WARNING: this is HARD and amazing!
cold showers in week 1 were brutal.
learning Bulgarian in week 2 was overwhelming.
but sitting in a room doing absolutely nothing in week 8 is… strange.
this week I'm doing up to 7 hours of complete silence and boredom on Sunday. no phone, no music, no books, no distractions, in 1 room.
just me and whatever my mind decides to think. To show you a unique brain reset experiment.
And I hope you will try it too, because it will be a MAJOR improvement to your life.
Let me tell you what happened so far:
day 1: one hour in a small room
restless. twitchy. my hand kept reaching for a phone that wasn't in my pocket.
sixty minutes felt like half a day. but I made it.
Proof:
day 2: two hours in a big room
worse than day one. my brain started inventing reasons to stop. "you should check your email." "this is pointless." "you have things to do." none of it was true.
the dopamine fried brain just hates silence.
Proof:
day 3: three hours. this is where it got… strange.
the first hour was fine. I knew what to expect. hour two was the worst yet. pure mental resistance. every minute felt heavy.
then something broke around the 2.5-hour mark.
the last 30 minutes felt like floating. no anxiety. no tension. my mind went completely clean. not empty, just clear. like everything that had been buzzing in the background for weeks just melted away.
and here's the part I wasn't ready for: it lasted.
I had client calls after. work to do. normal stressful stuff. but I was just balanced. calm. present. for hours. I genuinely don't remember the last time I felt like that. maybe years.
Proof:
day 4: one hour of deep meditation
this morning I tried something different. instead of sitting passively, I did one hour of intense meditation. no movement at all. just deep breathing.
it felt like I compressed those three hours of silence into 60 minutes. same clarity, same calm, but faster and more intense. like my brain is learning how to get to that place more efficiently.
which confirms to me that this is actually a trainable skill for you and me.
(i’ll post later today the 1 min video summary)
what's actually happening in your brain
this isn't a mental trick.
when you remove all external input, your brain switches from consumption mode to processing mode. it starts consolidating. organizing. cleaning up.
it's the same reason sleep is critical for learning. your brain needs downtime without new information coming in. we just never give it that during waking hours anymore.
think about it: when was the last time you sat with zero input for even ten minutes? no podcast in the background, no music, no scrolling while waiting in line.
for most of us the answer is NEVER in the last 10-15 years.
our brains are running on 100% input, 0% processing, all day every day.
that lightness I felt after three hours is what a fully processed brain feels like. and I think most of us have forgotten it exists….
the plan from here
tomorrow: mediation up to 2 hours. saturday: 3.5 hours in the big room. the halfway point to train for Sunday.
Sunday: 7 hours. the full challenge.
I'm considering livestreaming the entire sunday attempt. seven hours of a man sitting in a room doing nothing, live on camera. you could join for 5 minutes or 5 hours.
the point isn't to watch me. the point is to try it with me.
more details on that coming saturday.
YOUR challenge: the 7-minute test
I'm not asking you to do 3 hours. not yet.
I'm asking you to try 7 minutes. right now. after you finish reading this.
put your phone in another room. sit down. set a timer if you have to, but then don't touch it. no music. no fidgeting. no "productive thinking." just exist for 7 minutes.
then notice how you feel after.
if 7 minutes was easy, try 70 tomorrow. that's where it gets real.
reply and tell me how long you lasted. I want to know.
If you missed week 7, HERE is the free guide to learn 10x faster, or click the image:
Reply to this email with all your questions, comments, or tips, I will answer.
Or share with friends who want to join and grow.
- Alex
