🕺🏻 The Week That Changed My Life

January 2021. A year after my first startup exit. A month after my first big startup failure. Instead of taking a break after seven years of grinding and an exit, I jumped straight into something new. Then, I crashed.

I felt lost but finally had time for myself—reading, writing, reflecting. At some point, even that felt like too much. I needed a full reset.

I looked for silent retreats near NYC, but everything was still closed because of COVID. So, I set up my own—a one-week solo retreat that changed how I see life.

The Setup

I booked a tiny cabin in the woods, three hours from the city. Here’s the Airbnb listing. On the way, I grabbed the bare minimum from Trader Joe’s—mostly frozen vegetables. Just enough to get by. I took an old, barely working phone in case of emergency.

The plan was dopamine fasting (though I didn’t know that term then): no internet, no talking, no TV, no sugar, and no distractions.

Day 1: Pure boredom.

I just passed the time between meals and cups of tea. The only entertainment was a mouse living in the cabin. I could hear it crawling around and biting the food scraps.

Day 2: Still boring.

Same. Boredom. I thought about driving to town for coffee or just to see people. Instead, I walked through the forest, hoping for something interesting. Didn’t find anything. I went to bed early and again listened to the sound of a mouse crawling under the floor.

Day 3: Something shifted.

Simple things—boiling water, looking at the snow—felt different. I began noticing them with curiosity, and the boredom faded. At night, I left small pieces of food around the cabin and listened, trying to guess what the mouse was up to.

Day 4: Breaking point.

Everything slowed down. I started noticing even more details—how the sunlight reflected on the snow, the shape of different trees, and how water touched the skin when I washed my hands. Even cooking became something I paid full attention to. I stopped caring about the mouse and let it do its thing.

Day 5: Total trip.

I woke up completely present—no rushing thoughts, no planning ahead, no anxiety. I just had a great day doing my new routine: cooking, walking, cleaning, drinking tea. Everything felt joyful and completely captured my attention. At night, I sat by the fire and noticed how the flames moved and changed color for the first time in my life. I just sat there and watched the fire for two hours, feeling more engaged than if I were watching an interesting movie.

Days 6-7: Deep stillness.

I decided to try fasting and stopped eating. I sat on the sofa for two days, looking out the window. I had no thoughts, no plans for what to do next, and no regrets that I wasn’t doing something useful. I just sat there and didn’t care much.

The Realization

It’s hard to put into words. The closest I can get is this: happiness is unconditional. You don’t need anything to be happy.

I also got the answer to my question, “What should I do?” The answer was, “Nothing. Just keep living.”

This feeling of joy peaked for 4-6 months after the retreat. Then, it slowly faded. But even four years later, it hasn’t disappeared. I forget it sometimes, but it’s easy to remember.

Since then, I have tried to do these solo trips every year—at least three days. If you feel stuck, try disconnecting from everything for three to seven days. It might change everything.

Until next Sunday,
George Levin
^{LinkedIn | Consulting}