This year I’ve decided to be a savage.
I’m talking about the really hard stuff.
- Sleeping 8 hours
- Being happy
- Blank space & MARGIN
- Time to be human, to think, the breath
- No rushing when I wake up, just reading
This is a difficult way to live.
Why?
Because from everyone and everywhere we see signs of the opposite. Mirror neurons & mimetic desire drives us to model what we see even if we do not like it.
Let’s be honest about something: intensity is a REQUIREMENT. This isn’t optional. You cannot win championships without being crazy. And there are only two ways to be crazy:
- Be so good people think you’re crazy
- Be so bad people think you’re crazy
The middle has no advantages.
Zero.
The advantages accrue at the very TOP. And if you fall to the very bottom the government will subsidize you. The middle is where you don’t want to be. But intensity requires recovery. And humans as a species don’t do recovery very well.
Energy is simply the capacity to do work. Our most fundamental need as human beings is to spend and recover energy.
Tony Schwartz
To spend and recover energy.
If energy is the capacity to do work, and we fail to recover well, here is how you know if you’re in need of recovery:
You find it increasingly difficult to do the work you used to do without problem.
No, there is nothing wrong with you.
No, it’s probably not the economy’s fault.
No, you do not need to change careers right now or recreate your entire life & business.
More than likely, you need some sleep and a good weekend away.
The hard thing is the right thing, because mostly nobody does it. You go against the grain when you slow down. It is extremely counter-cultural.
Recover well.
-T