Do less, but better

Nov 5, 2025

📕 DAD WISDOM

Do Less, Be More

I just started reading Essentialism, and it’s hitting some nerves (in a good way).

The book’s whole idea is about cutting the nonessential. Saying ‘no’ more. Doing less, but better.

But here’s the reality: dads don’t get to “opt out.” The list keeps growing. Work deadlines, home projects, kid stuff, trying to stay in shape, pretending you still have hobbies. The list goes on.

You can’t eliminate chaos. But you can get honest about what’s worth the chaos.

That’s the real essentialism of fatherhood: deciding what deserves your limited energy. Some things will slip. Some things should.

Because being a good dad isn’t about perfect balance. It’s about choosing your tradeoffs on purpose, instead of getting buried by them.

RAD DAD

Sean Nguyen

Always cool featuring folks I get to connect with in real life, like Sean Nguyen.

Sean’s the guy behind After Work Fish Club, a community that started with a few buddies chasing redfish after hours and turned into something bigger – a reminder that you don’t need to quit your day job to live fully.

By day, he runs commercial flooring projects. By night, he’s building a tribe of doers who swap screens for tides and find peace between casts.

Sean’s secret sauce isn’t hustle, it’s intent. He ditched the finish-line mentality for something simpler: being where his feet are.

“Life moves fast,” he says. “Success used to mean chasing more. Now it’s about being in the moment, not just moving through it.”

He’s raising two kids, running a business, and proving that balance isn’t found, it’s built. One tide at a time.

Read more on Sean here. He doesn’t know it yet, but he’s gonna lead the first Dad Day fishing trip.

Follow his journey → @afterworkfishclub / @vin_nguyen

DAD TOYS

The North Face x Bialetti Coffee Set

The North Face teamed up with Italian coffee legend Bialetti to drop a limited-edition coffee kit built for the wild or your backyard deck at sunrise.

Yeah, it’s a bit of a flex on price, but this is heirloom gear, the kind of setup your kids will fight over when they’re packing for their own adventures.

Get it here.

🛒 WHAT ELSE WE’RE EYING UP

» Pendelton x Costco Throw Blanket

» 7ft Artificial Christmas Tree (on sale)

» 14 Piece Car Washing Kit

DAD BOD

Walk While You Work

treadmill fail GIF

Turns out the under-desk walking pad isn’t just TikTok fluff, it actually works. Studies from the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic show walking while you work burns about 100 extra calories an hour and keeps energy levels up without killing productivity.

Start slow (1–1.5 mph), walk in 20-minute chunks, and skip the flip-flops.

It’s not a workout replacement, but it could be a hack for fighting desk slouch, and yeah, it feels pretty good to close your laptop knowing you’ve already logged a few thousand steps.