Sometimes I work nonstop—not because I love it, but because it feels safer to keep going than to stop.

The trick is that overworking is a gilded form of the hedonic treadmill, an addiction to achievement. The more I achieve—the more money I make, the more music I create—the more dopamine hits I get.

But overworking is a form of escapism. It can easily become an abandonment of self.

For me personally, it's less about outward validation and more about a sense of security. If I can make enough money, I’ll be okay—even if someday I can no longer work.

Ambition is healthy until it becomes a compulsion that shapes how we think, live, and relate to others. When it dismisses ordinary and banal activities -- a walk with a friend, sitting at home to watch a movie -- as not worth our time, it can easily blind us to appreciating the unimpressive moments that make life meaningful.

One antidote is having faith — in ourselves, in something greater than ourselves. It's trusting that things will be okay — whether it's because we can handle it or because God will take care of us.

Not having trust in the world around us can be one of the most corrosive maladies in a life. At its most extreme, this loss of trust can spiral into disconnection from reality. Schizophrenia, for example, comes with full-blown paranoias and delusions that make it impossible to operate day to day. In less extreme cases, we see it hinder us from moving forward and engaging with life activities that we otherwise would if we knew we’d make it through.

Learning to trust is a process. It is a practice.

But when we exercise the discipline of trusting that things will be okay, we free ourselves from the anxieties that paralyze us.

Practicing trust doesn’t make the fear disappear. But it gives us the power to take control away from fear.