Break Free from Your Old Ways

(soft music) Headspace Studio. (soft music) How do we cope with feeling stuck? The feeling that we're not making progress? The feeling that we're totally unsure about what direction our lives are going or that our goals haven't improved at the rate we wanted them to. Maybe they've even taken several steps backwards. And I think right now, every time we have a vacation, you're the only one that doesn't actually take a vacation. Like, that happens every time. And last break, I was trying to micromanage your break, and you got mad at me. You were like, let's just each worry about our own breaks. But I just think you don't know how to do it. I just don't think you know how to actually step away and like put the work down, like genuinely. This audio is from a phone call Ammar and I had back in October, 2020. He was struggling to mentally recover after miraculously surviving a brutal car accident. I was merging lanes and I got hit from behind, literally after calling off skydiving because it was too dangerous. Just completely rolled off the highway. I literally can't believe him alive. Oh my God. The car flipped multiple times and flew off the highway to finally stop with only a few scratches left on his body. After such a near death accident, in some ways, I think he hoped that it would be the ultimate wake up call to transform his life, but the path to recovery isn't so pretty and simple. He also didn't really take the break he needed to process what had just happened. On top of that, I had recently left the country after this accident and Matt had stopped filming videos with us leaving Ammar and I making videos separately and on our own. It matters so much to you, which is good, but also not good. I think it's like too much of you is ingrained in the work, and I think learning how to put it down and just be Ammar and lean into what that means and learning to enjoy that person, be with that person, I think is the most valuable thing you can possibly do in your life. And it's really hard. And in Ammar's case, learning how to put things down and take a break for mental recovery and rest has been challenging for a long time, especially during such a challenging year where the balance between wanting to slow down, yet also feeling the pressure to put exponential more effort to get anything done was overwhelming. I think you've got this morphed version of workaholism that Matt and I had through anxiety, and you have it through emotionally feeling just in it all the time. And maybe it's also because you put the most of your personal story into it. But right now, your personal story is giving yourself some space. And we all agree. (soft music) He eventually did take a break,...