In this vlog, Andrey V. Karpov (True Agile coach) introduces the concept of “delayed life,” the pervasive belief that happiness, freedom, and choice must be earned through relentless effort and sacrifice. He argues that this mindset is rooted in classic psychological and philosophical ideas—from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Ellis’s irrational beliefs to Seligman’s positive psychology, Freud, and Nietzsche—yet it conflicts with the True Agile mindset, which prioritizes self‑fulfillment over external validation. Karpov explains how the delayed‑life narrative leads people to neglect basic human needs such as sleep, nutrition, exercise, social connection, and leisure, ultimately causing anxiety, depression, and unrealized potential. He reframes Agile principles as a personal framework: treat yourself as the product owner, set acceptance criteria for life decisions, and act decisively rather than waiting for a perfect moment. Practical advice includes prioritizing self‑care, conducting research before launching a business or entering a relationship, and embracing failure as a learning signal. The video concludes with a call to action to subscribe, engage, and book a coaching session via hirethebest.net for executive, life, or Agile transformation support.
Chapters
How's it going, guys? I'm finally in a much better recording studio than I usually am. As I said, per TrueAgile mindset and values, I'm going to improve my videos moving forward. So from now on, most or majority of my videos will be in horizontal fashion, and that way you will be able to see it on your laptop and on your iPad. And at the same time, I will try to create a better recording environment with better sound quality, with better isolation, and hopefully more, you know, unilateral background. With that aside, I would like to talk today about the concept of delayed life and the idea that you have to earn happiness, you know, that you in general are not entitled to it and that you have to do something in order to achieve a state of equilibrium, a state of joy, a state of trance, if you will, that you have to grind continuously, that you should deprive yourself from simple human pleasures and moments of gratitude and simple reflection and mindful procrastination. And where does this actually come from? So This has actually resonated first in the works of Abraham Maslow. The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness, right? And then Albert Ellis talked about unhappiness often stems from irrational beliefs like I must earn love or joy. Furthermore, Martin Seligman in positive psychology, said that authentic happiness is grounded in engagement and meaning, not delay. So with all this great stuff of the past that obviously, you know, I love to indulge myself into, what does that translate in simple human language to you guys? And as I promised in the beginning when I launched my channel, that I would make psychology, philosophy, Human Design neuroscience, esoterics, tarotology, astrology, and classical literature, among— apart from other things including the agile methodologies— be simple to you guys so that you can comprehend it. We have a feeling from our past childhood programs that we need to earn a right to be happy. We need to do a lot from our angle in terms of our life journey, whether it's education, whether it's work, whether it's relationship, whether it's friendship, to earn, like, you know, the ultimate result. I've heard a lot of different fun things over the years where, you know, let's see how it goes in and we need to break bread more often, we need to meet more often, you know, we have to see how things will go. So it essentially implies that people are testing you, and it kind of feels weird because why are you trying to earn someone's right? And furthermore, it actually does translate in us treating ourselves the same way. So if you're a grinding, hustling entrepreneur like I am you can find yourself in a situation where you deprive yourself from simple, necessary steps in order to just, you know, zone out and enjoy life in between, if you will. What do I mean by that? Getting enough sleep, enjoying a quality meal, working out, spending time with friends, or good connections that you can exchange thoughtful information with and share a great conversation. Reading a book, listening to some audio content like music, for example, or even watching a movie for that matter. All of these things are critical and important because as a human you need your downtime, and furthermore, you need time in order to find true happiness and purpose within. And when we only focus on making money, whether it's for ourselves or for someone else we're working for, or even if it's a client and you're servicing them from the standpoint of a contract like I have done many times, it does not mean that you have to go out of your ways in order to satisfy the product owner criteria and be basically a slave to the system, to the framework, or to the stakeholder. Remember, that's what the true Agile mindset is all about. It's not about making others happy. You can't do that. It's about making yourself happy. If you can make yourself happy, others around you will be inspired by that, and they will make themselves happy, which will make you happier ultimately. Now, this doesn't just come from Agile. This comes from classical psychology of Freud and, you know, philosophers of the time like Nietzsche. But the bottom line is you have to focus on your inner well-being. What that means is if you are waiting for a perfect time when to open a business, when to get in a relationship, when to go out and meet some good quality friends. I have news for you. There is no such perfect time. There really isn't. That time will never come if you don't make time for that time. I've faced this in the past when I worked in financial services space, both here in the United States and back in Eastern Europe. And I can tell you that oftentimes people would come to me in the branch, or office where I was working, and I would propose to them an investment plan, an asset allocation, and they would tell me, "Drey"— well, obviously I wasn't called Drey at the time, but as I refer to myself now— "You know, right now is not the best time. Financial crisis is on the horizon," or "Financial crisis just passed," or "Right now I am experiencing challenges in life." And some of these clients I knew for years. I knew them from one organization, another organization, and I could quickly, even at that time, tell their psychological type. And what I already came to realize at the time, not truly being self-taught or professional psychologist for that matter, that people will always come up with objections. They're coming up with objections to you, to someone who's trying to motivate them for something purposeful in their life. They are coming up with objections for themselves. Our head is our biggest friend and our biggest foe. Remember that. And why is that so? Because we have the conscious mind, we have the subconscious mind. Finding the parity, finding the balance in between these two is critical for our life success. There is never going to be a time when you're going to be completely balanced, where everything is going to be perfect. Let me tell you this, but what you can do is be mindful of that and work with yourself in order to find that harmony and balance within. So with that said, being positive about starting a business is good. There's nothing wrong about that. Even if you fail and it doesn't work out, that does not mean that you are a failure. It simply means that the idea itself wasn't good enough. It wasn't timely enough, or you haven't done enough work in order to make it a viable go-to-market investment. So with that said, do your homework, do your research, be decisive and start your business if that's what you wanna do. If you want to find a loved one, go out on a date. Go out on several dates. It doesn't mean, you know, sleeping around. It means getting to know people. Talk to, you know, potential partners on, you know, social media or dating apps. Talk to them in real life and places that would be appropriate where you usually go to communities, places of worship, sometimes even work if that's permitted. Academic institutions and so forth. Whatever works for you, but have your standards, have your acceptance criteria as the product owner, and don't delay it. It's very important to understand that concept of delayed life can lead to significant anxiety and ultimately depression, and most importantly, not realized potential that the universe had implemented in you from birth. So if you're coming up with justification for yourself, how not to go and achieve what your whole body, mind, and soul wants, good luck to you. But don't be a victim and ask others to feel bad for you. We're not going to feel bad for you. Those of us that are true Agilists that know how complex the journey is We're going to encourage you to persevere, because if we feel bad for you, you're going to stay in the same exact place where you were before we started inspiring you. Hope this video was helpful, guys. If you liked it, please subscribe to my channel, put your comments down below, share, and most importantly, look at other videos as well that could be very helpful in your personal transformation journey. If you'd like to book a call with me, the best way to reach me would be hirethebest.net. Hire the best professional in your local network. That's a link to my Calendly, and I would love to speak to you. You can book a 15-minute conversation to go over your needs, and if I can understand that I can help you, from an executive coaching, life coaching, or agile coaching perspective, if you're an organization or small business that is trying to grow but facing challenges in the current present dynamic environment with AI and technology in place, I would be more than happy to assist you on your True Agile Transformation journey. Thanks for watching again, guys, and have a blessed rest of your day. Take care. Bye-bye.
