Yesterday I woke up in Black Rock City, the site of the Burning Man event in the Nevada desert. The Burning Man is one of the most unique and extreme events you could ever experience. 50,000 people travel to Nevada from all around the world to camp out in the harshest, most extreme conditions anywhere. There’s no signal and no technology. No phones or computers. The city is a live organism and there is no attachment to time. I didn’t know what time or what day it was all week. The only thing to do is survive using whatever you can find, build, and trade with others. And in so doing, you learn to strip away everything in your life that you can live without.
It’s easy to get lost in the desert. You take your eyes off your destination for one minute, and you’ll lose sight of where you are going. This happened to me in the Nevada desert, which is among the largest flat surface areas in North America. I spent hours looking around to get back on track. Envision your life as a desert and understand that you’ll get lost very easily if you lose sight of where you’re going. Wandering around lost in a desert is no picnic, but there’s one good thing you learn from it: never do it again.
Over the last week, the contrast in lifestyles I’ve experienced has given me incredible clarity. I’ve learned to let go of everything we attach ourselves to: ego, self-preference, and so much more. The end of the event features everyone watching a huge temple burn that people have written on, left memories, pictures and keep sakes. It creates this really pure space. It was an incredible opportunity to ‘burn’ things that no longer serve where I’m going in life. What an incredible metaphor for letting go the things we think we need that really only hold us back.
This morning, at the hotel (and experiencing my first creature comforts in a week), I had my ‘wake up’ call. It didn’t wake me up because I was already awake. It didn’t trigger a usual response where you get jolted awake from it. I was already ready to get up.
When you ‘stay awake’, you don’t need a ‘wake up’ call. There’s no need for an ‘alarm clock’. When you’re in tune with your purpose in this life, that is what it means to be awake. The rude ‘wake up calls’ that jolt you awake don’t have to be a part of your life.
Today, I didn’t mind my wake up call. It wasn’t a jolt. It was just a gentle reminder to start my day. That’s the kind of wake up call I want to give you. Let’s make a commitment to stay awake this week. Let’s commit to help others stay awake. How much more wealth and abundance could there be in every way if we committed to serving our purpose and each other instead of ourselves? My goal in this world is to give you a wake up call. It can be a harsh one that jolts you when you need it, but hopefully, it’s just a gentle one to help you stay awake.
My WAKE UP call is every Tuesday at 10:30 am ET. Catch this week’s call here.
