Table of Contents

1. Preface

2. Main Article

3. Readers’ Favorite

4. Stuff

Preface

Wow.

🥂 🎈 Issue number 50! Five Zero!

It's been a whole year since I started writing this.

🏃 This year has been intense for various reasons, with our move to Boston and my fellowship being the main contributors.

Summarizing this year in a short preface is like fitting an elephant 🐘 into a suitcase 🧳, so let's save that for a future newsletter.

This week, I noticed how minimalist my lifestyle has become, and how isolated you can feel during a fellowship when your family is not around (dear wife and kids are back home for the summer 🙋🏼‍♀️👦🏼👦🏻👶🏼).

My kitchen table is the perfect representation of my current life. Since no one else is home but me, I have no reason to keep it clear.

So, it now houses a dissection microscope 🔬 for practicing my micro-surgery skills 🪡, a microphone for my podcast 🎙️, and my brand new Keychron K2 Pro keyboard ⌨️ that I got from my sisters for my birthday.

I buy my dinner at the supermarket on my way home, so every day, I use a single fork 🍴 and a single cup 🥛. When I'm done eating, I open up my laptop, prepare for surgeries, do some scientific reading, and watch some YouTube videos (usually on tech stuff).

I then practice some microsurgery 🪡, and if I have time, I record a podcast 🎙️.

After that, I go to bed 😴.

That's pretty much what my "free" evenings look like 🙄. Twice a week, I get home late (around midnight) and go straight to bed.

When my family is here, I usually do all my studying and reading during my "third-spaced" time, which I wrote about here.

So this is what my days look like as a "home alone Shay."

Could I have done it for longer? Yes. Would I have enjoyed it? No.

Devoting your time to a fellowship away from home, without your family around or time for socializing, will take its toll. Something to think about if you're considering moving to another country.

OK!

That turned out longer than I expected. Just random thoughts I brought to paper while riding the train 🚋🤔.

Let's get back to our 50th celebration.

Enjoy!

Main Article

Today’s newsletter will be a long one! Feel free to use the titles to navigate to what interests you most. You can also listen to me reading it on my podcast (links at the top) 🎤.

Storytime!

📅 It's Saturday, August 2022.

🇺🇸 I've been a fellow for a month and in Boston for about two months.

My dear wife and kids are still back home in Israel 🤰👦🏼👦🏻, and it seems I've finally finished cleaning up the Boston apartment, scrubbing out all the dirt, and tackling the (enormous pile of) paperwork that comes with moving to the US.

I'm sleeping around 4 hours a night 🥱, juggling my studies for both my fellowship and the USMLE (American MD board exams).

And I'm exhausted.

So I took a break and watched a YouTube video by Ali Abdaal about writing a newsletter. And then I thought to myself:

"Hmmm, that's an interesting challenge. Why not start a newsletter of my own?"

I've learned so much the hard way over the years, and I'd like to share it with the world. Well, at least with a tiny slice of the world that will subscribe 😃.

What will it be about? No idea.

How will I bring it to people's attention? I have no clue.

Initially, I thought I would wait a month before starting to write it because the USMLE was still hogging my time.

🤔 And then I thought, "Why not just start it and see what happens?”

So I went for it. 💪

My first subscribers were close family and friends.

After writing the first issues, I reached out to more and more friends and invited them to subscribe. Most did, some didn't.

🧗🏼‍♀️As time went on, I gained more subscribers, and I became more confident in the value I was providing every week.

But it's hard work. VERY HARD WORK. 🥵

Which brings us back to the present.

Today, I'd like to share what I've learned over the last year.

Here they are, divided into 9 lessons:

🔵 1. Be Transparent (and Vulnerable)

I don't have stage fright. 🎭

I was very shy as a child. But since I became a teacher as a teenager, that shyness completely went away.

I have no problem standing in front of hundreds or even thousands of people and delivering a lecture. I thrive on it.

But writing a newsletter and sharing my experiences with the world? 😱That's a whole different ball game.

Sure, I'm gaining subscribers and receiving heartwarming emails about how my writing has helped others.

But as with everything in life, there's always a downside.

Which brings us to number 2.

🔵 2. Deal with Failures

🛜Social media posts that don't get attention, 🗞️newsletters that fall flat, 😡people who perceive your newsletter negatively. These are all things you need to accept if you start a newsletter.

However, these challenges contribute immensely to your skillset and character. And the vast majority of the “newsletter experience” is extremely positive and fulfilling.

🔵 3. Reach an Unexpected Audience

Putting yourself out there helps you reach people you never thought you would. And when you meet in person with your readers, you immediately have so much in common to talk about.

It ranges from the pen we both use to the "how to read 1000 manuscripts a year in 22 minutes a day," which is nothing short of a best-seller of mine 😃.

🔵 4. Be Consistent

ALL the writers of successful newsletters emphasize one thing: "Stay consistent and publish. Don't skip, don't stop. Just keep going." 🚴

So I'm staying true to that mantra and publish every Friday.

🔵 5. Feel Like a Salesperson

Let me start by saying that I don't make any money from this newsletter and have no financial incentive to write it.

However, when people subscribe to my newsletter, they pay me with their time and attention.

During the Covid-19 lockdown 🦠😷, people had more time. But shortly after, we're back to the same crazy pace, and time is once again a precious commodity.

My incentive is clear - to reach an audience who can benefit from my experience and use it for their own good.

But putting your newsletter out there and trying to reach an audience requires you to "sell" it 🪙. Some writers may enjoy this part, but I'm not one of them.

