I find your article rooted in emotional integrity and thought provoking. Unless one has walked this milestone without seeing professional successes as their own identity, becoming small and unseen to the world out there can be devastating.
When we believe that the best achievements of our lives are those left in the past, we are already dead to life.
I also enjoyed your questions! Herewith my answers:
Imagine watching your funeral. How do you want family and friends to describe how you spent the time between today and your passing?
I would like to be remembered as someone whose legacy was firmly rooted in faith in Christ Jesus and expressed through a sincere commitment to loving and accepting others with a mother’s heart. This acceptance extended beyond gender, race, cultural background, financial status, or present life circumstances, reflecting a life devoted to compassion, dignity, and grace.
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Block out some time on your calendar. When the time arrives, pause, take a few deep breaths, and ask yourself, “What do I want to do right now?” Don’t critique yourself—just do it. How does that feel?
This reflection has led me to value intentional rest and presence. I desire to establish yearly sabbaticals as a discipline, allowing myself to slow down, reconnect with purpose, and appreciate life more fully—learning, quite simply, to smell the roses.
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When you peel away the veneer of business and professional success, what else makes you a valuable person?
Beyond professional accomplishments, my value lies in the lessons learned through both success and failure. I have come to understand that regret over past mistakes often serves as the abyss from which we must descend in order to confront deeper truths, cultivate humility, and grow in wisdom.
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Find a person in their 20s or 30s and share your wisdom about life, love, and meaning. What role did your business success play in your story?
My experience taught me the importance of taking risks grounded in belief—not only in ideas, but in people. Business afforded me the opportunity to recognize and nurture human potential regardless of upbringing or adversity. By leading with compassion, fostering confidence, and prioritizing individual strengths over perceived deficiencies, I discovered principles that became foundational to my success as an entrepreneur and leader.
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If you had to spend a year not working, what would you do?
Although my life has included significant challenges, many of these experiences were ultimately disguised blessings. Being required to step away from work for a year due to personal and medical reasons prompted a reassessment of priorities, leading me toward a more balanced lifestyle and the rediscovery of my calling as a Christian counselor and writer.
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How might you feel at the end of the year?
At the conclusion of such a year, I would feel deeply grateful for the transition. I would experience renewed confidence and clarity in pursuing work aligned with my true professional strengths—work that supports not only personal fulfillment, but also a life of purpose and service.
The contrast you describe between CEO David and Retired David is striking. Same extraordinary guy I knew then and know now, but very different priorities requiring emphasis on different parts of your personality.
Could CEO David have shifted his emphasis closer to that of Retired David, and would he have been as successful if he did? Or was the prior way the price of success in your business—similar to the price everyone pays for significant accomplishments?
There is an old Jewish teaching that touches on this topic. It says one should carry two slips of paper each day, one in each pocket. On the first slip is written "The world was created for me" and on the second slip"I am but dust and ashes". The goal is to balance self-worth with humility, remembering one's divine spark and human fragility, knowing when to use each. A reminder to embrace humility in prideful moments, and to embrace or self-affirmation when discouraged.
I find your article rooted in emotional integrity and thought provoking. Unless one has walked this milestone without seeing professional successes as their own identity, becoming small and unseen to the world out there can be devastating.
When we believe that the best achievements of our lives are those left in the past, we are already dead to life.
I also enjoyed your questions! Herewith my answers:
Imagine watching your funeral. How do you want family and friends to describe how you spent the time between today and your passing?
I would like to be remembered as someone whose legacy was firmly rooted in faith in Christ Jesus and expressed through a sincere commitment to loving and accepting others with a mother’s heart. This acceptance extended beyond gender, race, cultural background, financial status, or present life circumstances, reflecting a life devoted to compassion, dignity, and grace.
⸻
Block out some time on your calendar. When the time arrives, pause, take a few deep breaths, and ask yourself, “What do I want to do right now?” Don’t critique yourself—just do it. How does that feel?
This reflection has led me to value intentional rest and presence. I desire to establish yearly sabbaticals as a discipline, allowing myself to slow down, reconnect with purpose, and appreciate life more fully—learning, quite simply, to smell the roses.
⸻
When you peel away the veneer of business and professional success, what else makes you a valuable person?
Beyond professional accomplishments, my value lies in the lessons learned through both success and failure. I have come to understand that regret over past mistakes often serves as the abyss from which we must descend in order to confront deeper truths, cultivate humility, and grow in wisdom.
⸻
Find a person in their 20s or 30s and share your wisdom about life, love, and meaning. What role did your business success play in your story?
My experience taught me the importance of taking risks grounded in belief—not only in ideas, but in people. Business afforded me the opportunity to recognize and nurture human potential regardless of upbringing or adversity. By leading with compassion, fostering confidence, and prioritizing individual strengths over perceived deficiencies, I discovered principles that became foundational to my success as an entrepreneur and leader.
⸻
If you had to spend a year not working, what would you do?
Although my life has included significant challenges, many of these experiences were ultimately disguised blessings. Being required to step away from work for a year due to personal and medical reasons prompted a reassessment of priorities, leading me toward a more balanced lifestyle and the rediscovery of my calling as a Christian counselor and writer.
⸻
How might you feel at the end of the year?
At the conclusion of such a year, I would feel deeply grateful for the transition. I would experience renewed confidence and clarity in pursuing work aligned with my true professional strengths—work that supports not only personal fulfillment, but also a life of purpose and service.
What a thoughtful, kind, and most of all, loving answer.
The contrast you describe between CEO David and Retired David is striking. Same extraordinary guy I knew then and know now, but very different priorities requiring emphasis on different parts of your personality.
Could CEO David have shifted his emphasis closer to that of Retired David, and would he have been as successful if he did? Or was the prior way the price of success in your business—similar to the price everyone pays for significant accomplishments?
Great question. I don’t know the answer.
There is an old Jewish teaching that touches on this topic. It says one should carry two slips of paper each day, one in each pocket. On the first slip is written "The world was created for me" and on the second slip"I am but dust and ashes". The goal is to balance self-worth with humility, remembering one's divine spark and human fragility, knowing when to use each. A reminder to embrace humility in prideful moments, and to embrace or self-affirmation when discouraged.
Not directly on point, but pretty close.