I’m in Spain this week.
I’m celebrating my birthday with a small group of close friends. And for my birthday experience, I took them to see a flamenco show.
Not the flashy, tourist kind.
The real thing.
Low light. Raw guitar. A small room where you can see every line on the dancers’ faces.
And that’s what struck me first.
Their faces.
They weren’t just performing steps.
They were telling stories—of heartbreak, resilience, pride, longing.
You could see entire lifetimes etched into their expressions.
These were people who had lived.
And something inside me paused.
I caught myself thinking:
Their lives must be fascinating.
What would it be like to live a life like that?
Then a playful thought followed.
If I wanted to understand that life…
Why wouldn’t I just learn flamenco?
Not casually.
Not “once a week after work” learning.
Flamenco in London, squeezed between meetings and emails, would be like learning to surf in a bathtub.
So I asked a different question.
What if I did it properly?
What if I moved to southern Spain for a week?
Took daily flamenco classes.
Immersed myself in the culture.
Late dinners.
Struggled through Spanish.
.
Lived—briefly—a different life.
And that’s when something clicked.
I realized I’ve started thinking about life differently.
Over the last few years, AI and leverage have quietly changed everything for me.
What used to take 50 hours now takes one. Teams of 20 have become teams of two or three.
As a result, I’m building multiple new companies alongside Mindvalley with tiny teams, massive leverage, and far more freedom than I ever imagined possible.
But here’s the unexpected side effect of optimization:
It gave me time.
And time, I’m realizing, isn’t meant to be endlessly reinvested into more work.
It’s meant to be lived.
So I decided to test a radical idea.
I’ve committed to taking one full week off every month to deeply immerse myself in a different life—learning something new in the place where it truly belongs.
Some examples of what’s coming:
I’m considering spending a week living with monks in a Greek Orthodox monastery near Thessaloniki. No phone. No electronics. Waking at 5 a.m.
Working the land. Eating simple meals. Praying. Meditating. Napping in the afternoon. Cooking together. Sleeping as the sun sets.
Silence.
Simplicity.
Presence.
I briefly thought about moving to Paris to learn bartending… and then realized that probably wasn’t the direction my nervous system or my liver wanted to go.
So instead, I’ll spend a week in Paris learning French cooking, the way it was meant to be learned.
Each immersion follows two simple rules:
Rule #1: Meet locals.
Not wealthy. Not influential. Not “network-worthy.” Just locals. The baker. The bartender. The monk. Ordinary people living ordinary lives—because their stories are often the most eye-opening.
Rule #2: Learn the skill where it was born.
Flamenco in Spain. French cuisine in Paris. Orthodoxy in Greece.
No shortcuts. No simulations.
This curiosity isn’t just intellectual; it’s physical too.
As much as I love my current training, I’m now exploring entirely new relationships with my body. Pilates. Yoga. Aikido. Ways of moving I would never have touched before.
My goal is simple and slightly absurd:
I want to be in better shape at 60 than I was at 21, when I was 19 and representing Malaysia in the U.S. Open for Taekwondo.
And then there’s the biggest shift of all, now that I’m turning 50.
I’ve decided to stop chasing money.
If my company reaches a billion-dollar valuation, great.
Nice milestone.
But it’s no longer a requirement.
My goal now is this: Live 100 lives before I die.
I will be a flamenco dancer.
A monk.
A Bedouin.
A French cook.
Maybe even a barista.
Each for a week.
100 weeks.
100 lives.
This is worth more to me than a billion dollars in net worth.
I start today.
I’ve officially signed up for a week-long stand-up comedy immersion in London.
And yes, you’ll be seeing me perform in comedy clubs soon.
I’ll be sharing these experiences as I go, what I learn, what breaks me open, what surprises me.
And I’d love to hear from you too.
If you could live a different life for one week every month…
What would you study?
Where would you go?
Who would you want to live alongside?
Share them in the comments. I read them. They shape what comes next.
Thank you for being part of this journey, and this chapter of my life.
Here’s to living many lives.
P.S. If this idea of living many lives resonates with you, you’ll enjoy what’s coming next.
On January 18, we’re bringing together Social Media Summit Highlights:
This is a LIVE curated selection of the top-rated sessions from our recent summit.
