E31: Entrepreneurialism is a Disease

May 3, 2019 47m 47s 11 insights
Steven Bartlett explores life's changes and purpose. He shares personal resilience strategies: expressive writing, incremental fear exposure, self-compassion, mindful breathing, and forgiveness. He also offers insights on career ambition and creating one's own life meaning.
Actionable Insights

1. Create Your Own Life’s Meaning

Recognize that life may not have a predetermined, supernatural purpose, and instead, actively strive to create your own purpose or purposes. Simplify your life to stay in touch with fundamental feelings, become calmer, and feel more fulfilled.

2. Embrace Mortality for Perspective

Strategically detach yourself from day-to-day ‘bullshit’ by embracing the realization of your own mortality. This perspective helps you understand what truly matters, like family and loved ones, and prevents overestimating the importance of trivial issues.

3. Cultivate Forgiveness

Commit to forgiving people or situations that have wronged you, not to reconcile or let them off the hook, but to release yourself from resentment and ill will. Practice compassionate forgiveness by actively thinking kindly towards the offender, acknowledging their humanity and struggles, to remove the burden from your shoulders.

4. Cultivate Self-Compassion

Train the voice in your head to be a supportive best friend by admitting your suffering, remembering that all humans experience pain, and being kind to yourself without judgment. This practice, offering warmth and kindness to yourself, can lead to lower depression, anxiety, and stress.

5. Prioritize Peace Over Promotion

Question the societal narrative that higher status or more money automatically leads to happiness, as overstretching yourself with more responsibility and stress can diminish your peace. Honestly self-reflect on what you truly value in life, such as mental health, social life, and relationships, and act accordingly rather than blindly pursuing progression.

6. Develop Resilience for Leadership

Recognize that resilience is a crucial trait for leaders and ambitious individuals, as success often correlates with the amount of ‘bullshit’ one is willing to endure. Understand that resilience is sculpted by experience, not an innate quality, and can be developed over time.

7. Overcome Fear Incrementally

Confront your fears by slowly and repeatedly exposing yourself to the thing that scares you in small, manageable doses. Gradually increase the challenge over time to build confidence and change negative associations with the stimulus, helping you to tackle bigger challenges.

8. Practice Expressive Writing

Engage in free writing continuously for 20 minutes about a challenging issue, exploring your deepest thoughts and feelings without aiming for a masterpiece. This cathartic release helps you gain new insights, process pain, and heal quicker from adverse events.

9. Practice Mindful Breathing

Bring attention to the physical sensation of your breathing for short periods, such as 20 seconds, by taking deep breaths through your nose and out of your mouth. This micro-meditation helps you find peace in the present moment, deal with negative emotions as they arise, and protect your emotional state.

10. Process Trauma Directly

Avoid compartmentalizing trauma or bad experiences, as suppressing these issues will cause them to resurface at inconvenient times. Instead, engage in healthy ways to move through adversity, such as expressive writing, to cope quicker and prevent emotional buildup.

11. Regularly Connect with Parents

Make a routine of calling your parents every weekend, as this simple act means a great deal to them and helps maintain a valuable relationship. Do not wait for bad news to prioritize staying in touch, as parents are not eternal.