What you think you want might not be what you really want. You just haven't taken it far enough!

You can only validate your beliefs in extremes

Any position, consideration, idea, or belief you hold will reveal its true worth only once you put it to the test.

How do I do that, you ask?

Take it to its extreme, and test it out at the edge.

Here's one great example:

I've been obsessed with searching for answers and identified myself as a truth seeker for as long as I recall.

Nagging existential questions always occupied my headspace. Now, not as much, but that's a different topic in itself.

Those tendencies have formed a fertile ground, a nexus point for these kinds of conversations.

I found myself engaging in, listening to, and recognizing a general pattern.

The sentiment of individuals of feeling stuck in a this or that chore often a job. The unfulfilling kind that leaves you robbed of joy in complete misalignment and inauthenticity.

That's the benefit of dwelling in corporate office spaces, the smokey break rooms, and the after-work "happy hour" lounges.

You get to experience the dread of the rat race from first-row seats!

But what struck me was that this pernicious feeling doesn't seem to bother everyone.

Or, some have adopted this as a part of the existential equation. You know, that's just how it is man, you're just too idealistic!

Did you ever look at two or more people receiving the same news and experiencing the same meeting but perceiving it as if it were in a separate universe altogether?

Almost as if each of us occupies a different reality?

Well, that's because we do. A subjective experience of apparently exact and universal "external reality".

Without much thought, you accept what we perceive at face value. This is especially true in groups (such as colleagues) where you quickly adopt the norm. Whatever everyone thinks about this must be true.

It's a common fallacy!

Getting back to our office space and the colleagues that accepted the soulless grind.

You start your Monday morning with the commute, get to the office and find your mates signaling the departure to the coffee break room.

A typical conversation at the proverbial water cooler (now possibly remote (via teams meeting)) follows:

B: Hey, how are you doing?

A: Man! I need a break.

A: If only I could buy a plane ticket and go someplace exotic. You know, the azure blue sky and green like gentle waves in a palm lush bay.

A: The recliner, my straw hat, a gentle breeze that tickles my hair, and a tall glass of my favorite cocktail.

B: Oh, wow, that sound awesome! So, how long would you stay there?

A: Ummm, what?

B: Yeah, how long?

A: I don't know, why do you ask?

B: Well, don't get me wrong, I would fucking sign up for that trip right now.

B: But I know myself.

B: I'd enjoy it for a day or two. And I'd get bored out of my mind staying on that beach getting hammered with cocktails.

B: A bad taste in my mouth the day after, a huge headache, and grogginess from all that alcohol sugar-laced beverage.

B: What I found is that wherever you go, you're always there.

B: You can't escape yourself. That's being completely disembodied, living in your head all the time.

B: You've got to take this desire one step further!

B: My question is, what then?

B: What do you do after you sit with yourself and relax from this grind?

B: What follows?

I know, this sounds terrible. Alone, with nothing and no one but yourself.

No immediate distraction and means of escape.

You're left with nothing but your thoughts.

That constant chatter in your head, telling you how fucked up you are.

That you should just get with the program. Like everyone else apparently is.

If they can accept the dread of wasting your life doing work you don't enjoy, why can't you?

Yeah.

It gets worst before it gets better.

You need to process all of the shit.

Because that's where you need to start. Your fears, your anxiety, your unexamined beliefs. Your self-worth.

Devoid of all external stimuli.

Sitting still.

You have nowhere better to go, do you?

It's not like you are in a hurry to get someplace else, is it?

That's the summer vacation you need.

If you want, you can still do it on a nice beachfront. Alone. With yourself.

If you feel like taking a 7-day "work vacation" to enhance your human experience and escape the dread of purposeless living, get your spot in my free reBootCamp cohort starting August 8th, NOW!