Laugh, Then Move On

I have a really bad habit. Every time I speak, record a podcast, create a YouTube video, or have a meaningful meeting with someone, I replay it back in my head in the hours and days that follow. Not only that, but I dissect and criticize everything I did or said. “Travis, you should have said ____.” Or “Travis, you shouldn’t have done _____.” All the way to, “ Travis, you screwed up that part where you could have made an impact!” The self-talk can become a death spiral! I hope I’m the only one who experiences this, but I’m afraid many others like me are out there.

Along the journey, however, something happened. I got to the point where I was recording so much content, speaking to so many audiences, and having so many meetings, that I couldn’t afford to dwell. I realized every moment I spent dwelling on what happened robbed me of the opportunity to make a difference in the next one. I also came to the realization none of this defines me. It’s a moment in time. It’s not my identity.

I’m glad I’ve progressed in this area, as I recently lived out my public speaking nightmare. I was emceeing Sunday services at my local church, as I do once every 6 weeks or so. I’m notoriously bad at recognizing when songs are coming to a close, so I always have the worship leader give me a little visual signal when it’s my cue to approach the stage. If done well, I’m in the right position a few seconds before they wrap up.

During the first service, my friend Kevin forgot to give me the signal. So there I was, realizing I need to be up there about 2 seconds ago, sprinting up the stage and into position. Not ideal, but it wasn’t a huge loss. Fast forward an hour. As I’m waiting for that same moment during the second service, I don’t trust Kevin to give me the signal (shame on me!). Instead, I thought to myself, “I got this! I’ll judge it well.”

You can probably guess where this is heading. At the perfect moment, I casually and confidently walked onto the stage and into position. Except there was a problem: they were still singing……and they kept singing. Uh oh, I was early! I was stuck! I couldn’t leave. I couldn’t unring this bell. I was a hostage to my own poor judgment. All I could do was stand there, with the bright lights shining, acting as though I was supposed to be there. I’m not sure how long it lasted. It felt like four hours, but it was probably 45 seconds……45 very lonely seconds.

Several of my friends gave me a hard time afterward, and we shared a laugh at my expense. But then I moved on. I made a mistake, was able to laugh about it, then moved on with life. It doesn’t define me and it won’t bring me down. I’m sure I’ll screw up again soon, but when I do, I hope I’m able to simply laugh and move on.

If I can learn this, so can you! Laugh, then move on.

What is Enough?

A couple just told me $525,000 isn’t enough money to make ends meet in their town. They were dead serious. It took every ounce of me to keep my composure in that moment. As a point of reference, the median household income of their city is around $85,000. In other words, they make 6x the median income……and are whining about it not being enough to make ends meet. To further exemplify the absurdity of their statement, they are in the top 1% of ALL Americans. Yet, it’s “not enough.”

I asked them a very simple question, “what’s enough?”

They couldn’t answer the question, but they both agreed it’s more than the $525,000 they are currently making.

I have a client who has a combined household income of around $80,000. On the heels of this crazy $525,000-is-not-enough conversation, I reached out to this other couple and asked the same question. Their response: “it would be nice to make a bit more, but we have all we need.”

If you live with a posture of want, there’s no such thing as enough. You’re setting yourself up to lose battle after battle after battle. If you live with a posture of contentment, you’ve already won the war.

Don't Let Your Memory Become a Nightmare

In yesterday’s post, I talked about the idea of investing in memories and not dwelling on the cost. The key point was that memories will last forever, while you soon won’t even remember what you paid for them. Two readers quickly pointed out this perspective seemed a bit negligent. That it’s irresponsible to recklessly pursue memories at the risk of impairing one’s financial life.

I’m really glad they pointed this out to me! I couldn’t agree more. I was perhaps too casual or too presumptuous that people are avoiding self-sabotage in the process. I of all people should know better than to make this assumption. I work with people every day who make decisions that will haunt them for years or decades to come.

