A Coachella Ticket Cost Me a Week

I had major Coachella FOMO this week and nearly paid 2k for a ticket to go. 

$2,000!!!! 

That’s nuts bro. And yet, when I really get in that mode I’ll usually stop at nothing to make it happen. This time, my buddy ended up selling the ticket for even more than that, and I just didn’t want to match the offer. It was God’s doing that I didn’t go. 

Not mine.

Now that it’s Friday and my environment’s much more quiet than being in Palm Springs (still bummed though, lol), I felt I needed to write this out. 

Since last Sunday -when I first got this idea into my head that I had to be there- it’s felt like a whirlwind of a week. I didn’t get tasks done I should have, I wasn’t replying to people’s text messages, actions I usually do weren’t getting done, and I was spending a ton of mental energy on finding a ticket. When my buddy sold to someone else and I decided it was a sign I shouldn’t press, it truly felt like a storm had passed over me.

I kid you not, there was a weight that felt like it had lifted from my shoulders. 

That’s not normal — I don’t think. I started to look back at my week and realized it had passed me by. It was Thursday, and I had nothing to show for it (I’m currently in between jobs too, so the days are really dependent on what I make of them). Not much more progress on building BetterLife’s app, not much progress on my job search, I had even skipped a workout (like c’mon dude, I couldn’t find time for an hour to move around?)

I’ve always been told I struggle to slow down, and this was just the latest example of me failing to do so. When I lock in on something, I go 1,000mph towards it. 

Every Instagram post from Weekend 1, every song I heard from an artist that would be there, every question from a friend on how the search was going, all of it just pulled me deeper into this spiral that took me away from everything else.

Now, I know I’m making this sound dramatic but I truly had nothing to show for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week. This search had sped me up so much that I became locked in on one objective — find a ticket.

I’m not sure how common this intense focus is, but I do know that it can be destructive. It certainly has been for me at times. 

The broader application of this message might not be that I advise against finding a last-minute Coachella ticket, but in sharing a reminder that life is a balance.

I’ve been growing BetterLife on Threads recently, and the idea of throwing more discipline at whatever you’re not accomplishing comes up on my feed every three posts I see. This idea is the same as my Coachella issue. When it’s something you want, don’t drop your focus on everything else in life to get this one thing.

Yes, focus is needed. Yes, you might even need to sacrifice sometimes. But life is not a one-objective reality. You have thousands of objectives, of priorities, of values.

Nothing is that important that you need to start subconsciously closing others off to achieve another (like I did this week with my gym routine). Deliberately cut things out of your life, not accidentally. Discipline inherently means self-control. Self-control from other activities. It’s healthy, in the right amount.

It’s not healthy when it becomes detrimental to your other values. 

The ticket would’ve cost me $2,000. The search for it cost me a few days I can’t get back. That math doesn’t work, and it’s what nobody tells you about locking in on something. The obsession has a price tag too. That price is just invisible until the week’s already gone.

Discipline isn’t supposed to mean “pour everything into one thing until you get it.” That’s not focus. That’s just a different way of losing control.

I struggle with this, and I’m seeing so many people push the “propaganda” that leads to exactly what I experienced this week. 

After failing to grab a ticket, maybe I just wanted to publicly complain about resale prices. 

Or, maybe I wanted to share what that obsessive lifestyle actually costs.

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