Slipstream Time Hacking: How to Cheat Time, Live More, And Enhance Happiness

by Benjamin P. Hardy

In the daily human experience, time is not recognized as a measure of distance, but rather, as the duration of elapsed change. We view time in seconds, minutes, hours, and days. Not in kilometers or miles. But what if we did measure time as a distance? How would our lives look? What if rather than focusing on how long something took, we focused on how far we went?

On my friend’s current trajectory, he will likely arrive in Hawaii around 15 years from now—after spending countless hours at work punching the time clock. Inching forward. Now of course, Hawaii is not my friend’s only goal. But much of these 15 years will be spent thinking about and wishing he was in Hawaii. What if he could fold that time in half and get to Hawaii in 7.5 years? Or what if he could leap through a wormhole and get there in a month? If he were to fold time and get there in 7.5 years, he would have successfully skipped, or saved, 7.5 years of waiting. Put another way, he would have gone 7.5 years into his own future, freeing up the time he would have spent dreaming of Hawaii to pursue other goals. Furthermore, if he were to arrive in Hawaii in a month, he would have saved 14.9 years of waiting. By covering the needed distance faster, he gained 14.9 years of extra time he would not have had on his original trajectory. Having jumped into his future, he now has all that bonus time to continue progressing well beyond where he originally intended. By jumping through time, time slowed. Although the experience of time felt similar to his past, the month of preparation was actually a stretching of time. To explain this, we need to step back further and explore the theory of time relativity.

“The man who has lived the most is not he who has counted the most years but he who has most felt life.” —Jean-Jacques Rousseau

For example, my wife and I belong to the group Couchsurfing.com. We recently hosted Thomas Mark Zuniga, a young man writing a book about his 8 month journey across the United States. He saved up, sold his possessions, and took a leap. Consider this, the average American full-time employee takes 11 days of paid vacation each year. That’s a 2 week trip every 52 weeks. Thomas however, just experienced 32 weeks of travel, the equivalent of 16 years of vacation. While most of us can count this year’s significant memories on two hands, he can’t contain his growth and self-discovery even in a single book. How many lives could Thomas experience continuing at this progressive rate? How is it possible that Thomas could experience 16 years of vacation in eight months? Is it possible that Thomas could really experience more than eight months of time in eight months? From another angle, what if Thomas simply lived his 8 months while the rest of us lived perhaps 5-10% of ours?

The compression of time is not a matter of compounding activities, but the compounding of meaning.

Moreover, although further than expected along my desired path, I have no intention of stopping my course. Quite the contrary. The quantum leaps I’ve experienced, in addition to the intense slowing of my time, has instilled in me greater motivation to hustle. Indeed, the destinations I’m pursuing will require leaping through wormholes I can’t even now comprehend. I intend to travel numerous lifetimes farther than I could get without them. If your pursuits don’t require wormholes, you will fail to recognize that they cross your path every day. Conversely, if your pursuit’s demand wormholes, and you expect them, the universe will conspire to put in place whatever you need to get there. Remember, there are people all around you experiencing years as meager moments pass you by.

Additionally, if a task is perceived to be complex, it will take longer to complete. Thus, by pursuing things we believe to be important and breaking them down into their smallest parts, time slows and more is accomplished. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. By slowing time, we can live exponentially more life than those around us. How complex is that Hawaii trip compared to other tasks you have to accomplish?

“A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone” —Henry David Thoreau

We’ve gotten everything mixed up. Instead of trying to slow time down, we’re doing everything we can to speed it up. We’re in a big hurry, rushing toward a mirage while sinking deeper into the quicksand. In other words, most of us are scrambling to reach goals or acquire things we don’t even want. Because we do not know what we want or where we are headed, we jump at every opportunity that comes our way—filling our time and speeding up our lives. In contrast, if we know what we want and align our life to what matters most, to reality, time will slow down. All of those things we have spent our life chasing are nothing more than a distraction from what matters most. In the end, we’ve been brainwashed to believe that what we want is to become rich, famous, or prestigious. We spend years, if not all of our lives, pursuing other people’s agendas and measures of success without considering our own.

Light is the foundation of reality—the framework of existence. At the speed of light, time stands still. The closer we get to light, both literally and figuratively, the more we can cling to reality and live, rather than helplessly fading away like sand in an hourglass.

