A Story on WHY

Few years ago I learnt an unforgettable lesson from Tim Ferriss’ podcast on diving deep and understanding the real meaning of “Asking Why”. 

There was a man who was addicted to coffee. He tried many things but nothing worked. One day his friend decided to probe and ask him why.

The conversation went something like this.

Why are you addicted to coffee?

Because I feel tired in the morning.

Why do you feel tired in the morning?

Because I don’t get much sleep since I go to bed late and have to wake up early for work.

Why do you go to bed late?

Because my friends & family like to hangout, watch TV and chat late into the night. 

Why don’t you tell them you have to go to bed on time?

I am afraid of saying No to them, I don’t want to disappoint them. 

So the challenge isn’t really addiction to coffee, it’s not being saying No to friends and family and worrying about what they will think.

This has been very true for me. There was a time I got addicted to drinking milk tea with sugar and biscuits every morning. The actual problem was that I didn’t have a proper morning routine. Once I developed a routine of doing some walking, getting into the shower, doing morning prayer and meditation and then sitting down for work – the addiction slowly went away.

No more morning chai and biscuits. Only in the evening now, just kidding. Now I only drink hot water tea in the evening.