Why you feel so stuck in life

[Music] So the past year and a half, I've really been made aware of the intimate relationship between our psychology and our physiology. It seemed like, as we were locked down physically, we were also locked down mentally. As we felt kind of stuck in our own homes and in our apartments, we also felt stuck inside our own heads. We fell into cyclical thinking, and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that there weren't fresh inputs—no fresh experiences being added into our lives.

So we didn't have novel ideas. It was all exacerbated as well by the fact that the algorithms that we are likely leaning on heavily through YouTube, Netflix, Twitter, and all of that, learn what we tend to click on. So we start to develop these deep digital grooves into certain topics of interest, and you start getting recommended the same content day in and day out. You start to wonder, like, "Why am I stuck in a rut? Why am I thinking the same things that I'm thinking all the time? How come I can't get out of this pattern?"

You know, when you take a step back from it all, it all becomes pretty obvious. But when you're trapped in it, it's hard to gain the perspective that you need to get out of that situation and into a better one. That's another thing that's really become apparent about human nature over the past year: when we don't have that exterior influence, when we don't talk to new people, when we don't have a sort of an outside network, and we're just trapped inside our own heads, it's almost always a really bad thing over a long period of time.

This isolation almost always breeds a pessimism—negative thought patterns. While it might be good to be alone sometimes and learn to be alone with yourself, too much of that, too much isolation, almost always corrupts us. You know, it seems like human beings operate optimally when we're working together. When we're giving each other new ideas, when we're helping each other out, when we're carrying a load and accepting responsibility to help the group—it's this putting yourself out there, this voluntary acceptance of responsibility that kind of gives life its meaning.

The existential dread of existence can be kept at bay when it feels like you're contributing to something. As we play a role in these sub-communities, in these sports teams, in these book clubs, in these volunteer opportunities, our life seems bigger and more optimistic, full of more opportunity. We're not so trapped inside our own pessimistic way of thinking. I feel like this is all because there's an intimate link between our psychology and the physical space that we take up.

You know, the places we go and the people we interact with are extensions of our consciousness, and through these external influences, we gain access to new ideas, new ways of thinking, and we unlock parts of the brain that we would not have access to in solitude. There's a reason why so many self-improvement junkies or gurus or psychologists—Navy Seals—will tell you to make your bed, clean your room, organize the physical space around you. You know, Jocko Willink, Jordan Peterson, you name it. These people are all saying that the physical environment in which you are a part of is an extension of yourself.

Following the same train of thought, I would also say the physical size, the literal square footage of your physical surroundings, is sort of the square footage of your mental surroundings, of your existential surroundings. And that feels weird to say, but I feel like people kind of know this instinctually. If you never ever leave your house and you're just trapped, living the same day over and over and over again, then your existence really starts to feel small. The literal amount of things that you influence on a day-to-day basis is quite small; your life can start to feel very insignificant. You don't actually make a difference in the world as much as you would if you were out there interacting with more things.

It's the same reason why people who travel a lot—when they get back from a year of traveling—they have so many new ideas and perspectives, and they're so inspired and full of life. That's because by physically traveling to new places, they mentally travel to new places as well; their existence seems larger. If you don't have the luxury to travel around everywhere at your whims—and I know a lot of people absolutely don't—this still applies to whatever town or city you live in. It applies to the activities that you say yes or no to.

By actually saying yes to that salsa dancing class or that Brazilian jiu-jitsu class or saying yes to playing volleyball on the beach with your brother and his wife, you know, these things matter. New experiences open your world up and make your life feel more significant. This was all just basically a long-winded way of saying get outside. You know, obviously not in a way that will hurt or endanger anybody, but you guys are smart.

By injecting yourself into the world around you instead of hiding away in a tower like Rapunzel, you'll actually start to feel like you have some autonomy over your own life. So good luck and get off YouTube! But if you're still here, I would love to take the opportunity to thank a very unique sponsor of today's video, and that is Cuts. Now, Cuts is a clothing company that I've been wearing for months and months and months. They are—I'm actually wearing a Cuts shirt right now.

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And if you like this video, make sure you actually hit like because when you hit like, the algorithm says, "Hey, this was a pretty cool video," and I'm going to recommend it to more people. And that helps them out and helps me out, so it's a win-win for everybody. And if you're lurking here, consider subscribing. Other than that, thank you so much for watching, and we'll catch you in the next video.