As opposed to selling away our futures to have high quality stuff, we’d be better off reducing the quality of our stuff in order to improve the quantity and quality of our time.

For those who have slowed time, the focus is less on enjoying fleeting individual moments, because their life is such that any and every given moment is enjoyable. Fun is now, it is always. Whether they are on vacation, working, or with family they are content because the elements of their life are in alignment or congruent with what they ultimately desire. They feel no rush to get somewhere or to free up more time because they are already in the very state they desire to be. When time is slowed in this way, there is always enough time. Life is not hurried through in order to experience those brief and “quick” moments when time is fun.

Compacting the largest amount of life into the briefest timeframe is how moments are remembered and time is dilated in relation to others.

The destination a person is traveling toward must be intrinsically desirable. When on the wrong path, time will fly and what was done during that time will be forgotten. The goal isn’t an infinite quantity of time, but the highest quality of time. This is where time slows down.

While the time we spend with others is precious; the time we can create for others is priceless.

Einstein’s relativity theory assumes time to be non-linear—time is subject to the context of the observer. There is no objective or universal time. According to non-linear time, the past, present, and future all simultaneously and holistically exist in one. By changing the present, the past can be reshaped and the future altered. The distinguishing of the past, present, and future, according to Einstein is simply an illusion of consciousness. Thus, the experience of time is relative. Although time may feel the same for each person, the reality of time is based on the rate of their movement. Instead of sequential change (domino to domino), change can be instantaneous and discontinuous. Such are moments of epiphany when sudden and rapid strokes of intelligence (ah-hah!) flow into the individual: conscious wormholes of progression. Discontinuous and instantaneous change occur all the time. From one instant to another, a person is happily driving home from work, the next instant he is in a car accident and paralyzed. A person can go from rich to poor in an instant depending on market conditions or other extraneous circumstances. From one moment to the next, you can go from single to married, or from married to single. The virtue of each wormhole should not be judged. Who is to say what is good or bad? The man who was paralyzed may find that he now has more time to spend with his family or developing a talent that he has neglected. The person who loses their monetary wealth may...

Consequently, each person lives in their own perceived reality. Stephen Covey expressed, “We don’t see the world as it is, but as we are.”

Brendon Burchard has said, “We must govern our own lives, and when our thoughts and actions become destructive it is our responsibility to alter or abolish them and to institute new habits as the foundation for a freer, happier life.” Within a perceived reality, it is the responsibility of each person to choose their destinations as well as the pathways and pace involved in reaching those destinations. Ultimately, we create our own universe.

This idea is summed up by Stephen Covey as beginning with the end in mind. The purpose of this principle and exercise is to help us imagine the sum total of our ideal life. If we can do this, we can narrow our path, avoiding distractions and errors we might have otherwise made. We can make our decisions in a more informed way based on the desired outcome we wish to achieve.

By doing this, we can extract vital information from our future-selves. However, the vision we can currently conceive of our own 80th birthday is based on our current measure of success. Our current measure of success is based on our current trajectory. But if we could obtain useful information from our 80 year old self that would allow us to accomplish the same amount by age 30, we would have 50 extra years of life. Thus, our 80 year old selves’ past and future would change. With our new information, we create a new future that goes well beyond our previous measure of success; we live decades beyond our old perceived 80th birthday. With a new future self in place, we can reinitiate the process, consulting with our 80 year old self and using the information to alter our future again and again. Thus, the cycle of time looping can propel us further and further into our own theoretical future. By so doing, we continuously re-write the future. This process allows us to continually expand our future possibilities—our vision.

Not only is time the ultimate currency, but in actuality time is our only currency. Our time is the only thing that really belongs to us. Everything else belongs to the world and the universe. We can’t take our money or stuff with us when we die. Although we may “own” something, we don’t really own it. At most, we are stewards over our possessions, but they are ultimately the Earth’s. The only thing that is fundamentally ours is our time. To waste our time is to waste ourselves.

There are three distinct requirements for personal freedom: 1) a heart at peace, 2) healthy relationships, and 3) upright character.

Memories are forged in moments that mattered—usually in moments of great change. Meaningful moments exist forever in our minds—memories are timeless. We get to relive them again and again.

