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We all love a good life hack. But let’s be honest—half of them are pure genius and the other half are… questionable at best. From duct tape cup holders to improvised grocery store outfits, this gallery celebrates the creative, the chaotic, and the downright unnecessary ways people try to make life easier.
It’s proof that humans will go to extreme lengths to solve simple problems, often creating even bigger ones in the process.
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Ryder
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The gym is a strange, hilarious ecosystem. There’s the guy doing curls in the squat rack, the one recording every rep, and the pre-workout evangelist who insists he “doesn’t even feel it anymore.”
Here we celebrate the chaos in everything in takes to stick with a workout regiment. It’s about flavorless chicken, calorie-free hot sauce, and the endless quest for the perfect mirror selfie.
Whether you’re a seasoned lifter, a treadmill tourist, or just here for the memes, this is where you’ll find the best of gym culture – ridiculous, obsessive, and downright hilarious at times.
No matter your thoughts on the gym community and the hilarity posted here – it is a very accepting place with everybody striving to push themselves and be their very best. It teaches you so much about life, social situations, confidence, and self-image. Even if you’re a “treadmill tourist” – just get in a gym and get some steps in – you will notice a difference.
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Ryder
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As the oldest members of Gen X continue to turn 60 this year, the so-called “sandwich generation” is getting closer to the typical age for retirement (62, on average).
Unfortunately, many Gen X professionals lack the financial resources to retire well.
Just 54% of Gen X savers said they’re on track for retirement, the lowest percentage of any generation, according to a BlackRock report.
Related: 25% of Boomers Face a Bleak Retirement — Are You Making the Same Mistakes?
An annual research study from Northwestern Mutual casts the spotlight on some of Gen X‘s most pressing retirement issues as the group approaches its golden years.
First, Gen Xers said they’d need $1.57 million to retire comfortably, or $310,000 more than the “magic number” national average, according to the research.
More than half (56%) of Gen Xers thought they’d likely outlive their savings, while just 40% of Boomers and beyond felt the same, per the report.
Across all generations, Gen X was the least likely to report the expectation of an inheritance.
Additionally, Gen X respondents were more concerned than millennials or Boomers about paying off their mortgage: 25% compared to 24% and 18%, respectively.
Gen X also reported less understanding of some critical factors that could impact their retirement plans. For example, they had a looser grasp on how inflation (53%) and taxes (49%) could affect their financial plans, compared to 66% and 62% of Boomers.
What’s more, 50% of Gen X admitted to a “common blindspot” when it comes to managing their finances: They said they’d prioritized building wealth without doing enough to protect their assets. Just 35% of Boomers felt the same.
“Growth without protection can leave people vulnerable,” Jeff Sippel, chief strategy officer at Northwestern Mutual, said. “Especially as you get older, safeguarding what you’ve built is just as critical as continuing to build. A holistic plan should account for both.”
As the oldest members of Gen X continue to turn 60 this year, the so-called “sandwich generation” is getting closer to the typical age for retirement (62, on average).
Unfortunately, many Gen X professionals lack the financial resources to retire well.
Just 54% of Gen X savers said they’re on track for retirement, the lowest percentage of any generation, according to a BlackRock report.
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Amanda Breen
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Most entrepreneurs scratch the surface with AI — writing headlines, generating copy, tweaking posts. That’s like using a supercomputer just to check your email. You’re massively underutilizing its power and risking falling behind.
In this video, I reveal seven hidden AI capabilities that can 10x your output and give you an edge before everyone else catches on.
What you’ll discover:
These are advanced strategies, but I’ll break them down step-by-step so you can apply them today. If you’re serious about scaling your business with AI, this video is your blueprint.
The AI Success Kit is available to download for free, along with a chapter from my new book, The Wolf is at The Door.
Most entrepreneurs scratch the surface with AI — writing headlines, generating copy, tweaking posts. That’s like using a supercomputer just to check your email. You’re massively underutilizing its power and risking falling behind.
In this video, I reveal seven hidden AI capabilities that can 10x your output and give you an edge before everyone else catches on.
What you’ll discover:
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Ben Angel
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Five years ago, I hit rock bottom.
From the outside, my life looked like a highlight reel: scaling social enterprises, writing bestsellers, sharing stages with world-famous leaders. But behind the curtain, I was exhausted, angry, and disconnected. My health was crumbling under chronic pain, brain fog and a complete loss of purpose.
The hard truth about burnout is this: you can look like you’re winning while you’re falling apart. I had pushed so hard, for so long, that I hollowed out from the inside. It wasn’t just overwork. It was a disconnection from what mattered — physically, mentally, spiritually.
That collapse became a turning point. Out of desperation, I started exploring a new path anchored in science and self-awareness. What I discovered was a trifecta: biohacking, longevity medicine and fulfillment. Together, they restored my energy and clarity.
In this article, I’ll focus on biohacking — because it was the gateway that reconnected me at the cellular level and gave me the foundation to rebuild.
Biohacking is often misunderstood as a fringe obsession with gadgets and supplements. But at its core, it’s simple: creating the conditions for your body and mind to function at their best. Think of it as working on the smallest unit of life — your cells and microbiome — so they can repair damage, fight disease and fuel growth.
My journey started with the basics: sleep, nutrition and movement.
Years of neglect had left me with inflammation, lingering injuries and brain fog. Traditional medicine had no answers.
Everything shifted when I met Dave Asprey, the founder of the modern biohacking movement. His philosophy was simple: change your environment — inside and out — and you can change your life.
Dave’s story mirrored my own. At 28, despite outward success, he faced arthritis, prediabetes, cognitive decline and the biochemistry of someone twice his age. Determined to reverse it, he lost over 100 pounds, regained his energy and boosted his IQ. His journey sparked the creation of The Bulletproof Diet and the global biohacking community.
Related: Why Smart Entrepreneurs Are Betting Big on Biohacking
I began experimenting with practices that seemed too simple to be transformative: cold plunges, infrared light, grounding in nature, fasting, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and a complete diet reset. Slowly, my energy returned.
When I sought treatment for an old rugby injury that left me limping for years, I turned to regenerative medicine: stem-cell therapy and plasma exchanges. For the first time in decades, I walked without pain.
But the biggest breakthrough wasn’t physical. With energy came clarity. With clarity came purpose. For the first time in years, I could hear the quiet voice of what mattered most.
So what does this have to do with building a company? Everything.
Entrepreneurs pride themselves on outworking everyone else. But exhaustion is not a strategy. Your body is your most undervalued asset, and when you neglect it, your business pays the price.
Here are five practices that changed my life — and can change the way you lead:
Own your mornings
I used to wake up and dive into email. Now I guard the first hours of the day for myself: meditation, movement, and cold exposure. These rituals anchor me before the world demands my attention.
Treat recovery as fuel, not weakness
Sleep, downtime, and therapies like hyperbaric oxygen aren’t indulgences. They’re performance multipliers. Recovery is what sustains high output.
Align biology with purpose
Energy without direction accelerates burnout. Energy with purpose drives innovation, collaboration, and fulfillment.
Use stress as a tool
Cold plunges, fasting, and breathwork are forms of “hormetic stress” — controlled challenges that build resilience. When you train your body to handle stress, you lead better under pressure.
Build rituals, not resolutions
Change doesn’t come from hacks you try once. It comes from rituals you repeat daily. My 4:15 a.m. wake-up, morning oxygen sessions, and meditation aren’t experiments — they’re anchors.
