Happiness Beyond the Hustle

Ever skipped a beat thinking of an important email you missed? Or stayed awake, wondering how not to miss the ‘next big thing’?!?

You already missed the bitcoin train and can't figure out why you didn't hop onto the Nvidia rocket in time, despite subscribing to every AI newsletter out there.?

That sinking feeling like you're always a step behind, the fear! It feels as if the universe is conspiring to reveal big opportunities just as you blink.?

The fear of missing out—FOMO—is very real, and rather than keeping you alert, it's exhausting you.

What if catching up with everything wasn't your calling??

What if you're not built for this relentless pace??

What if missing out wasn’t the end of the world but an opportunity for something else, something more? An opportunity to feel the joy of missing out, to give yourself the space to breathe, and to be.?

I’ve always been obsessed with productivity. I read every book I could find about how to become more creative. I went beyond extreme. So invincible I felt in my thirties, in the early 2010’s, I experimented for several months with sleeping only 2 hours a day!?

If you think that’s crazy, you are right, it was.

There I was, trying to squeeze every ounce of productivity and creativity out of my day, convinced that sleep was just another hurdle to leap over.?

What I found instead was a world blurred by exhaustion, where coffee became a lifeline and the very creativity I sought seemed to dance just out of reach.?

The irony? In my quest to capture every moment of potential, I lost sight of the moments that truly mattered.

When 2023 came, it brought all kinds of insanity, and I found myself sleeping less and staying up more in an attempt to catch up with the insane pace of development in tech, especially in AI.?

It took hitting rock bottom for me to see it. Time had lost all meaning, all I did was work at my desk until my lower back gave up on me, and I was forced to take time to recover and recharge.?

This relentless pursuit wasn't productivity; it was desperation cloaked in ambition.

So in 2024, I did things differently. I chose to miss out. I started sleeping for eight hours. I turned off notifications, unsubscribed from all the newsletters, and reminded myself every time the Nvidia stock hit a new high, I don’t give a hoot about stocks anyway.

As for bitcoin, I’m all in, but that's a conversation for another time. ???

And something incredible happened in the space I created by stepping back—I rediscovered the joy of living.

I began to notice the small things: how cute my daughter is when she is eating spaghetti with her hands when no one is looking, how tasty the food is when I’m not treating it as something I have to do, and how much sweeter coffee tastes when it's not laced with urgency.?

Beyond the frantic scramble for getting things done at any cost, I found creativity and productivity in the quiet moments of reflection and rest.?

Sometimes, the best way to move forward isn't to chase what's next but to cherish what's here right now.

This newfound appreciation for life's simple pleasures significantly improved the quality of my work, deepened my relationships, and overall, made me happier.?

By embracing the moments of stillness, I learned to listen more intently, not just to the world around me but also to the people in my life, forging stronger, more meaningful connections.

The fear of missing out? It's real, but so is the joy of missing out—JOMO.?

It’s in the moments of intentional absence that you can find yourself. You realize that maybe, just maybe, the world will keep turning even if you take a moment to stand still.?

So, give yourself permission to miss out. Let an email go unanswered for a few hours, skip a meeting, watch the sunset instead of the stock market.

Find your joy in the spaces between your commitments, in the quiet you create when you decide not everything deserves your attention.?

In the end, what you remember, what shapes you, aren't the emails you answered or the meetings you attended but the moments you lived fully, deeply, with all that you are.?

Do not wait for exhaustion to remind you there's more to life than the relentless pursuit of the next big thing.?

Choose to live now, in the beautiful, fleeting moments that might just pass you by if you’re too busy looking ahead.

Welcome to the joy of missing out. It's a beautiful place to be.