by Tim Parkins | Nov 9, 2025
The Subtraction Myth: Why Less Isn’t Always More Meaning isn’t found in what you remove, but what you build. You can’t subtract your way to a positive — only to zero. You’ve read Essentialism. Deep Work. Maybe even Four Thousand Weeks if you were feeling existential. You tried their tactics. Said no to meetings, batched your emails, and protected your calendar like it’s a castle under siege. You subtracted the bullshit, set boundaries, focused on “what matters most.” And yet – you’re still…
by Tim Parkins | Nov 2, 2025
Work vs Job: The Distinction That Changes Everything Your job pays the bills. You work changes the world. Know the difference. Your job is the blueprint. Your work is what grows through it. What’s your work? NOT your job title. NOT “what do you do.” Your work. As in, the change you’re trying to bring to the world. Can’t answer? That’s because you think your job and your work are the same thing. (They’re not.) Your Job: What someone pays you to do. You execute someone else’s vision. You do…
by Tim Parkins | Oct 26, 2025
Stop Choosing Between Options. Start Choosing Between Futures. Every choice is a doorway to a different version of you. You’re not picking between offers. You’re choosing who you’ll become next. I was standing in my living room in Northern Ontario, staring at a job offer that made absolutely no sense to take. On paper, it was a bad deal. The pay for the government role in Ottawa was low. It would mean selling our house, leaving a small community where we had friends, roots, and a life we’d…
by Tim Parkins | Oct 19, 2025
You’re Building A Beautiful Life You’re Too Drained To Enjoy You’ve been so busy building a meaningful life that you forgot to make it livable. My good buddy Wade and I taking a break while on our hike. On Monday I went hiking with a good friend. We used to do this all the time. Every few weeks, we’d hit the trails, talk about life, solve the world’s problems, and come back feeling recharged. It was our thing. Then life got busy, for both of us. Bigger workloads. Projects around the house….
by Tim Parkins | Oct 12, 2025
8 days making bacon (and what it taught me about work) Some things are worth doing slowly. Your best work is one of them. Delicious, hand-crafted smokey bacon. Well-worth the time. I spent 8 days making bacon. I prepped the cure and spice mix. A week of curing, flipping the pork belly in its brine every night. Four hours of smoking. Then slicing it all by hand. I could’ve just bought bacon at the store. Five minutes and done. But that’s not the same, is it? The store-bought version works….
