Show Notes
Adam and Stephen are back after a run of guest episodes to talk about Adam’s recent home-buying journey, the unexpected satisfaction of painting a house, and why physical work can feel so different from knowledge work.
What starts as a conversation about DIY house projects turns into a deeper reflection on meaningful work, providing for your family, financial “chains,” and the strange mixture of joy and obligation that comes with putting down roots. Adam shares why painting rooms with Christy has felt surprisingly meaningful: clear progress, a team he loves, a challenging goal, and the rare chance to use his hands after years of mostly brain-based work.
The conversation also gets honest about the other side of homeownership: bigger monthly obligations, maintenance surprises, mowing the lawn forever, and the way buying a house can change how work feels. For Adam, earning money has started to feel less like something to be suspicious of and more like a tangible way to provide stability and home for his family.
From there, the guys wander into AI updates, Claude’s newest model, design fixation, and why AI can push us too quickly into optimization before we have really explored the problem.
Takeaways Meaningful work often has visible progress. Painting a room gives immediate feedback in a way most knowledge work does not. You can see the before and after, and that tangibility matters. Working with people you love changes the work. A hard project can feel meaningful when it is shared with someone you enjoy, even when the work itself is messy, tiring, or inefficient. Using your hands can make work feel more whole. Adam reflects on how disconnected modern work can feel from the body, and why manual work can reconnect mind, effort, and visible output. Homeownership creates both purpose and chains. Buying a house can make work feel more meaningful because the money you earn provides something concrete. But it also reduces flexibility and raises the stakes. AI can create design fixation. When AI gives you a polished answer quickly, it can tempt you to refine the first idea instead of asking whether it is the right idea at all.
Chapters 00:00 - Welcome Back and House Projects 03:06 - Why Painting Feels So Satisfying 07:03 - Why Adam Did Not Hire Painters 09:11 - How Buying a House Changed Work 12:31 - Purpose, Chains, and Providing 16:23 - Stephen’s House-Buying and Career Reflections 20:52 - The Hidden Jobs of Homeownership 24:03 - AI Corner: Claude, Model Names, and Agreeableness 27:18 - Claude Design and the Risk of Design Fixation 30:07 - Delve Deck: What Country Would You Move To? 32:24 - Listener Reflection and Next Week’s Guest
Listener Reflection What is something outside of your job that currently feels like meaningful work, and what does that reveal about the kind of work your soul is hungry for?
More from Identity Work
What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about money? Most of us start imagining a different job, a different schedule, or a beach somewhere. Eugene Luning asked Stephen a slightly different question: What if money were taken care of, but you had to stay in your current role? How would you approach the work you already have? Eugene is the director of The Union and Stephen’s spiritual director, a relationship that apparently began with Adam’s Christmas letter. He joins us to talk about ambition, anxiety, faith, and the pressure to figure out what our lives are supposed to become. We explore what changes when we trust that God knows where we are, and that the people and opportunities in front of us deserve our attention today. The conversation gets practical: using the space between meetings to reset, building small rhythms of gratitude, and recognizing when a commitment has become something we keep doing because we feel guilty stopping. Lexi joins us to talk about parenting guilt, and Eugene shares a story about his daughter leaving for college that brings the whole conversation home. Along the way, we discuss the humanity and humor of Jesus, Stephen maintains his unofficial count of Adam’s reading, and we consider whether a meaningful life might feel a little freer than we’ve been making it. Takeaways There is meaning available where you are today. Career planning can consume our attention. Eugene invites us to consider how we would treat our current work and the people around us if we felt less pressure to secure the future. Small moments of returning can become a way of life. A pause before a meeting, a reminder of past provision, or three things you’re grateful for can help bring your attention back to the present. Doing it once is a place to start. Pay attention to what you’re being drawn toward. Persistent friction can be a reason to reconsider a commitment. Asking what you want to give yourself to can help clarify what you need to release. Let your children experience being deeply loved. Eugene offers a simpler focus for the pressure of parenting: being interested in your children, helping them feel seen, and ending the day with them knowing you’re delighted they’re yours. Chapters 00:00 Introducing Eugene and the Christmas letter that started it 01:57 What if you stayed in your current job? 04:54 God knows where to find you 07:12 Connection and meaning in the present moment 12:02 Using transitions to practice presence 15:13 Anxiety as a reminder to return to God 20:06 Gratitude and building small rhythms 24:15 The pressure to keep doing good 28:51 Knowing when it’s time to move on 31:52 The humanity and humor of Jesus 35:15 Parenting guilt and helping children feel loved 41:15 Learning to receive love ourselves 43:10 Being set free for your work 46:57 Trends spotter 47:52 Is meaning in work found or created? 50:07 Where to find Eugene Listener Reflection Where are you waiting for your circumstances to change before you let yourself be fully present? What would it look like to bring a little more attention, love, or freedom to that part of your life today? Connect with Eugene Find Eugene’s writing at unionists.org and listen to The Unionists on Apple Podcasts.
