How to Build a Good Life Without Sacrificing Yourself: Field Notes on Ambition, Burnout, and Finding Range
How to Build a Good Life Without Sacrificing Yourself: Field Notes on Ambition, Burnout, and Finding Range

This post explores the fundamental difference between simply measuring success and actually building a good life. Drawing from his diverse experiences across startups, river expeditions, and fatherhood, Evan Sutter argues that while ambition is a powerful tool, it should never consume the person doing the building. The essay highlights the importance of moving with life's natural rhythms, recognizing how our past "failures" compound to shape our foundations, and prioritizing long-term health and relationships over pure financial accumulation. Ultimately, it serves as a gateway to his broader ecosystem, guiding leaders and builders toward his podcast, 1-on-1 conversations, and the free download of his field guide, 42 Notes from a Life of Trying Things.

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Evan Sutterevan sutter, philosophy, writing, thinkingComment
Living in the In-Between: The Art of Staying Playful
Living in the In-Between: The Art of Staying Playful

We spend so much of life searching for certainty—the right job, the perfect business, the ideal routine—that we forget life was never designed to stand still. In this Field Note, Evan reflects on the balancing act of building meaningful work while navigating family, creativity, health, and uncertainty. Through stories from startups, keynote stages, removal trucks, and friendships spanning decades, he explores why resilience isn't about having the perfect plan, but about staying adaptable enough to keep moving when life changes the rules. Perhaps the good life isn't found in certainty at all, but in learning to negotiate each season with curiosity, range, and playfulness.

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Evan Sutterplayfulness, creativity, the in-betweenComment
Things I’ve Changed My Mind About: Success
Things I’ve Changed My Mind About: Success

At twenty-five, success looks like a flash car and a public display of wealth. At forty-two, it becomes clear that money in isolation tells us nothing about a person's health, presence, or genuine joy. True success isn't an external image to be seen, but an internal balance to be felt—an ongoing practice of stepping off the high-stress treadmill to protect what actually matters.

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Evan SutterInterconnectedLife, RethinkingSuccess, TheEnlightenedBuilderComment
What Does A Good Life Actually Look Like?
What Does A Good Life Actually Look Like?

We have become experts at measuring success—revenue, equity, and scale—but somewhere along the way, we stopped measuring the quality of our lives. In this Field Note, we explore the paradox of the modern operator: spending our healthiest years sacrificing time and relationships to chase things we hope will eventually buy them back. Ambition isn't the enemy, and building things matters. But the ultimate metric isn't the size of what you build; it's whether you are becoming someone you’d actually enjoy sharing the journey with.

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Evan Sutterthe good life, founder mindset, alivenessComment
The Stories We Carry (Why Your Detours Are Never Wasted Time)
The Stories We Carry (Why Your Detours Are Never Wasted Time)

This essay dismantles the idea that a non-linear career path is a series of mistakes. Drawing on a seemingly scattered background—from living in a Buddhist monastery and launching social enterprises in Bogota and Brazil, to paddling the Hunter River and building a tech startup—the piece reframes past "failures" and detours as essential Research and Development. It challenges builders and operators to stop regretting the chapters that didn't go according to plan and instead reclassify them as the exact raw data needed to construct their current iteration of success.

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Evan Sutterpractical philosophy, mistakes, reevaluationComment
The Most Dangerous Phrase in Life
The Most Dangerous Phrase in Life

A 470km paddle down the Hunter River taught me an unexpected lesson about business, fatherhood and life. The most dangerous phrase isn't "What if I fail?" It's "I should be further ahead by now." Here's why comparing reality to an imaginary timeline creates unnecessary frustration—and how learning to work with reality instead of expectations might be one of the most valuable skills we can develop.

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Evan SutterComment
Rising Tide or Rising Performance: Why the Newcastle Harbour Blockade Feels More Like a Stunt Than a Step Toward Change
Rising Tide or Rising Performance: Why the Newcastle Harbour Blockade Feels More Like a Stunt Than a Step Toward Change

Every year, hundreds of people paddle into Newcastle Harbour to “block” the world’s largest coal port. It looks powerful—colourful kayaks, big speeches, a festival of resistance. But when the ships wait a few hours, the coal sails the next day, and nothing changes, you have to ask: is this activism, or just another carefully managed performance?

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Evan SutterRising Tide, Newcastle Blockade, Newcastle Harbour Block, Stop the Coal Ships, ActivismComment
Telling the Story of a River — and Letting It Speak
Telling the Story of a River — and Letting It Speak

Connection — the first chapter in a poetic new documentary series by Evan Sutter — follows an environmental and personal journey down the Hunter River, from its source to the sea. Blending adventure, reflection, and environmental inquiry, Evan sets out to explore the river that shaped his late father’s early years and to question how it continues to shape us all. Along the way, he collects water samples with Healthy Environments and Lives (HEAL) to test for pollutants and microplastics, uncovering what lies beneath the surface — both literally and metaphorically.

