I’d just come back from a Sunday evening walk when I received a text I couldn’t have predicted.
It was my cousin.
“I’m flying in town tomorrow. Can you pick me up?”
In that moment, my entire week shifted, and I didn’t resist.
But I certainly could have..
“Sure, but I have all these things I have to do this week. Let me get you a hotel and we can meet up in the evenings when I’m done with work.”
Feeling into her situation…
Understanding the significant changes going on in her life..
And tapping into the awareness that she was definitely being brought here for a reason..
I surrendered to the shift, completely freed up my time and energy, and made room for her to stay at my place.
We had a great time.
She stayed all week.
And spending time with her was more productive than any other work I could've done.
Everything was much more aligned than if I had clung to the plans I had for the week.
This is what life is all about.
It is a small example, but a very real one.
And it’s not just about what happened, it’s how it happened.
It was spontaneous and completely unpredictable.
Life has a funny way of inviting you into greater opportunities if you’re willing to let go of control.
A previous version of me would have struggled to let go.
I would have been completely attached to my routine.
Now, I’ve created a life where I am free to be spontaneous and surrender to meaningful experiences like this.
I have built a mindset that allows me to do so.
I have shifted my perspective on productivity and success.
I no longer rely on strict, controlling routines to feel productive because I understand that true productivity is created by living with intention and being completely present here and now.
I’m no longer attached to the idea of chasing money because I understand that when you discover your true desires and direct your energy towards achieving those things, money is a natural byproduct.
I understand now, from years of experimentation that:
Living with intention, listening to your heart, connecting with the divine, and making decisions from these places… as opposed to leading with the rational mind, is the most productive way to live.
Because life is inherently unpredictable and spontaneous.
And living in your rational mind completely takes you away from the present.
A wise man once said, “the past is history, the future is a mystery, and this moment is a gift — that’s why it’s called the present.”
Everything you desire is created here and now. Nowhere else.
All you need will be presented to you in divine timing.
So live with faith and trust that nothing happens by chance and everything happens for a reason.
Every situation, circumstance, and experience, no matter how challenging, has been put in your life for you to learn and evolve..
So you can become the person who is capable of fulfilling your life's purpose.
The way your journey unfolds is impossible to predict with the rational mind, and that’s where all the beauty lies.
You wouldn’t want to be able to plan every step, anticipate every detail, and know exactly how your life is going play out.
That would be like playing a video game you’ve already beaten.
The excitement, the growth, the failure, the character deaths, the breakthroughs, the aliveness would all be gone.
With certainty, there is no mystery. And without mystery, life is energetically dead.
And yet, because uncertainty is uncomfortable, people chase the opposite.
They chase control.
They find comfort in the familiar.
Most people stay at their mediocre job, attach to the same routine, eat the same food, hang around the same people, cling to the same inauthentic friendships, and live in the same town their entire life.
Even young entrepreneurs who escape the rat race, attach themselves to rigid frameworks for success.
They create their own rat race.
Wake up at 5 a.m., stretch, coffee, laptop, 100 cold emails, reach out to X amount of prospects to guarantee Y number of booked calls.
“Put your head down and grind.”
“Put in the reps.”
“X amount of inputs guarantees Y outputs.”
And that’s all fine, there can be a time and place for it.
But more often than not, that obsession with control, trying to guarantee outcomes, trying to create certainty over the future, and find safety in the familiar, makes life so much duller, more restrictive, and far more exhausting than it needs to be.
Because when you seek to control, you’re swimming against the current.
You’re trying to overpower the force of the universe.
A force infinitely more powerful and intelligent than you.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work hard.
It doesn’t mean you don’t commit to build or strive.
But you hold it all differently.
You let go of the death grip.
You leave space for the unpredictable.
You detach from outcomes.
Because the most meaningful moments, the most powerful opportunities, the most significant connections… they don’t show up on your calendar.
You don’t plan them.
They arrive quietly. Unexpectedly. Without warning.
And only when you’re open to them.