Af-flu-en-za n.
1 . The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses.
2 . An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by dogged pursuit of the American Dream.
3 . An unsustainable addiction to economic growth.
Instead of our watches telling us what time is, it should tell us how much time we have left.
When we look at our lives as vast and endless, we just go with the flow without ever stopping to think -- why are we doing what we're doing?
Most people don't know. And proceed through their daily existence like programmed robots, bound by habits and tethered to their emotions.
Gradudate high school, then college, get your post-grad degree and then straight into the workforce. Get married, have a kid, borrow money, buy a house, fill it with crap, have another kid, borrow more money, get a bigger house, add more crap.
It’s completely insane, and I distinctively remember going up on stage to get my law degree while simultaneously thinking about the horrible regret I might have on my death bed, feeling like I just spent my life pursuing what someone said I should want, instead of what I actually wanted.
Up until starting my company, I dressed for other people, spoke and behaved for other people, spent the minutes, hours and days of my life for other people , and there was never anything left for me.
What society wants for you is not always what's good for you.
There's a big difference between truth and societal consensus.
For example, the societal consensus is "Money can't buy you happiness", but it's not a truth because look at all the people trying to make money. Having a higher income does improve a persons day-to-day well being by remove a lot of sources of unhappiness and putting you in more control.
That's just one of the many lies society tells you.
Like, when did we all arrive to the conclusion that the right thing to do is to have everyone just go and spend their lives working for someone else.
Look, my point is whenever you realize what you really want and admit it, you then you need to pursue it.
If you want to be rich, be prepared to take on a lot of responsibilities.
If you want freedom, own a business and delegate ruthlessly.
If you want to be famous, let other people make more money, while you take the limelight.
But whatever you choose, brace yourself, because society is always going to tell you you're wrong, especially when you transgress from the herd.
That's why it's so hard.
Many people hear the ringing alarm in life.
The call to wake up.
But what we're programmed to do is hit the snooze button and go back to sleep.
That's why you need to know in advance, why you're doing what you're doing and break through the illusion that you have time.
To finally begin living.
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