I Created My Own Meditation

Hello,

I tried every meditation and gratitude exercise.

It was ok but nothing game-changing.

So I designed my own via first principles -- I find it 10x better.

Here's how it works:

Here's what I felt was missing from meditation and gratitude:

1. Change behavior - Action > Feels.

2. Long-term thinking - Take a longer-term approach to worldviews.

3. View self in 3rd person - View self more objectively —psychedelics without the downsides of drugs.

Disclaimers:

1. This must be done alone as it requires intense visualization.

2. Don't start the exercise until you've focused on breathing for 20 reps.

Ready?

Let's begin...

You wake up.

Your current life reading this email was just a dream.

The actual reality:

You live in a care home.

You are your 90-year-old self — but if the worst version of yourself controlled your entire life.

Your entire life was run by your worst personality traits:

• Ego
• Fear
• Pride
• Envy
• Greed
• Narcissism
• Procrastination
• {Insert your own worst traits}

All your time is spent in regret replaying mistakes

You never took a risk or listened to your gut.

You pushed your family and friends away.

The lazy care home team never checks in on you.

Every part of your old body aches like you’ve run a marathon.

Your left eye no longer works.

You've lost one of your hearing aids.

You try to get out of bed.

You collapse to the floor.

You crawl into your wheelchair.

In front of you is a giant clock:

This clock has 5 minutes left on it.

Above the clock, there are 7 words:

"HOW LONG YOU HAVE LEFT TO LIVE"

Your heart sinks further.

All the regrets get more intense and vivid.

BANG BANG BANG

There's a knock at the door.

You wheel across in your wheelchair.

It requires all your body's strength to open the door.

As the door opens, an overwhelming golden glow appears like opening the suitcase in Pulp Fiction...

Staring back at you is a person you recognize...

It's you.

But the person you could've become.

It's the version of you if your best self made all your decisions.

They are 90 years old — but they look so much younger than you.

With a massive smile on their face.

Your best self tells you stories of the fantastic life they had.

• The risks they took
• The magic moments
• The memories with friends and family

Where you zigged, they zagged

Your envy is overwhelming

You'd do anything to go back in time

Rage kicks in.

You ask your best self to shut up...

You then look over at the clock on the wall.

It has 30 seconds left. You're about to die.

Fear and regret intensify.

The best version of yourself is about to leave the room.

Before they go, they say...

“I’ve got good news. I can send you back in time. But you have to promise me this...

Write down an action you’ll do today that involves your best self — and an action to avoid your worst self"

You shake hands, sign a contract and promise to schedule it in your calendar.

He opens his time machine...

WHAM. You’re back in the present moment

You're the person that 90-year-old self was desperate to be

You have a clear list of actions and when you’re going to do them today.

Open your eyes and write down the agreement

The end.

6 reasons why I love this exercise:

1. Life as a video game

The rest of the day feels like you're playing a game of Sims

On your left shoulder, your 90-year-old worst self

On your right shoulder, your 90-year-old best self

You can pick which character to listen to

2. Action based

There's a clear behavioral change you can make today.

It looks to change traits (actions you take) than states (how you feel).

Action requires fuel -- and the emotion felt gives you a full V5 engine of fuel.

3. Personalisation

It’s personalized to the individual's mind

One person may deeply regret not chasing their ambitions

The other may regret being too career-focused and not spending enough time with friends and family

There's no right or wrong way

4. Positive use of envy

It uses envy as a rare force for good: Envy of the person you could become.

Rather than classical envy for other people, which plagues modern society.

5. Long-term thinking

Humans really struggle with long-term thinking.

Being able to project forward to 90 years old helps zoom out of present-day you.

You can see things a lot clearer in this state.

6. Psychedelics with capped risks

You get some of the upsides of taking mushrooms or LSD (e.g. Seeing yourself in a detached 3rd person frame)

Without the clear downsides that may come with these substances.

I had many inspirations for this piece -- too many to name them all. Biggest ones:

• Roy from Rick and Morty
• Nietzche's Eternal Recurrence
• Jeff Bezos' Regret Minimisation Framework

🚨 Nuance alert: I have 0 formal qualifications

I’m just a cartoon on the internet 😂

If you have any psychological conditions - speak to an expert before trying the above. It’s an intense experience.

Let me know if you enjoyed this.

You can share the essay on Twitter below.