It’s like I told the twelve year old when she didn’t want to have her flu vaccination: “I won’t lie to you. It will hurt, but only a little. And just because it’s going to be a tiny bit painful, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have it.”

I look back and realise over the last four years, I have poured my heart and soul into my Medical degree. It may seem like some people to be a piece of paper I’m working towards but it’s been so much more for me, it has been an incredibly challenging personal journey. It’s been the catalyst that’s forced me to do things I never had to do before. I have slowly become more comfortable with things that previously filled me with fear. I am not the same person I was when I started. When I went into this degree, I was timid and didn’t know how to talk to people. I would get so nervous over the things I said that I would often just not talk at all at large group outings.

When I started Medicine, I decided that this shyness couldn’t go on, so I kept putting myself in those situations where I felt so uncomfortable because I wanted to figure it out. I went to parties that my gut told me not to go to. I observed other people, how they did it. I tried different techniques myself and made mistakes. I read books on how to approach and talk to people. I practised and practised some more, even though on some days, I felt so overwhelmed and anxious I had to leave in the middle of a social event and go to a safe place to recuperate.

Let’s zoom forward to one month ago: I was at a medical conference, alone, happily chatting to strangers I had never met. I felt no fear or anxiety. One person I met there even described me as “very social” and “independent“. I could not believe it, it was so far different to who I was five, ten years ago.  A situation that initially filled me with overwhelming fear I could now tackle with some confidence. All that discomfort had not been for nothing.

Your gut feeling tells you that uncomfortable is bad. The feeling of discomfort is unsettling but can just be a sign that you’re doing something out of the norm; just something you’re not used to. New things are always uncomfortable to start with. If you stay in your comfort zone, it’s familiar, it’s safe, it’s comforting, you know what to expect. New is dangerous and uncertain, and when you try something new often you will make mistakes but if you figure out where you went wrong each time, you try again and will do better each time.

Here’s what I remind myself; if you always stay in your comfort zone, you’ll never try anything new. Whether it’s social skills, academic or creative pursuits, the principle is the same across all things. If you want to stick with what’s comfortable, I don’t blame you. It’s much safer to do what you know and adjust your world around it.  However; if you want growth, expect some growing pains.

P.S.: I’ve umm-ed and ahh-ed about posting this because it makes me vulnerable. It is very personal and it’s also around the time I am sending out job applications. I worry that whatever I post might be making the wrong impression on possible future employers. However, this post proves that I am interested in being an effective communicator; it shows I have courage and I am interested in encouraging others to grow; it is an example of how I am flexible and will adapt to situations … and that’s surely the kind of person you would want to employ?

P.P.S.: BUB the majestical cat has nothing to do with this post but I wanted to break up the text with some visuals :) No watermarks on these because I think it ruins the wondrousness of BUB. Check out his facebook page too ;)

My birthday is coming up so I thought I’d use this Friday Favourites to share with you what I want for my birthday. Although they are so expensive that I really don’t expect anybody to buy them for me. Ah, photography, it isn’t a cheap hobby at all!

Nichole Van Lighting Workshop in a Box {$374} – I must confess that I am a bit of a workshop junkie. Once you welcome the idea of paying money to learn things, you realise it’s actually worth it to pay money for information that’s well taught, well explained and in a logical order. This workshop looks excellent, I am partway through a mini workshop with this lady and am loving her material and the way she presents things.

Lensbaby Edge 80 Optic {$300} + Composer Pro with Double Glass Optic {$280} – I am late to the lensbaby party. I purposely avoided buying one for a long time because I felt it was a novelty item I’d get sick of. I’m finding myself more and more intrigued by the lens effects, especially because I’m developing a better appreciation for fine art photography. I want to play around with the Edge 80 and see what opportunities it holds! It’s just unfortunate they don’t sell the Composer Pro on its own anymore.

An underwater camera {Budget: $300-400} – I’m still researching which underwater camera to get (any advice is welcome). I’m looking into the Nikon Coolpix and Panasonic Lumix underwater cameras.  I’ll get proper housing for my Canon 5dmkIII when I can afford it, if I’m still keen after trying out the point and shoots!