Related: I Biohacked My Way to Better Mood, Sleep and Job Performance — and You Can, Too. Here’s How.
Looking back, burnout was the best thing that ever happened to me. It forced me to confront the unsustainable way I was living and leading.
It took all three pillars — biohacking, longevity medicine and fulfillment — to rebuild my health. Biohacking gave me a reset at the cellular level. Longevity medicine created a long-term plan. Fulfillment reconnected me to purpose.
Today, I lead with presence and energy. I show up better for my family. And I build from a place of alignment, not exhaustion.
The lesson is simple: when you restore yourself, you don’t just lead better. You live better.
Five years ago, I hit rock bottom.
From the outside, my life looked like a highlight reel: scaling social enterprises, writing bestsellers, sharing stages with world-famous leaders. But behind the curtain, I was exhausted, angry, and disconnected. My health was crumbling under chronic pain, brain fog and a complete loss of purpose.
The hard truth about burnout is this: you can look like you’re winning while you’re falling apart. I had pushed so hard, for so long, that I hollowed out from the inside. It wasn’t just overwork. It was a disconnection from what mattered — physically, mentally, spiritually.
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Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.
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Marc Kielburger
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This as-told-to story is based on a conversation with Marissa Cazem Potts, a Bay Area-based Intuit financial advocate* and financial literacy professional. The piece has been edited for length and clarity.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Intuit. Marissa Cazem Potts.
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Growing up, I experienced the pitfalls of my parents not understanding how to manage money.
My father is second-generation American-Filipino, and my mom is half Black and half white and has enslaved person ancestry. Both of them wanted to make money and create a better life for themselves, but they didn’t know how to invest or even save their money. We spent a lot and would find ourselves in jeopardy. There’d be a year where I couldn’t get the new shoes I wanted for school because my parents didn’t manage their money well, but thankfully, we always had a home and all the things we needed.
I wanted to be the generation that stops the cycle of being financially irresponsible.
I knew I had to go to college. My mother finished college; my grandmother had her master’s degree in education. I felt I had to at least get my undergraduate degree, coming from a legacy of women who considered education the way to financial freedom. My parents said they could help with my rent during college, but that was about it. I got a part-time job at Nordstrom and actually made a lot of money doing that.
But when it came to tuition, there was no game plan. My parents dropped me off at the financial office at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The office told me that I could take loans out and wouldn’t have to pay them back until I graduated. I just wanted to make sure I got my education. So I signed the documents. I had a series of different loans, but I didn’t read the fine print. I didn’t understand the concept of interest, and I let the loans sit.
I graduated in 2010 with that debt over my head and didn’t have a plan for paying it back. The first thing on my mind after graduating was getting a good job, making sure it paid well and thinking about what career I wanted to have. I’d always had a passion for writing, communicating and speaking, so I got an internship at E! News. That was unpaid, but it was a great opportunity.
While I worked that unpaid internship, I had to make money on the side. So I started side hustles. I worked as a receptionist at a dance studio. I sold my old clothes. I was building income, but then I was spending it — on gas, food, something nice. At that point, I wasn’t thinking about paying the student loans or saving money.
I was in Los Angeles for a while, then slowly navigated back home to the Bay Area for a career in technology. In the back of my mind, though, I always wanted to do something for myself, too.
“I needed to start saving and investing, building a 401(k).”
Eventually, I landed a job at Intuit and was introduced to financial education. There were tools like TurboTax, and at the time, Mint, Credit Karma. I realized I needed to get my finances in order. I needed to start saving and investing, building a 401(k).
Then I took a job at LinkedIn and had a daughter, and I really didn’t want this $40,000 debt, increasing year over year, on my back. I’d learned a lot in my professional communications career — and realized I could spin that skill set into another side hustle, helping coach and advocate for executive women. So I started that executive coaching business on the side; I took on a few clients in the early morning, after hours or on weekends.
The side hustle kept me busy, and I had to sacrifice time with my young daughter and husband, so I made it a little spicier and reminded myself of my ultimate goal by funneling the money into an account called “Marissa’s Freedom Fund.” Any time I had a check from an executive coaching job or another side gig, it went straight into that account, and anything left over, whether $10 or $100, went into an emergency fund.
I began paying off my six loans in 2022 and finished paying them off in 2023. I got that email from Navient, my loan processor at the time, saying, “Congratulations, your loans are paid off,” and I felt totally free.
“Financial wellness means utilizing the tools that are available to you.”
It’s important to treat financial wellness as self-care. The first step is looking at your debts and your accounts: I didn’t want to look at my student loan debt or credit card debt, but I had to see the big picture and figure out where to start. Financial wellness means utilizing the tools that are available to you, tapping into your network and practicing consistency — that’s the hardest part. You are your own worst enemy. You have to ensure you’re sticking to a routine when you’re working toward a financial goal.
It can be intimidating, especially if you grew up in a home where you didn’t talk about money, but you should start your financial wellness journey as soon as you can. I try to talk openly with my daughter about finances so that she understands the power of a dollar. You can start small: $10 a month can grow into $100 a month, then $500 a month. Create savings and investment accounts. Also, be a conscious consumer — if you regret a purchase, return it.
Don’t feel defeated if you have debt. You have the agency to attack it by setting up different income streams. I still have that entrepreneurial drive today. I channel it both into my role as a financial advocate at Intuit, where I empower Gen Z (like my younger sister) and Gen Alpha with financial education and confidence, and as an intrapreneur, pursuing stretch projects and impact within my day-to-day work.
It’s so important for younger generations to see that you can take the time to build skills, grow a network and test a business idea on the side while working in a traditional corporate role. A recent Intuit survey found that 26% of Gen Z already have a side hustle, and 37% want to start a side hustle.
Related: Gen Z Is Turning to Side Hustles to Purchase ‘the Normal Stuff’ in ‘Suburban Middle-Class America
By using your agency and leveraging free tools like Intuit for Education and other resources, you can prepare to launch a business full-time — if and when that path feels right for you.
*Potts is not an official financial advisor; her tips are for “general informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. It is not a substitute for professional guidance.”
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Amanda Breen
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We all have a memory of that one hangover that damn-near sent you to another realm. That’s typically followed by the memories of the days where you could drink a helluva lot more and feel fresh as a daisy the next day.
So, why exactly do hangovers get worse as we age?! It’s something that I desperately need to know, for… science reasons.
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Hendy
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This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features New York City-based entrepreneur Seth Goldstein, 29. Goldstein is co-founder with Steven Rofrano of Ancient Crunch, a company behind the chip brands MASA and Vandy, which launched in 2022. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Ancient Crunch
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What was your day job or primary occupation when you started your side hustle?
I was a vice president at a private equity fund focused on fast-growing healthcare businesses.
When did you start your side hustle, and where did you find the inspiration for it?
My co-founder, Steven, made fun of me for eating Tostitos while we were hanging out in Miami. I didn’t know what a seed oil even was at the time, but that conversation snowballed into a side project, which became MASA Chips.
Related: This Mom’s Garage Side Hustle for Kids Became a Business With $1 Billion Revenue
What were some of the first steps you took to get your side hustle off the ground? How much money/investment did it take to launch?
Steven and I put in about $250,000 of our own money. I had saved a bit working in finance, and Steven had made some money (accidentally) timing the market perfectly on Florida real estate during Covid. We have raised about $14 million since then.
If you could go back in your business journey and change one process or approach, what would it be, and how do you wish you’d done it differently?
