The Innovation Club | January/February Newsletter 🗞️

We’re back!

Grit, Grind, and Gratitude

Recently, I started an internship at The Knowledge Society as a social media marketing intern. A video I recently made was of The 3 Gs - Grit, Grind, and Gratitude. Here’s how TKS students demonstrate The 3 Gs:

Grit: TKS students demonstrate Grit by persisting through the learning process of learning about emerging technologies like blockchain, AI, and quantum. TKS students challenge the status quo and are disrupting various industries.

Grind: I think grind is just a consistent commitment to personal growth. Whether that’s waking up at 5AM for a morning jog, spending countless hours consulting for billion dollar companies, or developing frameworks for solving some of the biggest problems of the world.

Gratitude: TKS taught me that happiness can be potently achieved through active reflection/gratitude. To do this, I make sure to express gratitude for at least 5 random events at the end of each day. Gratitude also refers to the mental models and philosophy that is taught at TKS. TKS students recognize the importance of learning mindsets like anti-fragility, boss mentality, and stoicism. One of my favourite mindsets is unconventional thinking.

Over the next couple of months I’m going to be focused on increasing TKS’s presence on TikTok.

Check out the full vid here:

@tksworldhq

TKS is a 10-month global innovation program for ambitious high school students ages 13-17. Click the link in bio to learn more. #theknowle... See more

Discomfort Challenge: Dancing in a Theatre

Discomfort challenges train your brain for an optimal performance in challenging situations. Sooo… I decided to dance in a theatre.

Ontario DECA Provincials

Key Takeaways:

My event was EIP (Entrepreneurship Innovation Plan) and I pitched Mortgage AI. I scored 90 points out of 100. I was a few points short from qualifying for ICDC (international competition in California). Here’s where I can improve for next time: Get straight to the point. Get rid of the “fluff” and simply present details related to your plan (target market, solution, UVP, etc).

Teenage Lessons

“Work commences at 3:45. It's time to align the thoughts, enter the zone, and embrace the mindset required for the tasks ahead."

Basically don’t linger after coming home from school. What I like to do is start my school work exactly 1 hour and 15 mins after school ends. This gives me time to get home from school, change, eat, and spend 15-20 minutes getting in the right mindset for the work required. Specifically, I consume content pertaining my work in order to remember why I’m actually doing what I’m doing.

"Completion of blocks should follow only after a section that propels you forward has been thoroughly completed."

Basically, don’t take a break until you have finished a “major portion of your work for a day.” It’s up to you to decide what a “major portion” is.

“When things start to get easy work harder for you are experiencing the calm before the storm.”

I noticed a pattern in my life, especially with school. Basically there would be these “waves.” Certain days would be intensively packed with coursework and certain days would be free. But I learned something. If you don’t work during the “free days” in order to get ahead it’s gonna be much harder for an optimal performance during the "tough waves.”

“Be minimalist.”

For the longest time I was trying to find this dope Notion template with a bunch of micro features for planning the week, the day, etc. However, eventually things just got clunky and messy. So I decided it would be best to use an extremely minimalist template for ensuring I hit my daily goals and habits. Shoutout to Ian for the template.

“Don’t fight the stress, embrace it.”

A lot of times I found myself complaining over high-pressure situations. However, I learned that without stress/pressure we wouldn’t be able to perform at a higher level. And so when I was feeling stressed I would simply figure out what I need to do. This kinda reminds me of what Jeff Bezos said. “Stress comes from ignoring things that you shouldn’t be ignoring.”

Beneficial Reads

This past month I’ve been BINGING a bunch of newsletters. It’s the most refreshing way to start the day. A warm cup of coffee or chai with my iPad, reading about what’s up with the tech space.

Here are some newsletters you MUST sign up for:

The Hustle

5 Tweet Tuesday

Bay Area Times

Sign up using this link: https://www.bayareatimes.com/subscribe?ref=mhaiUZHFcM

Opportunities

World Summit AI

World Summit AI showcases the world’s brightest AI brains on stage with innovative, cutting-edge, topical content, tackling the most burning AI issues right now.

P.S. I know a bunch of TKS peeps who went to the conference last year and they’ve had some great things to say.

Ai4

Another dope conference centred around AI. Dope conference, but the best part: It’s in Vegas 👀.

I hope you enjoyed today’s newsletter. Until next time in April. Would love to hear your thoughts. Shoot me a message on X or LinkedIn.