I held a senior executive position at a global media company. The team I led had tens of millions in annual revenue responsibility, and they paid me handsomely for this work. At that time, my identity was inseparable from my position at work and my perceived status in life. I was highly successful to the onlooker, yet that didn’t feel true when I looked in the mirror. I didn’t feel any balance in my life. It all felt very one-dimensional.
The more cars I bought and the fancier the dinners and clubs I went to, the more I expected to find satisfaction, completeness, and joy. But that never came.
Relationships with the teams I led became forced and less connected, client interactions felt labored, and the business started to show an impact over time. Likewise, my relationships at home felt even more challenged and distant. As a result, I soon moved away from being fully present in my life. I remember at that moment in time thinking, “Is this it? Is this what life’s all about?” There was no true inspiration or joy for me anymore.
I held a senior executive position at a global media company. The team I led had tens of millions in annual revenue responsibility, and they paid me handsomely for this work. At that time, my identity was inseparable from my position at work and my perceived status in life. I was highly successful to the onlooker, yet that didn’t feel true when I looked in the mirror. I didn’t feel any balance in my life. It all felt very one-dimensional.
The more cars I bought and the fancier the dinners and clubs I went to, the more I expected to find satisfaction, completeness, and joy. But that never came.
Relationships with the teams I led became forced and less connected, client interactions felt labored, and the business started to show an impact over time. Likewise, my relationships at home felt even more challenged and distant. As a result, I soon moved away from being fully present in my life. I remember at that moment in time thinking, “Is this it? Is this what life’s all about?” There was no true inspiration or joy for me anymore.
I knew how to run high-stakes revenue teams and win in business, but something was starting to get in the way of my success in this arena and in my home life. Then, finally, I realized that the “something” was a “someone” – and that someone was ME.
How could I show up to be a capable and loving parent and partner at home or a visionary leader in my business and community if I couldn’t find that spark of true joy and purpose in my own life? Yet, I thought I was intelligent, competent, and hard-working. So why was this so elusive?
That’s when I started doing the work. The hard work. The no shortcut work. I learned from many experts in transformational coaching across multiple disciplines over the years. I was a sponge. I studied, practiced, and I integrated. I applied the same work ethic to this transformational work as I once did to climb the corporate ladder and help build tech startups. Hard work, practice, and discipline, now that’s something as a highly driven person that I knew I could do.