We have always known that happy customers make a strong business, but we didn’t appreciate how much “latent demand” there is. We are primarily an online business, and we didn’t think email marketing made any sense until we tried it. Subscriptions seemed weird for chips, and now they are half of our business. If we knew then what we know now, Ancient Crunch would be about five times bigger.
When it comes to this specific business, what is something you’ve found particularly challenging and/or surprising that people who get into this type of work should be prepared for, but likely aren’t?
Most consumer packaged goods businesses are really just marketing companies. They hire a factory, slap their sticker on the bag and sell it for a markup. Because we fry our chips in beef tallow, we couldn’t find a factory, so we built our own. Turns out, that’s fairly challenging. The other major dynamic is that you always need more money than you think. We have said we are done raising money countless times in the past three years.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Ancient Crunch
Can you recall a specific instance when something went very wrong? How did you fix it?
Just recently, we had the good fortune of Vandy Crisps (our potato chip line) selling too well. Due to our in-house manufacturing, this meant that we had to go out of stock for about three weeks. While this doesn’t sound like a huge deal, it is very frustrating for customers to wait longer than expected (especially in the age of Amazon), and in the meantime, we can’t go market to new customers because we don’t have the inventory to sell them. We started working longer hours, got new fryers and are now back on track.
How long did it take you to see consistent monthly revenue? How much did the side hustle earn?
We saw fairly consistent monthly revenue basically from day one. We were not profitable, but we had a product that people loved, and it sold pretty well right from the start. We were doing about $30,000 per month in the early days.
What does growth and revenue look like now?
We are very focused on growth. Last year, we did just under $10 million in revenue. Next year, we plan to do about $250 million.
What does a typical day or week of work look like for you?
I work about 50 hours per week these days. I have calls in a block from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and am working through emails the rest of the time. When you own the business, your job is whatever the biggest fire is. Often, that has been fundraising. Some days, that’s signing celebrity deals. Other days, it’s optimizing landing page conversions while trying to convince the next retailer to put you on the shelf. Founders always wear a lot of hats.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Ancient Crunch
What do you enjoy most about running this business?
It’s awesome seeing your product gain cultural standing. When we started, this was a side project that most of my friends politely told me was a waste of time. Now, we have something like 100,000 people eating our products every month, and we are a bestselling product at several major retailers, including Erewhon and Citarella.
What is your best piece of specific, actionable business advice?
Make something that people want, then put it in front of 100 million people as fast as you can. Don’t start with, “I want to start a business.” Start with, “This thing should exist” or “This problem can be solved.”
This article is part of our ongoing Young Entrepreneur® series highlighting the stories, challenges and triumphs of being a young business owner.
This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features New York City-based entrepreneur Seth Goldstein, 29. Goldstein is co-founder with Steven Rofrano of Ancient Crunch, a company behind the chip brands MASA and Vandy, which launched in 2022. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Ancient Crunch
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Amanda Breen
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The truth is out of office for some employees.
As workers increasingly resist the 40-hour work week, some of them even bend the facts to get their time back.
A new report from online resume builder Kickresume, which surveyed nearly 2,000 employees worldwide, found that only 18% of them work the full 7-8 hours expected of them — unbeknownst to their managers.
Instead, nearly 60% of employees surveyed admitted they’re not fully honest on their timesheets. Most (44%) said they round up every now and then; 12% said they sometimes stretch the truth a little bit. A much smaller group (3%) said they regularly over-report their hours.
Disengaged employees contributed to an estimated $438 billion in lost productivity in 2024, per Gallup’s latest State of the Global Workplace report.
There’s also a generational divide when it comes to lying about hours worked, according to Kickresume’s research.
Related: Gen Z Is Changing the Workplace — Here Are 4 Trends Employers Can’t Ignore
Gen Z employees were the most likely to admit to rounding up (49%) and stretching the truth (13%). Thirty-five percent of Gen Z workers claimed perfect honesty in timesheet reporting.
Gen X employees, on the other hand, were most likely (46%) to claim total honesty when filling out their timesheets; 40% admitted to rounding up occasionally.
Millennial workers came in close behind for claims of complete honesty at 43%, and 42% admitted to rounding up their hours from time to time.
Related: This Is the Biggest Lie People Put on Their Resume
Additionally, Gen X and millennial employees reported being equally likely (12%) to sometimes stretch the truth on their hours.
Across all generations, just 7% of employees said they never take any unofficial breaks during the work day, per Kickresume’s research.
Among the majority of workers who do give themselves some leeway, coffee or snack breaks emerged as the most popular way to spend time away from work (58%), the survey found.
The truth is out of office for some employees.
As workers increasingly resist the 40-hour work week, some of them even bend the facts to get their time back.
A new report from online resume builder Kickresume, which surveyed nearly 2,000 employees worldwide, found that only 18% of them work the full 7-8 hours expected of them — unbeknownst to their managers.
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Amanda Breen
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
For the world’s busiest DJ, staying energized is essential. That’s why Grammy-nominated artist Steve Aoki partnered with Neuro, a functional gum and mints company founded in 2015 that helps boost energy, focus, calm and even sleep.
For Aoki, Neuro has been a game-changer, offering a more natural alternative to endless shots of espresso.
“It’s about being mindful of staying healthy while still maximizing my output, especially when I’m in my creative zone,” Aoki tells Entrepreneur. “You want to bring high energy so you can create high impact in whatever you do. If you’re moving through the day like a zombie, just giving the bare minimum, it’s embarrassing when you look back on it.”
He continues, “Nobody wants to give a weak interview, a half-hearted answer or put out a song they didn’t fully commit to. You have to give 1000%. That’s why I believe the highest quality of life is tied to your energy level.”
Related: How This Grammy-Nominated DJ and Entrepreneur Draws Inspiration from Every Day Life
Aoki first met the Neuro founders nearly a decade before he started working with them.
“I still remember when they came into the office and presented this caffeine gum to me”, he recalls. “They brought it in a plain plastic bag — no branding, no packaging. Just, ‘here’s this stuff that works.’
He laughs. “You look at it and think, what is this, some kind of drug?“
Luckily for Neuro, Aoki loved it.
“It’s more exciting for me to see indie startups with brilliant ideas than something incubated by a big company with a huge team behind it,” he shares. ” I’d rather see two guys in their college dorm saying, ‘Hey, this is a great idea that could really help people or become something a lot of people will actually use.’”
Still, the shrewd DJ wasn’t ready to commit right away. He and his team took their time with due diligence while keeping a friendly relationship with the founders.
“It’s important for me to see that this works before I get involved,” Aoki explains.
For Neuro, working means giving consumers the caffeine boost they need without triggering their anxiety — or their bladders.
“I’m a big coffee drinker, and I love energy drinks,” Aoki admits. “But you can’t be pounding beverages all the time.”
Neuro products, on the other hand, are designed for consistent use throughout the day and are formulated to mitigate side effects while providing a crucial boost.
“Over the years, it’s become one of my staples,” Aoki professes. “I always have it in my pocket or backpack. If I’m doing a long set, it’s right there with my earplugs. After a couple of hours, if I start to feel tired, I just pop a piece, and I get that little boost I need.”
Related: Elon Musk Lost His World’s Richest Title, But Only for a Few Hours. Here’s Who Took His Spot.
Steve Aoki has never been the type to just slap his name on something and walk away. He throws himself into every project, obsessing over the details until it feels true to him. He had a hand in everything with Neuro. He helped pick out flavors, shape the vibe of the brand and even found a way to work in one of his personal passions, HiROQUEST, the trading card project he’s been building.
