It’s Sunday evening, and we’re barely upright. We returned from the Philippines yesterday morning, and we’re still moving like zombies. A 12-hour flight with a 16-hour time difference hits differently—it reminds me of those wasted Sundays from my party days. My serotonin feels low, and I’m reminding myself it’s time to get outside and walk it off.
Tomorrow, life snaps back to its regular programming. My wife will head to work, but what does that mean for me? Yes, the predictable answers still apply—yoga, strength training, eating with intention—but how will I actually spend my days? Before this trip, my time was swallowed by online job applications. I kept tweaking my strategy, but after all that effort, my interview rate maxed out at 0.5%.
Imagine that. At the height of my career, with a resume that should impress another human being—if one ever saw it. That number tells me something’s broken. These online portals feel like black holes. I know I have value, yet it’s becoming harder to showcase that value in a world where AI filters decide whether or not you’re worth a glance.
And honestly, it feels like many of these recruiters barely know how to use the very tools they’re relying on. If we’re expected to mirror the job description word for word, are companies actually looking for the most qualified candidate? The only interview I landed happened because I intentionally rewrote my resume to echo the listing, skill for skill. What ever happened to hiring someone with potential—someone you could grow into the role? The whole system feels like it’s still in Beta. I’d bet money that the heavy reliance on AI is actually keeping the best candidates out of view. Recruiters are just knocking tasks off their to-do lists.
That’s why I want to be intentional with my time. I keep returning to a phrase that guided me for years: “Work to live, not live to work.” It carried me through my younger years, but when I got sober, I put my head down and built stability from the ground up. Now that phrase is resurfacing, but with a more refined meaning.
As I search for the next step in my career, I want to approach it deliberately. I want to show up as my best self, and that’s only possible if my boundaries reflect my priorities. When you prioritize your own wellbeing, you naturally become an asset to any team you join.
For me, that looks like community interaction, meal prep, physical activity, and time for reflection. In every industry I’ve worked in, I’ve seen the same pattern repeat: people stretching themselves too thin. We glorify busyness, but I’m convinced it’s a silent killer.
More. More. More.
That’s the call of our days. Chasing something, planning for something, reaching for some imagined future—yet the future is happening right in front of us.
When we left my wife’s family in the Philippines, her father said, “I hope to see you again, Nolan.” He didn’t mean for it to land so heavily, but it did. The truth is, we’re not promised tomorrow.
So what can we do to improve life now? Share meals. Take walks. Connect. It doesn’t take much. When we align with our priorities, our own lives get richer—and that energy spreads. Quality of life is contagious.
Take care of yourself.
Share your time with others.
Keep it simple, stupid!
