I was a personal trainer in my early twenties.

I would travel to my client’s homes, either bringing the gym to them or utilizing their home gym.

I made great money and met some incredible individuals. The work had meaning, purpose, and a deep sense of fulfillment.

I loved it.

One of my clients lived on Round Hill Road in Greenwich, CT, one of the wealthiest towns in the country. Their home was next to Dunnellen Hall, one of the most storied estates in all of Greenwich.

I estimate that my client’s home was valued at around $12M to $15M.

They owned nice cars; their closets were filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of designer labels. The art on the walls was well beyond my 20-something-year-old brain, but I knew it was special. 

I’ll never forget one snowy evening, walking into their grand entrance hall and wiping my shoes on the entryway carpet before proceeding into the house. 

My client’s wife told me,

“You know you just wiped your feet on a fifteen-thousand dollar carpet.”

I was immediately mortified and went to apologize; she quickly said,

“I’m teasing you; that’s what it’s there for!”

I looked back at the subject of my embarrassment and saw that the carpet was, in fact, beautiful, but it was also no bigger than 3′ x 5′.

I thought to myself,

“This is what success looks like.”

My client owned a company and would often field calls in the middle of our sessions, either after 9 PM or on the weekends. It became clear that he worked non-stop, seven days a week. 

I thought,

“That sucks, but I guess this is what you have to do to have all of this.”

He was a guarded man; it took almost a year before he opened up and shared more personal details about his life. So I was shocked when, out of the blue, he said to me,

“I may give up the company. It’s too much; this isn’t living. This isn’t the life I want to live anymore.”

I looked at him, thinking of all his wealth and success, and said, 

“But look at everything you have.”

This guarded titan of industry, who was often rude and arrogant, replied with a sense of sadness and regret in his eyes that, quite frankly, I didn’t think he was capable of. 

His voice changed, and he spoke from a place deep within him,

“Yes. But at what cost?”

I was floored, but I also didn’t have the wherewithal to comprehend the magnitude of what he just said.

I had my beliefs of what I needed in order to be happy. I thought it was massive wealth and the accumulation of things. 

He’d created the blueprint I aspired to.

I would have to go on my journey of chasing wealth and materialism to understand his words fully. I’d have to go to prison and lose everything before those words carried the weight they deserve.

It’s not easy to step back from the identity and life we’ve created and admit the mountain we climbed may not be the one we want. 

But we can always hit reset. We can always reinvent. 

It’s never too late to break free from the golden handcuffs and create the life we desire.

Reinvention begins with questions; here are some to get you going:

✔️ How do you define success?

✔️ Are you living the life you want to live?

✔️ Is there something you know you would regret NOT doing?

✔️ Are you clear about how you want to live the rest of your life?

✔️ Is what you’re doing today bringing you closer or further to the life you want to live?

There are no right answers or wrong answers; you can’t make a mistake experimenting with these questions.

The only mistake you can make is if you look at your life and say, “I’m not happy,” and remain on the road of the status quo.

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If you’re feeling stuck, and tired of the status quo – but don’t know what the next step is, check out the Reinvention Reset.

It’s a highly focused, tactical, 60-minute call designed to get you unstuck, reinvigorate, and build momentum.