Day: November 17, 2025

• Novak Djokovic, 38, is still at the top of the men’s tennis game.
• He told Business Insider he credits his longevity to three lifestyle changes.
• Djokovic focuses on the basics and working out what’s right for him.

For a long time, men’s tennis was dominated by “the big three”: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. But while Federer and Nadal have retired, Djokovic is still going — and giving younger players a run for their money.

At 38, Djokovic plays in Grand Slams alongside the next generation of men’s tennis stars, including 22-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, 24, and Taylor Fritz, 28. And they’re yet to break his 428-week streak as World No. 1 in the ATP rankings.

Djokovic has a physical (read: exhausting) style of play, and the Serbian “very much” credits his famously disciplined diet — no dairy, gluten, or refined sugar — for his energy, longevity, and resilience.

“I wouldn’t say it is the sole thing standing as the secret of my success, but it’s right up there,” Djokovic told Business Insider.

But the 24-time Grand Slam Champion and Olympic gold medallist is very much an advocate of finding what works for you, rather than being prescriptive.

He said he has learned the benefits of eating whole foods and understanding how produce is sourced and prepared, as well as the importance of managing sleep, stress, emotions, hydration — “all of these aspects of wellness and wellbeing.”

“But there’s no such thing as perfection,” Djokovic said, “and I think if you tick all the boxes, then you enrich your life and you feel better, whether it’s in your private life or professional life.”

The next step in achieving longevity is working out how those basics apply to your body, lifestyle, and needs, he said, then you can start tweaking the fine details.

In an interview via Cob, a sorghum snack aimed at those who can’t eat corn that Djokovic co-founded, he shared the lifestyle choices he thinks have kept him on the court.

Discovering he’s gluten intolerant

Growing up, Djokovic’s family ran Italian restaurants, so gluten was a huge part of his diet.

When tests showed a gluten intolerance, it was a “big blow,” he said: “I hadn’t even heard of gluten before 2009.”

His doctor advised cutting out sugar and dairy, too.

“Within three months of taking out gluten, dairy, and refined sugar, I felt tremendous change and kind of never looked back,” Djokovic said. “I can have it here and there, but I still do have mild intolerance. So I try to keep to the gluten-free diet as much as I possibly can.”

Breathing and sleeping better

Before he changed his diet, Djokovic struggled with congested sinuses, and he didn’t sleep well, either.

“I had respiratory issues that were affecting my fitness on the court — I was retiring matches early on in my professional career and I didn’t understand why that was the case, because I was always very dedicated,” he said.

Djokovic also struggled with pollen allergies, which made it harder to sleep during certain times of the year. Cutting out gluten and dairy drastically improved his breathing and sleep, which in turn boosted his recovery.

“I instantly felt a huge surge of great energy and vitality,” he said.

It was an upward spiral: “When you are able to breathe properly and you don’t feel like you have a congested air system, then obviously you breathe better, you play better on the court, you have more fitness, more energy, you sleep better,” Djokovic said.

Prioritizing emotional health

Working on the mental and emotional side of performance is, Djokovic said, “a never-ending process.”

But he has worked to learn more about himself and improve his personal relationships, which has benefited his sport.

“We are all one connected system,” Djokovic said. “We can’t separate our emotions and the mental side of things when we are, in my case, a professional tennis player entering the court. I can’t put aside what’s happening in my private life.”

Djokovic said he also learned to use mindfulness to de-stress and take care of his mental and emotional health.

“It’s really a holistic, multidisciplinary approach,” Djokovic said. “I would say it’s really all connected in terms of the body and mind and soul.”

• JPMorgan’s wealthiest clients revealed some of the more niche ways they’re using AI.
• One said they’re using it to help build a plane, and a few said they’re flying to AI classes.
• Around 7% of the billionaire respondents said AI is the biggest risk in today’s global environment.

Many people may learn about AI by playing around with ChatGPT. The superrich may learn by flying their entire family to an educational course at an Ivy League university.

In hourlong conversations, some of JPMorgan‘s wealthiest clients revealed how they’re using AI in their personal and professional lives. Of the 111 billionaire principals, 79% said they use the technology in their personal lives, and 69% said they use it in their businesses.

Some of their use cases are to be expected: writing and research, travel planning, administrative tasks, and data analysis. Yet the ultra-rich clients, whose combined net worth tops $500 billion, also reported more niche ways they’ve used AI in the bank’s 2025 Principal Discussions Report.

When it comes to business, one respondent said that AI had helped them avoid $100,000 in legal research. (A flurry of legal tech startups has emerged to try to strip law firms of time-consuming routine work.)

Another said they first treated AI like “a toy” and would use it to make customized bedtime stories for their son. The tales would, they said, always end with an “emotional twist.” One respondent said they used AI to design a blueprint for a plane they want to build. A few of the respondents said they had flown out to Ivy League schools to take classes on AI use; some even made the courses a family affair.

For all their uses, though, some of the billionaires expressed concerns about AI’s impact on society and the environment. The boom in AI data centers is threatening sustainable energy targets, and the air-pollution-related public health costs could reach $9.2 billion annually, Business Insider previously reported.

When asked about the top five risks in today’s global environment, 7% said AI/machine learning, making the category a distant second to geopolitical tensions. Some said they worry about job displacement related to the technology.

Not all of the respondents have started to use AI, and some said they conduct their business communications over the phone, avoid computers, and “rely on manual calculation or intuition.” That being said, one of the principals who said they don’t use the technology acknowledged its potential and said their children use it often.

• Laura Zimmermaker was laid off in August 2023 and dove into job searching in early 2024.
• While she had some interviews, she’s no longer actively job searching.
• She is developing a consulting business and said she’s never been happier.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Laura Zimmermaker, who is in her 40s and lives in California. It’s been edited for length and clarity.

I was a director at a Series A health tech SaaS platform, managing a team and the strategy for a global clinician network. I worked at the startup for just under two years, moving to a different role during one reorg, and then later getting laid off.

It was my first layoff, but I’d been out of work before, and I wasn’t new to the shame of not having a job and trying to figure out my identity.

Still, nothing prepared me for what I encountered after this layoff: Nearly two years of job searching has passed.

Now, I’m no longer actively looking for a new position. The idea of going out on my own was always in the back of my mind, but it was never something I had executed on — until now.

I was pretty disappointed to be laid off, and shame set in pretty quickly

I’d prided myself on my career success, so there was this extreme loss of identity and purpose. My son was nine months old, and I felt like I’d let my husband and son down. I felt stunned and defeated.

I’d already been feeling conflicted because becoming a mom is also a complete loss of identity, and I’d been struggling with trying to do it all.

What brought me some peace was that my job had been such a hard, stressful environment, and it was taking away from my time with my son. It was a relief not to carry that burden anymore.

I dove into job-searching a few months after my layoff

Coming off a fast-paced startup where the workload was intense, I was looking to go to big established companies in individual contributor to manager-level roles, and then grow my way back up to director-level.

It was hard to know how to position myself. In early interviews, I didn’t have confidence — you could read it, you could see it. I didn’t know how to level up my interviewing skills. I was in my 40s, up against people much younger than me.

I was focusing on all these barriers against me, whether people perceived them or not.

My first ‘aha’ moment happened when I overhauled my résumé

Part of building a strong résumé was understanding what my professional brand was.

I looked back on my career evolution, found the commonalities in it, and identified what excites me. I saw themes: I’m a doer, a strategist, a builder, and a healthcare relationship marketer.

I also found a great résumé template from a LinkedIn influencer who has free material and offers free videos on YouTube. I leveraged his template and built a robust, quantifiable résumé. Once I had my formal template, I just customized my summary and achievements instead of trying to rewrite with keywords each time I applied.

I started to feel more confident when I began to hear back from companies. I was getting interviews from big healthcare companies to smaller startups — and for marketing roles.

That’s when I realized that I’d been promoting myself the wrong way. I wasn’t using the right industry keywords to define my experience and skill set. I’d never felt like I was doing marketing because they weren’t formally called “marketing” roles, but I’d been building relationships with healthcare professionals to help with brand awareness and develop content.

I began to find my rhythm.

My second ‘aha’ moment was learning how to pitch myself and own my story in interviews

As I started getting more interviews, they’d come in clumps of two or three — I’d be consistently interviewing with two or three companies for a few months, and then I wouldn’t get any of the jobs.

I made it to the final round for a remote role I really wanted and had to do a presentation. I was well-prepared and excited, but again I didn’t get the job.

I even looked locally for jobs. I live in a small rural town, where everyone knows everyone. During one interview, it was apparent from the beginning that it wasn’t going to be the right fit; the company straight-up asked if I’d be bored after working with global clients.

At first, I didn’t know what to say, but then I gave them the true answer: I wanted to make a local impact in the healthcare landscape and with rural medicine, and expand access to healthcare.

I walked out of there thinking I had a new business plan for myself: I could consult, help companies with their program management, and build out plans they can execute.

I told the company I wasn’t interested.

I formed my LLC in October, Frontline Health Strategy & Consulting

This is the first time I have gone off to start an LLC. I’m doing things on my own, but that’s my style. I like wearing many hats.

I’m leveraging Coursera and my network. I have an experienced friend helping me with contracts and pricing. I also paid to watch an expert share how to launch a business, and then came up with my niche and my offerings.

So far, I’ve been doing some consulting with a pre-seed AI startup and have built a bunch of templates and roadmaps. A former boss has offered me consulting work.

I’ve never been happier. I’m now looking at the rejection and the failure as the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I got to lean into being a mom and changed my definition of success by meeting other moms and integrating myself into the community.

I spent so many days crying with shame and despair, wondering, what is the universe telling me? Why don’t companies want me? I’m doing everything right. I’m learning from my failures. I’m iterating. I’m leveling up and I’m not giving up. I’m resilient. Why is nothing happening for me?

It took going through two local interviews and applying for the remote position I really wanted to realize that I have a niche and skills that I can offer in many different ways, instead of a full-time job.

I’m confident now knowing my path is consulting, and I’m so excited to do the work that I’m going to offer.

What has your job search been like? Have you pivoted to freelancing or starting a business? Reach out to this reporter at mhoff@businessinsider.com.