This week I felt it coming — that low-grade “something’s off” feeling.
Instead of powering through, I swapped longer workouts for 3 sauna sessions. I scheduled extra sleep even though my calendar already felt overstuffed. I slowed down to stack the odds in my favor.
I could have told myself I was too busy. That there were priorities. That I’d be fine.
Instead, I asked: what increases my chances of getting better sooner?
It’s Wednesday. I’m almost 100%. No workouts skipped. No work commitments missed. And I didn’t “tough it out.”
I didn’t have a guarantee it would work. I just worked towards better odds.
Life is a game of odds, tradeoffs, and managing your responses when things don’t go as planned.
It’s not a game of certainties, perfect balance, having it all going as planned.
Most of our frustrations comes from never seeing the actual game we’re in.
Impact, agency, achievement — these are my top values.
Because of that, I don’t socialize much. I’ve let some hobbies go. I’m genuinely okay with not having balance. Sometimes I’m a little lonely. I don’t always have “a perfect life resume”. I don’t always feel “fitting in”. And that’s ok. These are intentional tradeoffs. And they make my life feel exactly right — even if someone on the outside thinks I’m missing out.
I’ve been a planner since I was a kid. I love knowing what I’m doing and how it connects to something bigger. But somewhere along the way, I learned something essential to my inner peace:
My perfect life is not the same as my “perfect plan”.
What works out, what I need to learn, the path I was meant to walk — it all unfolds while I’m busy planning.
That unfolding? That’s the best plan.
Most people I work with want more peace. More alignment. More fulfillment.
And what’s usually standing in the way isn’t a lack of effort or intelligence. It’s not seeing the game of life clearly.
3 rules life actually runs on:
1. Life owes you no guarantees.
No matter what you do, how much you do, how perfectly you do it — you increase chances. Certainty was never part of the deal.
2. Balance is an unsatisfying illusion.
“Having it all well balanced” sounds good until you’re eating a bland meal where nothing sparks your feelings. Nothing too spicy, nothing too bold, nothing that actually does anything for you. It’s safe. That’s why they serve it in hospitals.
Everything you really want lives on the other side of tradeoffs you’re not willing to make yet.
3. The plan is a draft.
Life writes the final copy.
Look at your life right now. What you’re trying to build. Where your frustration lives.
Are you playing the right game?