A Shout Out to Life Coaches

A second quarter update

Dear Readers,

The second quarter of 2024 ends today. For me, it has been a transforming first half of the year. I sold the home that was the hub of my family's activities for 15 years and downsized my personal living situation. All three of my adult children also purchased homes of their own and are well on their way to building their financial and family futures. My professional life has stayed quite active as the CFO of a restaurant group and over the last month I had no less than three speaking engagements on the topics of commercial real estate, the state of the hospitality industry and how to sell wholesale products to restaurants. On top of all these activities, I still managed to (mostly) keep my weekly Substack posting activities going.

On that note, earlier this year I posted a 12-part series titled, Almost Paradise which discussed my journey with addiction, suicide and recovery. It was inspired by a film that highlighted the high level of suicides in the America Rocky Mountain West. I am currently bundling and editing those 12 parts into one work that will be released at some later point when I figure out the best vehicle to publish it that will serve the greatest number of people.

I think what is most significant about 2024 thus far is that all these activities I have accomplished came out of my life coach experience in 2023. Professionally and personally, I had been struggling with direction leading into last year. It is an old tale of what happens to parents when their adult children complete their education and move out on their own. Often to that point, children are the primary focus, and we choose our employment circumstances to support that specific effort. Once the children move away, we find ourselves staring at a big empty house and perhaps a big empty career. I give a big shout out to my life coach Gracie who helped me quantify who I am and guide me on the pathway of fulfilling that definition. All the exciting things that occurred this year are a result of my work with Gracie last year.

There is more to be revealed as I continue to check the boxes on my life coach inspired goals. It has been an epic journey so far, and more changes are on the horizon. Suffice it to say, I have become a big fan of working with a professional outside life coach. All of us need someone in our lives that can objectively help us understand who we are, what our strengths are, what our goals are and most importantly, hold us accountable for doing the things that we said would make us truly fulfilled.

I wish you all a very happy Fourth of July. For me, I will be spending it with my family in northern Minnesota. There will be barbecues, sailing, and fireworks cascading from above us on the open water as we celebrate our nation’s birthday. I hope yours is truly blessed as well.