Stop Chasing→Start Creating
Success Without Self-Abandonment


You can be successful by every measure and still feel disconnected from the life you built. 


Not burned out. Not lost. Just quietly off.


You did what you were supposed to do; you checked the boxes, you built the life you believed you should.


And yet something feels missing.


What’s missing isn’t more success.


It’s you.


Somewhere along the way, you learned to trade alignment for achievement, and belonging for performance. 


You didn’t fail. You adapted.


But when success is built from the outside in, it eventually costs you on the inside.


Reinvention isn’t about starting over or becoming someone new.


It’s about reclaiming and restoring who you were before fear, scarcity, proving, and expectation took over your decision-making.


The problem isn’t success. The problem is how that success was achieved.


You followed a blueprint that wasn’t yours.

It was a hand-me-down of shoulds, opinions, and supposed-tos from family, friends, and society.


When you stop chasing and start creating, you seize authorship of your life and design a blueprint that aligns with who you are.


Not who you believe you’re supposed to be.


The life you’ve built doesn’t have to change; the fuel you use has to change.


When you stop self-abandoning, you don’t become less driven.


Quite the opposite.


You tap into previously untapped potential and become clearer, steadier, and more decisive.


Energy spent performing, proving, and protecting an identity is redirected into creativity, focus, judgment, and follow-through.


Life feels cleaner and quieter, less proving, less pressure, more clarity about what’s worth your time and what isn’t.


The result is not just a better personal life.


It’s better leadership, better decisions, and organizations built on self-trust rather than fear.


When people reclaim authorship of who they are, performance doesn’t disappear.


It’s transformed and expanded.


This is the work behind my keynotes and writing.


If this resonates, you’re in the right place.

Speaking Engagements

With a deeply personal story of overcoming federal prison and hitting rock bottom, Craig delivers powerful keynotes that resonate with anyone seeking to unleash their potential, discover purpose, and live authentically.

Midlife Reinvention Newsletter

Are you professionally & financially successful yet woefully unfulfilled? Are you ready to craft your authentic and extraordinary second half? Join the “Midlife Reinvention” newsletter for weekly tips, insights, and inspiration.

Blank Canvas Book

This book isn’t just a memoir; it’s a roadmap for anyone who has ever felt lost inside their own life, a guide back to authenticity, and a call to action to reinvent. Hear more about Craig’s memoir and purchase Blank Canvas.

Hear from Craig

Craig is a regular contributor to numerous blogs and publications and has been a guest on many different podcasts. To read and hear the latest from Craig, see the latest blog posts and our in the media section.

The Latest from Craig

  • Here Are 5 Simple Steps to Discover Your Purpose

    Here Are 5 Simple Steps to Discover Your Purpose

    Purpose. Purpose. Purpose. You have to find your purpose. There is a lot of content out there about finding one’s purpose, and there is a lot of pressure to do so.  Because if you don’t, you’re doing life wrong. Many fall prey to the belief that their life is incomplete without…

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  • You Have to Start Where You Are (and start now)

    You Have to Start Where You Are (and start now)

    I started writing Blank Canvas when I was in prison. I used those black and white composition notebooks from high school and a cheap Bic pen. I used an iPhone when I was released to the halfway house because it was all I had. When I went home, I used an…

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  • An Email From Prison is Better Than a Multi-Million Dollar Deal

    An Email From Prison is Better Than a Multi-Million Dollar Deal

    When I worked in corporate sales, life felt one-dimensional. Chase deals, land deals, spend commission checks on a luxurious lifestyle.  It was one chase after another, with constant anxiety that there wouldn’t be another deal around the corner – or even worse, I’d lose a client. The luxurious lifestyle was my…

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  • The Shortness of Life is The Best Motivation

    The Shortness of Life is The Best Motivation

    What makes life rich and meaningful? Towards the end of his life, an interviewer asked Norman Mailer (American novelist, journalist, playwright, filmmaker, and Pulitzer Prize winner) if he had any regrets.  One may think he’d list some common regrets: more time with family, less time working, or more time in nature.…

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  • 3 Simple Ways I Discovered Purpose Outside of My 9-5

    3 Simple Ways I Discovered Purpose Outside of My 9-5

    After prison I landed a job at a gym in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.  I worked at the front desk at first but eventually moved my way up to general manager. I was grateful for the job, and I met some of my now closest friends thanks to the…

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  • How to Create a Life of Meaning After Midlife

    How to Create a Life of Meaning After Midlife

    “Craig, you have a blank canvas. Paint whatever picture you want.”  I was leaving prison and reentering the real world, a world filled with so many unknowns and overwhelming fear when I heard these words.  They came from my mentor, Ed, as I expressed those unknowns and fears. The words reframed…

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