Instead of a standard product launch, Aoki wanted it to feel like an experience. That’s why certain Neuro releases come with collectible cards, turning an everyday item into something fans can get excited about.
“I’m a card guy,” Aoki says. “I love ripping open packs, chasing the rare hit. I wanted to bring that same feeling to something you’d never expect — like a tin of Neuro mints.”
By adding in HiROQUEST, Aoki boosts awareness for his own brand and adds an experiential layer to the Neuro collaboration. This has long been central to his success.
“I’m always thinking about how we can create a better, more unique experience,” Aoki says. “Something that gets people excited for the next drop or the next collaboration, and helps build the story within the world we’re creating. That’s why I love caking people. Whether you’re the one getting cake in your face or watching it happen, you’ll never forget that moment.”
For the world’s busiest DJ, staying energized is essential. That’s why Grammy-nominated artist Steve Aoki partnered with Neuro, a functional gum and mints company founded in 2015 that helps boost energy, focus, calm and even sleep.
For Aoki, Neuro has been a game-changer, offering a more natural alternative to endless shots of espresso.
“It’s about being mindful of staying healthy while still maximizing my output, especially when I’m in my creative zone,” Aoki tells Entrepreneur. “You want to bring high energy so you can create high impact in whatever you do. If you’re moving through the day like a zombie, just giving the bare minimum, it’s embarrassing when you look back on it.”
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Leo Zevin
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Retirement remains a far-off — and in some cases, unattainable — goal for many Americans.
About one in four adults over age 50 said they expect to never retire, according to an AARP survey. That’s perhaps not surprising given that Americans believe they’ll need $1.26 million to retire comfortably, per Northwestern Mutual.
In a new report from Bank of America, 68% of employees said that saving for retirement is their No. 1 financial goal, though working toward it often comes with significant challenges.
The research, which surveyed nearly 1,000 full-time employees who participate in 401(k) plans and 800 employers who offer a 401(k) plan, revealed that the average employee doesn’t start saving for retirement until age 30 and wishes they had more retirement education (33%).
Employees’ top expected sources of retirement income were as follows, per the survey: 401(k) or 403(b) (85%), Social Security (75%), checking or savings account 53%), IRA (38%), taxable brokerage or investment account (24%).
Related: How Much Money Do You Need to Retire Comfortably in Your State? Here’s the Breakdown.
Baby Boomers are retiring at a rapid rate, setting a record number of retirees in 2024 that allowed Gen X to outnumber them in the workforce for the first time, GOBankingRates reported.
On average, Boomers began saving for retirement at age 34; now in their 60s and 70s, one in four of them don’t feel on track to retire, according to the Bank of America survey. Additionally, only two in 10 Boomers said they completely understand their Social Security benefits.
Rising healthcare costs in retirement present another hurdle, as only 34% of employees said they’re saving and investing for future healthcare expenses, despite current research showing that a 65-year-old couple could need as much as $428,000 in savings to cover their retirement healthcare expenses.
Related: How to Start Thinking About Retirement Before You Plan to Retire
Respondents said the main reason they don’t save for health care is that they can’t afford it, but many who have access to an HSA through their employer also don’t understand the tax advantages and rollover process.
When employees across generations were asked to reflect on what they would have done differently to prepare for retirement, they cited three common mistakes: not starting to save at a younger age (49%), not taking full advantage of their employer’s 401(k) match (35%) and not paying off debt sooner (36%).
Image Credit: Courtesy of Bank of America
“The modern employee wants help with their broader financial goals,” Lorna Sabbia, head of workplace benefits at Bank of America, said. “Employers should consider additional resources to support their workforce in ways that bolster their long-term goals while also helping them tackle short-term challenges.”
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Amanda Breen
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This as-told-to story is based on a conversation with Shanaz Hemmati, COO and co-founder of ZenBusiness, a $1.5 billion company that provides an all-in-one platform helping small businesses become official, stay compliant, manage finances and more. Her co-founder is Ross Buhrdorf, who serves as CEO. The piece has been edited for length and clarity.
Image Credit: Courtesy of ZenBusiness. Co-founder and COO Shanaz Hemmati.
I always had an entrepreneurial spirit, but I never really thought about going off and starting my own business.
At the University of Texas at Austin, I studied computer engineering, starting with hardware design before pivoting to software engineering. I truly love technology, and especially software engineering, because you’re coding to solve problems — I still love solving problems.
My husband’s an entrepreneur who’s always had his own businesses. He’d encourage me to start my own business, but I was too concerned. Sometimes women can think too hard about doing something; that’s what held me back from becoming an entrepreneur.
For women in male-dominated fields, it’s important to seek out mentors who can help you from their experience, even if their journey looked different from yours. You can bounce ideas off them and ask them questions. Mentorship pushes you, but it also gives you assurance and confidence.
Over the course of my career, I learned so much, which helped me when I made the leap to founder.
“Small businesses are what keep the economy growing.”
I first met my ZenBusiness co-founder Ross Buhrdorf when we worked at Excite.com, a web portal company founded in 1994. Several years later, I joined HomeAway, a vacation rental marketplace, where I stayed for 11 years until the company was acquired by Expedia.
Later on, Ross and I met up for coffee, and he started talking about this idea of building something to help entrepreneurs and people who are starting small businesses. I was intrigued and excited. I’d always been passionate about that category in the market: Small businesses are what keep the economy growing and going.
So Ross and I founded ZenBusiness in 2017.
When it comes to a fast-growing company like ours, we have so many things on our to-do list, but we don’t always have the resources to get them done at the same time, so we have to prioritize.
AI has been one of those priorities. Everybody in business should be using it these days. It’s a great tool that saves time once you get employees on board and using it based on their role and function. Our personalized AI assistant, ZenBusiness Velo, is included with every LLC formation and helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses.
Related: Two-Thirds of Small Businesses Are Already Using AI — Here’s How to Get Even More Out of It
“It all comes down to this — people are at the center of any great company.”
For a long time, I’ve had this mantra that’s helped me succeed as a business leader: Be fearless, be ethical, be passionate.
Being fearless means recognizing that nothing is ever going to be perfect, but you just do it anyway. Being ethical means always being honest, to yourself, to your co-workers, to anyone. And being passionate is everything. Loving your work and doing the best job possible will help you progress in your career and build your business.
It all comes down to this — people are at the center of any great company. Anything you do is all about people, whether they’re employees, customers or the community.
ZenBusiness puts this rule into action by hearing and supporting its employees.
For example, we became an early adopter of remote work. The company sent employees home when the pandemic hit, but as we continued to grow and hire more people, we listened to employees who said that they preferred working from home. Remote work gave them the chance to spend time with their families, cut down on commute hours and be more productive.
“Maybe you launch as a side hustle to test it out.”
All aspiring entrepreneurs should avoid the pitfall of thinking about a business idea for too long before they take action: Do it sooner rather than later.
You don’t have to drop everything else you’re working on to start. Maybe you launch as a side hustle to test it out. Talk to the people you’re trying to solve a pain point for because those conversations will give you a lot of information.
Every day, you’re learning something new, and being able to pivot fast can be the difference between driving your business in the right direction or not. There are always going to be surprises along the way. So remember, it’s all about the people who are around you — it’s all about the people you bring in to help you go through your business journey.
