Eastern Philosophy meets Western Lifestyle: Growing a Global Startup while living stress-free and peaceful

In this article, I share my personal experience with matching the Western mindset of achieving success with the Eastern philosophy of living in a flow.

Right from our childhood we have been told to set high goals, have high expectations from ourselves, and work hard to achieve them. Once we will achieve the goals, we will become happy and successful. This is the path most of us have been following. But can it be that this path is the major reason for stress, burnout, and mental and physical illness in our society? What if there is an alternative way to live life without stress, and yet achieve ‘success’?

In this article, I am sharing a way of life, which combines the Eastern philosophy of life with the Western mindset of achieving success. This is also my personal story as I have been living like this for the last ~5 years, and I can say I do not remember having a single moment of stress (and people around me have told me so too). At the same time, I think I have achieved things that can be considered successful by Western standards, currently running a company that has multi-million dollars in revenue (without raising investment from VCs). I am sharing this with the hope that some of you may end up trying this way of living.

Growing Up: Rewards and Fears

Right from our childhood, we all have been told to work hard, put in a lot of effort, prove our existence to the world, and be recognized for our accomplishments and successes. If we do not enjoy the work, we should anyway do it to achieve success and happiness in life. As a result, we often see work as ‘hard’ and needing a lot of effort. There is a reward attached but also fear for not achieving success. The fear of losing out, the fear of having no money, the fear of not being recognized, the fear of not being able to be seen, the fear that others will succeed and no one will be my friend, etc. 

There is nothing wrong with this duality of reward and fear, however, the issue is that the rewards we attach are from external factors that depend on others giving them to us, over which we do not have much control. Thus we end up in the loop of constantly seeking confirmation from the external world while living in fear of not getting them.

For example, we have been told that to be rich we need to work hard. However, it is not always true that by working hard one will always be rich. There are many other factors, like getting the right opportunities, that play a role in us becoming rich which are not completely in our control. So we keep on working hard, hoping to achieve the goal of becoming rich one day, while the factors that play a major role in achieving that goal need to be given to us. If we do not get those factors (like an opportunity), we create stress inside us. So we end up being in this constant loop of seeking something outside of us.

The following captures the idea very well

First I was dying to finish high school and start college

And then I was dying to finish college and start working

And then I was dying to marry and have children

And then I was dying for my children to grow old enough for the school so that I can return to work

And then I was dying to retire

And now I am dying….and suddenly I realize I forgot to live. 

-Reasons to Stay Alive

I think many of us can connect to this experience very well and most would love to get out of this endless loop, but how?

According to the map of consciousness, most of the emotions we experience are at the lower level of energetic frequencies. We never get out of those frequencies and our life oscillates from miserable to meaningful.

We should always try for enlightenment and peace, but what does achieve peace? What does it mean to be enlightened?

Seeking Peace in Daoism, Hinduism, and Consciousness

Geeta (Hindu Holy book) Chapter 2 Verse 56 defines enlightenment as

दु:खेष्वनुद्विग्नमना: सुखेषु विगतस्पृह: |

वीतरागभयक्रोध: स्थितधीर्मुनिरुच्यते || 56||

One whose mind remains undisturbed amidst misery, who does not crave pleasure, and who is free from attachment, fear, and anger, is called a sage of steady wisdom.

It is a state free from emotional ups and downs.

Once I had thought to go to a monastery or ashram to seek peace but I realize, it is easy to find peace in me when I am sitting in a monastery with no attachment to anything. There is no one or nothing to disturb my peace. But what if I want to find peace while living normally? In the book ‘The Surrender Experiment’, the author, Michael Singer, talks about his life, and how he managed to build a great company while surrendering himself to the universe. He was just observing and listening to the signs from the universe and making the best of the opportunities that came to him. This is exactly the path I was seeking.

In this path, one has to be detached from the results and just focus on the deeds.

Geeta Chapter 2 Verse 47 says

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |

मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि || 47 ||

Focus on the sure (actions), not on the unsure (results). Because if the results are not as per your expectations, pain is unavoidable.

The same is said in the concept of WuWei in Daoism, which means ‘doing nothing’, or effortless action. According to this concept, during such a state one is at peace while engaged in any tasks and can carry that out with maximum skill and efficiency. The effortless state is where you flow in whatever you do, let go of past and future, and become humble, and stress-free. Have no goals to achieve. Just be present. 

In China’s Tang dynasty, many poets likened Wu Wei to the best aspects of being drunk. It wasn’t alcoholism they were promoting, but the decline in rigidity and anxiety that sometimes comes with being a little drunk, which can help us to accomplish certain tasks [1].

“Doing nothing can sometimes be the most effective form of action.”

Being in the state of flow while growing a startup

Through conscious meditation, I tried to let go of all expectations from myself and others. I realized is that our need for external confirmation comes from inner insecurities. Inner insecurities make us constantly compare ourselves with others and feeling not good enough. Once we let go of all our inner insecurities, then there is no need for external confirmations, we can achieve the state of flow and get rid of all expectations. In this state, doing nothing is sometimes the best thing to do, where I felt the most productive at work. I also did 5-day fasting and the experience was similar, a state of flow and bliss. (I can write a whole article on this topic itself but that is for another time). 

I have seen that the best in everything — relationships, friendships, conversations, come out when in a state of flow and it feels effortless, seamless, and timeless.

This is in contrast to Western cultures that teach us to control the environment and swim against the flow, which causes pressure, stress, and tiredness, at the cost of achieving self-created goals. In addition, majority of goals are not ours (but they have been planted by others), so they are artificial and not true to our nature. And if this goal-seeking mindset never ends, the stress will never end.

What is important is to have a general sense of direction in what we want our life to go, which naturally comes from just listening to ourselves. Our inner self (some call it souls) knows the best, we only need the courage to follow the path. Many may think that this state of effortless flow can mean being lazy. I completely disagree — being lazy is an effort. Studies have shown that often people after retirement get depressed because they have nothing to do. For example, In Japanese culture idea of retirement simply does not exist — they keep doing what they love for as long as their health allows. Again, something completely opposite to the new trends of 3–4 day work week and work-life balance.

I do not feel a need for work-life balance because what I do, I absolutely love. I have not gone on a ‘holiday’ for ~2.5 years and do not feel even taking a ‘holiday’ as I am on holiday every day. In Japan, this is called the state of Ikigai. Ikigai is where our passion, mission, vocation, and profession all match.

Conclusion

I am not sure how and when Western cultures came to the idea of self-created goals, achievements, hard work, and efforts but I can say that such a model creates more unhappy people, even if they achieve all that they seek to achieve. I look around and I see everywhere people in a hurry to achieve things, focus on results, constantly seeking confirmations from others, and yet never peaceful. It is like a being on a never-ending horror movie.

It's time that we redefine success from achieving some goals to being in a state of effortless action.

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart.” -Helen Keller

We need to understand what are the most important thing in our life and I have a simple test. Think about 5 mins before death and imagine what life would make you feel like ‘it was worth living’. Sufism says that one will find the meaning of life in death.

I will be happy to hear your feedback and thoughts on this topic.