An interesting paradox.
Sometimes we forbid ourselves exactly what we want most.
For example, a founder builds his business 24/7/365. His health is falling apart, his family relationships are getting worse, and he keeps muttering to himself:
“Just a couple more years of pushing hard, then I’ll make an exit, and then I’ll rest.”
He may even be right about some of it.
During harvest season, farmers sleep in the fields to bring in the crop faster. Although for a workaholic, unlike a farmer, there are no seasons other than an endless summer.
The founder is insanely tired because he has been living this way for XX years. With every year, his dream of rest becomes more grandiose. The stakes have grown so high that now only the Garden of Eden will satisfy him.
This is a dangerous illusion because its very design prevents it from becoming reality. Stories like this rarely have happy endings. More often, they end in a hospital bed.
The founder’s mistake is that he has attached himself to a rigid form. He has trapped himself in an artificial dilemma:
“All or nothing.”
The irony is that a person actually needs shockingly little. A microdose of rest, not a year, but one day. A complete one. A day when you forget about everything. And nothing is allowed to intrude or cancel it.
The key is regularity. It doesn’t matter whether it’s once a week, once every two weeks, or once a quarter.
What matters is that the subconscious knows:
“It’s hard right now, but Day X is coming soon...”
You’ll be surprised how much energy and how many ideas “just” one day can give you.
Your sacred ritual of renewal.
What you want is closer than you think.
Sincerely yours,
-Alexander
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.
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