Why We Live and Why We Die
Written by Simon Vaes this explores the questions of why we live and why we die. Fascinating insight, and you may uncover your own reasons.
I travel a lot and have created a lifestyle that allows me to do so. When you travel you meet loads of new people, and many ask “What do you do?” When I tell them I am a therapist and the founder of The IPS Project, they usually respond with “Oooh! You’re so lucky to be doing that job.”
To which I reply: “This has NOTHING to do with luck, and everything to do with hard work and determination.”
I worked incredibly hard to get into that position, it annoys me when people confuse luck with hard work.
And it happens ALL the time.
Nothing just comes out of nowhere. Especially not your dreams. If you want to see your dreams become real, you have to become aware of the journey you will need to make, and you will also have to understand what that journey looks like.
“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.”
We only see the successes of others, we very rarely see the journey they took to get there, a journey they took long before anyone had even heard of them. You can say some are born more talented than others. While that is true on one hand, this didn’t lead to their success.
They might have had a head start, however, they didn’t become who they are today by sitting on a chair doing nothing all day. They spent hours and hours and hours practicing, day in day out, mastering their craft, improving their skills.
It’s nothing to do with being born talented, that is an excuse people often use – but it is ALL about PRACTICE.
Anyone can become talented at a particular craft, if you spend enough hours practicing AND, if you love doing it. You cannot master something if you do not love doing it. You simply cannot. It is fundament to know your passion and to build the required skills to master your craft around that passion.
On the journey towards your dreams, you have to understand that you will face struggles and failures.
But you also need to know that that is NORMAL, and that EVERYONE who succeeded also had to face up to a whole range of struggles and failures in their own way.
It’s nothing unusual. When you come face to face with struggles and failures, understand that they are all part of the journey.
It’s easy to get discouraged by them. But don’t.
Struggles and failures are a blessing when you look at them differently. I LOVE to face struggles, and I LOVE to fail. I absolutely love it! Why? Because it allows me to get better. Each time there is an obstacle in my way to reaching a goal, I learn to deal with it.
While dealing with it, I gain experience and knowledge. That’s the same when I fail at something. Each time I fail, I learn and I grow. I become better, more skilled and wiser at what I am doing. And this contributes to you achieving your dreams.
If you want to increase your successes, double your failures. The path towards our dreams is a hard one, because it is so personal. Many people would rather leave their dreams in their head instead of trying to achieve them. It’s safer that way.
Our dreams won’t get broken if we leave them untouched. But then again, they will never come true either. I would much rather dare to take a chance, than never know and die with that dream still untouched. And so should you.
Look beyond the accomplishments of people who “have made it” and take a look at the path they took to get to that point in their lives. No one, NO ONE, became an overnight success. NO ONE! It just appears that way sometimes. And in the end, it is all about the journey my friends.
It is all about the journey.
Working on yourself can be scary, overwhelming, confusing, messy, challenging, and lonely. On this podcast, hosted by Jellis Vaes, an aspiring clinical psychologist who once battled severe emotional struggles, you’ll gain valuable insights from experts in psychology, neuroscience, and relationships, as well as people like you and me, to support you on your mental health journey, help you feel less alone, and untangle some of the complexity of mental health.
For more support, visit Inner Path Seekers.
Show notes can be found here:https://theipsproject.com/2026/04/reason-we-stay-addicted-kevin-cornelius/
Addiction is complex, deeply human, and often misunderstood.
In this episode, we take a grounded and practical look at what addiction really is and how it can be treated effectively.
I’m joined by Kevin Cornelius, a licensed marriage and family therapist and clinical director at the Feeling Good Institute Silicon Valley.
Kevin specializes in TEAM-CBT, a powerful and evolving therapeutic approach developed by psychiatrist David Burns.
What I am hoping you get out of this episode, besides learning some of the reasons why people stay addicted, is that you will learn some practical techniques to start taking a small step toward freeing yourself from whichever addiction you might be struggling with.
If, after this episode, you’d like to learn more about the effects addiction has on the brain, do have a listen to the episode I did with Dr. Grisel, titled The Brain on Addiction.
📚The IPS Academy📚
If you feel that you’ve gained some insights and lessons from this video, and you are curious to see what else we offer at The IPS Project, check out The IPS Academy, where we offer online courses taught by guests here on the podcast.
Simply go to https://theipsproject.com/academy. Each course has a few lessons to try for free, so you get a taste of what the course is like. We have countless reviews from other students so you can see what others think, and there is a 30-day money-back guarantee if you end up not liking the course.
Again, check them out at https://theipsproject.com/academy
Written by Simon Vaes this explores the questions of why we live and why we die. Fascinating insight, and you may uncover your own reasons.
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