Whenever we make a financial decision, it has to fit within the broader context of our life. When I made the choice to fly to Dallas and sit courtside at a Mavs game, contextually I knew I could intentionally budget for it while still finding my balance between needs, wants, giving, and saving. If this opportunity would have presented itself 10-15 years earlier, I don’t think I could have said the same thing. Back then, a similar decision could potentially have knocked me off balance, or incentivized me into debt. When we make those types of choices, we create a scenario for ourselves where our memories turn into nightmares.

Each summer, Sarah makes the case for us to buy a small condo in a popular nearby lake community. She dreams about all the memories we can create there, as well as all the family time we would get to share together. She makes some very good arguments….and it sounds amazing. However, we then have to consider how it fits into the context of our broader life. Unfortunately, choosing to purchase this condo today would have deep negative ripple effects that could quickly turn into a nightmare.

Memories matter, but not when they haunt us for months or years to come. Choose wisely and choose carefully. When you do, those memories will be beautiful….and priceless!

I Don't Even Remember the Cost

Ten years ago, my buddy Nick was about to have his first child. In a moment of panic, he called me and said we need to fly to Dallas to watch Dirk Nowitzki play before the baby arrives (insinuating this could be his last chance to make that dream a reality). I immediately said yes, but added one condition: “we’re only going to do this if we sit courtside.”

Nick’s next question was obvious, “well how much will those seats cost?”

Me: “no idea, but it doesn’t matter.”

He reluctantly said yes! We quickly bought our plane tickets, hotel room, and game tickets. Then, we waited. He and I shared an amazing experience that weekend. Lots of good food, sights, and of course a Mavs game with a courtside view. Our seats were along the sideline in the direct path to the locker room. So to end our experience, Nick fist-bumped the entire team as they exited the court. Jason Terry, Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Lamar Odom…….and yes, Dirk Nowitzki!

To this day, I don’t remember what we paid for those seats, or what the trip cost for that matter. But those memories, shared experiences, and stories will last a lifetime. It’s a small but powerful example of investing in memories. My stuff will eventually die in a landfill, but these memories are forever.

The Power of Not Stopping

My business partner recently confessed he hates our podcast cover art. Shocked at his statement, I responded, “what do you mean you hate it? You made it!!!” I thought I had him! He’s going to insult his own baby? His response to my response was, “I didn’t think we’d make it past 20 episodes, so I just threw something together quickly.” Wow…..!!!! How dare he!

19 months after starting the podcast, we’re more than 170 episodes in and we’re just getting started. On the outside, it seems like we have it all together, brimming with confidence. It couldn’t be further from the truth. There are so many times we want(ed) to quit. After all, quitting would be easier. Sometimes it’s hard to keep going when the going gets tough. Perhaps we’re just too stubborn to quit. We fail at something, so we try something new. We fail at that, so we again go back to the drawing board.

Podcast analytics can be hard to come by, but there’s one site that attempts to put it into perspective. Of the roughly 2.98 million podcasts that exist (which may also approximate how many have ever existed), they say we’re in the top 3% of all-time. We’re no Joe Rogan, that’s for sure. I think this statistic tells us more about everyone else than it does about us. To me, this is a measure of persistence. Most people quit, but we didn’t. We hope to produce amazing content for an ever-growing global audience for years to come, but that dies the moment we give up. Translation: we aren’t giving up…..even when it gets hard. The mission is too important to let our discomfort get in the way.

There’s at least one area of your life where this concept needs to be applied, and you know exactly which one. Go for it! I promise it will be worth it.

No Longer Interested

Many people have this blog delivered to their inbox each morning. It’s free to subscribe and you should totally do it! The platform I use to distribute it provides me with a lot of insights and data. How many people are opening the e-mail, what links they are clicking, what other articles they are reading. So. Much. Data.

