Lewis Carroll was kind of a weirdo. Let’s just get that out of the way. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson—the man behind the pen name—was a shy, stuttering mathematician who spent his life obsessed with logic puzzles and photography. But when he sat down to write about a girl falling down a rabbit hole, he accidentally created one of the most practical manuals for surviving the modern world. Most people think of it as a drug-induced fever dream or a whimsical bedtime story, but honestly, Alice in Wonderland good advice is more useful for your career and mental health than half the self-help books gathering dust on your nightstand.
It's about the absurdity of rules.
We live in a world that demands we make sense all the time. You have to have a five-year plan. You have to optimize your morning routine. You have to "lean in." Then you read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and the Through the Looking-Glass sequel, and you realize the world has always been a chaotic mess of ego-driven Queens and anxious Rabbits. Carroll wasn't just writing nonsense; he was satirizing how adults act like they know what they’re doing when they’re actually just following arbitrary social scripts.
The Caterpillar’s Existential Crisis and Why You Should Embrace It
"Who are you?"
That’s the big one. When the Blue Caterpillar asks Alice this while sitting on a mushroom smoking a hookah, she can’t answer. She’s changed sizes so many times that day that her internal compass is spinning. Most of us freak out when we feel like we’re losing our identity. We have a mid-life crisis, or a quarter-life crisis, or just a Tuesday-afternoon-at-Target crisis.
But the Alice in Wonderland good advice here is that not knowing who you are is actually the most honest state of being. You’re supposed to change. If you’re the same person you were at 18, you’ve probably stopped paying attention. Alice says, "I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then." That’s not a failure of character; it’s a symptom of growth.
In a professional setting, we call this "pivoting." In Wonderland, it’s just survival. We spend so much energy trying to maintain a consistent "personal brand" that we forget humans are fluid. The Caterpillar is annoying, sure, but he’s right to point out that metamorphosis is the only constant. If you aren't feeling a bit confused about your direction lately, you might be stuck in a rut.
Believing in Impossible Things Before Breakfast
There is a very famous bit where the White Queen tells Alice that she’s practiced believing in impossible things so much that she sometimes manages as many as six before breakfast.
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It sounds cute. It looks great on a coffee mug. But let’s look at the actual psychology behind it.
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections. When you deliberately entertain "impossible" ideas, you aren't just being a dreamer; you’re stretching your cognitive flexibility. Our brains love shortcuts. They love "no, that won't work" because "no" is safe and requires zero energy. The Queen is basically an early advocate for creative visualization.
- Try imagining a career path that doesn't exist yet.
- Consider a solution to a problem that sounds absolutely ridiculous.
- Question a "fact" you’ve held onto since childhood.
If you don't flex that muscle, your mind gets brittle. The world changes—tech evolves, economies shift—and if you can't believe in the "impossible" shift that's happening right in front of your face, you get left behind. Look at the shift toward AI or decentralized work. Ten years ago? Impossible. Today? It’s breakfast.
The Rabbit Hole of Goal Setting
"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don’t much care where—" said Alice.
"Then it doesn’t matter which way you go," said the Cat.
This interaction with the Cheshire Cat is the ultimate Alice in Wonderland good advice for anyone feeling burnt out. We are obsessed with "the hustle." We feel guilty if we aren't constantly moving. But moving without a destination isn't progress; it’s just vibration.
However, there’s a flip side to this that people usually miss. If you don't care where you're going, then stop stressing about the path! If your goal is just to explore and see what happens, then there are no wrong turns. The anxiety only comes when you pretend you have a destination but refuse to name it.
The Red Queen’s Race: The Exhaustion of Modern Life
In Through the Looking-Glass, Alice encounters the Red Queen, and they start running. They run fast. They run until Alice is exhausted. When they finally stop, Alice realizes they are in the exact same spot they started.
