before the shift
There’s a version of my life that most people never saw, the one I was living before the shift.
From the outside, everything looked normal. I was in shape, worked hard, I provided, I pushed through stress like it was a sport. I told myself I was fine. I told myself I was strong. I told myself I could outrun anything with enough willpower. But inside, I knew something wasn’t right.
The long days, the pressure, the drinking, the tobacco… all of it added up. I kept brushing off the warning signs because that’s what you do when you’re busy trying to hold everything together. You convince yourself you’ll deal with it “later.” Later came one night, suddenly, and without negotiation.
I had a heart episode that stopped me in my tracks. One moment I was fine; the next, everything dropped into silence.
And in that silence, I felt something I hadn’t let myself feel in a long time: fear. Not the kind you can muscle through. The kind that makes you question everything, your habits, your choices, your future, your family, the way you’re living and the direction you’re heading.
It forced me to face myself in a way I’d been avoiding.
The truth was simple and impossible to ignore I couldn’t keep living the way I was living.
That night became the line in the sand.
It wasn’t dramatic or glamorous. It wasn’t some inspirational movie moment. It was uncomfortable, humbling, and honestly… overdue.
But it was also the beginning of something better.
That was the night I quit drinking.
The night I quit tobacco.
The night I decided to stop numbing stress and start understanding it.
The night I started choosing intention over autopilot.
That moment, the moment before the shift, is why this space exists.
The Shift isn’t a highlight reel.
It’s not a transformation story wrapped in a bow.
It’s the ongoing, imperfect work of becoming someone I’m proud of, for myself, for my wife, for my daughters, and for the people I coach.
If you’re reading this because you feel your own “shift” coming… I get it.
And you’re not alone in it…