However, there can be a downside to all this info. A few days into this new blog format, I noticed someone unsubscribed. This was of course someone who doesn’t know me and doesn’t realize how valuable all this content is, right!?!? haha! I clicked into it and saw the name of a close friend. Wait, a close friend unsubscribed? It wasn’t enough to just ignore my e-mails and maybe come back down the road if/when they’re curious? Nah, they took an intentional step to rid me and my content from their life. Ok, now I’m just being dramatic.

When they unsubscribed, the chosen reason was, “no longer interested.” Double ouch!

I learned long ago that many people in my life don’t much care for my work or my perspective. For a while, it hurt. I was confused. Why wouldn’t they care about what I have to offer? Well, they just don’t….and that’s ok! About twice per week someone will say to me, “sorry, I don’t listen to your podcast.” My response is always, “that’s ok…..I don’t follow you to work, either.”

Many of my close friends don’t read, listen, or watch ANY of my content. My own wife doesn’t even listen to the podcast. On the other hand, we have listeners all over the world and we periodically rise up the charts in Italy and Belize (no idea why!).

All we can do is share our passions, ideas, and gifts with the world, and let the chips fall how they may. When we have the courage to do so, the right people will find us. Our people. The audience we were meant to serve. If you’re one of them, I’m grateful for you. If you’re not, I’m still grateful for you and hope you’ve found your people.

The world deserves what you have to offer!

It's All Going to the Landfill

Nearly every possession you currently own will end up in a landfill before too long. It’s sad, but true. Even crazier is that some of our more expensive items (technology and clothing) will likely end up there in a matter of years.

I’m not demeaning possessions. Rather, when we stop and think about this idea, it has the power to shape our decisions and behaviors. It doesn’t stop me from buying things, but it does force me to consider the opportunity cost. Namely, the opportunity to spend on things that won’t end up in a landfill. In the words of my dear friend Gary Hoag, “invest in mission and memories.” That’s why generosity, travel, and experiences are my family’s biggest categories. While the computer I’m typing this on will soon end up in the landfill, these other things will live forever.

The Power of Scarcity

I’m a World Cup fanatic. I don’t watch a lot of soccer year-round, but at the same time, I’m on record believing the World Cup is the greatest sporting event in the world. Country vs. country, so little margin for error, and billions of people watching. The stakes are so high. However, there’s one other ingredient that helps create World Cup magic. Scarcity. It only happens once every four years and only 32 countries qualify. In other words, it’s a huge deal!

Scarcity plays a huge role in all our lives. Think about the things you get most excited about. Common answers may include births, weddings, graduations, and big vacations. A common thread between all of these is scarcity. They are inherently special because they are scarce. Even the anticipation of these events can be as fun and fulfilling as the experience itself.

Sarah and I will be traveling to Asia in early 2023, which will be the first time traveling abroad in nearly three years. The anticipation of this trip will be higher than ever. Not just because it’s a trip abroad, but because of how scarce they have become. I used to travel abroad 5-8 times per year, every year. Those trips were always fun, but they lacked scarcity. Now, however, I have a huge anticipation for what’s to come.

Too much of a good thing isn’t necessarily a good thing. This is a trap we’ve fallen into when it comes to our finances. Many of us indulge, indulge, indulge, then indulge some more. Then when I’m meeting with a client in a coaching setting, I can tell the lack of scarcity has ruined it for them. They successfully turned something special into something normal. It’s sad when it happens, but it’s an easy trap to fall into. When we remove scarcity, we can rob ourselves of what makes it special.

Fortunately, if we have an awareness and intentionality about our decisions, we control what stays scarce and what becomes normalized. Embrace scarcity!

Home Alone: Thanksgiving Edition

Home Alone is on my Mount Rushmore of holiday movies. It’s a classic! I think what makes it particularly special for me was the fact I was the same age as Kevin McCallister when it came out. I always pictured myself in Kevin’s shoes. Eating tons of junk food, watching R-rated movies, and beating up bad guys with gruesome handmade booby traps!

