Joe offers a precise account of why reaching the top of the mountain feels so good — and it isn’t the achievement itself. Citing an idea he attributes to Eckhart Tolle, he argues the good feeling comes from a gap in the mind’s striving.
“The reason that winning feels so good or getting to the top of the mountain feels so good… is because for one or two minutes you’re not thinking about what you have to do next.”
For a brief window after a win, the head stops running its usual loop of “what’s the next thing I have to do so that I can…” and you simply get to be present. The euphoria people credit to the trophy is actually the taste of presence that the trophy briefly permits. This is why it fades so fast: within minutes the mind resumes asking “now what’s for dinner,” “now what about the next tournament,” and the feeling collapses. The implication is quietly radical — the state you’re chasing through achievement is available directly through presence, without the win.
Related Concepts
- Seeing that winning and losing both pass is freedom, not despair
- Achievement never fills the hole it promises to fill
- Presence is pleasure
- High achievement can completely mask emotional numbness
- Stuckness is resistance to the abyss, not the abyss itself
- Exploration not achievement is the real urge underneath potential anxiety