Bankless Co-founder: A reboot healed my mental burnout

Without me, the Earth still rotates.

Written by: Ryan Adams

Translated by: Luffy, Foresight News

This story may help some overachievers who are obsessed with striving.

At the end of January this year, after five years of ups and downs in the crypto media field, I experienced another public outcry, and I realized that I had "crashed." My mental system seemed to have collapsed, and I felt exhausted.

So I left. To be honest, I'm not sure if I'll come back. Fortunately, I've healed my burnout and my thinking has improved. Here I want to share my healing process.

Restart

The first step is cruel but necessary: I pushed away all commitments.

No podcast recordings, no meetings, no work. I canceled all commitments, disappointed my partners, and let opportunities slip away. I cleared 90 days of appointments from my schedule.

This is not a brave, rational choice, but an emotional "margin call notification." I know stopping everything will be painful, but I have to do it. At the moment of hitting rock bottom, the system shut down automatically.

If you are a "striver", you understand this pattern: high perseverance + low time preference = an infinite loop of hard work. Don't get stuck, embrace the restart. Progress is cyclical; allow yourself to actively end a cycle instead of waiting for the system to shut down forcibly.

Upgrade

Now I have time to diagnose the "vulnerabilities" and fix them one by one. I switched to "high autonomy mode" and started taking action.

1. I spend too much time online → I deleted all the applications

I can't help but check social media, prices, Discord, or Telegram every 15 minutes. This is dopamine dependence: the pressure of "urgency," the fear of "missing out on hot topics," and the fatigue of "seeking validation from algorithm-driven groups." "Digital up = new paradigm! Digital down = scam!" The daily cycle makes my mind noisy and agitated.

So I treated myself like a child: setting screen time limits, not looking at charts, not reading the news, and not scrolling through social media. I ruthlessly deleted all apps. It was only a week after Trump issued Meemcoin that I learned about it from friends offline. I found that the world did not collapse because of it.

The first few days felt like detoxing, but I quickly returned to normal. My brain finally quieted down, and I could think again.

2. I lost my direction → I drew a new wealth map

"Freedom" was my original intention to embark on the Bankless journey, and cryptocurrency is the "escape pod" from the disciplinary system. But at some point, I tied myself to the price charts. I forgot about satisfaction; once a certain number is reached, the goal automatically shifts further away. I am adding zeros to my account, but losing everything else: a lack of time, weak relationships, scattered mind, and a weakened body.

Every morning, a question flashes through my mind: "Why am I doing this?" When the inner GPS keeps recalibrating the route, it means the map is outdated.

So I redefined "wealth". The "five types of wealth" proposed by Sahil Bloom provided me with a new framework: time, social, spiritual, physical, and financial. A good life requires balancing these five types of wealth. I reflected: in which areas am I over-investing? Which are on the brink of "bankruptcy"?

I have drawn a new map: setting goals, habits, systems, and feedback loops, regularly making "regular investments" into those "on the verge of depletion" wealth buckets. My wife and I defined our "sufficient amount" together, and once this number is reached, any excess capital will be used for other forms of wealth. Money is a tool, not the game itself.

The result is a living system: when I veer off track, the "dashboard" sends out alerts, and I automatically correct myself. This new map is the part with the highest ROI (Return on Investment) throughout the entire reboot process.

3. I am exhausted → I stop doing things

Obligations increase in cost like open browser tabs, and the hundred things I have committed to over the years have drained my "system resources". The illusion of being an "overachiever" made me believe three lies:

1. Only I can do this.
2. If I don't do it, things won't get done;
3. Being busy is a good thing.

After being shut down for 30 days, it turned out to be just the opposite. David Hoffman kept the podcast running, Bankless Ventures continued to invest, invoices were issued as usual, income kept coming in, and newsletters were sent out. The world kept turning, which means I could effortlessly cut out those "non-essential matters."

I now operate on the principle of "energy accounting": if the consumption of a task exceeds the return, I delegate, automate, or eliminate it. I only have two core roles left: the narrator and the capital allocator, both of which belong to my "zone of genius."

Upgrade to version 2.0

Rebooting gave me space, the map gave me direction, and decluttering gave me focus. This is my 2.0 "installation script." This downtime was worth it.

As for the future, taking a step back has allowed me to see the current state of cryptocurrencies and Ethereum, as well as the trend of AI sweeping the world. These are topics I am eager to explore in the coming months.

How lucky we are to live in this era. We are still on the frontier, still doing "free technology," creating real wealth.