dial #52

Last week I brought forward the theme of the hedonic treadmill, where we talked about how what we think is gonna bring us happiness, never usually does.

It’s true.

We think we want something and we are so sure this thing will make us happy or leave us satisfied. So, we begin to put our blood, sweat, and tears into it and one day, we finally get there.

The other side of the wall.

…only to realise that the grass is not as green as you imagined.

When people go through stuff like this, (and we all do) - we tend to think that we’ve made the wrong decision.

Our thinking is:
‘Oh, this is not as fun as I thought it would be. Maybe I shouldn’t have done this.’

I had this.

I thought that quitting my job to start my own business would give me more freedom and time to work on something I love.

The truth?

1. I have less freedom now because I am building a business from the ground up, by myself.
   

2. I have less time now because I need to make this work. My livelihood depends on it.
   

3. 95% of starting a business is boring, painful, routine, and ugly.

I went through all the emotions in the last 6 odd months doing this.

It’s exactly like Alex Hormozi says:

I had those eye-opening moments almost every waking day of my business.

It was tough.

Do I regret doing this, this soon?

Hell no.

I did what 99% of people wouldn’t even dream of doing.

I started before I was ready.

I kept at it.

I worked on it regardless of it being:

1. Uncertain of working out, and if it does

2. Uncertain of when it will work out.

Elon Musk says,

“Running a startup is like chewing glass and staring into the abyss.“

The ‘chewing glass’ part talks about the constant pain, struggle, and difficulty that founders face.

The ‘starring into the abyss’ is a metaphor for the existential uncertainty and the constant fear of failure that founders face. It’s the realisation that the business could fail at any moment, and yet the pressure to make the right decisions.

And yet I started.

My view of what I want to be when I’m 50 has continued to change throughout the months, especially in this fast-moving world I put myself in.

I keep thinking about what kind of work I wanna do, who I wanna do it for, and what tradeoffs are worth taking.

Because everytime you say ‘yes’ to something, you are saying ‘no’ to something else.

You just gotta find the stuff worth sacrificing for.

Let me help you out here. Promise me you’ll do this tonight.

Put away your phone and laptop, no distractions.

Just sit and deeply, think about the person you see yourself being when you are 50 years old.

Just think (to the last detail) about the type of person you’d be.

• Your character - What morals and values do you always stick by as a person?
  

• Your lifestyle - What type of life are you living?
  Is it lavish? Or are you relaxing on a farm in the countryside, middle of nowhere?
  

• Your accomplishments - What are you known for? Are you famous? Do you want people to know about the things you’ve done throughout your career?

Think about the life that you want in 30 years.

And it’s not material things, what kind of person do you see yourself becoming?

Are you happy with what you envision?

Would you be friends with this 50-year version of yourself?

If the answer is no, good.

You are one step closer to realising what you actually want.

This is what helped me, and so it shall help you.

Reverse engineer your life.

Map out the idea of who you wanna be in 30 years. Use the questions above to get you started.

Once you have that visual in mind and on paper, start reverse-engineering.

Apply First Principles Thinking.

Break down the different ways you can reach this end goal you have.

For career:
- What types of skills should you learn?
- What jobs should you start out in?
- What are my strengths and weaknesses?

For life:
- How can I fix my sleep?
- How can I eat more healthily?
- What workouts can I do to keep in shape?

Do this exercise for every pillar of your life:

Health
Family/Relationships
Work/Purpose
Financial Stability
Personal Growth/Leisure

Pick one. Drill all the way into it. Move on to the next pillar.

How do you know when to stop?

When you’ve broken down that pillar to the sub-atomic level, you know what you can do tomorrow.

For example, if my career goal was to own a multi-million dollar clothing brand, I’d probably watch YouTube videos about successful people starting clothing brands.

This is the least effort and immediate thing I can do right away that brings me one step closer to my dream, right?

So if you think about it, if you have these kinds of sub-atomic steps for every pillar of your life, and you did the smallest possible thing every day…

THERE IS NO WAY YOU WON’T WIN.

The steps you’ll be taking will be minuscule, and no one will understand what you are trying to do.

But show up every single day, and let the magic of compounding bring you everything you dreamt of.

I promise.

And thus, the hedonic treadmill has now become the elevator.

Each small, aligned action takes you up a level in awareness, fulfillment, and peace.

Unlike the treadmill, where you run frantically but stay in place, the elevator actually goes somewhere - deeper into alignment with what matters most.

The beautiful paradox is this:

When you focus on taking those small, aligned actions consistently, the big achievements often happen anyway—but as byproducts rather than goals.

And when they do, they're more fulfilling because they're connected to something larger than a temporary happiness boost.

Fifty-two weeks ago, I decided my smallest viable action was to write just one newsletter.

I didn't plan for 52.

I just committed to one, then another, then another. One year later, here we are. 🥳

Remember, the goal isn't to escape desire or ambition entirely - it's to ensure that what you're desiring and working toward actually matters to the person you want to be.

P.S. Thank you so much for being a part of this journey.

Your responses and messages have made this so much more than I ever could have imagined.

The only thing I can ask of you is to drop me a message saying how much these dials have helped you (or if they didn’t) by either replying to this email or dropping me a message on Instagram.

I read them all, and I reply fairly quick as well :)

Happy one year, and here’s to the next 52. 😉