33 on the 13th.

I wrote a longer reflection on LinkedIn that day, but one thought has stayed with me: from the outside, this year looks quite good. I finished my master's degree, ran my first half marathon in Germany, and watched my daughters settle into their routines here.

But day to day, we're still figuring a lot of things out. Some weeks feel like progress. Others feel like we're just keeping up.

I think that's normal. Or at least it's where I am right now.

One thing I managed to do in October was run almost every week. Not a huge achievement on its own, but it matters to me because running is easy to put off when work and everything else get busy.

Today, while the Istanbul Marathon was taking place, I went out for a 14.44 km run here in Germany.

I ran the Istanbul Marathon myself in 2024, and I missed being there this year. But I wanted today's run to mean something beyond another number on my watch.

So I started a fundraising campaign through Adım Adım for Hayat Sende Gençlik Akademisi Derneği, which supports young people who grew up in state care.

My goal is to raise 48,000 TL, enough to contribute to a full year's scholarships for two university students.

Support my fundraising campaign

And if donating isn't possible, sharing it with someone who might be interested would help too.

I'm currently listening to Deep Work by Cal Newport, and it's making me notice how often I confuse being busy with doing meaningful work.

A while ago, I deleted several social media apps from my phone. I kept LinkedIn because I use it for work and writing.

But I was opening it far more often than I needed to, checking posts, messages and notifications, then wondering where my time went.

So I deleted the LinkedIn app too. I can still use it on my computer when I have a reason to.

Meanwhile, I'm still reading the physical copy of Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson that I mentioned in July. I haven't finished it yet. I'm hoping to this week.

That's another reminder that buying a paper book doesn't automatically make you a focused reader. You still have to sit down and read it.

And that brings me back to this newsletter.

I've said before that I'd publish every week, or even every day, and then life happened.

I'm not making another promise about the schedule. I'd simply like to write here more often, keep the emails shorter, and share what I'm actually doing and learning.

For now, here's the first note of November.

Selim

Lets connect; https://www.linkedin.com/in/selimuysal/

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