Designing Your Own Meditation and Gratitude Exercise

I tried every meditation and gratitude exercise.

It was ok but nothing game-changing.

So I designed my own via first principles -- I find it 10x better.

Here's how it works: pic.twitter.com/JoKOPq83eW

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

Here's what I felt was missing from meditation and gratitude:

1. Change behavior - Action > Feels.

2. Long-term thinking - Take a longer-term approach to worldviews.

3. View self in 3rd person - View self more objectively —psychedelics without the downsides of drugs.

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

Disclaimers:

1. This must be done alone as it requires intense visualization.

2. Don't start the exercise until you've focused on breathing for 20 reps.

Ready?

Let's begin...

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

MACK MEDITATION:

You wake up.

Your current life scrolling Twitter was just a dream.

The actual reality:

You live in a care home.

You are your 90-year-old self — but if the worst version of yourself controlled your entire life. pic.twitter.com/BrLadwsKij

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

Your entire life was run by your worst personality traits:

• Ego
• Fear
• Pride
• Envy
• Greed
• Narcissism
• Procrastination
• {Insert your own worst traits}

All your time is spent in regret replaying mistakes

You never took a risk or listened to your gut. pic.twitter.com/1S7zeQ2YQ4

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

You pushed your family and friends away.

The lazy care home team never checks in on you.

Every part of your old body aches like you’ve run a marathon.

Your left eye no longer works.

You've lost one of your hearing aids.

You try to get out of bed.

You collapse to the floor. pic.twitter.com/s2A91Q5JnR

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

You crawl into your wheelchair.

In front of you is a giant clock:

This clock has 5 minutes left on it.

Above the clock, there are 7 words:

"HOW LONG YOU HAVE LEFT TO LIVE"

Your heart sinks further.

All the regrets get more intense and vivid. pic.twitter.com/PSYEq4YRhv

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

*BANG BANG BANG*

There's a knock at the door.

You wheel across in your wheelchair.

It requires all your body's strength to open the door.

As the door opens, an overwhelming golden glow appears like opening the suitcase in Pulp Fiction... pic.twitter.com/pZZ6gk7vPJ

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

Staring back at you is a person you recognize...

It's you.

But the person you could've become.

It's the version of you if your best self made all your decisions.

They are 90 years old — but they look so much younger than you.

With a massive smile on their face. pic.twitter.com/IbTPdMMbpt

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

Your best self tells you stories of the fantastic life they had.

• The risks they took
• The magic moments
• The memories with friends and family

Where you zigged, they zagged

Your envy is overwhelming

You'd do anything to go back in time

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

Rage kicks in.

You ask your best self to shut up...

You then look over at the clock on the wall.

It has 30 seconds left. You're about to die.

Fear and regret intensify.

The best version of yourself is about to leave the room.

Before they go, they say... pic.twitter.com/G9zleypk6u

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

“I’ve got good news. I can send you back in time. But you have to promise me this...

Write down an action you’ll do today that involves your best self — and an action to avoid your worst self"

You shake hands, sign a contract and promise to schedule it in your calendar.

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

He opens his time machine...

WHAM. You’re back in the present moment

You're the person that 90-year-old self was desperate to be

You have a clear list of actions and when you’re going to do them today.

Open your eyes and write down the agreement

The end.

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

6 reasons why I love this exercise:

1. Life as a video game

The rest of the day feels like you're playing a game of Sims

On your left shoulder, your 90-year-old worst self

On your right shoulder, your 90-year-old best self

You can pick which character to listen to

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

2. Action based

There's a clear behavioral change you can make today.

It looks to change traits (actions you take) than states (how you feel).

Action requires fuel -- and the emotion felt gives you a full V5 engine of fuel.

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

3. Personalisation

It’s personalized to the individual's mind

One person may deeply regret not chasing their ambitions

The other may regret being too career-focused and not spending enough time with friends and family

There's no right or wrong way

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

4. Positive use of envy

It uses envy as a rare force for good: Envy of the person you could become.

Rather than classical envy for other people, which plagues modern society.

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

5. Long-term thinking

Humans really struggle with long-term thinking.

Being able to project forward to 90 years old helps zoom out of present-day you.

You can see things a lot clearer in this state.

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

6. Psychedelics with capped risks

You get some of the upsides of taking mushrooms or LSD (e.g. Seeing yourself in a detached 3rd person frame)

Without the clear downsides that may come with these substances.

That's a massive win.

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

PS. If you enjoyed this, join 30K+ people in my Clouds & Dirt newsletter.

Clouds = Theory / Big Questions

Dirt = Practice / Tacticshttps://t.co/du72StsxKu

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023

I had many inspirations for this piece -- too many to name them all. Biggest ones:

• Roy from Rick and Morty
• Nietzche's Eternal Recurrence
• Jeff Bezos' Regret Minimisation Framework

— George Mack (@george__mack) April 17, 2023