A Lack of Ambition Isn’t the Problem, Suicide Is
You really don’t need more inspiration.
The other day, I was sitting in the sauna with a friend of mine cutting weight for my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament this weekend. I was dehydrated, miserable, and probably on the brink of passing out. It was a moment.
Then, my friend said something like this:
“I’ve been thinking a lot about “why” I do things lately, and I’m struggling for answers.”
My friend is a business owner, a high-level athlete, a partner, and a great friend on top of everything else. Immediately after he told me about his existential struggle, I noticed something in myself that I both loved and hated at the same time, and that was that I wanted to inspire him.
I pulled out all my usual stops, like recommending therapy, recommending he read Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl, and I even sank so low as to quote Jocko Willink once. I was doing my best to say something that would pull him out of his funk.
But eventually, I realized that my friend didn’t want me to inspire him. He wanted me to listen to him.
I think that’s a lesson that we all need.