What photography products are you currently drooling over?

Tell me in the comments, I’d love to know!

A friend asked me yesterday; “How do you motivate yourself to study?” This got me thinking so today, I’m sharing some of my time management secrets and talking about the P monster.

Firstly, life is about priorities, there’s always time for the things you find most important, you MAKE time for it. I’ve learned that tasks are like water. Water spreads to fill the size of the container you pour it into and so do tasks. When you know you have to do things in a short amount of time, you get them done in a short amount of time. When you know you have 5 weeks with nothing to do but procrastinate on one essay, you take 5 weeks to get it done. When I have things going on like exercise schedules, photography work, social engagements, I find myself completing my work whenever I have time without procrastination because I know I have to get it done in less time.

Obviously, you also need some realistic estimations of how long it takes to do things, to avoid overloading yourself. Sometimes I do need to say “no” to things because I need time for things that are more important – and often, that is studying for a test or finishing an assignment that’s taken a little longer than expected rather than going to a party or doing a photo shoot.

Another tip: Don’t be too rigid about what you need to get done. I used to say to myself “well if I can’t finish this whole chapter in thirty minutes, I might as well put it off until I can do it all at once”. Now, I say “well, I have 5 minutes, I guess I can read a little” and then find myself getting engrossed in study and doing half an hour of work!  Be realistic about how much you can get done in one sitting. Just do a little bit each time and you’ll be surprised by how much you can get done.

Part of the problem with time management is the P monster: Procrastination. What is procrastination about, really? I think it’s often about feeling overwhelmed, and that negative feeling discourages you from persisting with the task, because it FEELS unpleasant. The irony of it all is that the more work you get done, the less overwhelming it becomes. As in many situations in life, the brain does not respond logically, but instead pushes you to a behaviour based on emotional instinct.

I wrote an essay on procrastination a few years ago for an option called “The Psychology of Healing”. I did my research for it, discovering journal articles and experiments on procrastination. I learned that the way to do battle with procrastination is to ignore your emotional response to the work you are avoiding and instead just start doing it! That has much greater implications; I’ve tried to apply that to all sorts of things in my life I find irrationally scary or negative, but that’s a whole other story.

I don’t wait for inspiration to strike. I don’t wait to be in the mood to get work done. I just sit down and do it, and even if I am not in the mood to start with, I find it much easier to keep going once I have started.

So none of this is earth shattering, but I’ll leave you with this quote from Marie Forleo:
“Losers wait for inspiration. Winners just get sh*t done”.

Do you have any tips for getting things done?
Share them in the comments, I’d love to hear from you :)

Originally, I called these “un-vietnamese” because I thought I had added non-traditional ingredients but a friend of mine assured me that you could put whatever you wanted into these spring rolls! From a quick google search, it looks like usually there’s lettuce and shrimp in them but here’s how we do it at home. It’s a little labour intensive to make these fresh packages of healthy joy but totally worth it!

Here’s the recipe (click to see it bigger):

Our challenge this month was to photograph a dish with herbs, so I chose one of the few things I can make from memory that includes two herbs: mint and coriander! My mother is obsessed with coriander so she was pretty happy when I suggested that we eat Vietnamese Spring rolls for lunch and bought several meal’s worth of coriander. I have to admit, she helped me prep the chicken, carrot and cucumber but then had to run some errands and I made the rolls so her lunch was ready by the time she arrived home :)

I decided to show a little respect for the herbs and pulled out my macro lens to capture some of the glorious fresh greenery, close up.

When putting it all together, it’s handy to have everything at arm’s reach!

Need help knowing how to roll them up? I found a great post about how to roll at White on Rice that has photos of each step!

Be sure to check out the extremely talented Jayme Franklin | San Francisco Food Photographer, next in our “Inspired Plate” food circle to see how she used herbs this month! As usual, I strongly advise you to follow the circle around ;)