This period of my life has been immensely challenging in ways I never expected. However, I know I have so much to be thankful for and try to choose to focus on those things every day.

My life has been full of trials and challenges and I can honestly say I'm grateful for every one. I can look back at all of them not wanting to change a thing. Each trial has proven to be an opportunity for learning that otherwise would not have been possible. While I'm always trying to improve myself a little every day, I can reflect on the times my life has been most comfortable and see that those are likely periods of less growth. My observation has been that there seems to be a negative correlation between growth and comfort. It has also been my experience that times of extreme discomfort have been times I have grown the most.

I spent a little time working with an executive coach who quoted the work of William Bridges to help me understand that any transition has three phases. The first is an ending; the second can be referred to as a Liminal Space; and the third phase is a new beginning. That understanding was helpful for me to visualize. After doing some additional reading on the Liminal Space concept, I've decided that I will try to view this transitional period of my life as something to cherish and enjoy, a time to explore and learn, rather than an uncomfortable state of being that I want to pass as quickly as possible. Sometimes, that's easier said than done.

I've spent a lot of time getting as involved as possible with my Nashville chapter of the Entrepreneurs' Organization and have enjoyed serving in various capacities, including my current role on the board. Our chapter also facilitates an accelerator program called Catalyst designed to help entrepreneurs take their businesses to the next level, and it's been super rewarding for me to be involved. My role has been facilitator, moderator, mentor, but I actually learn just as much from our participants as they might from me.

I invested in myself by continuing my education, and after a pandemic pause, I became an alumnus of the Harvard Business School in 2022.

I made a record with my wife in the hills of Hiltons, Virginia that her uncle built, and those songs are some of my proudest to be a part of as a music producer.

I diversified my investment portfolio and committed myself to developing a sustainable strategy as a much more active investor, utilizing a greater allocation to options, futures, and other derivatives. Working through this during what became the bear market of 2022 was interesting timing. One could look at it as bad timing, a painful experiment and excuse to cut losses and give up; I decided to view it as a remarkable opportunity to learn quickly through trial by fire. I've been able to trade my way through market extremes, a perfect storm of a new war in Europe, the Fed's response to sky high inflation, and deflating valuations run up by speculative investors during the post-pandemic bull market. I learned really quickly the importance of capital allocation, position sizing, and managing portfolio delta and theta.

I've tried to simplify my life and downsize which taught me some painful but important lessons about having more by having less - relevant to both things and relationships.

I don't know how long this chapter will be. At times I feel like I'm floating too freely, exploring too many things and making meaningful progress on nothing that matters. There's some truth to that I'm sure, but I'm also not quite ready to jump to the third phase of this transition yet. I like to think I'm still moving forward, though it feels like I'm traveling a path with lots of zigs and zags rather than in a straight line. For now, I'm okay taking the scenic route. But I am getting eager to know what happens next.