If you feel stuck, your universe is begging you to change. Throwing Yourself into the Fire “If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.” —Mario Andretti

Never be offended that your new circumstances require you to change. Be humble and receptive. Rather than simply going where you need to go, be willing to become who you need to become.

Phil Jackson was known for being a Zen-like man. He has spent much time studying Buddhism and he deeply loved the power of stepping back and letting things naturally unfold.

The first stage is merely acknowledging that such opportunities, such as wormholes, exist.

Beyond stage one are observers who begin desiring the ability to time hack.

Stage three time hackers begin to recognize their ability to create wormholes (and slipstreams) on their own. They have developed an internal locus of control and an intensified connection with time.

Stage four initiates a point of no return.

It requires an intimate experience with light. In fact, it is a deep knowledge that all things (including the self) are fundamentally light. This understanding must effect every decision. At this stage, the time hacker has moved beyond space-time and become light. Every possibility exists in the ever-present now.

Almost everything in life is a non-essential distraction.

Exclusivity and polarity is how to travel farther and slow time. Being everything for everyone is how to stand still and speed time.

In addition to narrowing our priorities, honing our path requires pruning the unnecessary excess. This form of excess is “stuff” in our lives that add no real value, such as gossiping, mindlessly floating through social media, and other unhelpful habits. Much of this excess isn’t necessarily bad; rather, it’s more of a poor use of energy, reflecting low living and mismanagement of our mind. It doesn’t benefit anyone, especially you.

When you commit to something 100%, all of your future choices are already made—no matter how attractive the circumstances. The wear and tear on your willpower is decreased allowing you to direct that energy towards your desired destination.

However, a very simple trap can be used to catch large groups of crab. Here’s how it works. Inside each open-top trap sits a pile of crab feed. The first crab to happen upon the feed enters and enjoys the spoils. The second crab sees his feasting colleague and joins him for the partaking. The third and fourth crabs follow suit. Soon, dozens and dozens of crabs have entered the trap and linger, even after all the food is gone. Here’s the catch. If one crab chooses to exit the cage and look for food elsewhere, it is challenged by its mates. While trying to crawl out of the trap, the other crabs will pull it back down. If this brave fellow persists, the others will break off its claws. If it persists further, the group will kill it.

Rejection and ridicule are real barriers. To be authentic is to be vulnerable. Visions and goals are regularly shot down and considered absurd.

The entrance to the rapid slipstream is often through an invisible door. In life, there are millions of “doors” we can walk through—endless options and opportunities. However, some of the most incredible opportunities are doors that most people fail to notice. It takes very keen eyes and discernment. Once spotted, these invisible doors take immense courage to walk through. Such doors lead to mysteries and unknown destinations. It is only through these uncertainties and risks that innovation and art can manifest. The risk is high. But for those seeking higher levels of consciousness, the potential consequences are worth the risk. Staying where you are is hell.

The right mentorship can create a slipstream current that acts as a wormhole or a fold in time. Perhaps the most important aspect of mentorship is capturing the worldview they’ve spent years and decades developing.

Every slipstream has a tribal culture—the relational fabric knitting a group together. The culture is an accumulation of shared beliefs, values, language, and goals. When you enter a slipstream, you enter a tribe and thus enter a culture. If you adapt to the culture, you remain in the slipstream. If you don’t adapt to the culture, you are promptly ejected from the slipstream. Like attracts like. We attract like-minded people to us and repel others away.

By organizing our own lives in such a way that time dramatically slows down, and utilizing exponential technologies, we can drastically slow time for hundreds, thousands, and potentially millions of lives. By slowing the lives of other people, we extend our own time. The people that have moved the needle of humanity live on forever. The time they have expanded for others is their contribution to humanity—their footprint on evolution.

My life used to be far simpler than it is now. It was easy to crush college, have an amazing workout routine, and maintain quality relationships—to have a generally refined life. Then I started really trying to do the work I have been procrastinating for years. Once I started trying to live my dreams, my life became a chaotic mess.

Living your dreams really is a roller-coaster.

Life is filled with an almost infinite wealth of hard decisions. You are bound to fumble along time way.

Slowing time is all about living presently, creating memories, and spending as much time as possible on the things that truly matter. This obviously includes removing everything from your life that speed time up. These distractions include: people who hold you back, social norms and expectations, fear, and traditional approaches.