This article is part of our ongoing Women Entrepreneur® series highlighting the stories, challenges and triumphs of running a business as a woman.
This as-told-to story is based on a conversation with Shanaz Hemmati, COO and co-founder of ZenBusiness, a $1.5 billion company that provides an all-in-one platform helping small businesses become official, stay compliant, manage finances and more. Her co-founder is Ross Buhrdorf, who serves as CEO. The piece has been edited for length and clarity.
Image Credit: Courtesy of ZenBusiness. Co-founder and COO Shanaz Hemmati.
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Amanda Breen
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This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features Sandra Oh Lin, 50, of Los Altos, California. She is the founder and CEO of KiwiCo, a company that provides educational activities for kids meant to spark creativity and problem-solving through hands-on play. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Image Credit: Courtesy of KiwiCo. Sandra Oh Lin.
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What was your day job or primary occupation when you started your side hustle?
I had just stepped away from seven years at eBay Inc., where I had launched PayPal Mobile and led the eBay fashion business. I was working on a new fashion-related startup idea before I ended up starting KiwiCo in 2011.
Where did you find the inspiration for the side hustle?
When my kids were younger, I tried to find ways for them to exercise their creativity and put their problem-solving skills to work. I wanted them to grow up to feel like they could envision and better the world around them. As an engineer by training, I saw creating and building through hands-on activities as a way to explore, discover and build creative confidence. At the same time, I was drawing on my own childhood — I have such fond memories of making and building things with my mom while I was growing up.
What were some of the first steps you took to get your side hustle off the ground? How much money/investment did it take to launch?
I started by creating hands-on projects for my kids. Then, I started to share them with friends and family during playdates. The parents and kids were so enthusiastic about the activities that it gave me the confidence to take it further. I laid the groundwork to see if there was a market for a real business. Then, I leveraged my network to start conversations with investors. We raised a little more than $10 million in venture funding. From there, we were able to become profitable and cash flow positive — and fund our own growth.
Image Credit: Courtesy of KiwiCo
Are there any free or paid resources that have been especially helpful for you in starting and running this business?
I had a strong background in product design (having worked in R&D at Procter & Gamble) and ecommerce (from time at PayPal and eBay). Yet, I didn’t have any direct experience with fulfillment, supply chain and operations. I had a lot to learn. So I made a conscious effort to surround myself with people who were true experts. One example is Mike Smith, who was the COO of Walmart. He provided invaluable guidance, and he even helped interview our VP of operations candidates when we were hiring. Advisors like Mike were so helpful to us at that time.
If you could go back in your business journey and change one process or approach, what would it be, and how do you wish you’d done it differently?
I had always heard people say that a strong culture is so important to define and cultivate when you build a company. That way, you can point to and reinforce the behavior and values that align. While I was able to grok that academically, I put it aside when I should have addressed it earlier. As a result, some of our hiring was off in the beginning, and we had to course correct, which was costly. It would have been helpful to have put the framework into place from the beginning.
When it comes to this specific business, what is something you’ve found particularly challenging and/or surprising that people who get into this type of work should be prepared for, but likely aren’t?
During the pandemic, one of our toughest challenges was sourcing enough supplies to keep up with surging demand. In the years since, we’ve seen our fair share of ups and downs on that front, but one thing has remained constant: the importance of strong, trusted relationships with our suppliers. They’ve been incredible partners through it all, and those collaborations have been key to helping us navigate post-pandemic growth with resilience and adaptability.
Can you recall a specific instance when something went very wrong? How did you fix it?
I’ll never forget our very first alpha shipment. We had just 19 crates to send out, and it took a team of five of us the entire day to get them boxed and shipped. By the end, we were exhausted and looking at each other like, There has to be a better way. It was a wake-up call that we needed better systems and processes for fulfillment if we were going to scale. We figured it out along the way, but that moment sticks with me as a reminder of how far we’ve come.
Image Credit: Courtesy of KiwiCo
How long did it take you to see consistent monthly revenue?
With our core business being subscription-based, we’ve seen consistent monthly revenue from the beginning. KiwiCo has been profitable and self-funded for many years now. What started in my garage has grown into a company that has shipped more than 50 million crates to families in over 40 countries and created more than 1,500 hands-on products and activities. It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come, while still staying true to the heart of why we started: sparking creativity and confidence in kids everywhere.
What does growth and revenue look like now?
To date, KiwiCo has generated more than $1 billion in lifetime revenue. This is something I’m incredibly proud of, not just because of the number itself, but because it represents millions of moments of creativity and discovery for kids and families. Additionally, we launched in Target and Barnes & Noble this past year as part of building our wholesale channels.
What do you enjoy most about running this business?
One of my favorite parts of this journey is that my kids not only understand what I do for work but also are involved in helping shape KiwiCo’s products. My kids were the original source of inspiration for the company, and they continue to be critical testers of our products to ensure we’re creating the best hands-on activities for kids to discover and unleash their creativity and explore as they learn about the world around them.
Image Credit: Courtesy of KiwiCo
What is your best piece of specific, actionable business advice?
Finding a community of founders can be so helpful. Sharing the challenges and the opportunities that come from building a business with others who are in the same boat can be so valuable. You can gather everything from tangible, actionable advice to empathetic ears that have been there and done that.
This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features Sandra Oh Lin, 50, of Los Altos, California. She is the founder and CEO of KiwiCo, a company that provides educational activities for kids meant to spark creativity and problem-solving through hands-on play. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Image Credit: Courtesy of KiwiCo. Sandra Oh Lin.
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Amanda Breen
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When it comes to entrepreneurship, picking up a new hobby probably isn’t top of mind. You’re already juggling a packed schedule — and maybe you already have hobbies you love. Still, it should come as no surprise: hobbies are good for you.
In fact, a 2023 study published in Nature Medicine found that adults aged 65-plus who engaged in hobbies reported better health, higher life satisfaction and greater happiness. And in my own experience, embracing a musical hobby has been one of the most effective ways to improve my mental health, reduce stress and maintain a sense of balance as a business owner.
You don’t need to be a lifelong musician to benefit. Music offers a creative outlet and a mental reset — something all entrepreneurs need more of. Whether you’re learning an instrument, singing, or simply listening more intentionally, musical hobbies can change how you show up in business and life.
Let’s break down three key ways music can positively impact entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurship comes with constant pressure — deadlines, decisions, responsibilities. Stress builds up over time, and if left unchecked, it can lead to burnout, anxiety, trouble concentrating or even depression.
A musical hobby can serve as a powerful stress reliever. Studies show that playing an instrument or singing can lower cortisol levels and reduce anxiety. Even listening to music intentionally — without multitasking — can focus your mind and create a sense of calm.
Of course, not everyone has time to learn an instrument. That’s okay. For me, just putting on a record and truly listening helps me reset. Whether it’s practicing piano, jamming with friends or listening to a favorite playlist, music becomes something to look forward to — a reliable, restorative escape.
Related: How I Turned My Hobbies Into Profitable Side Businesses With My Friends — Without Losing the Joy
Musical hobbies don’t just relieve stress — they sharpen your mind. Actively engaging with music can improve memory, concentration, and cognitive flexibility. For entrepreneurs, that’s a powerful edge.
Learning to play an instrument, for instance, requires self-discipline, time management and resilience — all skills that mirror the entrepreneurial journey. It challenges you to get comfortable being a beginner again, to practice patience, and to build momentum over time.
