Writing on living a deliberate life, focused on building businesses rather than cabins by ponds. Content about strategy, life, and philosophy all building to being more deliberate and living a more amazing life.

Find the meaning.

I’ve been feeling burnt out lately. My psychiatrist says burnout comes from a lack of meaning. It’s not that you are doing too much; it’s that what you are doing doesn’t have meaning.

And then I came across this Chinese parable:

A farmer has a horse. One day, it runs away.

The neighbors say, “Oh no, what bad luck.”

The farmer shrugs. “We’ll see.”

A few days later, the horse returns—this time with three wild horses in tow.

The neighbors cheer, “Amazing luck!”

The farmer? “We’ll see.”

Then his son tries to break one of the new horses, gets thrown, and breaks his leg.

The neighbors: “So sorry… terrible luck.”

Farmer: “We’ll see.”

Next week, soldiers come to town, conscripting every able-bodied young man into the army.

Except the farmer’s son—his broken leg spares him.

And the neighbors say… you guessed it: “What good fortune!”

The farmer says, “We’ll see.”

We live in a world obsessed with instant meaning.

Good/bad, win/fail, like/dislike, it all depends on the short term, the performance, the emotion.

It's easy to turn life into a highlight reel, confuse attention for value, chase validation, do the stuff we’re “supposed” to do, and end up burned out.

Not because we’re doing too much, but because we’re doing too little of what matters.

Burnout isn’t always about effort.

It’s about meaninglessness.

About pouring yourself into things that don’t nourish you.

But underneath the noisy, performative surface is something deeper:

a quiet, unchanging reality.

Everything happens within that context and it’s the context that gives us meaning.

That’s what the farmer sees.

He sees the bigger picture.

He trusts the ebb and flow.

He doesn’t rush to interpret.

He lets life unfold.

That’s what it means to live deliberately.

To let life be messy, unclear, even unresolved—without needing to label it to make it acceptable.

Because if we’re honest, we rarely know what anything really means in the moment.

How do you put this into practice?

When something happens—

You don’t get the job.
They ghost you.
The project flops.

Try this:

1.Pause – Touch something. Take a breath. Return to the present moment.

2.Notice the performance – The story you’re tempted to tell yourself.

3.Zoom out – Remember the broader context. This too shall pass.

4.Choose your response – Instead of reacting automatically.

Maybe it’s a disaster.

Maybe it’s the setup for something better.

Maybe it’s neither—maybe it’s just… life.

A word of caution: the farmer takes it a bit too far…

Because if you never celebrate your wins, you never have any fun.

And sometimes, you just need to let the frustrations out.

So celebrate the wins. Feel the losses.

When you get three extra horses, at the very least, buy the neighbors a sheet cake.

When the project fails, cry on your friend’s shoulder.

Then move on.

The wisest people I know?

They don’t rush to declare meaning.

They stay curious. They trust the process.

They live deliberately.

They say, “We’ll see.”

Even as they’re eating sheet cake.

Next time: Why monks destroy their art, what it taught me about outcomes, and why creating is more powerful than winning.

👉 What’s something in your life you once thought was a disaster… but now you’re grateful for?

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