Through stunning imagery and intimate narration, Connection invites viewers to slow down, listen, and reflect on our shared relationship with rivers, wild places, and one another. At its heart, the film asks: how might these living systems shape the lives of our children — and will we honour them enough to let them?

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Modern Age Heroes: How Elon Musk, Zuckerberg, and the Rich White Men Became Our False Icons
Modern Age Heroes: How Elon Musk, Zuckerberg, and the Rich White Men Became Our False Icons

Once, heroes were poets, philosophers, and elders — people who inspired thought, wisdom, and creativity. Today, our modern heroes are the ultra-wealthy and famous: Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Joe Rogan. Young people idolize wealth, fame, and material success, chasing YouTube stardom, luxury cars, and mansions, while inequality and climate crisis spiral. As half the world’s wealth is owned by 1% of people, these modern “heroes” hoard resources, power, and influence. The elders are gone, replaced by figures whose legacy may one day be reviled. When survival, water, and land become scarce, will society finally realize the truth: these heroes were never heroes at all?

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Evan Sutterhow to be rich like elon musk, Who is the richest, false heroes, icons gone wild, worst people in historyComment
Milked: How the Dairy Industry Keeps Us Hooked on a Lie
Milked: How the Dairy Industry Keeps Us Hooked on a Lie

For decades, the dairy industry has perpetuated the myth that cow's milk is essential for human health, particularly for strong bones. This narrative has been deeply ingrained in society through aggressive marketing and government-backed campaigns. However, emerging evidence challenges this belief, revealing the detrimental effects of dairy consumption on both human health and the environment.

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Evan Sutteris dairy good for you?, Dairy, Cows Milk benefits, Climate Change and Cows, Dairy and calciumComment
The Death of a Free Game: How Newcastle Beach’s Surf Club Lost Its Community Spirit
The Death of a Free Game: How Newcastle Beach’s Surf Club Lost Its Community Spirit

For over fifty years, locals have gathered at Newcastle Beach for a simple, daily ritual: a friendly game of touch football. Generations have run barefoot, laughed, and cooled off in the surf club, building decades of community connection. But now, the club has turned away the very people who’ve nurtured it for decades, prioritising convenience, image, and profit over belonging. This article explores the quiet tragedy of a community lost to capitalism, the death of simple pleasures, and why places meant to serve people sometimes forget their purpose.

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Evan SutterCommunity Spirit, Newcastle Beach’s Surf Club, The Death of a Free Game, is capitalism to blame for our unhappiness, capitalism, community and friendship, Newcastle Beach, Newcastle Beach Touch FootyComment
From Wellbeing to Walkthroughs: Why I’ve Joined SwiftReporter
From Wellbeing to Walkthroughs: Why I’ve Joined SwiftReporter

In this blog, Evan Sutter—author, wellbeing advocate, and founder—announces his new role as co-founder of SwiftReporter, a people-first building inspection software platform designed to help inspectors work faster and live better. Drawing on his background in wellbeing, leadership, and community-building, Evan shares the story behind the venture’s creation, his vision for building a company grounded in care and culture, and how SwiftReporter aligns with his ongoing mission to support individuals across industries. It’s not just about software—it’s about helping real people reclaim their time, reduce stress, and get home to what matters most.

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Evan Sutterbuilding inspection software, building inspectors, software for inspections, reporting software, founders of swiftreporter, SwiftReporter Software, Who is SwiftReporter, Building Technology, About SwiftReporter, Home Inspection, Home Inspection SoftwareComment
Old, Sick, and Still Shopping: The Cost of Living Forever
Old, Sick, and Still Shopping: The Cost of Living Forever

Live Long and Rot: The Great Longevity Con. In a world obsessed with anti-aging creams, biohacking billionaires, and eternal youth, we’ve forgotten a crucial detail: living longer doesn’t mean living better. From beachside Newcastle to high-rise Manhattan, we’re spending millions chasing a future of stiff backs, funerals, and pharmaceuticals—while the rich and white profit, and the rest barely hang on. This isn’t a celebration of life; it’s a slow-motion surrender. I don’t want to live forever—I want to live well now, before we all turn into Botoxed relics watching the world burn from our hyperbaric chambers.

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Evan Sutterlongevity, living longer, how to live to 100, how to live longer, longevity and happinessComment