Musical practice enhances:
And perhaps most importantly, it reminds you that growth comes from consistency — a principle that applies just as much in business as it does in music.
Related: Every Entrepreneur Needs a Hobby Separate From the Company — Here’s Why
Engaging with music activates multiple regions of the brain — the same areas responsible for memory, movement, emotional regulation and complex thinking.
A 2023 study found that musical training enhances auditory processing and working memory. According to AARP, playing an instrument lights up your brain, improving functions like listening, reading, and recall — and may even help grow new neural pathways. That means better cognitive health, greater adaptability, and increased creative thinking.
For entrepreneurs who rely on clear decision-making, creative problem-solving and rapid learning, that kind of cognitive workout is invaluable.
Musical hobbies give entrepreneurs more than just stress relief. They offer a creative space to disconnect from the daily grind, while strengthening the mental and emotional muscles that help you lead, build and grow.
Even if you can’t commit to lessons or learning an instrument, find ways to engage with music that work for your schedule. Deep listening, group classes, or even karaoke nights can reignite joy and spark inspiration.
Entrepreneurship demands everything from you — but that doesn’t mean you can’t take something back. A musical hobby could be exactly what you need to recharge, grow and show up better in every area of your life.
When it comes to entrepreneurship, picking up a new hobby probably isn’t top of mind. You’re already juggling a packed schedule — and maybe you already have hobbies you love. Still, it should come as no surprise: hobbies are good for you.
In fact, a 2023 study published in Nature Medicine found that adults aged 65-plus who engaged in hobbies reported better health, higher life satisfaction and greater happiness. And in my own experience, embracing a musical hobby has been one of the most effective ways to improve my mental health, reduce stress and maintain a sense of balance as a business owner.
You don’t need to be a lifelong musician to benefit. Music offers a creative outlet and a mental reset — something all entrepreneurs need more of. Whether you’re learning an instrument, singing, or simply listening more intentionally, musical hobbies can change how you show up in business and life.
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Dr. Christina Rahm
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Most leaders travel alone for business. But how many leaders have intentionally taken a true solo vacation? No family, no work, no obligations. Just you, alone, facing your inner world and expanding your leadership potential.
I recently did exactly that, spending two weeks solo in Peru and Ecuador. The impact was profound, reshaping how I approach leadership, decision-making and strategic thinking at StoneAge, the employee-owned company I run. Here’s why I believe every leader should take a solo vacation and how doing so will make you more effective and impactful.
Leadership is fundamentally about making clear decisions. But how can you make smart, strategic choices if meetings, emails and daily demands constantly clutter your mind?
Hal Gregersen wrote in a recent Harvard Business Review article, “Cultivating silence increases your chances of encountering novel ideas and information and discerning weak signals.” When you take a solo vacation, you find yourself sitting in silence, often with room to think and ideate. Bill Gates credits his famous twice-yearly “think weeks,” which are periods of intense solitude and reflection, with inspiring some of Microsoft’s most groundbreaking innovations.
During my solo adventure, without work emails or meetings, I finally had the mental space to outline my next book, clarify my vision for StoneAge and develop new leadership frameworks. The solitude sharpened my strategic clarity and renewed my focus in ways impossible to achieve amid daily distractions.
Related: How Taking Solo Retreats Away from Work Benefits You and Your Business
Routine is comfortable, but comfort rarely breeds innovation. Leaders often underestimate how rigid routines stifle creative thinking and limit growth.
According to a study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, exposure to novel and diverse experiences enhances cognitive flexibility — a crucial skill for innovative and agile leadership. During my solo trip, navigating unfamiliar places, cultures and languages forced my brain out of autopilot mode, dramatically enhancing my creative problem-solving abilities. I returned home able to view business challenges more clearly and approach them with fresh, innovative perspectives.
As leaders, our external effectiveness hinges on internal strength. Self-leadership — how effectively we manage our emotions, behaviors and decisions — is the cornerstone of successful leadership.
Traveling solo tests and develops self-leadership. When a canceled flight threatened my meticulously planned itinerary, I had to trust my instincts, solve problems quickly and stay emotionally regulated. I leaned into discomfort, managing loneliness and vulnerability without distractions. Each challenge enhanced my self-trust, emotional intelligence and resilience, qualities directly beneficial to leading my team through uncertainty and stress.
Presence is a leader’s greatest currency. Yet, constant connectivity ironically often leaves us disconnected from those around us.
My solo trip forced me to be present in the moment. Without phone service, I engaged fully with strangers on trains, at restaurants, in markets and had deep, authentic conversations. Each interaction reminded me of the power of presence in building genuine connections. Practicing authentic presence with strangers strengthened my ability to be more fully present with my team at StoneAge, creating deeper trust, empathy and effectiveness as a leader.
We’ve glorified hustle culture, but true leadership insights rarely come from constant activity. Instead, they arise from stillness and quiet reflection.
During my trip, moments of boredom and solitude gave rise to some of my most innovative ideas. Research supports this; cognitive scientists have found that boredom and stillness are crucial for creativity and innovative thinking. Leaders who embrace quiet moments cultivate deeper, more impactful insights.
Related: How to Start (and Run) a 7-Figure Business While Traveling the World
I returned from my solo trip not only refreshed but fundamentally changed. The clarity, confidence and creativity I gained now directly enhance how I lead StoneAge and engage with my employees. A solo vacation isn’t just good for your soul; it’s a strategic imperative for effective, innovative leadership.
Book your solo trip. Your team, your company and your future self will thank you.
Most leaders travel alone for business. But how many leaders have intentionally taken a true solo vacation? No family, no work, no obligations. Just you, alone, facing your inner world and expanding your leadership potential.
I recently did exactly that, spending two weeks solo in Peru and Ecuador. The impact was profound, reshaping how I approach leadership, decision-making and strategic thinking at StoneAge, the employee-owned company I run. Here’s why I believe every leader should take a solo vacation and how doing so will make you more effective and impactful.
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Kerry Siggins
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For entrepreneurs and business leaders, the challenge isn’t finding valuable books—it’s finding time to read them. Between back-to-back meetings, managing a team, and keeping an eye on the market, even carving out an hour a day can feel like a luxury. But knowledge doesn’t have to wait for the rare moments when you have a free weekend.
The 12min Micro Book Library trims bestselling titles down to concise, actionable insights that can be read or listened to in about 12 minutes. With lifetime access, you’ll tap into 1,800+ titles across 24 categories and get 30 new additions every month, all designed to keep you learning without slowing down your schedule.
Imagine digesting the core ideas of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People before your morning coffee or listening to The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck on your commute. Instead of skimming or abandoning books halfway through, you’ll walk away with the key lessons—ready to apply them to your business, career, or personal goals.
The library supports English, Spanish, and Portuguese, works offline, and even syncs with your Kindle. That means whether you’re flying to meet investors, taking a break between calls, or catching up on strategy while commuting, your personal book vault travels with you.
For leaders who believe continuous learning is part of staying competitive, this is one of the most efficient ways to keep your edge sharp—without adding another subscription or calendar block to your day.
Get lifetime access to the 12min Micro Book Library for just $39.99 (MSRP: $399.90) while it’s still on sale.
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For entrepreneurs and business leaders, the challenge isn’t finding valuable books—it’s finding time to read them. Between back-to-back meetings, managing a team, and keeping an eye on the market, even carving out an hour a day can feel like a luxury. But knowledge doesn’t have to wait for the rare moments when you have a free weekend.
