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Hey friend,

The freedom you’re seeking isn't ahead of you. It’s behind the illusion that something’s missing.

High performers are masters of forward motion.
Set the goal. Scale the mountain. Achieve. Make the tshirt. Repeat.

That works, until it doesn’t. Until the very drive that got you “here” becomes the reason you can’t relax, can’t land, can’t stop.

Because the chase doesn’t end when the result arrives.
It ends when the identity of the chaser dissolves.

The Trap:

Most personal development reinforces the chase.
It offers more “hacks” and “levels” and “breakthroughs” to reach some imagined future you.

“If I just meditate more, reprogram deeper, visualize harder, go to a shaman in Peru… I’ll finally be at peace.”

But here’s the contradiction no one wants to say out loud:
If you’re chasing peace… you’re already not peaceful.
If you’re seeking wholeness… you’re already reinforcing your incompleteness.

This is the paradox that keeps most high performers stuck.
They’re trying to earn what can only be recognized.

The Neuroscience:

The brain’s predictive machinery is designed to anticipate threats and solve problems.
But it doesn’t know how to turn itself off.
So even when you reach the goal, the mind invents the next one. And the next. And the next.

This is called the “hedonic treadmill.”
It’s not a bug. It’s the default mode network doing its job which is protecting a survival-based identity.

If your identity is “the one who gets better,” you’ll need to stay broken.
If your identity is “the one who seeks,” you’ll need to stay unfulfilled.

The Flip:

But, what if there’s nothing to chase?

What if the very urge to optimize, fix, or transcend or whatever… is itself the block?

This is where understanding “oneness” throws a wrench in the whole game:

There is no separate “you” who needs to become anything.

You are not the story of improvement.
You are not the one doing the seeking.
You are underlying awareness that already whole, already still that is watching it all unfold.

The chase… it was just a habit.
A beautifully conditioned loop determined by your nervous system.
But it doesn’t serve.

The Practice:

Stop.
Right now.

Notice the movement of the mind: the next thing it wants to fix, upgrade, achieve.
Don’t fight it. Just watch it, like traffic passing by on a freeway.

Now ask:

Who is watching the chase?

Not the character trying to arrive.
But the awareness that sees even that character.

Rest there.

Stay empty.

The Reflection Prompt:

If I never changed another thing about myself… what would still be true?

Your future self is not a project. It’s a phantom.

The only “you” that’s real… is the one reading this sentence.
Not the one you’re trying to become.
The one you already are before the chase begins.

Take a nice deep breath. You’ve already arrived.
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Now Enjoy!

Nic

PS. Want to better understand how to break these phantom loops? Join the Neuroscience of Change - an online program rewiring what’s really running you. Name your own price (Pay What You Can) to get your hands on this powerful program.

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