You will learn how to build visibility, leverage, and impact in the modern world from Brendan Kane, Prince EA, Marie Forleo, and me.
Now, if you’re curious how ideas turn into movements on social media (and how people design lives with more freedom once they have an authoritative personal brand), I’d love for you to join us there.
407 Responses
Vishen, what if you find out that you could not ‘die’. Your new birth into this idea can bring you more lifetime opportunities
Hey Vishen,
It is such an honor to hear you take actual ownership and say “I am going to live”
I am truly honest when I say I am just about to start my YouTube channel. Being 24 and having had a life which started in darkness and has now arrived in the light I wanted that channel be about exactly this.
“Don’t postpone life.”
And now that I hear this from you I truly think it is a synchronicity and a sign. Because I wanted to achieve something that I call “THE PERFECT WEEK” with many of those aspects of your new life in a week but at the same time very different. And I was experimenting with it. Thinking about how could I live “THE PERFECT WEEK” every 90 days, than I thought about every 30 days and than I thought how can I make my life be “The perfect life” so how can I take all those aspects and live like that totally free without postponing anything and doing everything like I want it.
And my statement to you is I am not only joining you with my Adventure but I am beyond grateful that life is bringing us all to the right frequency and I would be thrilled if we could one day share an adventure together.
LOVE THE CONCEPT! Of living dfferent lives… Brilliant!
One of my lives would be World of Puppets with Bernd Ogrodnik. Check out his FB page!
1.The initial idea of “100 healthy prosperous years” now presented itself as a “100 lives”, ok, this is interesting!
[God, experiencing Itself tgrough all of us lives billions of human lives].
2. Soon all of us as the humanity will know that a healthy 100 y.o. birthday is doable, achievable and is “accirding to the blueprint/plan”.
Influencers like You, or a Sheikh of Dubai , or Navin Jane etc can set an example of “filling our 100 years of positive Soul experience on this planet” via speaking new languages, playing new instruments, adding new “doing experiences”!😊
I like this!!!.
And I am looking forward to my next +50 (+) years of positive human experience on this planet, which we together cocreate acvording to the “loving creator’s plan”.
✨️🌏🌎🌍✨️🕊💖🔑
Be a meditating Buddhist nun in Chiangmai, Thailand.
Nomad traveller in Kenya, South Africa.
I still haven’t seen snow, hiking in Alps, Switzerland.
Professor sharing knowledge in philosophy and social sciences
Spiritual healer
Vishen! Happy happy bday from Mexico City.
I love the shift you’re doing, the opportunity to live other lives.
While I was reading your new proposal, I want to share with you a little bit about me.
Before I got married I was moving from life to life.
I was a winemaker, an artisan baker, high school teacher, hotel manager, assistant in a lab of red algae but my constant have been teach/practice yoga since 2000.
Long time ago people said I was crazy, that I wasn’t clear about myself, but years after I realised I was clear about all the things I want to try and LIVE.
Now after so many experiences, I work as voiceover artist, after being in MVU23 I took the training as hypnotherapist, and started a more formal therapist practice with SCIO and PSYCH-K therapist included.
I studied philosophy, in specific Logic, epistemology and philosophy of mathematics.
I was a classic ballerina but I couldn’t be a profesional because of my short height. So from there it’s how I jumped into yoga.
Also, doing different quests at MV have helped me to immerse in different topics and applied them into my life.
Thanks for this amazing website full of opportunities with amazing people, sharing the most valuable content. Also doing different quests help me to immerse myself from different angles.
See you this summer at Tallinn, this time I’m taking my son so he can enjoy MVU teens.
Congratulations for giving you opportunities to live as much as you like.
Hbday again!
Cheers 🥂 & keep enjoying life!
I would become an archeologist in the Yucatan or Peru.
Live the life of a Shinto priest in Japan during the festival season.
Become the person who plays the giant drum or gong in an epic orchestra.
Sing in the choir that does backup for Nightwish.
Learn how to surf in Hawaii.
Live the life of a judge on the Great British Baking Show.
Experience what it’s like to be a yell leader at Texas A&M on one of the biggest games of the year.
So many cool lives you could live, but there must be a reason God gave you yours specifically!
Hi Vishen, I completed my 50th Year in 2025 March.
