What price are you willing to pay to be successful?

Written by Jacob Muller, Head of Impact at Gotcha4Life

I count myself as one of the incredibly lucky people who found their calling – in the non-profit sector – in my early 20s.

But with a deep sense of purpose came a relentless drive to achieve mastery and make the biggest difference I possibly could. My work consumed my thoughts from the moment I woke to the moment my head hit the pillow – on weekdays, weekends, and plenty of public holidays.

I’ve come to understand that anything done in extremes has a price. And the price I paid was a real and sustained sense of closeness with the people I cared about most. I found myself feeling this strange mix of being alive and purposeful – and, at the same time, a little hollow. Like something important was missing.

What I’ve learned is that no amount of purpose or success can make up for the undeniable (and evolutionarily-ingrained) human need for regular, genuine connection.

So a chunk of my 30s has been about intentionally making more space for the people I love. Calling my parents. Prioritising quality time with my partner. Getting together with my mates for dinner. Even if it means quite literally blocking time in my calendar every week. And even if it doesn’t contribute to any measurable indicators of success.

As part of that ever-evolving journey, this year I tried something new. A simple way to feel connected – even in the flurry of a full life.

Enter: The Wednesday Waffle.

Of all places, I stumbled across the idea from a TikTok creator @nonpractisinggenius. The concept is simple: record a short selfie video about your week and send it to your mates in a group chat.

In a Wednesday Waffle, everything’s fair game – work wins, bad first dates, random ponderings, weekend plans, even your struggles. It doesn’t need to be War and Peace – just a minute or two of whatever’s on your mind.

It’s not a replacement for in-person connection – but it’s a brilliant way to bridge the space between catch-ups. And it’s certainly more nourishing than a text or an Instagram story thrown into the void. I haven’t dug into the research on this (yet), but there’s something powerful about seeing the faces and hearing the voices of people you care about, every single week.

You might be thinking, “I’m too busy,” or “I’d forget.”

And trust me – as someone who used to leave almost no mental space for anything outside work – I get it.

What helped me was setting a recurring reminder each Wednesday, timed to a moment I’m already in motion. I do mine on my walk to the Metro in the morning.

And I have to say – after more than three months of doing this every week – I always look forward to opening Messenger on a Wednesday morning. I never know what I’ll get, but I always know it’ll fill my cup.

This week, I had a friend waffling from the snow. One was abseiling down a cliff face. One was deep in the house-hunting trenches. And another was reconnecting after a little hiatus, having felt too overwhelmed by life to share.

So, what price are you willing to pay to be successful?

For me, the answer is: not the people I love.

If you're the kind of person who loses track of time chasing big goals… maybe this is your sign to pause and check in.

Who’s your waffle going to this week?

You can help equip more people to live

Every donation powers Gotcha4Life to keep developing and delivering life-changing programs and initiatives to equip more people with the mental fitness skills to live.