You’re chasing the wrong carrot.
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Hey Reader,
I’ve been thinking a lot about how we define “time.”
I’m reading this book Four Thousand Weeks right now. Solid read so far. Totally lines up with what I talk about on the channel: productivity is mostly busy work, and the real skill is learning to prioritize and focus on the right things.
There’s this quote from Alan Watts in the book that is a banger:
Take education. What a hoax. As a child, you are sent to nursery school. In nursery school, they say you are getting ready to go on to kindergarten. And then first grade is coming up, and second grade, and third grade….
In high school, they tell you you’re getting ready for college. And in college, you’re getting ready to go out into the business world.
[People are] like donkeys running after carrots that are hanging in front of their faces from sticks attached to their own collars.
They are never here.
They never get there.
They are never alive.
We’re conditioned from day one to see time as something we control. Something we own. Get through today so you can win tomorrow.
That mindset: “when I finally…” turns every single day into an obstacle. A hurdle between you and the fantasy moment when your life actually starts.
Finish school, then life begins. Get the job, then you’re set. Hit the 1M, then you’ll be happy.
Except it never works like that. You hit the goal and immediately create a new carrot. And if there’s anything life the last few years has taught me it’s this: the treadmill doesn’t stop, it speeds up.
The trap isn’t that we’re bad at managing time. It’s that we were taught to see it as something to “get through” in the first place.
So here’s the real question: what carrot are you actually chasing?
Because most of us don’t even know. We just know we’re not there yet. Wherever “there” is.
Which brings me to something I’ve been using to figure that out.
The Jealousy Audit
Here’s a counterintuitive exercise that almost always reveals something powerful. Every time I do this it leads to breakthroughs.
Make a list of 10 people you feel envy, jealousy, or irritation toward.
Next to each name, write why they bother you.
But here’s the key: You’re not judging the person, you’re identifying the quality that triggers you.
Examples:
- Fitness influencer always posting gym selfies
- Entrepreneur flexing luxury possessions
- Coworker who acts overly confident in meetings
- Friend who travels constantly
- Creator with “basic” advice that somehow gets massive traction
- Person with a huge platform saying nothing new
- Someone younger than you already further ahead
- Guy who overshares personal life online
- Girl who’s effortlessly likable
- That YouTuber who won’t shut up about their success
At first these look like complaints. But nine times out of ten, they’re clues.
You don’t necessarily want their exact life, but you do want the part of yourself they’re expressing.
Maybe you don’t care about a million followers, but you do want a voice. A platform. Permission to share what you think.
Maybe you’d never buy the car someone’s flexing, but you admire the freedom that kind of self-generated income represents.
Maybe you roll your eyes at their “generic” advice, but deep down you know there’s real power in explaining complex things simply.
One interesting note: fMRI studies show love and hate light up the same brain regions. The people who trigger you are often revealing something you’re longing to unlock in yourself.
So what if jealousy isn’t a flaw, but information?
After all, anytime you point a finger, there’s one pointing back at you.
Everyone you judge is a mirror, reflecting the parts of yourself you’re finally ready to reclaim.
And unlike Watts’ donkey you get to choose which carrot is actually worth chasing.
See you next saturday,
CK 🥕
