In this Untamed Perspectives edition we discuss the dangers of putting the demands of our self-imposed lifestyle, ahead of our deepest wishes.

Full Transcript:

The agricultural revolution promised to give us more time and freedom.

By taking control of the cultivation of our own crops, we were supposed to have more volume and variety to eat, and more time in which to eat it.

However, it didn’t quite work out that way.

All this farming required a lot of effort on our part: sewing, weeding, watering, ploughing, collecting and protecting. All this labour meant we stopped being nomadic, and settled next to our fields.

This gave us more time to reproduce. Which in turn created more mouths to feed, necessitating bigger farms...and on went the cycle.

Why are we talking about 10,000 year old farming practices?

Simple. What happened to humans during the agricultural revolution, is still going on today.

Many of us are being duped by the promise that consumerism offers.

We create tools and systems to give us more time and freedom, but in reality we get the opposite.

We become slaves to the outputs of our efforts.

We earn more money or build a bigger business, to buy more stuff and afford us a bigger mortgage.

That debt and that ‘stuff’, then weighs like an anchor around our necks. The freedom we so desperately sought, is slowly suffocated.

Rather than becoming Untamed, as our hunter-gatherer forefathers were, we become trapped.

Our lives become ever more complex and the demands of this self-imposed lifestyle, are put ahead of our deepest wishes.

We promise to pursue our dreams, but only once we are successful!

We swear that our next business hire will create more time for us, not take it away.

And we convince ourselves that ‘just one more investment property’, will yield the cashflow we need to live the life we always wanted.

Except, we all know that in the vast majority of cases, it doesn’t. Because we’re scared.

Scared of slowing down.

Scared that everything could be taken away from us at any moment.

Scared that we will have nothing to do in our spare time, or people to do it with.

Scared that we will lose our drive or purpose.

We can create all the systems and teams we want, but if these fears remain, so too will the outcomes.

What can we do about it?

As with all these things, a great first step is to take a step back and ask yourself whether this narrative is playing out in your life.

I know that right now, it is in mine. I am highly conscious of it, and think about it daily.

What thoughts or actions are you taking everyday that reinforces this narrative?

Is there something you are pursuing in order to create a better future, that is causing you more stress, than the benefits you will ever allow yourself to enjoy?

Then ask yourself if this is the reality you want to create!

If not, how can you start to change your thinking, to break the cycle and start putting your dreams FIRST.

P.s. In case you wish to dismiss this as typical millennial thinking, ignoring the idea of delayed gratification and selfishly putting hedonism ahead of responsibility, I’d like to remind you of the old fable about the two mice.

In it, the hard working mouse - who collected his stash all through the summer - actually enjoyed the fruits of his labour come winter time. He didn’t spend every winter creating better tools to use next summer!