💡This story was written atomically - one bullet, one day at a time, originally shared on Twitter. This is the weekly compilation of those Tweets, documenting the raw process of leaving a life behind and building something better.

an idea is like a Virus

An idea is like a virus. Resilient. Highly contagious. The smallest seed of an idea can grow. It can grow to define or destroy you - Inception

• I start the story by walking you through my initial attempts to build better habits, which in turn I hoped would improve my life and eliminate all that I was struggling with.
• The realization is jarring. The realization that you’re living in a loop.The same thoughts, the same routines, the same cheap dopamine escapes. Occasionally, you're interrupted by moments of inspiration - a reminder of who you could've been had things been diff.
• The ideas in your mind take shape. You will wake up at 5am every day to work outYou’re done letting those business ideas sit idle in a saved folder - they're ready for executionNo more wasted time doomscrolling bingeing series,  diving down YouTube rabbit holes
• By 11 am that day, your academic progress has stalled. Your mind has become a crucible of new ideas & your heart is full of ambition, finally breaking free from the stagnation you've wallowed in for far too long
• The inspiration pushes you to think bigger.Why even bother relaxing? You realize every minute counts. Time not spent studying will be invested in ambitious endeavours.Hell, if you studied more efficiently, learned faster, wasted less time on long unfocused...
• study sessions, you could gain back time. you’d win back years of your life. The idea is electric; you can’t contain your excitement.You reach for that saved folder on Instagram aptly named "Productivity & Self-improvement", desperate to find a starting point, a blue print..
• ...anything to channel this energy and start off with a bang. You can FEEL your new life just around the corner.You open the Insta with surgical intent: straight to the saved folder, get the blueprint, get out.But the algorithm knows all your weaknesses. A Golden Retriever...
• ...appears on the screen: "Top 5 Golden Retriever". You're curious. "Just one video," you promise yourself. There's no way one video can derail your great quest. You click. You laugh. You share - passing it to your loyal friend who's always supplying laughter.
• But that one share opens the floodgates. You check your DMs: your friend has dropped a literal goldmine of 10 reels. Can't leave him on read - you click & the algorithm reels you in. What was the original mission? Never mind - thats a problem for Le Future You.
• Three hours of scrolling later, you finally blink. The dopamine fog starts to clear, leaving behind a hollow, jittery exhaustion. You breathe, steadying yourself. As your ears tune back into Robart Common's 3rd floor chatter, the weight of your ambitious mission settles upon you
• This shit isn't going to be easy. That surge of motivation from three hours ago made it look so achievable, like your life was a movie for a brief moment. But this journey you’re embarking on? It’s not just a long and winding trek…
• ...full of friction that forces you out of your comfort zone. It’s a war against your own subconscious, a mind that’s laid traps to derail the mission at the first sign of struggle. And that’s just the internal battle. Then there’s the external noise: midterms looming…
• never-ending assignments, technical interview prep, coffee chats - the list goes on. Surviving UofT is a high-stakes game, and failure isn't an option; your position was earned through sacrifices too great to squander. Your hands are shackled by a strict mandate: Achieve.
• The overwhelm reaches its crescendo. And just as quickly as the flash of the jarring realization, you give up.

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