Asleep While Awake: The Quiet Crisis of Modern Life

This is Part 1 of my series exploring timeless wisdom from the book "Cognitive Awakening".

We can pass down wealth through funds and good health through genes. But there is one thing that cannot be directly inherited: our mindset.

Every person starts from zero. We are wired to seek comfort, ease, and certainty. This innate programming runs our lives from the beginning, yet most of us are completely unaware of it.

This ignorance makes us look like people who are "asleep while awake.

The Default Path

Most of us follow a predictable script: school, work, relationships. We drift forward on the inertia of life. When we are young, we believe a good life will simply arrive. We substitute confidence for a strategy.

Years later, that confidence fades. We find ourselves not exceptional, but merely obedient to social rules and overwhelmed by daily troubles. We drift with the current, distracted by our phones and games.

We have little pressure, but also little drive. We tell ourselves things are "good enough" while we continue to make shortsighted choices, indulging in immediate comfort.

Eventually, we wake up. We feel powerless. The gap between our dreams and our reality is immense. Our peers have left us in the dust. Anxiety sets in. "Why didn't I learn the truth about the world sooner?"

But life is a one-way street. We can’t start over.

The Plateau of the Striver

A smaller group is luckier. They "open their eyes" at the right time. They escape the trap of drifting and begin to intentionally improve themselves. But they soon hit a new wall.

They want to be diligent, but laziness wins. They try to be productive, but they remain inefficient. They read countless books, only to forget them. Their efforts feel wasted.

The harder they try, the more confused they become.

My Own Awakening

This was my story. For a long time, I was one of the sleeping people. My life had no direction. My free time was filled with mindless activities—parties, drinking, browsing gossip sites, playing mobile games.

Then, a sudden event changed the lives of two of my closest friends. It forced me to ask: If everything I have was taken away, what would be left? What do I actually know? What have I truly built?

The answer was terrifying: almost nothing. A deep anxiety took hold of me. I knew I had to change. I needed to think clearly, acquire real skills, and take control of my life.

I was 35 when I began.

The Shift

I learned that being busy is not the same as being awake. True awakening is an internal drive for long-term growth, fueled by the power of clear thinking.

The fundamental difference between people is not effort, but cognition.

Our perception of the world shapes our choices, and our choices define our destiny. True growth is the process of making our thinking clearer. It is shifting from painful willpower to the sustainable power of cognitive drive.

If you give up on growth, you will be the same person in ten years. But if you choose to change, you can build a completely new self.

Time passes whether you strive or not. It is always better to start than to stand still.

If you’ve read this far, take it as your call to action. I invite you to join me on this journey of cognitive awakening—let’s awaken together.

Coming up next: Why Willpower Always Fails: Understanding Your Brain’s Ancient Default Mode.

Note: The core ideas in this article are inspired by and adapted from the book "Cognitive Awakening: The Original Force of Self-Change" (认知觉醒：开启自我改变的原动力) by Zhou Ling.