Why I'm running a surrender experiment this year

The Sunday Night Review #180

“Surrender”

In the toilet at 10.12pm on New Year’s Eve 2025, I wrote this short note in my journalling app:

As one does, I took a short break from the party, to journal a slightly drunken thought while on the toilet (you can see the timestamp in the top left).

Tell me you’ve never done that before.

So the word “surrender” has been living rent free in my mind this year.

I knew going full time entrepreneur mode was going to be a wild ride. I made a note to myself not to fight anything, and to surrender to whatever came my way.

I figured it would also be a sensible business philosophy, because trying to force things when the market is saying ‘no’ is generally a bad idea.

But this thought didn’t come on its own. I had sufficient inspiration.

In 2024, I read a truly astonishing book called The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer.

You may have read it yourself, but oh boy has it left a mark on me.

Amazingly, that seems to be the case for most people who read it too.

It took me about 4 months to read the book. It’s reasonably slow, especially at the start, and I struggled to get going with it.

But once I was about 1/3 in, I was hooked.

In it, Michael documents his journey from discovering meditation and retreating to the woods aged 22, to unexpectedly building a 1,000+ person company several decades later.

Not the story you’d expect.

This is how he articulates his ‘surrender experiment’:

“Am I better off making up an alternate reality in my mind and then fighting with reality to make it be my way, or am I better off letting go of what I want and serving the same forces of reality that managed to create the entire perfection of the universe around me?

This experiment would not be about dropping out of life; it would be about leaping into life to live in a place where we are no longer controlled by our personal fears and desires. For lack of a better name, I have called this “the surrender experiment.”

Bit confusing.

Here’s how ChatGPT would explain what he’s getting at, to a 12 year old:

Instead of always trying to force things to go your way, try saying yes to what life brings — like trusting the universe might know what it’s doing. It’s not about giving up, but about showing up fully without letting fear or desire run the show.

Aka, surrender to the flow of life, and let it guide you forwards.

He also writes:

“My formula for success was very simple: Do whatever is put in front of you with all your heart and soul without regard for personal results. Do the work as though it were given to you by the universe itself - because it was.”

Let’s just look at that again:

“Do whatever is put in front of you with all your heart and soul without regard for personal results.”

That right there, is some top shit.

Of course, I’m no yogi. My regard for my personal results is naturally still at the forefront of my mind.

But maybe less so than it otherwise would be. And increasingly less so as time goes on.

As the year has unfolded, it’s become clear that no matter how strongly I feel about something, the “forces of reality” that Michael Singer refers to, are stronger.

It’s almost laughable that I feel I can bend them to my personal desires. Life will give you what it gives you.

Now, I’m sure you might be thinking “wait Tintin, you always talk about goal setting and big ambitions and taking control of your life and that stuff, this seems to be perfectly in conflict with that?”

Yeah, you’re right. It does feel hard to reconcile the idea of surrendering with the idea of goal setting and big ambitions. As I’m writing this I’m still trying to piece it together.

How can I both surrender to the flow of life, and also do what I want to do?

Is your calling not naturally connected to your desires?

Is this all just a load of crap?

Well, here’s how I’m thinking about it, and what I think Michael is getting at.

Surrendering isn’t about being passive. Michael isn’t advocating that we abandon all agency.

Instead, he’s suggesting we let go of the ego’s compulsive need to control outcomes.

We stop listening to our internal monologue that often insists “this must happen” or “this must not happen” — and instead be open to what life offers.

We create so many expectations in our mind for what we think should happen in our lives, and we hold onto them so tightly.

And when they’re not met, we feel crushed.

So, desire is more about needing something to be happy.

But, surrendering is about feeling drawn to something, seeing where it leads and detaching ourselves from outcomes.

And importantly, listening.

Listening to what’s right in front of you. Stop focusing on what you think should be happening, and actually tuning into what is happening.

Michael says:

“I just kept letting go and practicing non-resistance, whether I liked what was happening or not.”

Now, this could all just be a way for my monkey brain to be ok with the idea of not getting what I want. But even if it is, it’s a more peaceful, meaningful existence.

And ultimately, that’s what I want.

On the spectrum of being wildly obsessed with driving certain outcomes for themselves, and people who are still doing great work but prioritise peace and service, I’d much rather be the latter.

The entrepreneurs I look up to are not the ones who relentlessly focus on bringing an egotistical idea to life, and sacrifice mental peace.

They are the ones who role model service, humility and pursuing meaningful goals without being too attached to achieving their own personal outcomes.

They focus on the work that’s put in front of them with a sense of mission, but without creating wild expectations of where things might go.

It’s a fine line, and I’m still figuring it out. But I know whenever I feel overwhelmed, confused, or lost, I say something like this:

“Surrender. You’re exactly where you’re meant to be.”

And then continue my day with slightly less weight on my shoulders.

Have an epic week!

Tintin 🫡

P.s.

On an unrelated note, in case you’re reading this without knowing what I do for a living, I help educational YouTubers.

And I also have an email list writing similarly inspirational stuff but specifically for helping educational YouTubers turn their channel into a business.

If that’s up your street, then join 5,000 other YouTubers receiving weekly YouTube advice here.

Thanks for reading The Sunday Night Review!