I’ve been dealing with pretty bad health the last three weeks and it’s made me realize just how much my mind demands of my body.
I’ve also been wrestling through a lot of pretty intense and stressful stuff on the mental side. Startups are like that. When my health is sub-par, my brain has to work a lot harder, like an engine without enough coolant. My sleep is all messed up, and I find my mind racing like crazy. I have to try to eat and rest and create conditions for my brain to do its processing, and it kinda takes over my life.
When working through really tough problems and a web of decisions big and small, my brain basically needs the rest of me to serve it. I have to figure out what it needs, deliver it, and get out of the way. It’s a big pain and not very fun.
In times like these, I fantasize about being a hermit. But really these times aren’t sustainable anyway. I think there’s probably a ten year window where I can sustain a lot of these brain-sucking phases, and I’m halfway through it. Since I started Praxis, probably a third to half of the time I’m in one of these taxing times on mind and body. I would say I’ve learned to deal with it better, but the intensity ratchets up every time I learn to handle one level smoothly.
I suppose if my brain was bigger it wouldn’t have to work so hard. Or I don’t know, maybe it would have to work harder. The amazing thing is 1) that the answers are usually buried in my head somewhere, and, 2) that they are not readily accessible and articulatable.
It’s crazy how many things in life we have the power to solve, and it’s just about unearthing and articulating that latent power.