Last night, I lay awake for three hours, unable to fall back asleep. I had many thoughts. Only one of them was interesting: “All these thoughts, my entire reality, is coming out of my brain.” Every moment I spent worrying, every idea I had, every story I told myself and every random rabbit hole I chased down in those three hours — it all started from a three-pound lump of flesh between my ears. Fascinating, isn’t it?

It made me wonder how the damn thing keeps going. Not just restlessly during those three hours, but consistently every day. How can one tiny, organic machine create billions of worlds, one for each of us, and then continue to evolve that world thought by thought, second by second, for decades? Talk about a supercomputer. And yet, I seem to have so little control over it.

“If I could get this thing to settle down, I’d be sound asleep again in a minute. Shouldn’t I be able to do that? Just tell it to calm down and go back to sleep?” I think I should. I think everyone should. Good tools come with manuals, don’t they? Why not this one? Why can’t it work out of the box?

What’s more, I’ve meditated every day for the last four and a half years. Isn’t that how we’re supposed to get more control? Wasn’t that enough training? Apparently not — because the tool is actually an ally with a mind of its own, quite literally, in this case — and the training never ends.

I don’t wish sleepless nights upon anyone, but know that sleepless nights are not the end of the line. They’re simply your strongest comrade-in-arms having a hard time. You can show him or her compassion. You can try to coax them into settling down. But you can’t make them do everything you want, and that’s a struggle you share with eight billion other souls on this planet.

Keep training your brain, but most of all, remember to respect, love, and care for it.

Yesterday, my grandfather told me that his great-grandfather, a man who must have been born around the year 1870, used to do a lot of walking. The Franco-Prussian war had just ended, and there wasn’t always a lot of work to go around in his tiny village.

Skilled at playing the violin, he offered to give lessons to folks in the city, which they gladly took him up on. There was only one problem: The city was 15 kilometers away, and cars wouldn’t even be invented until 1886, let alone mass-produced and affordable. So he walked. That’s an eight-hour round trip for perhaps an hour or two of paid employment. But back in the day, that’s how it worked.

My grandparents did a little less walking but still quite a lot. Grandma routinely walked three kilometers to catch the train to Kaiserslautern, a bigger city with more opportunities to work. She remembers ladies with egg baskets sitting next to her, carrying a hundred of them on a two-hour commute just to get to the market and sell their wares.

Grandma also walked to and from school, of course, and by the time she got home, it was often early afternoon. “Today we’re harvesting potatoes,” her father might have said, so off to the field everyone went. After a few hours of digging, it may have been grandma’s turn to feed the horses, and then, well, “Remember to do your homework!” That’s one of the few things that has stayed the same across her generation and mine: Every morning on the bus, someone was trying to finish their assignments.

I only walk to work when I want to. A 15-minute walk to WeWork used to be a planned and welcome luxury for me. Now, with an office in my apartment, I don’t have to leave the house at all. I might go on a stroll after lunch or meet a friend for some co-working, but by and large, my commute is zero minutes, zero kilometers. What a long way we’ve come — literally!

I’m not the perfect grandson by any means, but whenever I do spend time with my “elders,” I realize that much of my comfort ultimately goes back to their commitment. It is their steps that led to decent work, decent pay, and the decent life my parents enjoyed, their sacrifice in turn enabling my sister and I to live even more “decently.”

Of course, modern work also has its challenges and demands. Some might prefer a daily four-hour hike to endless Slack messages and brain-draining meetings. But good things happen when we mind our elders, and bad things when we don’t.

Every day, you can turn on the news and see some warlord or dictator somewhere, driving their country into ruin and suffering under the pretense of eternal glory. When you google their names, you might find the year they were born, and when you see the number, you may realize they appeared just in time to forget the lessons of their forebears. How could a child born into prosperity post-WWII possibly know about the dangers and pain of countries fighting? Often, they can’t, and that’s why some come to believe that it’s a perfectly sensible thing to try.

Whatever your ancestors can teach you, every now and then, go out of your way to remember it. It may not even be a literal detour you’ll have to make, and it’ll likely save you plenty of walking down the road.

I have a million things to do and don’t know where to start. So, instead of doing any of them, I cleaned out my parents’ TV cabinet.

Behind the two glass doors, I found old DVDs, some custom-burned CDs — one with a broken case — and dust. Lots and lots of dust. I took out the movies, checked the web to see if they’re worth anything, and chucked a good 80% of them into the trash. I removed the plastic splinters from the broken case, rearranged everything, and wiped away the dust.

After I closed the glass doors again, I, too, felt a bit cleaner. Calmer. More organized. I still won’t be able to do everything on my list today, but I’ve since managed to do some of it without freaking out — and that’s worth more than the best plan that never gets put into action.

When you don’t know what to do, clean something. Folding the chaos in a battle you know you can win might not end the war, but it’s enough of a morale boost for you to keep fighting the good fight.

