Newsletter

Did I have any fun?

October 10, 2026·11 min read·issue #034

My life went dull like a knife used often without being sharpened.

Most people are living the dream. Yeah, what society promised you, but now it all looks like a dream you don't know how to wake up from.

When you were a kid, you did what you wanted, when you wanted, and how you wanted it. Growing up changed something in you, you started taking life seriously.

Most people's lives now are like this: You wake up, try to leave the bed, put that little box to your face, watching the lives of others while you feel that someday that would be you as well, then you go to work, come back home tired, and sit in front of that big box while you sleep off on the couch.

The day you expect to come might never come. Until you start doing things the way you want, when you want again.

Some time ago, I do not know what happened, but I noticed I did not feel alive doing anything, so I went to the living room, lay down on the couch, looking up, thinking, "It's been 5+ years of working hard to change my life to be a better me, which I am proud I did, then a question popped into my head: "Did I have any fun?"

No, I didn't. I was waiting for when I made enough, but what is enough?

Lying down on the couch might have changed the rest of my life. I realized I have been living in a box I call a house, with something I seriously do call work.

Reason you're working.

There is something that made you start being serious with your life: you were tired of where you are, or working hard so your children won't have to worry, and so you would be more available for your family. But when things started getting better, you forgot those reasons and needed more.

Being too serious with life, you jump from one project to another, you set another big target that you want to achieve, to you, making more money is everything that life can offer.

Most people set more projects, more targets, more skills, more clients, more emails, or more goals, but forget about more living.

The trap of believing: “I’ll enjoy myself when I get there.” Deep down, you know that isn't true, you know if you do not start now, you are losing more days, months, or years that you could have spent without regrets.

You think anything apart from making money now is irresponsible, some say money is everything, and money is life! But I have seen people with little who are happy and enjoying life, and I have seen people with lots of money who are not so happy.

This famous question appears in the Bible:

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

Money is important, having a good career is great, no doubt about that, but if that is 99% of your life, something needs to change and fast.

I know a guy, a friend of my friend, who was always working, from one project to another, all his life is just working. He is always busy, no girlfriend, no other friends, only his mom. He decided to leave home and work to change his life and his mom's too. He doesn't spend time with his mom or call her because he believes that when he is successful, he will have enough time for her. For 3 years, he worked hard, sending money home to her, a few months ago, he lost his mom.

I know that story was a bit sad, but it made him realize that money is great, but enjoying life as you go is even better.

When I realized this as well, I noticed I wasn't really having fun and stopped enjoying the work the way I wanted to. So I started making some changes to the way I work and started having more breaks. I used to draw, I'm really good at it, and I'm back to doing that on some weekends again. Now I sometimes go outdoors with my laptop to work, I thought this would reduce my focus, but instead I am happier to work.

Martin Short and the Nine Courses

When Short was 27 years old, he experienced a several-month period without work. This was the first time he went through that kind of uncertainty after starting his career as a comedian and an actor.

For an actor, not working might be a bit frightening. He started thinking, maybe people have lost interest, maybe opportunities have dried up, maybe this is the end of his career.

He described his situation as if he had been found, worrying he might no longer get another job.

He wasn't enjoying any of those months, instead of spending the time having fun, he kept worrying if he would ever be able to work again.

Through that same worrying mind of his, by the end of the year, he had a realization that he had made more money than he had ever made before. After those months without work, new opportunities arrived.

Looking back at those months, he felt pain, instead of enjoying life, he realized that he had spent those months worrying about a career that would later turn out fine. He wishes he could get those months back, but he couldn't, and he never wanted it to happen again.

He asked himself a question: What if your career was just one of nine courses you took at university?

Now you think about that for a moment.

When you're in university, you didn't judge your entire academic performance based on one single subject. You take several courses, and your overall performance shows how you do across them.

Short applied this concept to life. Instead of letting his career determine how well he is doing as a person, he divided his life into nine categories. He treated them like a subject on a report card.

Self: Your health, physical well-being, and how you take care of yourself.
Partner and children: The attention and care you give to your closest family relationships.
Original family: Your parents, siblings, and the family you grew up with.
Friends: The friendships you maintain and the time you spend with people you care about.
Finances: Your financial situation and how you manage money.
Career: Your work, professional development, and accomplishments.
Creativity: Your creative expression and the ideas or interests you explore.
Discipline: Your habits, consistency, and ability to follow through on commitments.
Lifestyle: How you live outside your obligations. Short's memorable question for this category was: "Are you having any fun?"

From the outside, everything looks great. Your business is growing, you're learning a new skill, earning more money, and building something you care about.

