What Kids Learn from Watching Us Work, with Young Han
You’re finishing something for work, but part of your mind is on your family. Later, you’re spending time with your family, but you’re thinking about the work you left unfinished. Wherever you are, you feel like you should be doing something else.
That’s an exhausting way to move through the day, especially when you care deeply about both.
In Episode 112 of Your Priority Centered Life, I talk with business builder and coach Young Han about how he approaches work, parenting, and the choices that shape our days. Young has spent more than two decades helping businesses grow, including working at Starbucks, Apple, and Philz Coffee. He also hosts The Girl Dad Show.
Our conversation explores what happens when we stop expecting every part of life to fit into a perfect compartment and start paying closer attention to how we actually want to live.
When your definition of success changes
Around his 40th birthday, Young found himself struggling. He had an impressive job at a technology startup, but he felt depressed and unhappy. The career milestones that had once motivated him no longer felt as meaningful.
Becoming a father had changed his priorities. He wanted more time with his children and more freedom to decide how he worked.
Recognizing that shift led him toward consulting, building businesses, and moving his family from Silicon Valley to Texas. It also meant acknowledging that a life he had worked hard to create needed to change.
You may recognize some version of that experience. A role that once felt exciting can become draining. Your family’s needs can change. You can discover that the goals you’ve been pursuing no longer reflect what matters most to you.
Those realizations deserve your attention.
Start by looking at where your time goes
One of Young’s suggestions is straightforward: track your time for six weeks.
Include work, sleep, meals, movement, family time, and the other activities that fill your days. You can use an app or a spreadsheet. The point is to get a clearer picture of where your hours actually go.
Think of it as creating a spending plan. Before deciding how to use your money differently, you need to understand how you’re spending it now. The same idea applies to time.
Once you have that information, ask yourself: Does this reflect my priorities? What feels satisfying? What keeps getting squeezed out?
You may not have control over every hour. Still, noticing your patterns can help you identify a realistic adjustment.
Your children see more than your availability
Young describes a conversation with his young daughter that changed his thinking. She had noticed how often both parents attended her activities and began asking questions about their life.
It prompted him to consider what his daughters were learning by watching him. He wanted them to see effort, responsibility, and the process of working toward something meaningful, alongside being present for family life.
For Young, that sometimes means bringing a daughter to a work conference or taking calls while walking around soccer practice. Those arrangements reflect his family’s circumstances and the flexibility he has as a business owner.
Your version may look different. The useful question is: What do I want my children to learn from the way I work, rest, and respond when plans change?
Give yourself room to reassess
We also discuss the difficulty of changing expectations when you’ve become the person who always volunteers. Being dependable can feel good, even when your commitments have started to crowd out the rest of your life.
A conversation about your schedule, responsibilities, or workplace fit may be overdue. You’re allowed to revisit those things as your needs change.
This week, choose one place to begin. Look at your time, reconsider one commitment, or connect with someone whose approach to life you’d like to learn from. You don’t need to reorganize everything to make a useful change.
Listen to Episode 112 of Your Priority Centered Life for my full conversation with Young Han about work, parenting, systems, and building a life that reflects your priorities.
Learn more about Young at alwayshan.com and explore The Girl Dad Show.
Take the Next Step Toward a More Priority-Centered Life
If this conversation has you thinking about all the things currently competing for your time and attention, the next step isn't necessarily finding another app. It may be figuring out what deserves protection in the first place. The free Prior 10 Assessment can help you take a clearer look at your priorities and how well your current use of time and energy aligns with them. You can take the assessment at Prior10.com and sign up for the weekly Sunday Reset Newsletter.
And if you enjoyed this conversation with Marlon, you can find more episodes of Your Priority Centered Life at dr-alise.com/podcast.
The information contained and documents referenced in the podcast “Your Priority Centered Life” are for entertainment, educational and informational purposes only, and are not intended as, and shall not be understood or construed as, professional medical or health treatment, diagnosis, or advice. We strongly encourage listeners to consult with medical providers or qualified mental health providers with issues and questions regarding any physical and/or mental health symptoms or concerns that they may have. Furthermore, the opinions and views expressed by podcast guests, partners and/or affiliates are not necessarily those of the podcast host. Dr. Alise Murray’s opinions and views are expressed in her individual capacity and are not to be construed as those of any of her podcast guests, partners and/or affiliates.