I joined as a member for Mindvalley courses some 10 years ago… loved to see you progress in different ways while impacting many lives greatly all through these years.
Your idea to live 100 lives in 100 weeks is a gesture of kindness and empathy towards a less privileged society trying to understand what their lives and sufferings truely are.
You could also live the life of a Simple school Teacher in a poor village for an under privileged school.
There you will see the real need for uplifting of lives, both of the teacher and the students and their parents.
Your Mindvalley sessions like 6 phase guided meditation could change the lives of many there…
I am from Htderabad- Telangana State India.
You could choose any remote village in any part of India and stay there for a week and see how you could transform their lives while learning their qays of living lives (Mountain based. Forest based or even a common village based)….
Good luck for 100 different experiences…
Congratulations on this decision, Vishen. “100 lives” resonates with me.
I’m 45, and I’ve already lived many. I’ve lived in Tenerife, Granada, Valencia, Sevilla, and for the last 10 years, Cardiff. I represented Granada in an Andalusian karate competition. I helped organise an International Marketing Conference during my practicum. I worked in an agrotouristic masseria in Italy.
I’ve been a one-to-one teacher, a cleaner, a babysitter, a Montessori assistant teacher, a bartender, a private Spanish tutor. I danced flamenco in a Mexican restaurant in Germany for nearly three months. I performed belly dance and fusion in many places. I sold paintings door-to-door in Sevilla while living with five Israelis. I assisted a cook friend on his TV show, I lived in a motorhome for one year, I went on a stage to sing for the first time last year (…)
I trained in massage and spa therapy, the Silva Method, Tameana, Metamorphic Technique, Reiki, Ho’oponopono and Singing Bowls.
I’m homeschooling my child and raising him (and our dog) bilingually. I’m translating children’s books by Julia Donaldson. I currently work two days a week as a waitress, and I’m becoming an entrepreneur.
There are many more lives already mapped in my “3 Most Important Questions” blueprint. I won’t be rushing them. I’ll live them one by one, as they’re meant to be lived. I feel that lived experience compounds in ways money never can. Each life leaves something in the body, not just the mind.
So yes… 100 lives makes sense. Not as an escape from work, but as a deeper way of inhabiting being human.
Thank you for sharing.
Hi Sarah incame her to comment about Vishen vision, but I’m quite inspired with your comment and the lives you have led.
I absolutely love the idea…soon turning 50 too! just random things i can think of right now of a thousand things I would love to learn:
Learn to ride a horse (Patagonia?)
Learn to ride a moto
Learn to play Piano
Learn to sing
Lean Tango in Argentina, flamenco in Spain, Pole dance (Learn any kind of dance really)
A meditation retreat
Learn painting techniques
Help an Humanitarian mission
Spend a week in a center that takes care of wild animals in Africa or Australia
Cuisine lessons in Japan
Bakery lessons
Hiking and living in the wild for 1 week
Be an underwater photographer
and many many other things
Happy Birthday Vishen
I can’t wait to read all of your amazing 100 plus Lifes!!!🤸♂️🌈✨🎆🌷
My first life would be a deep dive in astrology with the BEST Debra Silverman
My second would be a DPT for a gymnast at the OLYMPICS.
3rd to be A ballroom dancer 💃 on Dancing with the stars
4th a Gardner in the Netherlands 🇳🇱
A chef who specializes in on Healthy living
Travel to Africa to learn their way of living
All for one week?? Maybe a little longer
Vishan, some souls recognize each other across distance and time. I have followed your journey for over two decades, and in many ways, it has felt like walking alongside a brother , a fellow engineer, I’ve never met — someone who carried dreams quietly, trusted the process, and kept moving forward one day at a time.
The idea of living 100 lives in one life resonates deeply with me. My own life has unfolded through many chapters — as a professional, a mother, a traveler, a seeker, a creator, and a woman learning to balance strength with softness.
An engineer by training, an artist by choice — self-taught across many creative worlds. Each role, each transition, has shaped me in ways words cannot always capture.
I began life as a child who did not always feel loved, raised by foster parents, learning early how to stand on my own. In many ways, I raised myself — learning resilience, independence, and inner strength along the way. Today, I continue the gentle work of healing old soul-scars, choosing growth over bitterness, and learning to love life more fully with each passing year.
