👋 hey, it’s aayush…
Already the end of January, huh. Resisting the urge to say “time flies“ is a lot harder than it seems. To be honest, a lot happened this month. I finished my second AI project and started my third, all while realizing that Artificial Intelligence may not be the path for me. I also got experience working on a Harvard Business Case, shifting my focus to strategical consulting and business. However, before getting into all of that, I want to use this newsletter for the purpose that I have it set up for - to get a look into what I’m doing, but also what my life looks like, inside and out, struggles, and all.
😔 self-confidence.
My struggle with self-confidence has been one spanning multiple years. The purpose of this isn’t to impose a trauma dump, but moreso to portray the mindset of a regular teenager questioning what self-confidence truly is. To me, self-confidence was something achieved through external validation and conventional attractiveness. Sometimes, this meant cutting my hair to fit social media standards, or losing pounds of weight because how could a chubby guy ever be attractive? Sometimes, it was attempting to have academic validation because if you can’t be hot, you might as well be smart, right?
Self-confidence, or lack thereof, looks incredibly different depending on the person. That being said, the one thing that I believe is universally agreed upon is that confidence is on a spectrum and comes and goes on a daily basis. One day, you’re listening to hype music, dressed up, and feel like you’re ready to take on the world. The next day, you can’t even leave the house because you can’t even bear the thought of other people seeing you. The biggest thing that I’ve realized this month was that the “self-confidence“ that I used to have wasn’t really self-confidence. I got a lot of DMs about my October newsletter (check that out here if you haven’t already) praising my confidence. This “confidence” was really just a temporary emotion driven by validation and the constant attempt to fit conventional standards of either attractiveness or intelligence. The closer I got to achieving them, the more “confident“ I felt.
❓what is confidence?
This begs the question, what IS confidence? If confidence is something that changes depending on the way you look, is that really confidence? By that standard, conventionally attractive people SHOULD be confident. However, that’s not necessarily the case, lending itself to this idea that confidence isn’t something acquired from an external change, rather something that’s intrinsic, something resembling that of a mindset.
I was reading more on stoicism this month, an ideology that discusses a shift in our reaction to the things we can’t control. I don’t think that confidence is this arbitrary concept that we can’t control. In fact, I think a change in the way we react to our OWN confidence is the very thing that controls it.
📈 stock prediction with artificial intelligence.
Now onto what I actually did this month, I created a stock prediction algorithm using an artificial intelligence model that analyzes past data to predict future data. Unfortunately, this model didn’t necessarily display the results that I had initially hoped for. In fact, the algorithm wasn’t really good enough to be used as financial advice, defeating its entire purpose.
However, the algorithm actually did exactly what it was meant to do really well - use previous stock data to predict future data. Despite the algorithm working really well in its intended way, future stock data can’t actually be predicted through previous stock prices. Check out my article on why we can’t use AI algorithms to predict stock close prices and my video with an explanation of the AI model I used.
🫁 pneumonia classification update.
As introduced in my December newsletter, I also finished my project on pneumonia diagnostics through medical imaging with Convolutional Neural Networks and the ResNet architecture. If you don’t know what those words mean, check out my article and video explaining this project in detail.
😅 potential pivot from ai.
A somwhat scary realization I came to this month was that Artificial Intelligence may not be right for me. It’s a scary thing to base your life around this love and passion for something, just to realize it’s not necessarily what you were looking for, or it doesn’t provide the sense of gratification and fulfillment that you once expected it to provide. I don’t know what the future holds for me. That being said, I believe that we’re made to pivot and change. As human beings, we’re dynamic. Getting comfortable with the face that my interest are changing is definitely scary, but I honestly do believe that it’s necessary.
📚 harvard business case.
At The Knowledge Society (TKS), we were given a Harvard Business Case to analyze Starbucks expansion into the Chinese market and come to a strategic, evidence-based decision for next steps. This included recommendations on whether the Chinese market should be tapped into despite its declining economy, as well as different ways in which Starbucks can increase customer retention and factors of prestige, allowing it to keep its prices high. It was an incredible experience and introduction within both the business world, and the strategy-consulting industry.
The business aspect of this case really struck a chord with me. It’s a field that I’ve never been exposed to before and am planning to explore within the near future - stay tuned for an update next month!
🤯 wow, january was a crazy month…
A lot happened this month. Everytime I create a newsletter with this type of vulnerability as opposed to a list of the things I did this month, it’s definitely a massive jump! That being said, this month definitely had a massive impact in the trajectory of my life going into 2022. Get ready for an even crazier newsletter next month - got a LOT of things planned *sneak peak - it has to do with hackathons, and consulting for multi-billion dollar corporations!*
Enjoy the rest of your month, I’ll see you in February!