Well, my wish came true on Thanksgiving! But instead of sledding down the stairs, target shooting Starting Lineup figures with a BB gun, and rummaging through Buzz’s personal belongings, I was curled up on the couch in the fetal position while my family was in Kansas City celebrating with loved ones. I was left home alone, but in the worst of ways. I’m glad they still went and enjoyed their time together, but wow I missed them! There were some lonely moments and stretches of self-loathing. Instead of eating turkey and pumpkin pie, I was enjoying saltines and Gatorade. Instead of playing with my kids and nieces, I was in and out of consciousness while in a constant state of agony.

It’s days like that when I’m reminded how important our health is. We take it for granted when we’re well, but we’re desperate to have it back when we lose it. When it comes to our finances and habits, I’m not sure my family invests in health as much as we should. As I always say, we need to align our budget and behaviors with our values. If I really value health, I’m not sure there’s a true alignment. It can be a humbling moment when we realize we’re living out of alignment. I think it’s time to make some changes!

Two questions for you to think about today:

1) In what ways do you invest in your health?

2) What parts of your budget and behavior don’t align with your values?

Black Friday Doesn't Have Feelings

Some people worship at the alter of Black Friday.

Some people think Black Friday is evil.

I disagree with both. Black Friday doesn’t have feelings…..it’s just another day. Well, I guess this particular day has some pretty big sales and encourages us to spend money, but so what?!? There’s nothing wrong with scoring a sweet Black Friday deal. Did you need it? Who cares! That’s not what matters.

What matters is we’re financially responsible, our spending fits within the context of our broader plan, we don’t make decisions that will hurt our future selves, and we don’t end up with feelings of guilt/resentment.

Last year, I impulsively purchased a foot massager on Black Friday. I didn’t know I “needed” a foot massager until I had one. I keep it under my desk and it’s awesome. Ridiculous, I know. But I already had money set aside in the budget for such occasion, it looked cool, turns out I really enjoy it, and it was worth every penny of my heavily discounted purchase price. #winning

What should you do on Black Friday? Whatever you want! Don’t let others shame you or jam their values and perspectives down your throat. After all, Black Friday doesn’t have feelings. It’s just a day.

Thankful For What We DO Have

The act of being thankful focuses our eyes on what we do have, not what we don’t have. When we’re thankful, we think of the friends and family we do have, not the ones we don’t have. When we’re thankful, we think of the job and opportunities we do have, not the ones we don’t have. When we’re thankful, we think of the house, vehicle, and possessions we do have, not the ones we don’t have. When we’re thankful, we think of the gifts, skills, and passions we do have, not the ones we don’t have.

It’s so easy to set our minds on all the things we don’t have, which causes us to lose perspective of what we do have. Whenever we walk with a posture of gratitude, we can think less about what we don’t have, and more about what we do have. Doing so breeds humility and contentment.

I’m grateful for what I have…..every bit of it. But it’s those selfish days or moments when I think about what I don’t have that can sour me. Today, I choose gratitude. Tomorrow, I hope to choose gratitude as well. Each day we have a choice. Let’s choose gratitude every day. Happy Thanksgiving, all!!

If Only We Were Rich

Do you ever look around and notice people in your life who are rich? Man, if only we were rich like them! The things we could buy….the things we could do. Life would be so much better if we were rich. It must be nice to be rich like them…..

…..but then I take a step back and remember two things:

1) Having a $40,000/year income puts us in the top 1% income earners in the world.

2) Having just $5,000 to our name puts us in the top half of the richest people in the world.

Wait, we are rich! We’re just so busy comparing ourselves to even richer people that we’ve lost perspective along the way. Comparison can rot us from the inside-out. Let’s be grateful for what we have, not jealous of what we don’t have.

This post was written for me. Travis, remember this.

Old Habits Die Hard

“I’m sorry, but old habits die hard.” These were frustrated words proclaimed by a client during a recent coaching meeting. This quote was thrown out during a somewhat tense conversation about a few of his questionable decisions and repeat offenses. I wasn’t asking him to perform brain surgery….these were simple adjustments in behavior.

