Chad Silverstein argues that constant activity and technology push us to autopilot. The antidote: carve out solitude for self-reflection. Without uninterrupted time alone, you can't discover the insight you need to actually lead.
Chapters
Okay. Day 42. This is again, identity shows its head again. It's at the root of built to lead, for sure. But what caught me today was being present and giving yourself the space and time to just be. I think I've said it before, and I just always think it's funny when people say they want to live a more present life. They want to be more present, they want to meditate, they want to do these things. And I think if you've ever spent any time investing in this area of your life, there is something really powerful with it, but you actually have to do it. You actually have to stop. And it's amazing today how things have just picked up so fast with technology and just how the business landscape feels like it's just changing. And all of a sudden, when Covid hit, people went home. And we have just all this now AI technology. And there's just. There's just so much being thrown at us, and everything happens so fast that you just, I'm sure, get caught at the end of the day looking back and going, wow, that just. The day flew by, and you. You feel like there's a Groundhog Day where you're just day kind of rinse and repeat. You wake up, you go through the motions, you're doing your thing. And if you don't take time to build that margin, time to stop and not have your phone with you, not have a pair of headphones on, not feel like you need to call someone or put on something to listen to, then it's a scary thought that you. You maybe never, ever create that space for yourself. And some people will go their whole life and not do that. And the only way to get to the root of a lot of the things that we work on at Build two Lead is to sit in solitude and just be. And it's just so hard for people to do. You have to make time to do this, and you have to make it a priority to do it. A lot of times when we talk to people in Build2Lead, they'll say that the cost of not being built to lead and the worth of becoming built to lead is so big, it's so deep. And they'll talk about how, you know, what it looks like, if they can accomplish what they want or if they can stop doing what they don't want to do and how monumental that'll be in their life. So I think that's pretty important. I don't know if you want to make time for that or not, but I would say that it's a worthy ideal to do so. And if you don't have something built into your calendar right now, and if you feel like it's a burden to have to read or write or do any of the built lead work, then you really need to step back and make sure that you understand that it's not necessarily the built to lead work or the book or a piece of paper that you're writing on is not the most important thing. It's the aim of why you're doing it. And that is a top priority. And that is something that everyone who's on the path and everyone who's on their builder's journey can recognize how big of a deal that is. And so if you're saying that you can't make time for that, then you have to really question what is it that you're making time for Again, go look at your bank statement, you know, go look at your, your, your calendar. You know, where is all your time being spent? Look at your screen time on your phone. And if you're gonna be able to prove that that stuff is more important than figuring out who you are, figuring out how you're living, where you want to go, I'd love to see it. So the challenge for you is to build in some time, build in some time for you to be in solitude and to just not have any distractions and to do the hard work and who knows where or when you might have that aha moment. And if you don't give yourself the space to do it, what a shame that is. And if you really are built to lead, at least becoming built to lead, you'll find a creative place to go do this. Some people might go out to a park, some people might go to a place, you know, that gives them inspiration. You know, going to Starbucks and running into your friends, it's not going to necessarily give you the space that you need. It really needs to be in solitude. So find a place that you wouldn't normally go to that you think maybe you'll love a peaceful place and carve out some time to do it, see what comes from it, make it a discipline.
