Real stories

The Unexpected Identity Crisis After Financial Freedom

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identity crisis after financial freedom

I didn’t expect this.

For 30 years, my life had structure — goals, promotions, deadlines, problems to solve, and a ladder to climb. Even when it was stressful, it was familiar. I knew who I was in that world. Then I stepped away.

Financially, we’re okay. We’ve been frugal. We’ve diversified. Even with market downturns, I’m not lying awake worried about money. And yet… I’m lying awake. At 5:00 a.m., grinding my teeth for the first time in ten years, my body burning like a furnace (thank you, perimenopause), covers on, covers off, sometimes moving to the leather couch just to cool down. ...  read more

I Thought I Was a Good Coach. I Was Wrong.

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coaching blind spots

For 15+ years, I’ve been writing this blog and coaching people in my free time. I genuinely believed I knew quite a bit about coaching.  After all, I had 30 years of executive experience. I had navigated high-stakes corporate environments. I had mentored dozens of professionals. I had given advice that people told me changed their lives. ...  read more

Why Acceptance Speeds Up Healing: A Personal Lesson in Patience

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The last two weeks have been teaching me a lesson I’ve resisted for most of my life: acceptance can sometimes get you further—and faster—than force. I’m not a naturally patient person. When something slows me down, my instinct is to push harder, fix it quickly, or work around it. But this time? My body had other plans. ...  read more

Learning to Let Them: Parenting Teenagers and Leadership Lessons

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It’s been a whirlwind three weeks since I returned from China. Both of my daughters are in transition — Alexis is applying to high school, and Isabel is applying to college. Lately, our evenings feel dominated by editing, deadlines, and school application talks.

I’m constantly torn between how much to help and how much to let them figure things out. Honestly, this might be the hardest job I’ve ever had. I want to be a good parent — to teach them what I’ve learned about school applications, time management, and handling stress. But I’m realizing that while I think I know what to do, the landscape has completely changed. ...  read more

From Disability Diagnosis to Recovery: My Journey With Physical Wealth

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wake up call to a physical health

Most of us start life with a perfect score in physical wealth. As kids, we bounce back quickly, brimming with energy, and assume our bodies will always keep up. But as we age, physical wealth becomes something we must actively protect—and if we don’t, the decline can be sharper than we ever expect. ...  read more

Mental Wealth: How I’m Learning to Find Peace and Purpose Beyond Achievement

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If you asked me a decade ago what “mental wealth” meant, I probably would have stared blankly. For most of my life, I thought happiness was tied to achievement: get into the right college, land the prestigious job, earn the next promotion. Each milestone was supposed to unlock peace of mind. Instead, every success gave me maybe a week of relief before I moved on to the next goal. ...  read more