Photo by Austin Pacheco

It’s either a fact that articles are being catered for me by some fancy algorithm or all advice online is starting to sound the same. Almost every other article on Medium or my Facebook feed is telling me about 7 Life Hacks to Be a Better Me, the 5 Books to Read to Change My Life, or the Single Lesson to Learn to Change Forever. I am inundated with messages on how to better the life I am living.

Now, I’ll admit to clicking on the links. Otherwise, why would they keep popping up, but I have yet to find an answer that strikes a chord of real truth. Sure, if I get up at 5 am, go running, write a blog post, drink a bullet coffee, meditate and do yoga all before work, I am sure that I will be the best version of myself before 9 a.m. Before I’ve interacted with other humans, managed to pick a fight with my husband by saying something rude, and made an ass of myself in the Starbucks pick up line.

During the regular daylight hours, I’ve been provoked to leave my soul-sucking 9-to-all-consuming hours day job, to pursue a career as a flailing entrepreneur selling vegan dog biscuits, because I’ve always known that a dog is a better companion than a human friend. The business is failing, but I shell out all my savings to take courses on social media strategies, and email marketing seminars. Apparently, that is where my income will one day come from.

By the evening I should have enough energy to mingle with my network, work on my friendships and consume the 703 books on my “must read list,” all before going to bed promptly at 9 p.m. because we all know how important sleep is, Arianna Huffington told us so.