A few years back my feed was full of micro private equity.
Everyone was talking about buying small businesses. Roll-ups. SaaS. I read the threads. I ran the numbers. I started thinking that’s what I wanted.
Then solo VC took over. Everyone wanted to be an angel investor or a solo GP. I was positioned to do it. Trends.vc was rising. I had the deal flow. I had the network. I could have done it.
But I have a practice. I sit in a dark room with my eyes closed. White noise on. Just silence and wherever my mind wants to go. And what came back was: I don’t want that. I want to build. I want to experiment. I want to create.
That’s mimesis. You see what others want. You start wanting it too. Because it’s loud. Because smart people you respect are doing it. The desire feels real. It’s borrowed.
That’s what the practice catches. When I remove all input and sit long enough, the borrowed desires fall away. What survives the silence is mine.
Without it, you absorb other people’s goals. You chase consensus desires.
Like sleep consolidates memories, this consolidates identity. You come back to your authentic self. You remember what you were building before the feed told you to build something else.
I almost became a micro PE guy. I almost became a solo VC. Both desires were borrowed. This practice is what caught them.
🪞
What desire are you chasing that isn’t yours?
