You ever notice how some people treat “sitting still” like it’s a contagious disease? The second life hands them something resembling stability, they immediately start poking holes in it… like, “Well this is nice, but what if I just threw it all up in the air?”
It’s exhausting. And I’m not just talking about them, it’s exhausting to be them. We build careers on the chase: the next challenge, the next title, the next sparkly project that makes us feel alive. Even in personal life, there’s that nagging itch: the house is not quite right, the routine feels predictable, the vibe is off. Familiarity doesn’t exactly breed contempt, but it does breed a low-grade hum of restlessness that won’t shut up.
As a coach, I hear this confession constantly:
“I thought this was what I wanted. Now that I have it, why do I feel… itchy?”
My answer, because chasing and striving have become muscle memory. We only know how to pursue. Sitting still feels like wearing someone else’s jacket: a little too tight across the shoulders, not quite ours.
Professionally, it shows up in the endless ladder climb; forgetting that ladders also have a top, and sometimes the best view isn’t another rung up but a pause to breathe. Personally, it looks like turning life into a series of renovations: new hair, new workout, new activities. Nothing wrong with change, but when you never give yourself time to land you rob yourself of the joy of what you already built.
Because stability isn’t the enemy. It’s the foundation. The stillness is where you regroup and learn. Where you sharpen the parts of yourself that aren’t chasing. In my world, that’s SNAK talking… balancing the SKILLS you’ve mastered, the NETWORKS you’ve grown, the ACTIVITIES that stretch you, and the KNOWLEDGE that grounds you. Because if you can’t find satisfaction in the present moment, you’ll never find it in the next one. The chase just resets with new packaging.
So maybe the trick isn’t to kill the striving, it’s to let it nap sometimes. Feed it a snack (or a SNAK), pat it on the head, and then actually enjoy the ground you’re standing on before you start sprinting again.
