As school starts and the workforce is gearing up for Q4, the time for sitting under the Tuscan (Italy) or Tucson (Arizona) sun comes to a quick halt.

Life today is challenging, filled with frustration, exhaustion, conflict, moments of low self-esteem, fear of failure, and the sheer determination to survive and "make it happen."

What is the "it" we all want to make happen?

In school, it's about getting good grades. In work, it's about getting good profits.

From your first start up being kindergarten, to your present start up in entrepreneurship, you have most likely been conditioned to drill for skill. And that's part of today's dilemma. We sit and learn by rote. We go from subject to subject never really taking the deep dives we are yearning to do, to explore the depths. We stay surface and superficial.

This is way different from working toward mastery. Look, getting good at skills is fine, however it misses the point. It is limited. Once you know the skills then you reproduce what you have learned over and over.

You become machine man or robot woman.

What I'm talking about is what we need more of than ever before, it's critical thinking. And that can't be learned by repetition. It is learned by being in situations that are challenging and often, yes, life threatening. Like, how do you get down the side of a mountain when you have tripped and sprained your ankle? Or, how you navigate an argument with a colleague that has left you devastated? Or what to do when your relationship life has fallen apart and your spouse/partner of 8 years has taken the last vestige of shared dreams, the books and the dog, and gone elsewhere?

As a society we are not doing a good job with the deeper love of life that includes three major areas:

Imagination: I mean time to sit in silence and let our minds wander. No, not meditation. That's where you want to keep your mind steady and when it wanders you bring it back to center. That's good and helpful. However, it's not what I am talking about. I mean lying on your back (did you ever do this as a kid) and play games with forming monsters or angels or whatever as the clouds pass. No tests to take, no one to impress. Just imagine. Or, maybe getting water colors and splashing red and blue and green and yellow in all sorts of odd shapes and then using your imagination to make up stories about what you have produced from your own hands. Not to make anything spectacular, just splash. Or putting on your favorite type of music and letting your body do its thing. No one watching. You can become Nureyev or Beyonc or see yourself dancing with the stars and hearing the applause as you get ready for the finals; even if your coordination stinks.

I mean time to sit in silence and let our minds wander. No, not meditation. That's where you want to keep your mind steady and when it wanders you bring it back to center. That's good and helpful. However, it's not what I am talking about. I mean lying on your back (did you ever do this as a kid) and play games with forming monsters or angels or whatever as the clouds pass. No tests to take, no one to impress. Just imagine. Or, maybe getting water colors and splashing red and blue and green and yellow in all sorts of odd shapes and then using your imagination to make up stories about what you have produced from your own hands. Not to make anything spectacular, just splash. Or putting on your favorite type of music and letting your body do its thing. No one watching. You can become Nureyev or Beyonc or see yourself dancing with the stars and hearing the applause as you get ready for the finals; even if your coordination stinks. Intuition: Listen to your deeper wisdom. I believe we all have it. I believe we were more in tune with it when we were little kids and it was "educated out of us." At least, most of us, as we became logical and rational people. This usually starts by first grade. In the indigenous cultures youngsters developed intuition by being in tune with nature. They talked to the trees and whispered to the wind. No one thought they should be on meds for this. It was part of life, living with nature, not attempting to tame it and control it. There is a classic story about entrepreneur Richard Branson who, at an early age (I think he was 4 years old) was asked by his mother when she pulled to the side of the road, if he thought he could find his way home alone. He thought so and got out of the car. This little tyke managed to show up nine hours later, proud of his accomplishment. Was the world safer then? You decide. In older cultures this was called a "walk-a-bout" and youngsters were helped to be in touch with their own inner GPS to learn and find ways of solving life's problems.

Listen to your deeper wisdom. I believe we all have it. I believe we were more in tune with it when we were little kids and it was "educated out of us." At least, most of us, as we became logical and rational people. This usually starts by first grade. In the indigenous cultures youngsters developed intuition by being in tune with nature. They talked to the trees and whispered to the wind. No one thought they should be on meds for this. It was part of life, living with nature, not attempting to tame it and control it. There is a classic story about entrepreneur Richard Branson who, at an early age (I think he was 4 years old) was asked by his mother when she pulled to the side of the road, if he thought he could find his way home alone. He thought so and got out of the car. This little tyke managed to show up nine hours later, proud of his accomplishment. Was the world safer then? You decide. In older cultures this was called a "walk-a-bout" and youngsters were helped to be in touch with their own inner GPS to learn and find ways of solving life's problems. Intimacy: It's what we all yearn for. Sadly, we settle for so much less. In-to-me-see. To be seen for who we really are, warts and all. To be heard and appreciated. To be acknowledged for the goodness that lies at the core of each of us. We work 24-7 to get the goodies to have great relationships. Yet, by the time we are finished working we look around and wonder what it was all for. Our society still covets stuff more than we should. How do I know? Just look at what we are supposed to want, what advertising tells us is of value. We have set up a culture of craving. Yet, we are still hungry. While we have achieved so much, there is not any lasting satisfaction. And intimacy means more than the love and affection from another. It means looking at our hot and crowded planet and notice that we are all in it together and no one wins unless we all do.