Though my perspective of these changes being “simple” is correct, so too are his words. Old habits do indeed die hard. We can’t repeat the same behaviors and processes for decades then suddenly make a 180-degree shift overnight. That’s now how human behavior works. It took years to establish these harmful behaviors, so it’s going to take several months (at a minimum) to re-wire them into healthy behaviors.

I don’t say all this to demean my friend. In fact, he’s in the perfect spot. He has a keen self-awareness of his behavioral pitfalls, he’s taking steps to create new structure around it, he’s persistent, he knows his “why”, and he’s giving himself grace along the way. This is all we can ask for. I know he’s going to win. Why? Because he’s playing the long game. Get a little better each month, and do it for the right reasons. He’s definitely going to fail along the way. After all, old habits die hard. But this is more about the journey than the destination.

If you’re in your 30s, 40s, or 50s (or older), it’s never too late. It’s going to take some time and intentionality, but you, too, can re-wire these behaviors to create a healthy relationship with money. If you’re in your 20s, you probably haven’t had a chance yet to fall deeply entrenched into bad financial behaviors. What an opportunity for you! This is the beauty of getting this money stuff right when you’re young. It’s so much easier to create healthy habits and behaviors when you’re fresh in the adulting game, preventing you from having to dig out and re-wire further down the road when it’s significantly harder to do so.

What’s one financial habit you can start/stop during this season of life? Pick one thing and try to get a little better each day/week/month.

** If you want to learn more about creating healthy habits around money, check out my recent appearance on the Happily Every Habits podcast and connect with host Jason Harwood’s content. This guy is awesome and he knows his stuff!

The Chicken and Egg of Networking

When the term “networking” is used, I usually get a queasy feeling about it. Perhaps it’s just me, but in my world the term is generally used in the context of meeting people for the purpose of selling something or creating some other form of financial gain.

First, I’m not against selling and I’m not against people gaining financially. As a business owner, I understand the importance of earning an income to care for my family and earning the right to serve my clients again next month. But when we treat networking as transactional, it smells funny and looks bad. People can feel it. I meet people all the time where I can immediately tell their motive is to get something from me. Not a great way to establish a relationship. No part of me wants to do business with them.

To me, networking feels like a chicken and egg scenario. For many, the purpose is to get something from the other person…..let’s call that the chicken. Meeting someone so that you can do business with them. The alternative: creating a genuine relationship with someone because relationships matter. Some relationships are deeper than others, but a genuine relationship adds value to our life regardless of the intimacy level. Sure, it may be good to someday do business with someone, but the relationship should take precedent.

Here’s the irony. The people who AREN’T primarily seeking to make money through networking are the ones who ultimately make money. We want to do business with people we know and trust…..you know, the people we have genuine relationships with. This is the egg. Doing the right thing for the right reasons. Creating a genuine relationship with someone. Knowing them, caring about them, understanding their needs, finding ways to add value to their life. That’s when business is at its finest.

Chicken or egg….I hope you’re the egg today.

Work From Rest, Not Work For Rest

I have an amazing assistant named Paige. To be more precise, she’s my future former assistant. She’s leaving our company to pursue a bigger passion, and she will be dearly missed. I couldn’t be more excited for her and I try to be her biggest encourager every step of the way. But, man, I’m going to miss her.

A while back as we were wrapping up a team meeting on a Friday afternoon, she added a closing statement. “Remember to work from rest, not work for rest.” I thought a lot about this idea after our conversation. I think it’s a beautiful way to put work and life in perspective.

For many, work is a necessary evil. We grind it out all week, counting down the days and hours until the weekend arrives. Once there, we need that rest to heal from the brutal week we’ve just experienced…..before begrudgingly heading into the following week which may be just as brutal. I’ve been there! Sometimes the anticipation of the approaching weekend was the only thing getting me through the slog of my work responsibilities. I think most people can relate to this. This is what it means to work for rest.

The alternative, as Paige puts it, is working from rest. Rest isn’t an escape from our work, it’s a preparation to eagerly jump back into the work. This is a sweet spot to be. We enjoy our work all week, look forward to resting on the weekend, then get excited to do it again the following week. If it sounds counter-cultural, it’s because it is. Not many people live this existence, though we each have the ability to access it in our own lives.

This weekend we have a handful of family events planned. It will be fun and it will be restful. Then, I’ll be excited and ready to do the good work in store for me the following week. Working from rest, not working for rest.

The Why Behind the Why Behind the Why

When I’m having a conversation with people, especially in a coaching setting, I repeatedly ask the question, “why?” I sound like my 6-year-olds, I know. I find that when “why?” is asked, we continually get closer to the truth.

I was recently meeting with a client who expressed an interest in buying a new house. They already live in a very nice house, in a very nice part of town, in a very solid school district. This intrigued me, so I started the process of unearthing the truth:

“Why?”…..”We need something bigger to comfortably fit our family.” They already have a 4-bedroom house and they are pregnant with their second child. I knew we weren’t deep enough yet.

“Why?”…..”We also want to be in a safer neighborhood.” They already live in a notoriously safe neighborhood in a notoriously safe town. We still weren’t there.

“Why?”…..”We’ll enjoy living in the new house more than our current house.” Ok, now we’re getting somewhere. We still needed to go deeper.

“Why?” This is the part where I was expecting them to go down the material side of things. After all, that pool and theater room were indeed pretty sweet!!! “Because we earned it.” Oh, now we’re cooking!

With the fourth “why?”, we finally broke through and the truth was approaching. After a few minutes, it was revealed that the husband’s father had always equated one’s success with their house. People who had bigger, nicer houses were obviously more successful. Therefore, buying a better house would be an external symbol of how successful they had become. That was their real “why.”

My role here wasn’t to criticize their prospective decision to buy this house, but rather for them to understand their true motives and be honest about it…..then make the best decision for their family. This was a profound discussion for them and provided an opportunity for self-reflection and introspection.

They eventually decided to purchase a different house, but armed with new insights about why they were really doing it, they ended up purchasing a different house. I think they won. We always win when we understand the why behind the why behind the why.

It's the Same 10 Miles Either Way

I was recently meeting with a client who drives a very average car. Seven years old, 120,000 miles, nothing fancy. When I asked him why he hadn’t made the choice to buy something nicer (because that’s what most people naturally do), he responded, “it’s the same 10 miles either way. Driving this car lets me do all the other things I want to do when I’m not driving those 10 miles.”

There’s so much truth in his dry but poignant response. Regardless of what vehicle he drives, he still has the same commute, on the same roads, over the same period of time, each and every day. Now it’s true people won’t admire his vehicle and give him a virtual pat on the back for being “successful”, but he gains something so much more powerful.

His singular decision to drive with humility has unlocked so many opportunities for him. There are only two ways to drive a newer, fancier vehicle: 1) large monthly payments over the course of several years, or 2) a large chunk of up-front cash. Both have consequences….inescapable consequences.

For this particular family, their choice has resulted in better family vacations, contributions to their children’s college fund, the wife staying at home with the kids (one of her aspirations), an appropriately funded retirement, and limited financial stress/tension.

Sure it’s the same 10 miles each day, but to this family, their counter-cultural decision changes everything!

Give Away All the Fruit Snacks

A while back, my 5-year-old son, Pax, came into the house and asked Sarah if he could get a package of fruit snacks for himself and also give one to his neighbor friend. Sarah immediately said yes, and that was that. A bit later, Pax comes tearing through the house, grabs another package of fruit snacks, and starts to run out the door. Sarah asked what he was doing, and he said he was getting one for another neighbor friend. Sarah, focusing primarily on the thought of how this will further erode our quickly dwindling grocery inventory (#growingboys), admonished Pax and said he shouldn’t be giving away more fruit snacks.

First, I need to clarify something: Sarah is a generous person with a loving heart. But in this situation, she viewed it as more of a grocery situation than a giving situation. When I got home and she told me this story, I felt terrible for Pax. All these years, we continually talk about giving, giving, and more giving. It’s one of the primary values of our family and we discuss it frequently. Then once he has an opportunity to put these ideas into practice, he gets in trouble for it. Ouch! After discussing this with Sarah, she agreed with my perspective and felt bad for how she handled herself.

I pulled Pax aside and said, “hey man, I heard you gave away two packages of fruit snacks to your friends!” He looked at me sheepishly, as if he’d done something wrong, and nodded his head up and down. I quickly explained to him how Mom didn’t mean it that way, and he indeed did a very good thing. I told him I’d be extremely proud of him if he decided to give away all the fruit snacks. We can never be too generous, and his decision to get a second package of fruit snacks was a sign of love (not neglegence). After a few minutes, his spirits were lifted. He confidently walked into the pantry, grabbed a handful of fruit snacks, and took them out to the other neighbor kids who had since joined the game.

Two lessons:

1) The words and actions shared with our kids make far more impact than we’d like to admit. It can be a humbling journey as a parent.

2) You can never give away too many fruit snacks!

This Job Serves a Purpose (Even if it Sucks)

A dear friend recently reached out with a confession: she’s kinda embarrassed about her current job. Instead of telling people her job title, she tries to simply tell them the company she works for. If forced to share her role, she’ll lead with what she used to do. Admittedly, her current role isn’t the best use of her skills and passions. I know that and she knows that.

However, I reminded her of a few things to keep in mind:

1) Her job doesn’t define her. It’s not her identity. It’s not what determines her value.

2) All jobs matter! When we boil it down to its simplest form, all jobs allow us to serve someone and add value through our good work. Even if we don’t particularly enjoy our work, we can at least know we’re adding value and making the lives of others better.

3) Life is about seasons. This particular role is just for a season, and it too shall pass. If approached in that way, all parts of our life (the good and the crappy) can be used as a bridge to get us from where we are to where we want to be. This job is the perfect bridge for her! This is undoubtedly setting the table for what’s to come.

It’s true, she doesn’t have the best job in the world right now. But I gotta tell you, this young lady is amazing. She just started a side business, she has a few side jobs that align with her passions, she’s married to an awesome man, and she’s about to become a mom. In my book, she’s doing a wonderful job and she’s right where she needs to be. I have a feeling we’ll all look back a few years from now and marvel at how it all came together so beautifully.

Cheers to this season of life…..and the better season that’s coming!

Welcome to The Daily Meaning

Well hello there! Long time, no see. While things have been a bit (ok, a LOT) quiet on the blog front, there’s been a lot of things going on. In addition to my ongoing coaching, I’ve been writing for a few regional and international publications, I co-authored my first book, I’ve guested on a bunch of podcasts, I started doing more public speaking, and we’re more than 170 episodes into our Meaning Over Money Podcast. It’s been a lot, but it’s been awesome!

Through all this, two things have become clear:

1) I really miss publishing on my own blog!

2) I have a strong desire to produce short-form content that’s quicker and easier to digest. Most of the content I produce is longer in form. 1,000+ word articles, 60-minute podcast interviews, 15-minute Meaning Over Money episodes, etc.

With those two things in mind, I’ve been developing something that I’m excited to introduce to you today. Welcome to The Daily Meaning, a series of short-form blog posts that will be published multiple times per week.

My goal is to produce short but powerful content that will give you something to think about each morning, which will be delivered right to your inbox if you’re a subscriber. If you’re not a subscriber and you’re viewing this article on the website, you can quickly sign up for free (below if you’re on a phone/tablet or to the right if you’re on a computer). The content will vary from day to day, but it will aim to educate, entertain, or inspire. I hope you find it valuable to your own journey, and perhaps worth sharing with someone in your life.

Your feedback is always appreciated, and I hope this creates a productive dialogue in the days, weeks, months, and years to come. Thanks for being part of this! It means the world to me.