The 12min Micro Book Library trims bestselling titles down to concise, actionable insights that can be read or listened to in about 12 minutes. With lifetime access, you’ll tap into 1,800+ titles across 24 categories and get 30 new additions every month, all designed to keep you learning without slowing down your schedule.
Imagine digesting the core ideas of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People before your morning coffee or listening to The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck on your commute. Instead of skimming or abandoning books halfway through, you’ll walk away with the key lessons—ready to apply them to your business, career, or personal goals.
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I remember the eureka moment I had about procrastination when I was still a high school Latin teacher. There was a lot of talk about “time management” and “SMART” goals going around the faculty in-service day training. But then one of the teachers spoke out, “This isn’t time management as much as it’s about an emotion they’d rather avoid.” At the time, I volunteered to be a practice client in a coaching session, having stepped in as a practice client for one of my future wife’s classmates.
The burning question that arose was, “Why didn’t I have these conversations earlier in life?” I quickly enrolled in life coach training and began playing with ideas around how to help students get things done. That one experience cracked open the possibility of what coaching could do. Not just for individuals, but for education as a whole. That statement from a faculty member set me on a lifelong path. This was back in the mid-2000s.
The advice for motivation is everywhere: Break big tasks into smaller ones, find an accountability partner, use the Pomodoro Technique, reward yourself for completing milestones. These tactical approaches to beating procrastination fill countless productivity blogs and self-help books, offering the promise of finally conquering that persistent tendency to delay what matters most. These tips and skills are useful, but can only carry a person so far.
As I explored what was working with students, I realized that executive life coaching was advancing leaps and bounds in understanding what really motivates and moves people into action. And that is in a word: emotion.
Consistent motivation is about addressing emotion, specifically the emotion that you’d rather avoid. And once addressed, then the task of building systems and all the other tactics suddenly come back into play.
However, if the underlying emotion lingers or is not at least partially addressed, no amount of system building or tactics can save a situation that is, in essence, already strategically lost.
So let’s dive into the dynamic emotional landscape that drives our behavior and constructs narrative, and look at some of the neurology we’re working with.
Related: The Real Reason You Procrastinate and Expert Strategies to Overcoming It
Neuroscience of productivity reveals a counterintuitive truth about procrastination: It’s often a sign that something matters deeply to us. When the stakes are high, whether it’s launching a business, having a difficult conversation or creating something meaningful, our brains activate ancient protective mechanisms designed to keep us safe from potential failure, rejection or disappointment.
This isn’t a character flaw or lack of discipline; it’s evolutionary biology. The same neural pathways that once protected our ancestors from physical dangers now trigger when we face psychological risks. The amygdala, our brain’s alarm system, doesn’t distinguish between the threat of a saber-toothed tiger and the threat of public speaking. Both activate fight-or-flight responses that make focused, creative work nearly impossible.
The higher the stakes, the stronger the pull toward procrastination becomes. Understanding this removes the layer of self-judgment that often compounds the problem and helps us approach our resistance with curiosity rather than criticism. Recognizing this biological reality is the first step toward working with our neurology rather than against it.
Once upon a time, it seemed the common rhetoric in the productivity industry was that procrastination is a time management problem. But anyone who has spent hours scrolling social media while an important deadline looms knows the truth: We have the time. What we lack is the emotional capacity to face whatever discomfort lies on the other side of action.
Every act of procrastination is an attempt to avoid a specific emotional experience. It might be the fear of judgment that comes with sharing creative work, the overwhelm of tackling a complex project, the vulnerability required for authentic leadership or the grief of acknowledging that our current approach isn’t working. Or even a decision that we don’t really want to make. Throughout my years of coaching in academia, I encountered this issue repeatedly. It was never just about laziness. Students often had anxiety around shame, perfectionism or performance. It was this realization that formed the foundation of CTEDU’s life coaching curriculum. Emotional intelligence became the entry point to meaningful, sustainable action, rather than an obstacle.
Addressing effective actions and getting it done begins with emotional archaeology. Your success requires digging beneath the surface resistance to identify the specific feeling you’re trying to avoid. Are you dodging the anxiety of potential failure? The frustration of imperfection? The sadness of leaving our comfort zone? Once we name the emotion, we can develop strategies to move through it rather than around it.
This shift from time management to emotion management transforms our relationship with difficult tasks. Instead of asking, “How can I make myself do this?” we begin asking, “What am I feeling right now, and how can I honor that feeling while still moving forward?”
Related: The Procrastination Problem in Business No One Talks About
The most crucial moment isn’t the finish line. It’s the first step. Procrastination thrives in the gap between intention and action, in that liminal space where we contemplate doing something without actually beginning. The longer we linger in this space, the more our resistance compounds.
Successful entrepreneurs and creators understand that the beginning is where battles are won or lost. They focus their energy on making the first five minutes as friction-free as possible, knowing that momentum builds on itself. This might mean having materials already prepared, eliminating decision fatigue through predetermined routines or creating environmental cues that make starting feel inevitable.
The key insight is that we don’t need to feel motivated to begin; we need to begin in order to feel motivated. Motivation is a byproduct of action, not a prerequisite for it. By focusing on the brutal beginning rather than the distant outcome, we work with our psychology instead of against it. It was this insight that was truly pivotal, not only for my clients but for me as well.
I chose to take the step from coaching to creating a life coach training program built on these principles. At the beginning, we were a handful of students, and now, 16 years later, we are a global community of certified coaches committed to bringing change and growth to the world.
The most profound shift in overcoming procrastination comes from separating the decision-making process from the execution process. When we rely on moment-to-moment decisions about whether something is “a good idea right now” or whether we “feel like it,” we’re setting ourselves up for failure. Our emotional state fluctuates throughout the day, and basing important actions on these fluctuations creates inconsistent results.
Instead, effective systems operate from identity rather than motivation. They transform the internal dialogue from “Should I work on this project right now?” to “This is what I do at this time.” The decision has already been made; the current moment is simply about execution. Building my own coaching practice, it wasn’t motivation that enabled me to keep moving forward. It was the structure and systems I had created.
This approach recognizes that discipline isn’t about forcing ourselves to do things we don’t want to do. It’s about aligning our actions with our deeper values and long-term identity, even when our immediate emotions pull us in different directions. It’s the difference between willpower, which is finite and unreliable, and systems, which operate independently of our emotional state.
Perhaps most importantly, overcoming procrastination requires conscious narrative construction. The stories we tell ourselves about our work, our capabilities and our relationship to discomfort shape our behavior more than any external system or technique.
Procrastinators often carry narratives of inadequacy: “I’m not good at follow-through,” or “I work better under pressure” or “I’m just not disciplined enough.” These stories become self-fulfilling prophecies, creating the very patterns they describe.
Transforming procrastination means consciously crafting new narratives that align with our values and aspirations. Instead of “I’m avoiding this because I’m lazy,” we might reframe it to “I’m feeling protective of this project because it matters to me, and I’m learning to move through that protectiveness with compassion.”
Related: How to Break Your Procrastination Habit in the Next 21 Days Without Using Willpower
Ultimately, overcoming procrastination is less about productivity hacks and more about emotional intelligence. It requires developing a sophisticated understanding of our inner landscape, creating systems that honor our humanity while supporting our goals, and constructing narratives that empower rather than diminish us. Even now, two decades since that first coaching conversation, these insights still impact me every day.
