You can't take it with you when you go...

You can’t take it with you when you go...

A friend of mine asked me yesterday if I thought I’d ever have more material things in my life again after I told him about the difficult process I just went through packing up my life into a 10x10 storage box here in St. Petersburg.

“I just don’t know” was the best answer I could give him.

I recently turned 39. And with the passing of another year came the realization that there’s just so much more I want to see and experience in this life.

10 years ago almost to the day I was 29, young & cocky, ready to set the world on fire, and generally thinking I was invincible.

I was a project manager at Intuit, a top tier software company, feeling on top of the world, having “hacked” my way in to the “elite” tech world.

I’d go to dinner & drinks with colleagues, play credit card roulette, and the assumption was that I had an MBA from any of the number of Ivy League institutions that were commonplace for my peers to routinely name drop during this time:

Harvard, Princeton, Yale.

I kept it to myself that I was in fact, a college dropout who had originally left to pursue his dream in the music industry - all the while inside shouldering conflicted thoughts and internal dialogue - some telling me I wasn’t good enough to be in the ranks, and others telling me that I was in fact a badass for being able to pull this feat off while bypassing the whole educational system and making it to “the top” by all measurable standard in corporate America.

Janice and I took an amazing trip to Puerto Viejo Costa Rica that year, and we stayed right on the beach in an open air cabana. It was just one of many amazing travel experiences I had in my 20’s.

But this one would prove to be a bit different.

“Ouch - what was that sting!” - I remember shouting out loud as I was abruptly woken from my slumber by what felt like I had just been given a shot on the ass. I remember asking Janice to take a look, but she didn’t see anything unusual at the time.

24 hours later in the shower, I pulled what appeared to be a large, gorged tick off of my behind. It was pretty gross, but I didn’t really think much else about it, and went back to enjoying my day in paradise.

We traveled back to the States, and I started to settle back into my fast-paced routine, none the wiser that something was about to change the course of my life forever.

Then came the fevers & chills.

Stiff neck.

The toilet became my best friend for an extended period of time if you know what I mean and without fully going there.

Intense soreness throughout my entire body...

I recovered from what I assumed to be the flu, and well...just never quite got better.

The stiffness started in my neck and shoulders, and over time began to spread throughout my body. I became plagued by regular headaches, and I just couldn’t seem to gather my energy quite the same.

Going to bed even earlier than I was usually accustomed to became commonplace. I experienced so many other strange symptoms that I won’t list out here - including an extended hospitalization for viral meningitis.

I found myself on a journey that lasted the better part of a decade trying to figure out what the hell was wreaking havoc on my body.

Until...two weeks ago when I was finally given the gift of a Lyme diagnosis.

It wasn’t the first - or even second time I was tested - I've spent literally thousands of dollars running so many tests - but this one was different - as it finally gave me hard evidence that I wasn’t crazy, and all the pain I've been experiencing for so long wasn’t just in my head.

And now I can finally start to work with this new knowledge.

So why do I share this story with you and what does it have to do with not taking things with you when you go?

Well - the strange twist to this narrative is that experiencing the traumatic pain and struggle of dealing with this disease the past 10 years changed everything for me.

Literally.

There’s something about being in a chronic state of pain that has the potential to awaken you to your own mortality, and to the fact that we all have been given an incredible gift to EXPERIENCE our own nature and inner power in this life - as well as the gift of being in community with other powerful creators, should you choose to receive it.

I quit my corporate job, walking away from what at the time felt like a crazy amount of money to join Janice in the hearing practice, and started examining what it really meant to live a life of purpose and mission.

I hired a nutritionist, quit drinking, and started meditating regularly.

I met my first coach who I’ll be forever grateful to for helping me see a whole world of possibility that had remained hidden in plain sight up until that time.

I founded Hearing Experts Alliance, helping private practice owners to build more profitable patient relationships, and cultivating more ease in their own life.

This led to a period of incredible financial abundance that made the success of my earlier corporate years seem to pale in comparison.

And when that no longer felt fully aligned, I walked away from almost all of it, with the exception of a few of my dream clients who I am still so honored to support in the amazing outcomes they are creating in the lives of the patients they serve.

Through my work and travels, I’ve had the great fortune of connecting with some of the world’s greatest transformational entrepreneurs - people changing the lives of millions - and running successful 7-figure businesses creating incredible impact.

Having these encounters with people I once admired from afar and who have since become my friends - I witnessed what it truly meant to live in an embodied state, to serve powerfully, and to live a rich, abundant life.

This again opened my eyes to new possibilities in my work, and I’m so grateful for the opportunities I’ve had these past few years... to align my talents in service of creating shifts for others who find themselves on a journey of self exploration and inner spiritual awakening.

So yesterday was a huge symbolic day for me.

Janice and I shut the door on our storage space, declared our intentions to the universe that we wish to see the world up close and and personal, and took to the road to carry out our nomadic dream that’s been brewing since we first read 4-hour workweek 13 years ago when we were living in Memphis.

I am both homeless, and the whole world is at the same time my home. Pure possibility as to where we go from here.

And if you’ve read this far - I thank you, and invite you to join me in writing the next chapter of where this story goes...

If you’re a high-integrity coach, consultant or course creator, I’ll be showing up in service to you.

Marketing CAN and WILL be experienced as an empowering and transformational process that honors free will, encourages sovereignty, and powerfully (yet compassionately) holds all accountable to their highest, most life-affirming vision possible.

Together we’ll prove that…

You DON’T have to bend your own personal ethics or ethos in order to achieve record-breaking months.

Your empathy and sensitivity to your prospect’s fears and resistance is a STRENGTH not a WEAKNESS

And together, we can rewrite the marketing story from one of fear, manipulation and false power…

Into one that empowers all to step into their highest vision.

I hope you’ll join me in Empire Engineering: A Group for Coaches, Consultants, & Course creators

And if that's not your cup of tea and you’d rather just check out beautiful sunrises and travel pics from the road like this one, well...that's OK too

Much love and appreciation,

Phil