Soft skills

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

My Focus 2026: Rebuilding My Life Force in a Season of Transition

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As I step into 2026, I find myself in a season of transition — one that feels unfamiliar, a little disorienting, and surprisingly freeing.

I’m leaving full-time work and entering what I like to call my rewirement phase. It’s not quite retirement, not exactly a second act with a clearly defined script. I don’t yet know what my goals will be for the next five years. And for the first time in a long time, I’m learning to be okay with that. ...  read more

Relationship Growth: Choosing Connection Over Being Right

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Happy New Year.
I’m sorry I haven’t written for a while.

The last month caught me off guard when a relationship I value deeply became unexpectedly tense—not from anything dramatic, but from a handful of misunderstandings that slowly added up. It wasn’t the kind of conflict with a clear beginning or obvious fault. It was murkier than that, and harder to name. ...  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

A Thanksgiving Reminder: Gratitude in an Unexpected Place

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I tweaked my back on Saturday and have been walking around like an old lady ever since. I can see that my upper back is out of place. Getting up hurt, lying down hurt, even sleeping is uncomfortable. Every small movement requires planning.

Why am I sharing this? Because it’s Thanksgiving season—the perfect time to be thankful—and this little injury reminded me of something big: how grateful I am for my health. My body will recover. I get to do so many things. And sometimes it takes losing something temporarily to see clearly what I already had. ...  read more