Army ants can march in a circle until they die, following the ant in front - and revision goes the same way when nobody checks the direction. Colonies of up to two million coordinate brilliantly, yet a broken trail turns the whole column into a loop. The lesson for a student is that effort without direction is still effort, and it feels productive. Someone has to check the route, which is what a teacher or tutor is for.

Army ants. Named as such due to their distinct aggressiveness and ferocity paired with their tendency to form hunting groups.

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Hunting groups which range from anywhere in between 200,000 to 2 million ants large!

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Despite roaming around in these massive groups, these guys are very well coordinated. So coordinated in fact, that they are able to rapidly build safety scaffolds for each other so that they are able to traverse any terrain with ease.

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These critters march forward, feasting on anything in their path. They scale onto animals gradually and then skin them. Dice them. And then haul them back for the Queen's consumption.

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But, what if I told you there is a surefire way to kill a pack of these ants. A way to render their machete-like jaws and insane strength useless.

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How? Circle of Death

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Destroy the pheromone track (the chemical smells that ants use to sense each other out). Without it, they will be unable to sense their leader.

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That doesn't sound that complicated. I mean you pretty much just separated them from their leader. What difference could that make?

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Well, what will ensue will be the formation of a hypnotic spiral as seen in the GIF below. Thousands of ants circle around a single point. Walking senselessly.

And they continue to do so, for days and nights. Until they finally die of exhaustion.

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Why does the need for leadership matter?

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Why did I tell you about these killer ants?

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These marvelous creatures that are left for dead (literally) once they are separated from their leader.

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Well, because, unfortunately, many of us are currently trapped in this ant circle unknowingly.

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We make decisions whilst under the influence of others. This is done in many forms, from peer pressure, societal expectations (Keeping up with the Kardashians), and all the way to things like Planned Obsolescence (A phenomenon that gives us a desire to always need to own the latest stuff).

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However, unlike these ants, we humans have the unique ability to see ourselves objectively. We have self-awareness. We can hold ourselves accountable for our decisions.

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So, here is my 3 step plan to break free from the Circle of Death:

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1. Review your life decisions at a regular interval (daily/weekly/monthly).

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What was your goal? Did this decision help you move towards your goal or did you make this decision blindly under the influence of - lack of sleep, being immersed in garbage i.e advertisements, or simply Fear Of Missing Out.

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I do this on a weekly-ish basis. It helps you to reprioritise what you should be focusing on.

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2. You need a guiding mentor to provide external feedback. This could be your mosque teacher, your guru, your grandad. It is important we do have something or someone we can root towards.

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I have many great teachers, mentors, and friends who guide me in these matters. I have different mentors for different aspects of my life. For example, I don't get my gym advice from the guy I get my Chemistry questions resolved by - sorry Terry!

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Note to self - utilise them more often!

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3. Set time aside to do nothing.

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One of the reasons we find ourselves going around in a Circle of Death is because we don't take a moment to slow down and observe our reality. Most successful people on this earth swear by some alone time for reflection/meditation.

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I normally love staring at the stars in the night sky and reflecting on life when the sky is clear (basically never in England). Sometimes, it just helps to step away from it all. I know this is extremely hard in the modern "hustle" culture.

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Rudyard Kipling aptly quotes in his poem:

“If you can dream—and not make dreams your master.”

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In simple terms, your dreams and goals shouldn't be your only thoughts. Be able to phase everything out now and then.

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Recognise the cycle and break out!

What else is worth reading?

What are the honest limits of this piece?

This is an opinion piece rather than research: it argues from experience and from the sources it cites, and reasonable people disagree with it. Where it makes a factual claim, the sources below are the place to check it.

The route that is not a degree, defined by the people who run it:

“Apprenticeships combine practical training in a job with study.” — gov.uk, Become an apprentice

Where can you check this at source?

The claims here about work, money and how people rate their lives are measured nationally: