Finding meaning in a world of growing scarcity

When everyone is chasing the same shrinking resources, the real question becomes: what race do we actually want to run?

During our Strategy Days at the Data Science Institute at UHasselt this week,

one theme kept resurfacing:

funding opportunities.

Or rather, the increasing difficulty of finding them.

Fewer calls,

lower success rates,

more competition.

It is a familiar story for many researchers.

But the more I reflected on it,

the more I realized that this pressure is not unique to academia.

The era in which abundance could be taken for granted is fading across many parts of society.

We feel it in our time, stretched thin by constant demands.

We feel it in financial resources, which seem to tighten year after year.

We feel it in the world around us, where natural resources and systems are showing the limits of endless growth.

Continuing as we always have is no longer sustainable.

The solutions that once worked no longer match the world we live in today.

More of the same will not carry us forward.

In the middle of all this, one question kept returning to me:

How do we find meaning in a world shaped by increasing scarcity?

Over the past years I have watched several of my own research proposals go unfunded.

Each rejection came after weeks or months of preparation and hope.

It created stress, and at times even fear.

Questions surfaced that many academics recognize.

What does it mean for my role if my team keeps shrinking?

What happens to my reputation if my output decreases?

At some point I began to look at things differently.

Instead of starting from what I lack, I started from who I want to be.

Who do I want to be in this world?

What would a person like that do?

And can I trust that what I need will come at its own pace?

This shift led me back to simple but essential questions.

What kind of professor do I want to be?

What topics ignite genuine curiosity?

What contribution do I hope to make?

And perhaps just as important:

How do I want others to experience me?

Present, kind, creative, proactive

From there came a more practical layer.

What can I do today that aligns with those answers?

Listening with full attention in a meeting

Being gentle with a colleague

Following an unexpected opportunity

Reading about something that fascinates me

Exploring examples, connecting with others from genuine curiosity

Nothing dramatic changed.

My team is still smaller than my ego might prefer.

Funding is still modest.

My project list is still short.

But my daily actions feel more aligned.

I live with more intention and less fear.

And I am grateful for the stability my position provides.

It gives just enough room to pause, breathe, and recalibrate.

Approximately one year ago, I tried an exercise that helped me clarify things.

I took a pen and paper and wrote out my "ideal day".

Not a dream day filled with luxury or extravagance,

but a day I would choose if all my worries disappeared for a moment.

The answers were simple.

Waking up early and drinking coffee or tea while the sun rises.

Swimming in an outdoor pool.

Reading,

thinking,

loving.

Long walks with my dogs.

Good food.

And since doing that exercise,

I have tried to weave more of those small things into my everyday life.

Even in a world with shrinking resources, these moments remain available.

They remind me that meaning does not always require more.

Often it requires noticing what is already within reach.

So I would like to invite you to reflect on this as well.

What truly matters to you?

Who do you want to be in this world?

What small actions already fit that identity?

And how might you bring a little more of them into your daily rhythm?

In times of scarcity, we might not be able to control what we receive.

But we can choose who we become.