Halfway Through 2025: Life Lately

Prabhdeep Gill

07 Jul 2025 — 6 min read

Halfway through the year, and it felt like a good time to reflect and capture what I’ve been up to.

Cutting Sugar and Alcohol

At the start of the year, I cut out sugar and alcohol. I had my stool tested and discovered some yeast overgrowth in my gut. I’ve always had eczema, and I’ve always been a sucker for something sweet after a meal—so when I was told that yeast feeds on sugar and alcohol, I figured I’d try cutting them out for three months and see what happens. I also started taking probiotics.

To my surprise, by the second month, my eczema started going away. Anyone who’s spent time with me knows how bad my skin has been throughout my life, so not being constantly itchy feels amazing.

I also noticed my cravings for sugar pretty much disappeared. I wasn’t missing alcohol either—hangovers ruin the next day for me, and I’ve just stopped caring for that trade-off.

After seeing how good I felt during those three months, it just became my new default. I’m not militant about it—I’ll have sugar or alcohol maybe 10% of the time. I listen to myself intuitively. If I really want the dessert or the drink, I’ll go for it. But I no longer feel like I need it. At first, the idea of giving these things up felt daunting, but I held onto the idea of delayed gratification—and honestly, the reward has been worth it.

Rewiring My Dopamine

This year, I’ve tried to reduce how often I reach for "cheap" dopamine—those quick hits that never really satisfy. That meant cutting back on social media, TV, sugar, news, alcohol, and constant notifications.

Instead, I started channeling that energy into things that feel earned and nourishing: practicing piano, tweaking my golf swing in the simulator, reading, going for walks in nature, or jumping into cold water.

I’ve especially come to love cold plunges. I go to this place called Inward three times a week: 15 minutes in the sauna, 2 minutes in a 0°C plunge, back to sauna, then one final plunge. I’ll throw in some red light and meditation while I’m at it. That one hour resets me—physically, mentally, emotionally. It grounds me in a way nothing else does. I never want to give it up.

Golf as a Mirror

I started golf lessons in the winter to work on fundamentals, and by the time golf season hit, I felt like I was in a groove. Played some great rounds in Scottsdale… and then it all fell apart.

Suddenly, I couldn’t hit the ball. I was overthinking, putting pressure on myself, obsessing over breaking 90. I stopped having fun.

Golf is a beautiful microcosm of life—there are setbacks, and it becomes about how you bounce back. I had to let go of the score, let go of control, and return to the basics. I reminded myself: I’m playing this game for a lifetime. Who cares if I break 90 this year or not? My scores will improve if I just keep showing up and working on my craft.

I went back to my coach to restart with the fundamentals, got out of my head and into my body, and started having fun again. And of course—by letting go—I broke 90 last week 🙂. Also, fun highlight of the summer: I got to play 3 holes with Rory and a few other PGA pros (pic).

Self-Awareness

One of the more challenging but rewarding parts of the year has been emotional growth. I’m continuing to work on not avoiding conflict, naming what I’m feeling, and communicating my needs more clearly.

This app has been helpful in identifying what I’m actually feeling in the moment—which is a new muscle for me. Once I can name it, I can start to understand it and move through it, rather than getting stuck in reaction. It’s quite freeing.

I’ve been doing more work on understanding my patterns too. I’m an ISTJ on the Myers-Briggs scale, and a lot of what I’ve learned about myself has helped me be more compassionate and curious when I’m triggered.

I’m seeing how childhood dynamics still show up in my adult life. I often think about this quote:

“Between stimulus and response, there is space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In that response lies our growth and freedom.” – Viktor E. Frankl

We’re never really taught how to be human—how to navigate all this complexity. But I’m learning. Slowly. Gratefully.

Also—Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is one of the best books I’ve read recently. Highly recommend. I tore through it in a few days—learned a lot about myself and humanity. Thanks AJ for the recco!

Re-Introducing Work With Intention

For the first 15 months into the sabbatical, I said no to every work opportunity. I wanted to see if I could be happy without work defining me.

And I did. I figured out how to take care of myself physically. I learned tools for emotional and mental resilience. I found hobbies that bring me joy. I felt more grounded, more present, more connected to Sonya, Zuri, and Nika.

I even did my first public speaking gig in a decade—an AI talk at Zuri’s school. It forced me to examine why I was afraid, who I was seeking approval from, and what it would mean to simply trust myself. That’s been the shift: I no longer need external validation to feel like I’m on the right path. I’m learning to listen inward instead.

The one thing I missed? Building.

I missed creating. Solving problems. So I decided to reintroduce work—but this time, on my own terms.

A New Way of Working

I looked at my week while the kids are in school, calculated my non-negotiables, made some hard choices on what to scale back (but not eliminate) to create space for work, and netted out at 12 hours to play with.

That became eight 90-minute focus blocks. I can move them around the week, but the goal is to hit eight per week. That simple structure gave me both momentum and flexibility. From there, I followed my curiosity.

Following the Pull of AI

Naturally, I gravitated toward AI. The tools available today blow my mind. I don’t need to write every line of code anymore—I get to be the builder and the coach, while these tools handle the execution.

Tools like Cursor, Claude, and GPT let me design systems, catch issues, and move fast. It’s powerful—especially given my background building products. And it’s fun.

Some things I’ve built recently for myself and others:

It’s been fun to learn, to experiment, to create again. I love chatting with others about AI and helping them figure out how it can impact their lives or businesses. I even incorporated a company, Aava (which means open space), just to have a place to house all this energy. No grand plan—just seeing what opportunities feel aligned.

One real opportunity I’m exploring: AI employees for small businesses. So many companies spend time on manual tasks—adding LinkedIn profiles to a CRM, uploading invoices, chasing follow-ups. I’m building custom AI workflows that can do this work like a human assistant would—but faster and more consistently.

That’s where I’ll be spending my work blocks next.

Family Life & Making Memories

Outside of those work blocks, my time is for family.

Zuri’s 5 (pic) and Nika’s 3 now (pic). It’s really special having this strong bond with both the girls. I try to do daddy-daughter dates once in a while—Zuri and I went to go see The Lion King show, while Nika and I went to the ROM. The three of us also flew to Boston for Anu’s wedding and had a blast (pic).

As a family, we’ve committed to a half-day every weekend for a family date: hikes, brunch, AGO, Harbourfront, playgrounds—even a police station tour. Anything that feels fun and keeps us present together. We want to create the kind of childhood memories we’ll all look back on with love.

This year we’ve gone to Blue Mountain (kids did ski lessons - pic), Playa del Carmen during March Break with the kids’ besties (pic), and Mexico City with the SF fam (pic).

Sonya and I have been doing bi-weekly date nights and quarterly getaways—Elora Mills, Prince Edward County—each one helping us feel more connected, more playful, more us.

Life’s good right now. I’m content.

I’m proud of the systems I’ve put in place that help me feel grounded—like I’m living from the inside out.

I’m writing this post as a reminder to myself of what feels good, for the inevitable times when things feel harder. Because this—this is the kind of life I want to keep building.