But perhaps you've stopped seeing your friends. You rarely spend time with your family. You don't exercise as consistently as you used to. You have no hobbies, and you can't remember the last time you did something purely because it was enjoyable.

If you grade your life based on your career alone, you might give yourself an A, but if you looked at all nine categories, you might realize that several parts of your life need attention.

Your Life Is Bigger Than Your Work

Most people spend most of their time planning their work, how they will make more money, and start the new project step by step in detail, but they rarely plan their life.

You work so hard, and later you realize you have nothing to show but money, then you start thinking about what they call work-life balance, first I disagree with that word "work-life balance", it should be "life balance work." Your life is the only thing that can truly balance your work.

Most forget to plan the most important things in their life, instead, they plan goals and income: "How can I make more money, yes more money. I am sure if I make 10k a month, I would be happy", someone recently told me that. Because people have attributed money to happiness.

If you plan a new project, also plan how you would enjoy your life: what if you work at the coffee shop with your friend on Friday, what if you make your favorite meal for dinner today after well-focused work is done.

Life is way beyond work, we need to acknowledge that more.

You can be successful professionally, be the best in your career, while you ignore the rest of your life. Some say it is a sacrifice you make to succeed in life. Then you are not fully successful. If you pass only two of nine subjects, you can't be promoted to the next class.

I always wanted to travel out of my country, but I always postpone it, thinking I am not there yet. I spoke to someone who makes half of my income and has traveled more than I have; how did he do it? He said, "I plan my life, and work along my plan". He didn't wait to make a certain amount of money before he could travel. He started by travelling to other states in the country, then he started going out of the country.

You shouldn't postpone fun until everything is sorted, you should have fun along the way. Most people think enjoyment is what you do after you are done working, you can also enjoy while working.

Fun Work

Fun is the act of enjoying one's time. Most people think that to have fun, you need to stop working and go somewhere. Fun doesn't necessarily mean quitting, taking a vacation, or working less.

Mark Twain: "Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life."

Reframing that to: "Plan a life you'd enjoy, and you will never have to work a day in your life."

The question you should be asking is "How can I make the way I work more enjoyable?"

Everyone's way of having fun is different, for some, it might be listening to music while working. Someone like that should invest in a good pair of headphones or a speaker to enjoy the work while listening to their choice of music.

If you like playing games, you can track your work like a game system log, that way, your work is like a game you play every day, with different targets every day.

For me, I built a system that tracks every work-related thing I do daily, some I have to click manually, which gives me the satisfaction that I completed something. I get a 10-minute break to walk outside, and a 30-minute break after 4 sections are done, I use every break for whatever I feel is not related to my job. The system has a daily tracker and a weekly tracker with a progress bar that I want to reach every day.

Don't try to work like others or based on things you have seen online, forget that for a moment. Think about your strengths and personality, and work in a way that fits them.

Make sure your work fits your kind of living. If you like going out, please do, take your work along with you.

Every break you have, pick something you can do, it might be talking to your loved ones, dancing (I do that sometimes, it's fun), or pick an activity that makes you forget about it for a while.

Enjoy the craft. When writing a newsletter, write it with fun, write things that make you laugh, because it would be fun for the reader as well, and in a way you have passed your joy to someone else.

When learning, have fun with it, laugh when the instructor says something funny.

Enjoy the small wins. If you wake up early like you always wanted to, make yourself your best cup of coffee. Now your brain knows what to do to get that every morning. Make the most of the small wins, they always lead to the big wins.

Make the most of the process and the people you meet along the way, life should always come first, then work comes along.

The goal isn't to escape work, it's to stop making work something you constantly feel the need to escape from.

Did I Have Any Fun?

A few weeks ago, I was lying on my couch when I asked myself this question: "Did I have any fun?" What if today is my last day, would I say I enjoyed every bit of my life? Bit by bit, I started sinking into the couch, and my head was heavy because I couldn't answer that question.

It is never too late to start adding fun into my work, the same thing goes for you.

Some people take everything too seriously because they think that is the way it should be, I think otherwise.

I can't tell you how to have fun while working or make each day enjoyable. You are the one who knows what enjoyable means to you.

Yes, studies show that people who laugh more and have a strong sense of humor tend to live longer and have lower risks of chronic illness. That shows life rewards fun, so why won't you reward yourself with some?

Fun means different things to different people, stop saying it is not yet time for you to do what makes you happy. You have worked for it, why shouldn't you enjoy it?

So if things do not work out as fast as you thought, that means you wasted your best years avoiding life while preparing for it.

If you looked back at the last few months, would you be able to say you had any fun?

- Owol.

P.S. Before you close this email, plan one thing you'll enjoy this week, like working at the coffee shop with a friend on Friday or making your favorite meal after your focused work is done.

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