Hi friends,

 

My mind is cloudy today with to-do lists and fears that the baby may decide to show up earlier than I expect before I finish getting what I need and decluttering some areas of the house (currently at week 38 of pregnancy (middle of the 9th month) and my previous pregnancies lasted to week 41 which I’m kind of counting on this time, too). It’s those hormones that are flooding my body and I keep flushing through sleeping and a little bit of journaling. I feel discouraged to talk. WhatsApp replies feel heavy even on my birthday, which I celebrated 2 days ago.

 

On my birthday, I finally completed a major task: taking a family portrait to mark the end of the “Family of Four” era. When I told my son, “We will not be four anymore,” he creatively added, “Five will arrive.” 

 

This week, my wiser self tells me to:

 

In my last podcast episode of the season which was published last Monday, my dear friend and accountability partner, Rania Khoury, interviewed me, and I shared all my worries and hopes about the upcoming chapter of my life. I hope you will give it a listen and tell me what you think. 

Snapshot from my week: My Birthday Celebration 

after the mini photoshoot.

 

Here is your weekly dose of The Sunday Spark ⚡️ a newsletter listing 3 sparks that I thought were worth starting your week with: 

 

1. 💡I love to learn about the art of influence and communication that works; here's how to get an enthusiastic yes from Wes Kao, whose LinkedIn is a must-follow.

 

2. 📙 The best book I recently read about the art of persuasion was Influence is Your Superpower by Zoe Chance. It teaches you about saying no, asking for more, and negotiating better, among other things, with many engaging, fresh, entertaining stories. I also enjoyed every minute of this podcast interview about her book. This line on her website resonated: "For the good influencers of today and tomorrow, the secret lies in understanding we cannot change people's minds. But we can influence their behavior when we learn how the mind works."

 

3. 💬 This book taught me a lot about charisma and public speaking; here is a quote that stuck with me:

 

“Full-body pauses—moments when you’re not walking, fidgeting, or making any dramatic hand movements, but you are breathing easily, your hands comfortably by your side—are especially helpful. Not just during your presentation but also before and after. This key to charisma is so simple that almost no one teaches or practices it, yet it works for speakers and performers of all kinds.”

 

-Zoe Chance, Influence Is Your Superpower

 

( Readwise helped me find this quote. It is my favorite app to recall favorite passages in books and articles I read and now they have a new product, Reader, which will make you forget about all the other read-it-later apps)

 

 

 

 

 

See you next Sunday First name / my dear friend

 

* Note: To the best of my ability, I am trying to share content by authors who have not disappointed me, and they are hard to come by! Please let me know if any author I share about was disrespectful to Palestine.