I’ve been overthinking. A lot. So here’s a blog, actually, more like a vent.

Throughout the journey of life, I find times where I feel like I’ve reached a dead end.

Looking back, however, these moments seem crucial and even necessary. From the outside perspective, people rarely notice. You’ll figure it out, they say.

But why has no one figured it out from the start?

I mean, can one know where their best work lies since coming into the world? How do you cut the crap, and do what you will do best?

Your goals may or may not align with mine, but here’s what we can agree on.

Wasting time sucks.

Wouldn’t it be nice to stop overthinking and reach a place where you are having the most fun, and also making your best work? To find someone who you can rely on for the rest of your life? To start a business that fits your values perfectly?

(don’t worry, this isn’t a sales pitch)

Let’s look for an answer.

If we start examining some of the world’s most legendary people, we see:

Steve Jobs went to search for a guru in India before launching Apple;

Buddha reached enlightenment only after leaving the ascetics;

Isaac Newton extensively studied theology, yet his most famous contributions are in science and mathematics.

Before you ask, I don’t know why all the examples are connected with spirituality or religion.

Anyways,

Were they just wasting their time?

We can’t say for sure.

Jobs himself has a quote to live by:

“You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”

Surprisingly, it’s true. Looking back at your past, it’s easy to pick a few data points and map them into a cohesive story. Oh, that cheeky narrative bias.

But which dots do we connect, exactly?

If you took your childhood motivations and combined them with current ones, you could get tons of different combinations. Why do some of them stick, and others, fall behind?

Perhaps it is because our values are constantly changing. We learn new ideas, and those ideas change our values. If a person started as a painter, then wanted to make more money, he may start a company.

Nothing about his core personality changed. It was only the value he put on money.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a better answer than Steve.

You can’t connect the dots looking forward.

But you can identify the wrong dots as fast as possible. When doing something new, it’s exciting for a short period of time. The breaking point lies at the end of the dopamine rush, though. Will you sustain it?

Naval Ravikant has a great quote on this (shocker):

If it entertains you now but will bore you someday, it’s a distraction. Keep looking.

Keep looking is probably the best advice you can get here.

That’s to say, what do you genuinely and authentically want to do?

But’s that’s a question for another day…

I’ll leave you with a Taoist story, that fits just right.

http://www.thechurning.net/there-are-no-opportunities-or-threats-the-parable-of-the-taoist-farmer/

I’ve been overthinking. A lot. So here’s a blog, actually, more like a vent.

Throughout the journey of life, I find times where I feel like I’ve reached a dead end.

Looking back, however, these moments seem crucial and even necessary. From the outside perspective, people rarely notice. You’ll figure it out, they say.

But why has no one figured it out from the start?

I mean, can one know where their best work lies since coming into the world? How do you cut the crap, and do what you will do best?

Your goals may or may not align with mine, but here’s what we can agree on.

Wasting time sucks.

Wouldn’t it be nice to stop overthinking and reach a place where you are having the most fun, and also making your best work? To find someone who you can rely on for the rest of your life? To start a business that fits your values perfectly?

(don’t worry, this isn’t a sales pitch)

Let’s look for an answer.

If we start examining some of the world’s most legendary people, we see:

Steve Jobs went to search for a guru in India before launching Apple;

Buddha reached enlightenment only after leaving the ascetics;

Isaac Newton extensively studied theology, yet his most famous contributions are in science and mathematics.

Before you ask, I don’t know why all the examples are connected with spirituality or religion.

Anyways,

Were they just wasting their time?

We can’t say for sure.

Jobs himself has a quote to live by:

“You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”

Surprisingly, it’s true. Looking back at your past, it’s easy to pick a few data points and map them into a cohesive story. Oh, that cheeky narrative bias.

But which dots do we connect, exactly?

If you took your childhood motivations and combined them with current ones, you could get tons of different combinations. Why do some of them stick, and others, fall behind?

Perhaps it is because our values are constantly changing. We learn new ideas, and those ideas change our values. If a person started as a painter, then wanted to make more money, he may start a company.

Nothing about his core personality changed. It was only the value he put on money.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a better answer than Steve.

You can’t connect the dots looking forward.

But you can identify the wrong dots as fast as possible. When doing something new, it’s exciting for a short period of time. The breaking point lies at the end of the dopamine rush, though. Will you sustain it?

Naval Ravikant has a great quote on this (shocker):

If it entertains you now but will bore you someday, it’s a distraction. Keep looking.

Keep looking is probably the best advice you can get here.

That’s to say, what do you genuinely and authentically want to do?

But’s that’s a question for another day…

I’ll leave you with a Taoist story, that fits just right.

http://www.thechurning.net/there-are-no-opportunities-or-threats-the-parable-of-the-taoist-farmer/