And then, I finally began to see the light again.
I will never forget the words my coach said to me as we sat across the table at our local Mediterranean restaurant. I'd been wallowing in self-pity when she looked me dead in the eyes and said, "David. WHO DO YOU WANT TO BECOME?"
That was it.
Not a particularly profound question at first glance. Until it hit me.
In that moment, I realized that my life had been on auto-pilot. I was drifting, aimless, and clinging to a lie that said, "when my circumstances change, I'll be ok".
I realized that my struggle to know WHAT TO DO was because I was asking the wrong questions.
God had given me the power to choose.
But all along I'd been blaming him and the world around me for not showing me WHAT TO DO WITH MY LIFE.
I didn't realize that it's impossible to live a life filled with purpose, meaning, connection, and alignment until you start asking better questions.
I didn't realize that instead of asking, "What do I need to DO to fix X,Y, & Z", I needed to start asking, "Who do I need to BECOME" to create the results I wanted to see in my life.
It was the first time in my life that I felt like I had permission to define who I wanted to be.
At first, that felt impossible.
Because I didn't know who I wanted to be.
I didn't even know who I was anymore.
The years of hating myself, disrespecting myself, and breaking trust within myself had fractured parts of me, leaving me ashamed, disgusted, and humiliated at what I had become.
I didn't recognize the man I saw in the mirror.
I didn't know him.
But I still hated him.
With the help of coaches and mentors, I began to see the only path to change was to go within.
I had to rediscover who I was.
Who I REALLY was.
Beneath all the anger, excuses, blame, trauma, and pain. I had to restore friendship and love within myself, for myself and the people I loved.
Over the months to follow, I finally began to shed the baggage, shift my perspective, and let go of the masks, excuses, and blame.
I slowly started to define who I wanted to become as I stopped focusing on what I didn't want, and instead focused on what I did want.
Anything that wasn't aligned with that, had to be addressed, realigned, or eliminated entirely.
I audited my circle of influence.
I had the tough conversations.
I began taking intentional and calculated risks.
It was then I started investing every available bit of time, energy, and money into myself and my future in ways that most of the world might call irrationally insane.
But I was committed to put in the work required. And I knew that it was going to take time.
I slowly stopped resenting myself.
Created and enforced boundaries.
Gave myself permission to dream again.
Gave myself permission to rediscover who I REALLY WAS.
Every day, I began to realign my choices, habits, beliefs, and behaviors with the man I wanted to be.
The husband I wanted to be.
The father I wanted to be.
The friend I wanted to be.
After reinventing myself, rebuilding my family, and redefining what was possible, I started to use these gifts, skills, and tools to help others do the same.
Sure, I can help you fix your business.
That's the easy part.
What I'm more concerned about is your foundations, your family, your freedom, and your future.
Your heart and your head.
Your habits, choices, and perspective.
Do I want you to become extraordinarily wealthy?
Of course I do.
Because I know you want to do a lot of good in this world.
But I don't care how "successful" you are, how much money is in your bank account, or how many awards you've received.
I care about you being fulfilled.
I care about you having peace.
I care about you cultivating deep connection.
I care about the gifts you carry that need to be shared with the world.
We could sit here all day and discuss systems, sales conversions, pricing, procedures, marketing campaigns, KPIs, core values, benchmarks, operational efficiencies, net promoter scores, P&Ls, offer creation, ad spend, and any other "businessy" thing you want...
But it won't matter because these are all symptoms of a deeper issue. Everything rises and falls on leadership and the leader is ALWAYS the bottleneck.
At home and in the marketplace.
Until the leader can lead himself/herself, there is no strategy that will provide a successful and lasting solution to the problems they face.
I've been blessed to be able to share this work with thousands of leaders, entrepreneurs, and small business owners around the world.
And I'd be honored to share it with you.
To serve you and guide you.
To ask you the tough questions.
To create a space where you feel known and seen.
And to walk with you as you lean into what is possible as you never stop becoming.
Again, the process isn't easy.
And you will find it uncomfortable.
But it is simple.
I can promise you one thing:
You are the greatest investment you will ever make. Even if you currently think that's a "selfish" thing. Because you are the only one you're guaranteed to spend the rest of your life with.
And when you get better.
Everyone around you benefits.
Your spouse.
Your kids.
Your clients.
Your team.
You becoming the person you want to be, blesses others and makes this world a better place. Sounds pretty unselfish to me.
And it's worth every bit of time, energy, and resource you need to invest in yourself.
Change starts by looking in the mirror.
You get to decide.
You get to commit.
You get to become.
I look forward to sharing more with you in the days to come.
If you're ready, click the button on this page that says "APPLY TO WORK WITH DAVID", complete the application, and we'll connect to see if it's a good fit for the both of us.
With you and for you, always.
David