You want people to know what you do. You also don’t want to become the person posting about "7 quick tips to earn $10m a year". How do you put yourself out there while still feeling like yourself? Adam and Stephen sit down with Harris Fanaroff, founder and CEO of Linked Revenue, to explore personal branding, humble brags, and the fear of being judged. Adam shares his four attempts at finding his voice on LinkedIn, from fintech commentary to weekly meaningful moments. Harris explains how sharing useful ideas and building relationships can create opportunities, even when you aren’t selling anything. We also discuss what to share early in your career, why human stories matter in a feed full of AI content, and how Harris approaches meaningful work through providing for his family and building a team where people can be honest. Four Takeaways Start with someone you can help. Thinking about what another person could learn from your experience gives you a practical way to approach posting without making every post a celebration of yourself. Your brand can grow from who you already are. Adam’s meaningful moments helped him notice more of what he values and gave others a clearer picture of him. Being thoughtful, curious, and consistent can carry professional value. Relationships build over time. Harris approaches LinkedIn as a place to share useful ideas, notice who engages, and start conversations. Those connections can become clients, collaborators, or a network to lean on during a career change. You can share while you’re still learning. Early in your career, useful observations, questions, and lessons from more experienced colleagues can give you something worthwhile to contribute. Fear of judgment often keeps people from starting. Chapters 00:00 Meet Harris Fanaroff 01:17 Personal Branding Without Narcissism 05:51 Adam’s Four Attempts at LinkedIn 11:26 Finding Your Why for Posting 15:02 Turning Engagement Into Relationships 20:04 Humble Brags, Ego, and Sharing Your Success 27:18 Getting Past the Fear of Being Judged 30:45 Algorithms, AI Content, and Staying Human 35:18 Practical Advice for Promoting a Podcast 39:09 Providing for Family as the Purpose of Work 41:23 Building a Vulnerable Team Culture 44:29 Is Meaningful Work Found or Created? 45:09 Favorite Places and Finding Time to Be an Adult 48:57 Where to Find Harris Reflection Question What is something you’ve learned or noticed recently that could help someone else, and what holds you back from sharing it? Connect With Harris Find Harris Fanaroff on LinkedIn or visit Linked Revenue.
What would it be like to start your career with AI? In this episode, Adam and Stephen explore how AI is changing the substance of entry-level work. Young professionals can now produce polished analysis, models, and presentations in minutes, but bypassing the struggle may also mean missing the judgment that struggle once developed. They discuss why speed is not the same as learning, how managers can help younger employees build judgment, and why time and human feedback remain essential even when AI can produce a strong first draft. They also consider whether every entry-level employee is now becoming a manager, with AI serving as their first team. Four TakeawaysAI is not simply making entry-level work faster. It is changing what the job requires, replacing some tactical skills with leadership, judgment, and strategic thinking. Struggle can be formative. Building the model or wrestling with the first draft helps people understand how the answer was created and recognize when something does not make sense. Efficiency does not guarantee learning. AI can help someone finish faster, but developing real understanding still requires time with the material. Junior employees need human feedback, peer review, and coaching. AI can challenge a recommendation, but a five-minute conversation with someone who has lived the problem can reveal what hours of research missed. Chapters00:00 Welcome and introduction 01:27 What would it be like to start a career with AI? 03:20 How AI changes the substance of entry-level work 05:30 What we learn through struggle 09:53 AI, homework, and the importance of time 11:49 How managers can help junior employees learn 15:02 Why human feedback still matters 17:16 Is every entry-level employee now a manager? 22:19 Evaluating the process, not just the answer 24:48 Trend Spotter: The language and future of AI 30:31 Showing appreciation for others 31:54 Closing reflection Reflection QuestionIf entry-level work now requires management skills, how should we change the way we train, coach, and encourage people at the beginning of their careers?
After more than 70 episodes asking what makes work meaningful, Adam finally has a working answer: learning with people who make him laugh while providing for his family.
Why can we accomplish ten things and only think about the one we left undone?