It’s a great question — mostly if you answer it without overthinking. What are a few simple tenets that come to mind? Don’t try to articulate a perfectly thought out theory. Don’t look for something complicated. List the rules that first pop into your head. Chances are, if your subconscious has them locked and loaded, they’re the ones who most affect your behavior from one day to the next.

Here are some of mine:

1. Work hard. Effort is not everything, but without effort, nothing turns into anything.
2. Be nice. Hard work is not an excuse to be a mean person. It may separate you from some people, but it doesn’t elevate you above anyone. Treat everyone with kindness and respect.
3. Be as honest as you can. Nobody makes it through life without lying, but only lie if you must — and when you do, do it for the right reasons.
4. Whatever you are, be a good one. It’s okay to only be a few things. A supportive partner. A generous mom. An available friend. No one can be all of those at once, but everyone can be one of them on any given day.
5. Don’t worry. It might sound impossible, but you used to do it, remember? In fact, you used to be completely unable to worry about the future. Tomorrow is only scary if you think about it too much. Instead, how about you…
6. Enjoy the moment. Presence solves nearly all problems, because right now, most of them don’t exist. Savor whatever you can savor that’s right in front of you, and live one minute, one hour, one day at a time.
7. Have no expectations. To most people, the phrase “low expectations” has a bad connotation. They think it means waiting for failure or a bad experience. To me, “low expectations” sounds wonderful. When you go in without demands, everything becomes a pleasant surprise. But if you can and prefer, have no expectations. Don’t make plans for how things should go at all when approaching any particular situation. Resolve to let life play out as it intends to, and you’ll stay open to new paths while handling outcomes the way they ask to be handled — because you’ll wait until you actually know what they’re about.

What is your basic life philosophy? It’s a great question to answer in writing, revisit, and compare notes every year, but most importantly, just ask it. Even if you answer only in your head, you’ll learn something about yourself — from how you see the world to how far you’ve come and where you’d like to go.

What is your basic life philosophy?

The Kinder Überraschungsei, which translates to “Kid’s Surprise Egg,” is one of Germany’s most popular sweets for children. It’s an actual egg made of two thin layers of white and milk chocolate, wrapped in a fine, colorful aluminum foil. When you break the egg’s two halves apart, inside, there’s a little plastic container that holds a toy.

Usually, the toy is some kind of gimmick. It might be a little plastic car you must assemble from three parts, perhaps with some stickers to put on. It could also be a puzzle or an animal. But sometimes, if you’re lucky, you’ll get a figurine. The figurines are high-quality, made from one piece, and there’s always a set of several of them to collect. I still remember the slogan: “In every seventh egg!”

Today, I was strolling through a small town that reminded me of the place we used to live in when I was eight. Suddenly, Kinder Überraschungseier popped back into my head. Next to the little town square, there was a grocery store. It was less than a ten-minute walk from my house. So, often, the neighbor’s kids and I went there and hunted for Kinder figurines.

We went into the store, counted the eggs on display, and picked every seventh one. We shook them and listened, trying to determine whether the egg contained multiple small parts or just one heavy piece. We even figured out that you could weigh them on the scale designated for fruits and veggies, and that there was a sweet spot where it was most likely you’d get a figurine. 32 grams, by the way.

After I returned home that night, I happened to browse my go-to classifieds platform for deals on Pokémon cards. I found some underpriced offers and saved them for later, and I realized: Finding a no-brainer deal on Pokémon cards now gives me the same feeling opening a Kinder Egg and discovering a figurine used to give me a quarter-century ago. Everything has changed, and yet, I’m still a collector. Always have been, it seems.

It’s nice to discover what has been there all along — but sometimes, ironically, that requires trying something new. Yes, always continue to reinvent yourself, but remember that finding yourself is also a job that never ends.

A friend of mine wants to build a cabin out in nature to rent out and maybe even turn into a full-blown lifestyle brand business later. At our annual Mastermind meeting with another friend, we convinced him to shoot some video footage of our AirBnB. They’re walking through the house right now, and he’s narrating as he goes along.

At first, he wasn’t so convinced of the idea. “Maybe you’ll use it for a Youtube channel to start growing the brand,” I said. “Maybe you’ll use it as a reference while constructing your own cabin later,” the other friend said. Our friend is camera-shy and doesn’t love talking on video either. It took some nudging, but eventually, he went for it. I’m 100% sure he’ll be glad he did it later — even if all he does is watch the video back one more time and feel proud of his accomplishment.

Even for the projects and work you’re excited to begin, not every part will be easy. Not every step will feel comfortable. But what you can always take comfort in is the chance that you might be glad you did it later on. Often, that expectation alone creates some of the effect.

It’s okay to be nervous when stepping into the unknown. But as long as you can see a glimmer of potential in there, try to take the step anyway. You may not feel like a fish in water now, but you might be glad later — and sometimes, that has to be enough.

