The urgency had burned out

The space program once conducted a fascinating study on the effect of prolonged space flight on human skeletal muscle.

Researchers took calf muscle biopsies of crew members before and after their trip aboard the international space station. Here’s what they found.

Even when crew members did aerobic exercise five hours a week and resistance exercise three to six days per week, muscle volume and peak power both still decreased significantly.

Because there’s no gravity in outer space. No matter how vigorously the astronauts worked out, eventually, their muscles were still going to atrophy.

The question is, how many zero gravity environments do you have in your life? Which of your muscles are starting to wither?

My experience with this phenomenon came in the form of entrepreneurial atrophy. After running my company for more than a decade, there came a point where there were no more places to go. My schedule was barren empty. There were no more accountabilities, no obligations, no community counting on my contribution and no tasks requiring my attention.

Sure, there were tons of people who liked me and supported my brand and appreciated the work I did. But the world was not on hold until my next project was finished.

The urgency had burned out. I was just sitting there with nowhere to be, and all the time in the world to get there.

It was a zero gravity environment. Mostly of my own making, but also as a function of time and space and economics.

Which meant, I had a choice to make. I could double down and try to recreate gravity from scratch. Or I could call ground control, set a course to depart outer space and relocate to a more breathable, sustainable environment.

In the years following, I tried both options. And looking back, all I can think to myself now is, thank god I’m not an astronaut anymore.

How will your life change once the urgency burns out?