We’ve been sold a beautiful lie.

You know the one.
We all know it.

Work hard. Play nice. Do your reps.
Earn your stripes. Level up. Follow the formula.
Keep calm and carry on.
And one day, if you’re good enough,
if you work hard enough,
if you sacrifice enough,
you just might get…

There.

You’ll own the thing.
Be given the title.
You’ll get the life you were promised all those years ago.

You’ll finally feel how you’ve always wanted to feel.

Happy. Content. Inspired. Free.

Alive.

If you can hang on for long enough.
Push yourself far enough.
Produce more than enough of the good stuff.
Then…and only then…you’ll feel it.

By then, you will have earned it.
By then, you’ll deserve it.

But here’s what no one told you…

Aliveness isn’t an outcome.

It’s the origin.

It’s not a result. It’s a resource.
Aliveness doesn’t arrive at the end.
It’s what gets you going in the beginning.
It’s not the product of success.
It’s what makes success possible.

Read that again!

What a relief.
What a gift!
What a paradigm shift!!!

We can stop chasing aliveness over there and start cultivating it right here.

We can stop waiting to feel alive, and start working on coming alive!
We can stop believing that success guards aliveness,
and start remembering that aliveness is the gateway to success.

When we accept that aliveness, isn’t a bonus, it’s a beginning,
the success we’ve been taught to want starts to look different.
And without effort or alarm, we start to move toward the kind of success that actually matters.

The kind that tastes good in your mouth.

The kind you feel in your bones when you wake up, not just when you cross the finish line.
The kind that whispers of a world you may have forgotten, but could never forget you.
The kind that is collective and abundant and deliciously fun.

The only problem is…

Somewhere along the way…

We made a trade.

We swapped our aliveness for a sense of achievement.
We sold our wild sensory intelligence for someone else’s sanitised strategy.
We abandoned our innate, intuitive instincts so we could better fit in,
and be liked and get invited to parties.

It’s not our fault.
It’s just what happened.

And no one questioned it.
I mean not really.
At least not until recently.

Because the results looked great on paper.
And sounded great at parties.
Especially when telling someone you barely know that you own the thing,
you’ve got the title, and you’re living the life that you were promised all those years ago.

Except life doesn’t come alive on paper.

Or in an instagram feed. Or behind the envious eyes of your closest allies.

It comes alive in first few bars of Whitney Housten’s ‘I have nothing’.
It comes alive the moment you say yes to something outrageous that makes no commercial sense.
It comes alive in your belly when you let yourself laugh from there.
It comes alive in your tears when you shed them publicly and don’t apologise.

It comes alive when you stop chasing a better life,
and start waking up inside the one you have.

Here’s the best bit!
When you let yourself be moved by your life,
your life starts to move.

And when you start to come alive at work,
your work starts to come alive.

So here’s the invitation.

For the next five minutes.

Or for the rest of the day, or heck, the rest of your life!!!

Start with aliveness.
Make sure aliveness comes first.

Not with a bang.
Or a bold declaration.
But with a gentle, reckless yes.

With a laugh too loud.
With a truth that liberates your team.
Wear the shirt that makes you feel dangerous.
Let your body choose the playlist.
Let your soul finish the sentence.

Remember—Aliveness isn’t a luxury.
It’s not something you earn.
It’s not the thing you get when you’re worthy.
It’s the thing that helps you remember you already are.
You have everything you need.
And the world wants all of us to win.

In my 44 years of experience, one of the coolest things I’ve learnt is…

If you start living like you’re really alive, your life will start to believe you.

Shall we do it together?