The entrepreneurs and leaders who consistently take meaningful action aren’t those who have eliminated discomfort from their lives. They’re those who have learned to dance with discomfort, to move through resistance rather than around it and to trust in their ability to handle whatever emotions arise on the other side of action.
In a world that profits from our distraction and delay, the ability to move through procrastination becomes a competitive advantage. More than that, it becomes a pathway to a life aligned with our deepest values and highest aspirations.
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John Williams
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Image credit: Courtesy of Carla Ondrasik
If you want to build a business, there’s one word you need to eliminate from your vocabulary: It’s the word try.
Sometimes, we aren’t even given the option to try. For example, when the airline issues your boarding pass, the message isn’t “try to be at the gate by 9:30 because we’d sure like to try and take off by 10:00!” When the utility company sends your monthly bill, the payment stub doesn’t read, “Please try to make your payment so we can try to keep your lights on.” When your car is on empty, your dashboard doesn’t whisper, “Hey, love, please try and fill me up when you can, cheers!” Instead, it lights up with a gas pump icon, sounds alarms, and might even start blinking. It’s basically yelling, “I’m starving and going to stall if you don’t fuel me up right now!”
Well, all joking aside, there’s a reason “trying” isn’t an option in such cases. For many of us, these are non-negotiable events with big consequences if we fail to follow through. Pay your bills or be ready for cancellation of services, legal action, losing your credit rating, or damage to relationships with the people you live with. Arrive at the airport on time or risk missing your flight, which can incur all kinds of repercussions, from having to spend a fortune on another ticket to being late to your best friend’s wedding. When there is no option to try, we have no choice but to do.
Somewhere in the back of our minds, we know that trying isn’t the best possible option if we need to get something done. Entrepreneurs know this. Big corporations too. They are geared toward success. They know that half-hearting their way to success is a dead-end route. By introducing the option to try, they are opening the door to failure, along with a myriad of complications. So they eliminate any room for the pitfalls of trying.
Airlines, for example, could never operate by allowing its customers to try and arrive on time and take off only whenever everyone is on board; thousands of flights take off daily and therefore strict policy and schedules are mandatory to ensure efficiency and safety. Your boss doesn’t allow for you to try to show up for work each day and to try to do your job. As an employee, you are expected to work your scheduled hours and do the work that is assigned to you.
Can you think like a business? If you are the CEO, the Commander In Chief, and the Captain in charge of your life—which, ahem, you are!—wouldn’t you be better served by eliminating the option to try in your own life
Would you try or would you do? What if I told you that right now, there is a suitcase filled with five million dollars cash, tax-free, just waiting for you in a hotel room across the country. It could be yours, with no strings attached, and all you had to do was go get that money within 12 hours and you’d be able to spend, save, or share it however you wish. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, right?
So, tell me: would you try to get the money? As in, “Oh, I’ll see if I can try to make that happen,” or “I’ll try to find a babysitter for the kids,” or “I’ll try to get permission to take the day off of work.” In other words, would you drag your feet over this opportunity, or would you go get that money?!
I’m betting you’d have a private jet booked before you could finish reading the next sentence. There would be no trying to get that cashola. The only question in your mind would be whether to sip celebratory champagne or 50-year-old scotch as a newly minted millionaire while you soar through the clouds on your way home.
Sure, this is an outrageous example that would likely never happen… but can you for a minute connect to the inherent wisdom of your gut reaction? There was no trying in this scenario, just pure doing. Knowing when to do is deep in our subconscious mind. We have an awareness that doing is mandatory in some cases.
But what about most cases? What if five million dollars isn’t on the line, but your health or family is. What then? Can you instead tap into your inner knowledge, where deep down inside you know that trying allows for failure and is a weakened half-hearted effort and that doing allows for success?
Here are some questions to ponder:
Would you hire the surgeon who promises to “try and remember which leg to amputate?”
Would you hire a skydive instructor that pledges to “try and remember the best time to pull the rip cord” on your first skydive ever?
Would you send your child down the driveway on their first solo drive (in your car) suggesting that they, “try to drive safely, try not to speed, and try to stop at all of the stop signs”?
Personally, as a mother and a businesswoman, I find that when I eliminate the option to try with my kids or associates, everything seems to run much smoother. Chores get completed more often than not, meetings run on time, and I know I can count on the people in my life to show up for me, to be accountable, and not have to be subjected to excuses or blame when the work doesn’t get done.
So, let me ask you, When the stakes are high enough and you don’t allow for trying, why do you welcome it in other parts of your life? Will you continue to try and lose weight, try and quit smoking, try and be a better parent or try and have a healthy relationship? I fully realize that some goals or opportunities may not feel as sexy as the gift of five million dollars in tax-free cash (tax free!) that I mentioned earlier, but don’t underestimate how rich you’ll feel when you finally achieve the happiness you’re after. Your hopes and dreams matter, and they deserve every whole-hearted effort you can throw at them.
This essay is adapted from Stop Trying! The Life Transforming Power of Trying Less and Doing More by Carla Ondrasik
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Carla Ondrasik
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As young Americans struggle with high costs of living and salaries that haven’t kept pace with inflation, some of them rely on loans to make ends meet.
Nearly half (46%) of Gen Z between the ages of 18 and 27 depend on financial assistance from their family, according to a 2024 report from Bank of America.
What’s more, even though some parents are willing to help their kids out with cash, those loans don’t always come without strings attached — sometimes in the form of interest.
Related: Gen Z Is Turning to Side Hustles to Purchase ‘the Normal Stuff’ in ‘Suburban Middle-Class America’
Financial media company MarketBeat.com‘s new report, which surveyed more than 3,000 parents, found that an increasing number are charging their adult children interest on family loans.
“The Bank of Mom and Dad has always been generous, but even generosity comes with boundaries,” says Matt Paulson, founder of MarketBeat.com. “What’s striking is that while most parents don’t expect repayment — and certainly not at commercial interest rates — inflation and rising costs are starting to reshape how families think about money.”
The average interest rate charged by parents was 5.1%, according to the data. That’s still well below the costs their children might incur elsewhere: The average personal loan rate is 12.49% for customers with a 700 FICO score, $5,000 loan amount and three-year repayment term, per Bankrate.
Only 15% of parents would be comfortable with lending their kids $5,000 or more at one time, according to MarketBeat’s research.
Family loan repayment terms can also vary significantly by location. The top five toughest state lenders based on the interest rates parents charge were Nebraska (6.8%), Oregon (6.8%), Mississippi (6.5%), Georgia (6.4%) and Arkansas (6.3%), the report found.
Parents in Delaware and Maine tended to be the most lenient when it came to charging their children interest on loans, with 2% and 4% rates, respectively, according to the findings.
Many parents who expect repayment also have a fast-tracked timeline in mind. Twenty-one percent anticipated seeing their loan repaid in one month, 15% within one year and just 8% more than a year later, per the survey.
Although 59% of parents reported being happy to help their kids with money, 27% said they would only do it if necessary, and 4% admitted to feeling resentful.
In many cases, family loans don’t just provide financial support — they’re also “emotional transactions that test trust, responsibility and family dynamics,” Paulson notes.
As young Americans struggle with high costs of living and salaries that haven’t kept pace with inflation, some of them rely on loans to make ends meet.
Nearly half (46%) of Gen Z between the ages of 18 and 27 depend on financial assistance from their family, according to a 2024 report from Bank of America.
What’s more, even though some parents are willing to help their kids out with cash, those loans don’t always come without strings attached — sometimes in the form of interest.
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Amanda Breen
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