Rebooting gave me space, the map gave me direction, and decluttering gave me focus.
Written by: Ryan Adams
Translated by: Luffy, Foresight News
This story may help some overachievers obsessed with striving.
At the end of January this year, after five years of ups and downs in the crypto media field and experiencing public outcry once again, I realized I had "crashed." My mental system seemed to collapse, and I felt exhausted.
So I left. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I would come back. Fortunately, I healed my burnout, and my thinking improved. Here, I want to share my healing process.
Reboot
The first step was brutal but necessary: I canceled all commitments.
No podcast recordings, no meetings, no work. I canceled all commitments, disappointed my partners, and let opportunities slip away. I cleared 90 days of appointments from my calendar.
This was not a brave or rational choice, but an emotional "margin call." I knew stopping everything would be painful, but I had to do it. At the moment of hitting rock bottom, the system automatically shut down.
If you are a "striver," you understand this pattern: high perseverance + low time preference = an endless cycle of hard work. Don't get trapped; embrace the reboot. Progress is cyclical; allow yourself to actively end a cycle instead of waiting for the system to force a shutdown.
Upgrade
Now I had time to diagnose the "bugs" and fix them one by one. I switched to "high autonomy mode" and started taking action.
1. I spent too much time online → I deleted all applications
I couldn't help but check social media, prices, Discord, or Telegram every 15 minutes. This was dopamine addiction: the pressure of "urgency," the fear of "missing out," and the fatigue of "seeking validation from algorithm-driven crowds." "Numbers up = new paradigm! Numbers down = scam!" The daily cycle made my brain noisy and restless.
So I treated myself like a child: I set screen time limits, stopped looking at charts, stopped reading news, and stopped scrolling social media. I ruthlessly deleted all applications. As a result, a week after Trump issued Meemcoin, I only learned about it from offline friends. I found that the world did not collapse because of it.
The first few days felt like detoxing, but I quickly returned to normal. My brain finally quieted down, and I could think again.
2. I lost my direction → I drew a new wealth map
"Freedom" was the original intention of my Bankless journey, and cryptocurrency was the "escape pod" from the disciplinary system. But at some point, I had tied myself to price charts. I forgot about satisfaction; once I reached a certain number, the goal would automatically shift. I was adding zeros to my account while losing everything else: a lack of time, thin relationships, scattered mind, and weakened body.
Every morning, a question flashed through my mind: "Why am I doing this?" When the internal GPS keeps recalibrating, it indicates that the map is outdated.
So I redefined "wealth." The "five types of wealth" proposed by Sahil Bloom gave me a new framework: time, social, mental, physical, and financial. A good life requires balancing these five types of wealth. I reflected: which areas were over-invested? Which were on the verge of "bankruptcy"?
I drew a new map: setting goals, habits, systems, and feedback loops, regularly "dollar-cost averaging" into those wealth buckets that were "on the verge of depletion." My wife and I defined our "sufficient amount"; once we reached that number, excess capital would be used for other forms of wealth. Money is a tool, not the game itself.
The result is a living system: when I deviate from the path, the "dashboard" sends alerts, and I automatically correct myself. This new map is the part of the entire reboot process with the highest ROI (return on investment).
3. I was exhausted → I stopped doing things
Obligations piled up like open browser tabs, and the hundred things I had committed to over the years drained my "system resources." The illusion of being an "overachiever" made me believe three lies:
Only I can do this;
If I don't do it, it won't get done;
Being busy is a good thing.
After 30 days of shutdown, it turned out to be quite the opposite. David Hoffman kept the podcast running, Bankless Ventures continued to invest, invoices were sent out as usual, income kept coming in, and newsletters were published. The world kept turning, which meant I could cut out those "non-essential tasks" without burden.
Now I operate on the principle of "energy accounting": if the consumption of a task exceeds the return, I delegate, automate, or delete it. I am left with two core roles: narrator and capital allocator, both of which belong to my "areas of genius."
Upgrading to Version 2.0
Rebooting gave me space, the map gave me direction, and decluttering gave me focus. This is my 2.0 "installation script." This downtime was worth it.
As for the future, stepping back allowed me to see the current state of cryptocurrency, Ethereum, and the trends of AI sweeping the world. These are topics I can't wait to explore in the coming months.
How fortunate it is to live in this era. We are still at the forefront, still doing "freedom technology," building true wealth.
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