One of the most important things you can learn in life is how to be alone. Solitude is where you begin to discover who you actually are, separate from the opinions, expectations, and influences of everyone around you. Most people spend their lives absorbing the values and beliefs of the people they surround themselves with, never stopping long enough to ask what they genuinely want from life. Being alone gives you the opportunity to step outside the hive mind and find out. It also forces you to confront the parts of yourself that constant social stimulation allows you to avoid. There’s a reason monks, hermits, and contemplatives throughout history have placed so much importance on solitude. You cannot truly know yourself if you’re constantly being told who you should be. Solitude is also where mastery takes place. You can attend a martial arts class and learn a new technique, but the instructor can’t put the thousands of repetitions into your body that will eventually make the movement effortless. That work has to be done alone, without an audience or applause. The same is true of writing, painting, music, meditation, or anything else worth mastering. Every hour you spend seeking entertainment or social stimulation is an hour you cannot devote to cultivating yourself. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying the company of others, but a life devoted to constant distraction will never produce the same results as one devoted to discipline and practice. Eventually, you have to decide whether you want to spend your life being entertained by what others have created, or developing the ability to create something extraordinary yourself.