I am still finding the courage to fully step out and share my story. Some journeys are lived inwardly before they are spoken aloud. Yet even in quietness, growth continues, wisdom deepens, and the soul prepares.
As I turn 58 this year, I don’t feel the closing of doors. I feel the widening of horizons. Like Nelson Mandela, like David Suzuki, I believe our later years can be our most purposeful — guided by faith, clarity, and lived experience.
There are still many dreams in my heart. I now walk toward them with trust rather than urgency. When the soul is aligned, time is never an obstacle — it becomes a companion.
We don’t live 100 lives by doing more. We live them by becoming more.
Wonderful idea Vishen!
Hope you had a really enjoyable birthday and week in Spain.
I am from the UK but I live in Cádiz, Andalusia! Do you have dates yet for your planned flamenco Spanish immersion week? Would love to meet you if at all possible during your envisaged week in southern Spain to enjoy vino y tapas o un fino.
I would love my 100 lives experience to include:
Learning and applying in my daily life AI and Social Media.
Safari experience in Africa
Yoga immersion in India
Camino de Santiago, Spain
Animal Communication, especially with horses
Thank you for your idea and motivation to live our lives to the full, starting now this year 2026, The Year of the Horse in the Element of Fire!
Congratulations on your 50th Birthday Vishen!!
Enjoy your ‘Golden Years’ …..
Here’s to your Amazing Ideas living and learning and having all the fun while doing so!! X
Crazy….. Sexy…. Cool !! X⭐️🎂💙♥️⭐️
Congratulations on your 50th Birthday 🎂 Vishen
I hope you’re enjoying your’Golden’ Birthday in Spain!
I love your idea – living and learning Flamingo Dancing, ( in Spain.. of course)! Sounds like a fun plan, and learning should be fun!
Stand up Comedy- and why not !?
Especially, when you have time…
I would choose to ‘live’ and learn more ( not constantly in ‘survival mode’) !!
So, here we go…. A few of my chosen subjects to learn – Fencing, horse riding dancing (Argentine Tango)
Tai chi meditation…… 🎤 singing 🎵
Learning to drive / advanced Aero – Automobile!?! ……..
Shooting…
Who knows…. finding my future partner (husband to share happy adventures ( and having the ‘time’ to do so together)……..
All in Divine Timing of course
X
Wow, that is truly an amazing idea! Looking forward to read about the next chapters, which I hope will be also accompanied by some visuals.
And after you’ve collected all your 100 new and authentic experiences, maybe you would even write an adventure book – for the kids with big dreams this time! 💫
I would definitely take a week to learn:
– How to include local wild herbs into my cooking
– Natural medicine (although that probably would take longer than a week :-))
– immerse myself in the world of AI and make it work for me, because to be honest, I just never took the time..
Happy B’day Vishen.. 50th! Oh um that life landmark, that milestone – perhaps this number is something that forces or encourages us to rethink our life. And what an exciting and inspiring set of thoughts you have shared. Yes, having billion-dollar financial milestones could be enjoyable and fill you with some worldly pride, it doesn’t really have a soul-fufiling outcome. I’m eager and excited to see your next 100 days unfold for you, Mindvalley and your admirers.
PS: Not sure if you have ever been to New Zealand and tried ‘sheep shearing’? Let me know if that gets included in your 100 days plan. I’d welcome you here in Auckland (Vishen and Virin together)!
What an amazing idea and birthday gift to yourself! I have had such thoughts, especially after reading the book: “Eat, Pray, Love.” So many places in the world I’d love to visit….maybe take part in an archaeological dig in Egypt, spend time as a farm-hand or working at a shop in a smaller town in Ireland, learn to cook in Italy, and spend time learning yoga from a master in India…..so many possibilities! Am excited to read all about your quests! Happy 50th!
Happy Birthday!
I enjoyed reading your email! They are always inspirational! Thank you !
May each life on your 100 lives give you more clarity on your life’s joirney.
You mentioned exploring fitness.. so I wanted to share this.
“Awareness Through Movement “- By Moshe Feldenkrais
NeuroMovement.com
It leverages the principles of neuroplasticity to improve the way you move and think.
Wishing you health and continued success!