"Retire" to Follow Your Passion

Today could mark a life-changing day in your life story - it will in mine.

All throughout the social media feed and on platforms across the world, you see and hear people talk about having a 'purpose'. Simon Sinek's description of purpose as your 'WHY' is my favorite way to think about it. You know 'what' you do and 'how' you do it, but do you know 'why' you do the things you do?

Many months ago, as I tried to apply Simon's "Golden Circle" to my life (not just my career), I came to a fork in the road. My vision in life, my 'why', is to #EmbraceTheJourney. As such, the fitness studio that my wife and I founded, Journey Active, brings this to life in its vision statement:

"We envision a world where people embrace the journey of life and become champions who lead meaningful, fulfilling lives with those around them."

After months of thinking it over, I felt like I had truly found my 'why'. But the fork remained. Although my 'why' had been discovered, the 'how' and the 'what' were an issue.

For over 3 years, I had been building a financial advising practice helping people make progress with their money. Financial issues are the leading cause of divorce and often financial stress can lead to health issues, so helping people in that area was rewarding.

Rewarding, but not fulfilling.

You see, although I had received accolades and many 'thank you' notes for helping my clients, I did not enjoy the work I did. As an optimist, having daily conversations with people about the curve balls that life can throw us and the financial situations they were in (which for many Americans are quite grim) was difficult.

I didn't enjoy telling people they needed to cut expenses so they could afford insurance, sell their motorcycle because they couldn't afford the payment, and stop enjoying dinners out so they could invest more because they weren't going to have enough for retirement.

My passion was not being fulfilled and the 'how' and 'what' were not aligned with my 'why'.

But in another area of my life, I was finding fulfillment. For 3.5 years, my wife and I had been coaching people with their nutrition and an income opportunity that is second to none. We were helping people improve their health, which in the long-run would likely lead to healthcare savings for them. We were helping people improve their finances by earning more so they could continue to do what they enjoyed most. We then opened our fitness studio in 2016 to help people lead more active lifestyles and had begun discussions about how to help mentally equip them to grow throughout life.

Not only was I enjoying my work and the Journey we were on, but I was doing something that would help someone else #EmbraceTheJourney, whatever that was for them.

After many conversations with my wife, family, and trusted mentors and friends, I made a decision. It was time to step away from one of the plates that I was trying to keep spinning. I was fearful that it might break some things and that I would be embarrassed if I did not succeed, but I remembered what Richard Branson had said:

"Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again."

I had to face my fear and part ways from safety and security if I wanted to escape from what was not only unfulfilling but was, in fact, pulling me down. I knew that God had a plan for me, my family, and my future, and had faith that, as it says in Romans 8:28 - "...in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

That decision led me through many satisfying and encouraging conversations with my advising clients, my friends, and the community I was going to become more involved with. I already feel more positive about the direction my life is headed and know that my 'why', 'how', and 'what' are aligned. So, today is my retirement day.

But what does that mean for you? It means there is hope, and it means you have a choice.

Each day, we make thousands of choices. And whether we like it or not, those choices make up who we are and who we will become. But the great thing about a choice is that it is ours, and we can use it the way we want to.

How we react in an unexpected situation, what type of food we eat, whether we hit the 'snooze' button, or if we binge on tv shows each night rather than read an educational book. These are all choices, and we make them daily.

For many people, they simply coast through life, living, indulging, and dying without giving much back and without working to "...become champions who lead meaningful, fulfilling lives with those around them". They go through life without thinking, engaging, or acting. That's the reason our fitness studio is called Journey 'Active' instead of 'gym' or 'fitness'. We know the need for engagement and being active in life to make the most of it and truly #EmbraceTheJourney.

So if you're reading this, I am going to guess 2 things:

• You're not one of the people who wants to simply coast through life and...
• You're trying to figure out your 'why' or make some changes in your life

To help you with your Journey of finding your 'why', I'd recommend Simon Sinek's book Start With Why. I can reassure you that there is an opportunity, a way for you to pursue your passion and your purpose and to live out your 'why'. You just need to find OR create it.

Then, make a plan. Don't wait until it's too late and regret and excuses start to set in. As Jay Shetty puts it,

"Think about what you can do right now, not what you wish you had done before."

Protect the downside in case it doesn't go as planned and Don't.Give.Up. Choose to "retire" from some of the things holding you back, whether from some poor habits you know you shouldn't have so you can adopt better ones, from a job that isn't giving you satisfaction so you can find work that does, or simply from coasting so you can become more active in your own life. Make a choice, commit, and run with it. Retire to follow your passion. Now, go, and become the champion you were made to be.