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"Now, here, you see," the Queen says, "it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"
Biologists actually call this the "Red Queen Hypothesis." It’s the idea that organisms must constantly adapt and evolve just to survive against ever-evolving opposing organisms. In your life, this is the "treadmill effect." You get a raise, but your expenses go up. You get a faster phone, but the apps get heavier.
The lesson here? Recognize when you are in a Red Queen’s Race. If you are running 80 hours a week just to maintain a lifestyle you don't even enjoy, you aren't winning. You’re just a pawn on a giant chessboard. Sometimes the only way to actually get "somewhere else" isn't to run faster, but to change the game entirely.
Handling the "Off With Their Heads" Personalities
We’ve all worked for a Queen of Hearts.
She’s the boss who leads by fear. She’s the client who changes their mind every five seconds and expects you to anticipate it. She’s the person in your life who turns every minor inconvenience into a capital offense.
Alice’s realization at the end of the trial is the most empowering moment in the book. She looks at the intimidating court, the guards, and the screaming Queen, and she simply says, "You’re nothing but a pack of cards!"
Authority is often an illusion.
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People have as much power over you as you grant them. Most of the "scary" stuff in our lives—corporate hierarchies, social expectations, the fear of being judged—is just a house of cards. When Alice grows to her full size and realizes her own worth, the nonsense loses its power. It’s about perspective. When you feel small, the world is terrifying. When you realize your own scale, the monsters look like toys.
Why "Muchness" Is Your Greatest Asset
The Mad Hatter tells Alice she’s lost her "muchness."
It’s a great word. It’s that spark of individuality, that slightly weird edge that makes you you. The world tries to sand down your edges. It wants you to be "professional," which is often just code for "boring and predictable."
But in a world of commodified labor and repetitive social media feeds, your "muchness" is the only thing that has value. The Hatter is "mad," sure, but he’s also the only one who seems to be having any fun. He’s living in his own reality, and while that’s a bit extreme for a Monday morning staff meeting, there’s something to be said for retaining your quirks.
Actionable Insights for Wonderland Survivors
You don't need to fall down a literal hole to use this stuff. Life is plenty weird on its own. If you want to apply Alice in Wonderland good advice to your actual existence, start with these specific shifts:
- Audit your "Musts." Look at your daily schedule. How many of those things are "rules" you made up or inherited? If you’re doing something because "that’s just how it’s done," you’re playing croquet with a flamingo. Stop. Find a real mallet.
- Practice the 10-minute "Impossible" exercise. Every morning, think of one thing that seems impossible in your current situation. Don't try to solve it. Just sit with the idea that it could happen. It primes your brain to see opportunities where others see walls.
- Call out the "Pack of Cards." Next time you’re intimidated by a person or a situation, visualize them as a literal playing card. Thin. Paper. Easily blown away by a stiff breeze. It’s a psychological trick that levels the playing field.
- Stop running in place. If you’ve been "running" for a year and your life looks exactly the same, stop. Don't run twice as fast. Step off the track. Change your environment. The Red Queen only wins if you keep playing her game.
- Reclaim your "Muchness." Find one thing you stopped doing because it was "weird" or "childish" and do it this weekend. Whether it’s painting, playing a game, or wearing a hat that makes people look twice. Your value is in your uniqueness, not your conformity.
Lewis Carroll knew that logic only takes you so far. At some point, the world stops making sense, and the only way to get through it is with a bit of curiosity and a lot of courage. Alice wasn't a hero because she was strong or fast; she was a hero because she was curious enough to keep going even when nothing made sense. That’s the best advice anyone can give you.
Practical Next Steps
To truly integrate these concepts, start by identifying your "Red Queen" activities—those tasks that consume your energy without moving you forward. Once identified, deliberately schedule one "impossible" brainstorming session this week to find a creative exit strategy from those loops. Finally, evaluate your current "muchness" by listing three personal traits you’ve suppressed for the sake of professionalism and find a low-stakes way to reintroduce one of them into your daily routine. This isn't about escaping reality; it's about navigating it with more agency.