My light-bulb moment

At some point in your life, you've probably experienced a “lightbulb” moment. 💡

That split second where some connection is made deep in your brain and everything suddenly makes sense.

Mine happened in the summer of 2023 in my kitchen in Tartu.

A few weeks prior to that I had met Katrin Kiviselg in a Sales Training. I learned a lot from that training and wanted to go deeper. I wanted to learn on a 1-on-1 level, so I asked if I she wants to be my mentor.

She said yes, but under a condition. Before working together, I had to read through a couple of books.

One of them was "Buy Back Your Time" by Dan Martell. I went and bought a copy and devoured it. It is a brilliant book about how an entrepreneur can achieve freedom in his life by rethinking their relationship with time.

There were many insightful lessons. But there was ONE that changed the trajectory of my life.

It was a chapter about “Dreaming Big and Achieving Bigger”

In it, Dan said: every entrepreneur needs a HUGE inspirational picture of what they’re working towards — A BIG dream and a Clear vision for it.

Big ideas inspire innovations, excite others, help you overcome distractions and make many business decisions easier. Without it, you will succumb to the challenges of entrepreneurship and lose the drive necessary to succeed.

Because, If you don’t know where you are going, you are going to end up somewhere else.

How to create your dream vision?

• The Dream needs to be meaningful — something you want to be remembered for. Your life’s work.

• The Vision needs to be bold & crystal clear — so that the moment you think about it, it would fill you up with inspiration and motivate you to push forward.

Over the next couple of weeks I took time to sit & think about it. I went for walks, talked to friends, spoke to mentors. I sat and asked myself questions such as:

• What was my crazy dream..? What would light me up?

• What is the suffering I would like to relieve in the world?

• What the burning problem I would want to solve the most?

• What work was I willing to dedicate the next chapter of my life to..?

And one day, when I was cooking in the kitchen — the light bulb turned on and the answer came to me. 💡

And what came up surprised me. Because it had nothing to do with the field I was working in at the time.

I realized that my mission is to help fight the mental health & attention crisis that is wrecking havoc on our society.

All over the world, our ability to pay attention is collapsing.

In the US, college students now focus on one task for only 65 seconds, and office workers on average manage only three minutes.

And taking into account that it takes an average of 23 minutes to regain focus after a distraction...

Most people are not able to access the power of their minds because they are constantly distracted.

At the same time, our mental health is degrading every year.

In college students, there was an increase in depression of 106% and an increase in anxiety of 134% between the time of 2008-2020 (from 10% to 20% & 25% respectively)

The statistics for teens is even more drastic. 30% of girls aged 12-17 have had a major depressive episode in the past year.

Let that sink in...

These statistics are strongly linked to the shift to the hyper-digital and device-based society:

• Addictive nature of social media platforms

• Social deprivation and isolation

• Fragmentation of attention

These and many more factors play a crucial role in creating and sustaining this crisis.

And with the rapid introduction of AI in digital products and marketing to maximize engagement, the situation will worsen in the coming years.

I think it’s one of the most important problems of our times.

Because if our attention is fragmented,

• We can't focus our minds.

• We can't plan effectively to work out difficult tasks.

• And we can’t solve all of the other big problems of our times: such as the climate crisis, global polarization or the existential risks of AI.

We must learn to heal our minds and to control our attention to be able to do anything worthwhile in this world.

Most people don't know how these technologies controlling their mind work… They don't know how their attention works and how to free their mind.

That's why I am embarking on a journey to dive deep into this field.

I'll be exploring topics such as:

• How does a healthy & humane relationship with technology look like? How to achieve tech-life balance?

• How is AI affecting our society & wellbeing?

• How to grow self-awareness, understand your anxieties and avoid distractions?

• How to work deeply & unleash your creative genius?

• What tools can we use to learn how our mind works and to grow self-leadership skills? (Hint: I am working on a tool to do just that)

I’ve been fascinated by these topics for years. Now I’m making it my main thing.

If you're reading this, Thank you for following me along in this journey.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these topics:

• What challenges are coming up for you & your family in tech-life balance?

• What has been a great lightbulb-moment you have experienced lately?

• What is the Bold dream that you are working towards?

• Don’t have one, what's stopping you from creating one? Check out the book below for the guide to the process!

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Here are my book recommendations:

1. Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell - A transformative journey that challenges entrepreneurs and business professionals to rethink their relationship with time.

2. Stolen Focus by Johann Hari - a thought-provoking exploration of the modern world's obsession with distraction and the impact it has on our lives. Offers a critical analysis of how constant distraction affects our focus, productivity, and overall well-being.

3. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt - an essential investigation into the collapse of youth mental health—and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.

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I’ll be sending a new letter your way once or twice a month.

Talk soon,
Boris