For example, I considered asking my readers to refer friends and family to subscribe. According to every basic marketing strategy, this is exactly what I'm supposed to do.

But it's just not me.

It may change in the future...

🔵 6. Jump into the Deep Water of Social Media

That was one of the more challenging aspects of entering the newsletter world. Simply emailing it to my subscribers wouldn't bring it to the attention of other audiences.

I've had a Twitter account since 2018 that I only used for science. Very professional, very strict.

But for the sake of the newsletter, I had to do more.

So I opened a LinkedIn account and started posting about my newsletter on LinkedIn and Twitter. That was a rough transition.

In the beginning, I got very few responses and likes. The result was brutal - if people don't click on a post in their feed, it won't be presented to others. It's called "impressions."

So if your "impressions" number is low, it means that the few people who saw your post didn't find it interesting, and that's like a death sentence to your post.

📚 So, I learned how to write social media posts.

I'm definitely in a better place now, but it's still no less than a battle. 🤺

I also decided to post about my newsletter on LinkedIn and leave Twitter for science-related posts.

🔵 7. Invest Time (3 to 20 hours a week)

🕰️ In the beginning, writing this newsletter took me about 8-10 hours every week. I wrote it while riding the train to work 🚃, while walking from the operating room to the clinic 🚶🏻‍♀️, and even while walking up the stairs. 🪜

In the first few months, I dealt with newsletters being erased, the newsletter site (Revue) shutting down, migrating my newsletter to other services, and maintenance of my website. That was tough.

😳I even got up at 4:00 am during our family vacation to write it before my dear wife and kids woke up.

But publishing consistently is vital when you write a newsletter.

Come rain or shine, I publish.

Nowadays, it takes me much less time. Around 3-4 hours a week.

Mainly because it's become easier for me to write, and I've established a very efficient system to publish it.

🔵 8. Improve my Writing Skills

✍️That's a huge advantage. And it's one of the things that keep me going.

Even if I don't accomplish anything else, I'll surely write better because of this newsletter, and in English (which isn't my native language).

🔵 9. Broaden into Email Courses, YouTube, and Podcast

People who read newsletters don't necessarily watch YouTube 🎬 or listen to Podcasts 🎙️, and vice versa. Some read my newsletter every single week but prefer not to subscribe.

It's my job to adapt and diversify my offerings.

That's why I experimented with an audio version of my newsletter, using AI to read it aloud.

But then I realized that I didn't like it 👎.

People should hear my own voice, not a computer's. So I started a Podcast (you can check it out here).

🤔Some of my guides are perfect for YouTube videos. So I started my YouTube channel, and had to teach myself how to film and speak to a camera.

And for those who want to receive a guide every single day for a week, I prepared email courses in 5 different subjects (you can check them out here).

How much time does all this take?

• 6-10 hours for a YouTube video.

• 20-40 minutes for a podcast.

• 2 hours to edit an email course.

The fun parts?

1. Challenging myself by trying new things. I need to have diverse activities and hobbies - it helps me focus better. That's just how I am 😃.

2. Investing in gadgets for filming and recording the podcast. Got to love these gadgets!

These were my 9 lessons.

How long will I keep going writing this newsletter?

It remains to be seen 😉.

Readers’ Favorite

One of the top questions I'm often asked is, "How do you manage to find time for everything you do?" Well, the secret's out!

Click here to find out in: Friday's Digest #42 - How I Find Time for Everything I Do.

It's not magic, just a sprinkle of time management!

Stuff

Here's the gear I use for my YouTube videos and Podcast:

📱 iPhone 12 Mini - I use it as my main camera. Sure, I have high-end professional cameras for my surgical work, but when it comes to video filming, I like to keep things simple and not waste time setting them up.

👨‍💻 MacBook M2 Pro 14 inch - I use this to capture and share my screen in my video tutorials, with my iPhone wirelessly connected as my camera.

🎙️ Blue Yeti microphone - This is my go-to for both YouTube and my Podcast. For YouTube, I hang it above me, and for my podcast, I place it on the table in front of me.

🎧 Sony MDR7506 studio headphones - These help me monitor my voice while recording and improve the sound while editing. They produce a flat sound, which is essential when aiming for high-quality results.

🥅 Microphone pop filter - To make those "p" and "b" sounds less plosive, and "s" less hissy.

🎬 Final Cut Pro - My tool of choice for editing my videos.

🎵 Audacity - My app for editing my podcast.

🦾 Microphone arm - To hang the microphone above me while filming videos, keeping it out of the frame.

🔼 Tripod - To mount my iPhone, which doubles as a camera.

And here's how I write and publish the newsletter:

I write in Notion.

Then I copy-paste it into ConvertKit, my primary email publishing tool.

Next, I copy-paste it into Medium and Substack, where I have no subscribers. I prefer to keep all my subscribers on a single platform, which is ConvertKit.

Why the extra step? If something happens to ConvertKit, I can migrate to a different service in 5 minutes, and my subscribers won't notice a change. It took me about 40 hours to establish this safety net, but hey, better safe than sorry!

Finally, I copy-paste my newsletter onto my website.

This way, every newsletter is published on 4 different platforms and saved on my Notion.

The advantages? Redundancy, easy migration, and better exposure on search engines.

Epilogue

That’s it for this issue.

If you enjoyed this issue and haven’t subscribed yet, you can do so by clicking below.

Subscribing is free, and it will be sent to your email every Friday.

Have a great weekend!

Shay