The Future of Work-Life

‘Does your work make you come alive?’ This is a question Jonas Altman often asks. While his latest book Shapers has been hitting the bestseller list on Amazon, Jonas has been coaching hundreds of lost souls to reignite joy in their work, and his recently launched immersive workshops have been attracting a global tribe of meaning-seekers. His revolutionary ideas on the work-life-blend are intriguing to say the least, but it’s his embodiment of the kind of aliveness that someone would love to find in their everyday hustle that struck me most, and set me on a journey to discover the human behind the achiever.

Shaping

As Leonard Cohen expressed it so poetically — ‘There is a crack in everything, that’s where the light gets in’ — and our ‘cracks’ are the entry points from where we start to shape ourselves into the shakers of the status quo.

Growing up as a teen in a Jewish household, Jonas felt very sheltered and conditioned by expectations of everything Jewish:

‘I was going to a Jewish day school, and hanging out with mostly white, well-to-do Jewish kids. From an early age, everyone who represented ‘the other’ attracted me. I wanted to lose my identity and dissolve the Jonas that was from Kerrisdale.’

He started searching for that ‘otherness’ in his early twenties: first by chasing  the waves of the Pacific in San Francisco, and later by submerging himself in the subculture of Brixton, a multicultural south-London neighbourhood:

‘I found my place amongst the so called ‘bruvs’, and even started talking like them. I guess that I subconsciously was downgrading my social status with a cockney accent to feel like I belonged there.’

Surfing and Identity

Our conversation took place at his sunlight-filled home, where the mood was evoked by references to the ocean and surfing. Even the title of his recent book Shapers originates in surfing: ‘A ‘shaper’ is someone who literally shapes a surfboard by hand.’

I asked him what surfing feels like. He paused for a moment, as if being transported to a different dimension:

‘Being out there on the waves, there is nothing else like it. It’s a feeling of aliveness that comes from being in sync with nature. It’s meditative.’

I’ve always been fascinated by this sense of rebellion and free spiritedness of the surfing culture or, as Jonas so nicely put it, ‘the belonging to people who didn’t belong’. This quest for the perfect wave took him to many exotic places. People from around the world didn’t only come for the waves but also for the tribe, the ecstatic experiences, and the connection to nature:

‘Meeting people with a different worldview I could feel my perspective opening up. It is wonderful to feel belonging to different tribes and continually stretch my views of the world’

This need for belonging forces us to move out of the monotony of everyday life and expand our minds. Bcause the soul craves to exult in freedom, and to feel alive again:

‘In my early thirties, I decided to move from sunny California into the miserable winter of south London. I ended up living in a dark house with smokers and drinkers in a town called Morden. It felt like living in a ‘Requiem for a Dream’. It was a time of uncertainty, no support, lots of doubt, and very little money. I was being stubborn, and wanted to prove myself that I could flourish in different circumstances.’

Jazz, Experimentation, and Energy

I’ve known Jonas for a few years, and watching him juggle the seemingly endless activities he is involved in is daunting. It makes one wonder where he gets all that energy. But hearing his story, I started to understand the human behind the juggler. He often uses words like ‘fluidity’ or ‘work-life-blend’, and sees his work as a unified practice:

‘Writing helps me think. Meditation helps me clear my mind. Running helps me get unstuck. There is really no separation between work and play.’

Another eye-catching element in his home is the impressive collection of jazz records. I learned that apart from his globe-trotting surfers’ identity, he used to be called ‘Brazil Boogie’:

‘My first job in San Francisco was at a record label, where I got introduced to the world of dance floor jazz, funk and acid jazz. Then I got into Brazilian capoeira and started DJ-ing at local venues. At some point, my friends started calling me the Brazil funk jazz guy, or ‘Brazil Boogie’. Being a DJ is pretty much the same feeling as doing workshops: I look at the people and I see them having a good time.’

He surrounds himself with people who are thinking outside the box, and are open to experimentation. Like a jazz musician, he is composing his masterpiece while improvising, experimenting, and seeking for the the right rhythm:

‘I get to perform in front of people who come to my concert, and my duty is to be open hearted, and courageous so that they can stretch themselves. When you are facilitating, you often can’t discern who is leading. Everyone is participating in making the music.’

Everyone part of the ‘shapers’ tribe can jam along,  but collectively, they are all performing for a greater audience:

‘We are conditioned to be right from a very young age, while actually we should be experimenting and learning from our failures. This is why I wrote Shapers, to give people permission to become their unique selves.’

The Chase For Meaning

As we slowly were coming to an end with our conversation, I was curious if there was one particular experience that had the most profound impact:

‘I used to work at a fashion company with a business partner. We were selling to big retailers and the energy was all directed to meet their needs, make money, and constantly hustle for the next sales opportunity. I was working with someone who had different values than me, in an industry that I didn’t particularly care for, and sure enough, I burned out. I learned a lot through that experience.’

Listening to his story, I was blown away by the diversity of experiences he went through. It made me wonder: What was he chasing? What was the big ‘why’?

‘To suffer less. To have less anxieties. To find opportunities to challenge myself. Part of the joy of what I do is the ‘not knowing’. Dancing in the dark now feels familiar to me. If I’m not in some form of ambiguity, I don’t feel at home.’

Jonas has written his own story of success while chasing the perfect wave around the globe, losing himself obsessively in music, and embracing uncertainty. These experiences have shaped him into a better human, and have brought him closer to his true identity.

While there is no manual for how to live a good life, I believe that these kind of stories might just give us that little push to finally begin our own adventure. To stretch ourselves towards the unknown, and dedicate our lives to chasing meaning instead of happiness. Whatever the destination might be, it’s the aliveness we find on the journey that will keep us going further.

Find more about Jonas Altman at jonasaltman.com