imagine being completely alone on an
island for 48 hours and all you have is
an orange a bag of granola some water in
a sleeping bag that’s it
that means no phone no supervision and
no shelter to many of you this probably
sounds absolutely crazy and probably a
little bit terrifying but it was one of
the best experiences I’ve had and I
wasn’t doing this because I lost the bet
or I thought I could be a Navy SEAL for
the day
I was doing it as a requirement for my
semester abroad in the Bahamas now why
would any teacher make you spend two
days completely alone on an island like
many of you I love being with my friends
and I think it’s super convenient to
have my phone at all times to text my
parents for advice or Google anything
imaginable but I didn’t have this and so
I was pretty surprised when my teachers
told me it was gonna be an amazing two
days but at the end I realized I had
never been so productive before let me
tell you a little bit about my
experience first of all I had no prep
whatsoever I didn’t know where I would
be or what resources I would have so
when I was dropped off I was completely
on my own my first task was build a
shelter the problem was I had never
built a shelter before so I did what I
could
I found sticks I found buckets and I
found sand and I built what I called a
Cabana now it might not have looked like
any Cabana any of you have ever stayed
in but it was something to me because I
had made it all by myself and then of
course in the middle of the first night
the wind picked up and the entire Cabana
knocked down onto me so there I was
middle of the first night completely
alone and I had to brainstorm a new idea
so let me stop here for a second I’m
sure most of you are probably thinking
this sounds like a terrific experience
right I know when I tell my friends this
story they say why would you ever do
that and that’s because being alone
whether on an island or in your everyday
life can be an uncomfortable feeling and
in the digital age it’s become easier
than ever to avoid being alone how many
of you will take out your phone while
you’re sitting at a restaurant or
standing
I know I do in fact a psychology study
showed that when people who were alone
in a room with nothing but an electric
shock machine they chose to self
administer shock for a distraction I
imagine people will intentionally hurt
themselves just so they aren’t sitting
there alone and just thinking it sounds
pretty crazy to me but it’s because
being alone can be such an undesirable
feeling so back to the island
middle of the night entire shelter has
collapsed the cool thing is I made the
shelter myself and so I can fix it
myself
when I built it there was nobody there
watching me or making any comments about
any potential flaws so when it fell down
I had nothing to be embarrassed about
there was nobody judging me so I got
right back up and I built a new shelter
now this was pretty eye-opening to me
because I have to admit in groups I can
be a little bit self-conscious but
because I was alone I didn’t have to
worry about what anyone else was
thinking and even though I had no idea
how to build a shelter for some reason I
kind of did felt feel confident so I got
back up and I made my new shelter
psychologists have proven this over and
over again that self-esteem is boosted
when you’re pursuing something that
you’re really interested in with passion
and creativity and you’re a lot more
likely to pursue something you’re
interested in when you’re completely
alone you’re not worried about what your
friends or your family are thinking so
if you guys still aren’t convinced you
should spend more time alone let me give
you some cold facts first of all there
have been numerous studies done showing
being alone enhances your productivity
but there are also so many successful
people that have pointed to being alone
as why they’re so successful for example
Steve Wozniak co-founder of Apple has
said that all artists do their best work
in isolation Bob Dylan is one is one of
the best examples of this he wrote one
of his most famous songs completely
isolated in the cabin so the next time
you’re alone instead of scrambling to do
something take some time to be alone
because you might find you’re the most
productive and create
version of yourself
island for 48 hours and all you have is
an orange a bag of granola some water in
a sleeping bag that’s it
that means no phone no supervision and
no shelter to many of you this probably
sounds absolutely crazy and probably a
little bit terrifying but it was one of
the best experiences I’ve had and I
wasn’t doing this because I lost the bet
or I thought I could be a Navy SEAL for
the day
I was doing it as a requirement for my
semester abroad in the Bahamas now why
would any teacher make you spend two
days completely alone on an island like
many of you I love being with my friends
and I think it’s super convenient to
have my phone at all times to text my
parents for advice or Google anything
imaginable but I didn’t have this and so
I was pretty surprised when my teachers
told me it was gonna be an amazing two
days but at the end I realized I had
never been so productive before let me
tell you a little bit about my
experience first of all I had no prep
whatsoever I didn’t know where I would
be or what resources I would have so
when I was dropped off I was completely
on my own my first task was build a
shelter the problem was I had never
built a shelter before so I did what I
could
I found sticks I found buckets and I
found sand and I built what I called a
Cabana now it might not have looked like
any Cabana any of you have ever stayed
in but it was something to me because I
had made it all by myself and then of
course in the middle of the first night
the wind picked up and the entire Cabana
knocked down onto me so there I was
middle of the first night completely
alone and I had to brainstorm a new idea
so let me stop here for a second I’m
sure most of you are probably thinking
this sounds like a terrific experience
right I know when I tell my friends this
story they say why would you ever do
that and that’s because being alone
whether on an island or in your everyday
life can be an uncomfortable feeling and
in the digital age it’s become easier
than ever to avoid being alone how many
of you will take out your phone while
you’re sitting at a restaurant or
standing
I know I do in fact a psychology study
showed that when people who were alone
in a room with nothing but an electric
shock machine they chose to self
administer shock for a distraction I
imagine people will intentionally hurt
themselves just so they aren’t sitting
there alone and just thinking it sounds
pretty crazy to me but it’s because
being alone can be such an undesirable
feeling so back to the island
middle of the night entire shelter has
collapsed the cool thing is I made the
shelter myself and so I can fix it
myself
when I built it there was nobody there
watching me or making any comments about
any potential flaws so when it fell down
I had nothing to be embarrassed about
there was nobody judging me so I got
right back up and I built a new shelter
now this was pretty eye-opening to me
because I have to admit in groups I can
be a little bit self-conscious but
because I was alone I didn’t have to
worry about what anyone else was
thinking and even though I had no idea
how to build a shelter for some reason I
kind of did felt feel confident so I got
back up and I made my new shelter
psychologists have proven this over and
over again that self-esteem is boosted
when you’re pursuing something that
you’re really interested in with passion
and creativity and you’re a lot more
likely to pursue something you’re
interested in when you’re completely
alone you’re not worried about what your
friends or your family are thinking so
if you guys still aren’t convinced you
should spend more time alone let me give
you some cold facts first of all there
have been numerous studies done showing
being alone enhances your productivity
but there are also so many successful
people that have pointed to being alone
as why they’re so successful for example
Steve Wozniak co-founder of Apple has
said that all artists do their best work
in isolation Bob Dylan is one is one of
the best examples of this he wrote one
of his most famous songs completely
isolated in the cabin so the next time
you’re alone instead of scrambling to do
something take some time to be alone
because you might find you’re the most
productive and create
version of yourself
Please follow and like us: