This blog represents this latest chapter of my life. I started it 6 years ago. As the New Year passed I started to have the typical thoughts about what was to come. So much of this part of my life could not have been predicted. I then began to wonder, what if you were able to tell me 6 years ago what the next 6 years would look like? Would I be happy with that? And the answer was hell yes. I then sat down and wrote out a list. It isn’t exhaustive, but I kept writing till I filled a page:
In the last 6 years:
- I’ve generated over 7 figures in passive income
- I successfully departed my last company and have no responsibilities with it.
- I published a critically acclaimed memoir about my historic DJ career, that took me 14 years to complete. Over 200 people attended the book launch party in a world-famous concert venue and the book had a 2 page feature in the biggest Toronto newspaper.
- I published another book by challenging myself to create and publish it within 60 days, on sharing my story of overcoming imposter syndrome. 60 days later I had 3 dozen people on a Zoom celebrating its release.
- I wrote 288 articles for my website documenting my story and lessons I’ve learned.
- I navigated a pandemic
- I spent time on my own healing and self-care at the mid-point of my life
- I joined some powerful groups and was powerful within them
- I created a private community called the Frolic 100 for people attracted to my story
- I hosted multiple Zooms on multiple topics for my community
- Robin and I have made tremendous progress and healing within our relationship, and have never been happier or healthier.
- I made some really good new friends and have kept the lines of communication open
- I supported both my kids through tough waters. I was able to be there for both of them by having the space available and prioritizing them.
- I enrolled Connor in a private school that works for him
- I traveled to Curacao
- I took my family to Italy for 3 weeks
- I attended the COP28 conference in Dubai to contribute to climate solutions by my presence. I was a guest keynote speaker there and appeared on their National News.
- I faced my demons and applied for a US waiver
- I built a stronger relationship with my sister
- I built a relatively stress free life with financial peace
- I started exercising, eating better, and lost 25 pounds over 9 months
- I practiced a year of gratitude in 2019 with over 775 items on it.
- I’ve volunteered for leadership positions at multiple events
- I’ve had multiple people tell me how I’ve impacted them through my writing and stories.
- I’ve had countless moments of feeling proud of myself, where I challenged myself to do something scary.
- I’m simply a different person now than I was 6 years ago.
- It’s not a small thing to say you’ve spent half a decade on personal interests, family, and making a difference to the people around you. That I have the freedom to do that.
- I created a huge financial safety net, which includes a paid-off home, no debt, cash in the bank, maxed out retirement.
- I can do whatever I want, and when things show up, I often act very decisively.
- I found peace with my business partner. Even if we don’t talk regularly, I am no longer hiding from him and don’t feel bad about it. He was touched that I dedicated my last book to him.
- There’s a lot of peace in our house. We don’t deal with typical teenage angst. Robin and I communicate far better and recover quickly at times when it’s more challenging.
- The problems I have are quality problems. About trying to figure out what to do with myself, about not knowing how to describe how I’ve spent this time, about a desire to do awesome things, and not about survival.
- I’m modeling what I call being a “t-shirt philanthropist” looks like. I support people and causes that move me with my time, talent, and money.
After I wrote that list I read it aloud to some friends. There’s something about speaking thoughts aloud and being witnessed that is very powerful and makes it more real. It really sank it what an amazing chapter this has been. We all wish we had the clarity for what’s to come, but it’s extremely valuable to record and review where you’ve been.
It’s a reminder to be kind to yourself, instead of feeling like there’s a hole that needs to be filled.
What if you’ve been on the right path this whole time?
