Handling That “Back To Reality” Feeling

“I like doing ‘x’ because it’s like a break from reality.”

Have you ever heard someone say this?I’ve said it before, too.Well a colleague of mine reminded me, once, that this is a ridiculous thing to say.

In fact, it’s hurtful.

By claiming, after an adventure or other experience, that you now need to go “back to reality,” you’ve basically nullified the whole thing.Youve said that what you were doing or experiencing wasn’t “real.”Well, that’s not true.

All of what you’re experiencing is real!

Duh!Let yourself include those moments and memories as part of your real life.You may realize that they have a lot to teach you.

“The best adventures answer questions you didn’t even know to ask before you started.”- Yvonne Chouinard, Founder of Patagonia

2 Minute Action

Today is a good day to take 2 minutes and meditate.Focus on one experience you’ve had that felt so good or fun that it was surreal.It could be recent or from years ago.What about it was memorable?What about it was valuable?Take these 2 minutes to reflect and write down these valued parts of your experience.The next phase is bringing these values into your everyday life.That will require daily effort.Small and simple, but difficult and disciplined.

The Process For Getting The Impossible Change We All Seek

It’s the hardest thing anyone can do.It takes time, persistence, courage, and keeping calm.The strange thing is that more and more people do it everyday.

Have you ever climbed Mt. Everest?

The first few times, there were no ropes, no sherpas, no handbooks, no technical boots, no wind proof synthetic down jackets.

But then it got easier.

All of a sudden there were ladders, base camps, and guidebooks.All of a sudden, it didn’t require the same risk or investment.If you ask the folks who ascend massive peaks or climb giant granite wall faces or who run hundreds of miles in an ultra-marathon—they’ll tell you that they are now different people because of it.

It’s the impossible challenge that forges new character.

Yvonne Chouinard, founder and CEO of Patagonia, the outdoor equipment company known for its activism, once said:

“Taking a trip for six months, you get in the rhythm of it. It feels like you can go on forever doing that. Climbing Everest is the ultimate and the opposite of that. Because you get these high-powered plastic surgeons and CEOs, and you know, they pay $80,000 and have Sherpas put the ladders in place and 8,000 feet of fixed ropes and you get to the camp and you don’t even have to lay out your sleeping bag. It’s already laid out with a chocolate mint on the top. The whole purpose of planning something like Everest is to effect some sort of spiritual and physical gain and if you compromise the process, you’re an asshole when you start out and you’re an asshole when you get back.”– 180° South

The point here is about process.What kind of transformation are you seeking and are you compromising on the process?

2 Minute Action:

Are you going through the motions?Pick a role model, expert in your field, or mentor.What would Elon Musk do?How might a navy seal do it?What might your high-school track coach say about your method?It’s your call to do the work but it’s also your call on how to define what the work is.Take 2 minutes to question your process and poke some holes in it.