You’re a time traveler, and that’s not an understatement or a misalignment of what I’m going to say.
Scientists already say you are a time traveler. But when we think of time travel, we think in terms of being fast or slow.
Future or past.
Time stops; you move fast. Time resumes, and you move at “your” speed.
The fantasy of every human being, the reality of none.
That is, until you look closer.
You need perspective to shift your timing. Without a perspective, you can’t change anything.
Every time you enjoy something, time seems to go fast. You’re so engaged in a particular activity that your brain can’t get more of it.
But time also seems to go fast if you hate something and have to do it out of compulsion, routine, or other mundane tasks.
You’re being mindful, and your mind may not enjoy those tasks, but you need to do them as time slips by. This time, slippage is not evil – but healthy. (Interstellar fans here?)
But here’s some perspective I want you to be aware of:
Time flies faster in adulthood than in childhood. Your perspective isn’t narrow or broad; it’s neuroscience.
It’s not feasible to be “aware of each moment,” “live life full in each moment,” or “live each day as your last.”
There are so many tasks to do, responsibilities to take care of, and to-do lists to tear up after soaking them with guilt or tearing them after achievement.
Time travel to the future:
Future time travel can be exciting:
→ It is exciting to daydream about future scenarios since your dreams are what keep you going.
Future time travel can be harrowing:
→ It can lead to anxiety and nervousness as you look to the possible scenarios where you fail in one circumstance or another.
Future time travel can be healthy:
→ As an organism that wants to survive, future planning is critical to your survival. You can be aware that you don’t want to do X task for Y time.
Future time travel can be horrifying:
→ If there’s anything you can learn from nature, it’s that time slippage can be mortifying. Literally. 30-60 mins scrolling on social media/YouTube. The time you never get back and regret later on.
Time slippage and time credit
Most humans live on credit. You live on credit without knowing it.
I wish I were just talking about credit card bills or financial responsibilities.
If you’ve ever lived on credit, you know how time slips slowly. Each day. Each moment.
Credit is the “living in the moment” way for a human with low resources:
- Time to be you → Guilt of doing too little
- Time to be healthy → Poor choices made in a mindset of lack
- Time to be upskilling → Self-toxic decisions made in the name of being “productive”
- Time for family and responsibilities → Working hourly for more money (why 9 to 5s are villainized – rightly so in some cases)
You can quickly lose track of time and time travel to the future doing any of these.
The choices you make have consequences. The time you take on credit has interest costs as a loss down the line:
- Health credit → Pay for it with guilt in the short period you ignore them for. Pay for it with diseases earlier than necessary as the hidden cost.
- Time credit → Your time is limited. Each second and hour you spend traveling to the future is time you spend on credit. You didn’t lose time or waste time; you spent it on credit.
- Financial credit → Every time you decide you need something materialistic, you need more “time” than is “allowed” in your existing resources and run on financial credit.
- Sanity credit → This is the credit you take when you spend time comparing yourself with others, your past, who didn’t know better. You also spend sanity credit each time you time travel to the future.
How do you stop living on time credit?
Time perception and measuring are the most important aspects of human lives.
Without self-analysis and awareness, you descend into madness, chaos, or even worse — unlimited time credit.
Are you out of time credit? Do you feel like you have a timer that dictates every aspect of your waking life?
→ You must do X tasks by Y time—healthy, expected behavior.
What if your timer’s click were loud?
→ X→Y→Z→? tasks by Y time. Each task needs to be done for a particular goal in your mind’s reality.
The logical way is first to find a way to optimize your credit steps in priority:
- Health credit
- Sanity credit
- Financial credit
The problem with most people today is they’re focusing on prioritizing financial credit as priority 1.
Health and sanity credit can be swapped out based on the phase of your life.
You have it in you to overcome anything and everything.
You have the ability to optimize everything. But it all starts with health—a healthy mind and a healthy body.
The gym can solve most of your problems. I’m as tired of “extreme gym bro” takes, but hear me out:
Introvert → Connect with people you see every day. Who knew real-life connections could be healthy? It’s a mystery.
Unfit → Most of us face mental and physical obesity at one point in our lives. Although mental obesity can be caused by many factors, the mind needs serotonin to clear mental fat. Your body needs to produce its own chemical mix to dissolve that extra energy and burn fat.
Low self-esteem → Build it each day with a win. A win for your mind’s success. It is a win for your body’s success and a win for yourself for a different you each day.
Time travel, in the metaphorical sense, isn’t inherently wrong.
Planning for the future and reflecting on the past are necessary tools for growth.
But living too much in the future—always thinking of what comes next—costs you the present.
The Nomad Script: Exploration and Stopping Time
When was the last time you engaged in a hobby?
When did you last pause to talk to someone in real life? Really talk and look someone in their eyes? Not in a chat on a screen!
When was the last time you felt your days weren’t running out?
Future time travel with your eyes closed is costing you your happiness, your sanity, your health.
Stop it with this simple change you can do in 30 minutes:
- Explore nature
That’s it. That’s all you need to do in 30 minutes.
Start with ONE type of nature.
- You can start with your nature first
- You can start with external nature after self-exploration
- You can start with world exploration with books, long-form content like this one. Movies, story-based video games
- You can start with finding yourself in your long-lost hobby again.
All it takes is to START with 30 minutes – no distractions, no explanation, no multi interest exploration.
You can slow down time with 30 minutes.
All it takes is exploration into something new. New for your sanity, new for your body, new for your mind.
Look forward to more of The Nomad Script to find balance and write your own story – in the here and now every Saturday.
Because you only have the time you have – here and now.