Years ago, a friend told me about a successful entrepreneur who had moved to our tiny village. “He sold his last company, and he wants to start his next one right away!” he told me. My friend helped him set up a stunning website showcasing his latest creation: Swiss cheese fondue to go.

The product came in a custom carton box, complete with bread, spices, and a microwaveable container. The idea? Heat the box in the microwave for just two minutes, then get to enjoy authentic Swiss fondue in a small portion.

I remember how impressed I was by the whole thing when my friend first told me about it. So was he, I think, and his respect for the guy was contagious. Here was this guy who, already successful, came to a new place and committed in a big way. The entrepreneur bought a small old workshop 50 meters from our house and transformed it into a fondue factory. In the winter, he held weekly dinner events there. The local newspaper featured him in a story. You could even order the boxes online!

But winter came and went, and every time I walked by the factory, it seemed to be a little less active than before. One day, the red, branded cars he had parked in front of there disappeared. The last post on their Facebook page appeared less than 18 months after they had started. When I last checked the now-defunct website, he had pivoted to providing fondue for other restaurants. But now? It’s been a few years, and…silence.

There are a lot of lessons in this story. About not being impressed too easily. About words like “successful,” “sold,” “featured,” and even “entrepreneur” having near-infinite ranges of what they might mean. About how tough the food industry is, how hard it is to repeat past success, and how bad timing can kill the best idea.

Perhaps the most important lesson of all, however, is one that will never stop ringing in my ears because my parents repeated it so many times when I was younger: Everyone uses water to boil.

It’s a German saying, and it means there are no magicians among us. Whoever they are, whatever they are trying to do, every person will use all the skills and resources they have to accomplish their goals. No more, no less — and sometimes, those skills and resources simply aren’t enough.

Even the world’s richest man can’t warp humanity to Mars with a snap of his fingers. He must painstakingly build the technology it’ll take to carry us there, and he might not live to see it done.

Beware the person with an all-too-impressive resumé, but most of all, beware your own belief that you might have grown wings overnight. Everyone uses water to boil, and whether it’s cheese fondue or rocket science we’re trying to cook, we can’t bend the laws of the universe to hit the right temperature any faster — and in some cases, we can’t hit it without burning our hands at all.

Shinra Kusakabe is a firefighter. But not any firefighter. He fights both with and against fire. In the world of Special Fire Force Company 8, humans spontaneously combust — and while some learn to control their flames, others succumb to them and must be, well, put out.

Shinra hopes to be in the former category, and while the young hothead’s fiery feet have already proven powerful, he must tame them if he is to ever stand up to his biggest enemies. During one training session, Shinra tries to bundle and concentrate the flames shooting from his heels while hovering in the air — and promptly falls on his ass. He briefly reflects on his mistakes, but then Shinra concludes: “Hmm, thinking won’t get me anywhere. Just don’t give up. Best I try again right away!”

Shinra’s colleague, the scientist Viktor Licht, watches him from the sidelines. Living up to his last name, he enlightens a fellow observer: “He’s clever. Most problems are solved solely by the decision whether you’ll do something about them or not. At first, you simply have to start and experiment. Otherwise you’ll never find out what you really need to think about. Solving problems is hard because you need to try lots of different things.”

If a challenge has been staring you in the face for quite some time, chances are, you no longer need to wait for lightning to strike. You already know you don’t know the answer. So for better or worse, you’ll just have to get going. It’s courage, not cleverness, that’s required.

Once you start throwing ideas and effort at a problem, it’s tough skin begins to soften. Sooner or later, it will show a crack. That’s what you’re really looking for: the solution you can’t know about until you’ve tried all the ones that won’t work.

A firefighter can’t think about how to best extinguish a blazing inferno when he’s standing right in front of it. He’ll just have to grab his gear, run towards the flames, and try. Don’t overthink what can’t be accomplished with thinking at all. If you truly want to solve your problems, start.

There’s rest, and there’s “rest.” The former is when you’re not only committed to relaxing but also spending your recovery time doing actually restorative things. A walk without music. A long shower. Watching a whole movie without checking your phone. It’s rare, isn’t it? Perhaps a bit too rare, maybe?

I, too, spend way too much time “resting” the latter way: You’re not doing anything productive, but you’re still busy. Your brain is on. Your mind is racing. You’re speed-tapping through Youtube videos, trying to get smarter from a podcast while cooking, or incessantly checking the news for no reason. That’s not rest. It’s a different kind of exhaustion.

You can’t always rest when you want to, but you can cultivate a calm mind that’ll stay level even in difficult situations. In order to do that, however, you’ll need to actually rest when you truly have the chance.

Don’t waste your recovery time. Protect it as strongly as you fight for your productive hours. Don’t let busyness creep through your workday and into your much needed recuperation. When you rest, rest, and you shall return with seemingly infinite energy.