“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.”
— Carl Jung
Maybe in order to figure out what we really DO want to do with our life — we should stop thinking about all of the possibilities, and start thinking about the impossibilities.
What things feel impossible for you to do anymore, at this stage of your life?
I’m not talking about staying up past 10pm. That’s for those who still have hope. 😉
I’m talking about the things you’ve learned about yourself, over a lifetime of wisdom, that you absolutely hate doing.
We need to honor those things. The things we no longer enjoy need to be held in the highest regard — even though it is our tendency to want to dismiss them, ignore them, try to overcome them, blame ourselves for not being able to “just do them.”
You aren’t defective because you don’t like doing something.
You are wise because you know you don’t like doing something.
There comes a point — usually sometime after you’ve settled on a familiar path — where you realize the thing slowly draining your energy is the thing you’ve worked so hard to achieve.
And it’s the lies you keep telling yourself to justify doing work that no longer fits …
“I should be grateful.”
“This is what I signed up for.”
“I’m just in a rough patch.”
No. You’re out of alignment. And you’re pretending not to notice.
📅 My Calendar Was the First Clue
I used to coach clients almost exclusively 1-on-1. It pays well. It’s meaningful.
And then one day a few years ago, I looked at my calendar and felt a slight twinge.
Something was “off.”
Not because I was burnt out or lazy. But because I’d evolved.
What used to fit no longer did. At least not in the same way.
What used to feel energizing started to feel a bit heavy. Repetitive. Predictable.
So I experimented with something new. I worked with a peer to lead a 2-day offsite retreat for a group of senior leaders – something new.
And that turned into a 2-year engagement that allowed me to shift towards a mix of group facilitation, teaching, and coaching — things that felt more like fuel than friction.
And here’s the little secret no one tells you: when you stop tolerating work that’s no longer a full-body yes, the right work becomes obvious.
🤝 Collaboration for the Win!
For years, I was all-in as a solopreneur coach: full autonomy, no one to answer to, no meetings.
Just me to answer to.
Which was absolutely great …until it wasn’t.
Eventually, my total independence started to feel like isolation.
The latest phase of my work has been about partnering — intentionally collaborating with people I respect, people who stretch me, people who remind me this work doesn’t have to be lonely.
Today, more than half of my work is in partnership with people I know, love, and trust.
Turns out, “solo” doesn’t have to mean isolated.
⚠️ You’re Probably Lying to Yourself, Too
Let’s get uncomfortable for a second.
If you feel exhausted by your existing work, ask yourself:
Are you still doing things you’ve outgrown?
Are you keeping offers alive just because they still sell?
Are you building a business or career that looks successful but feels hollow?
Are you playing small because starting over sounds harder than staying stuck?
This is your invitation to stop bullshitting yourself.
Comfort isn’t a strategy.
Tolerating what drains you is a form of self-delusion.
And a calendar full of “shoulds” is just a fast track to resentment.
🔥 The New Rules of Work (If You’re Paying Attention)
We’re living through a massive shift — remote work, AI, distributed everything.
You no longer need a corporate job to have security. In fact, most entry-level jobs will likely dissolve in the coming 2-5 years as AI replaces them.
You no longer need a team of 10 to earn like it. Advances in technology allow us to do the work of many in a fraction of the time.
You’re no longer tied to a specific location. If you don’t like the politics, taxes, weather, or drama of a location, you can try somewhere that’s a better match and still be in complete control of your career.
And you no longer need to fit yourself into a model that makes you feel dead inside.
You just need the courage to be honest about what no longer works.
We live in a time where we get to choose our preferences. If something doesn’t suit my preferences, it’s easier than ever to switch them up.
This should remind us that we are in control. That perhaps the world should try harder to please us, rather than the other way around.
If you are avoidant of certain things — being in crowded environments / going into an office every day / selling yourself in ways that don’t align / a calendar full of meetings — it’s not because you are at the mercy of these things..
It’s because:
You no longer enjoy those things.
Those things no longer suit your preferences.
And there’s no reason to waste your energy doing things that betray your soul.
Some things I had to learn about myself as I evolved:
❌ A calendar booked full of meetings does not suit my preferences
❌ Projects that have no emotional payoff do not suit my preferences
❌ Actively working more than 5-6 hours a day does not suit my preferences
❌ Living and working in the same location all the time does not suit my preferences
❌ Rainy winters do not suit my preferences
❌ Working alone, all the time, in my own bubble does not suit my preferences
These are just a few examples. Knowing these things has helped me re-design my work, rather than guilting myself for not being able to stay the course and fit into a mold of my own creation.
These things might be fine for someone else.
But for me, they no longer belong.
And that’s the whole point: your preferences are not liabilities.
They are data.
They are feedback.
They are design instructions.
They are your way forward.
✨ Honesty > Avoidance
Let’s stop pretending the status quo is noble when it’s actually avoidance.
Avoidance of change. Avoidance of risk. Avoidance of the truth.
You don’t need more discipline.
You need more discernment.
What things feel impossible for you to do anymore, at this stage of your life? This is your roadmap back to your personal preferences — and being highly discerning with the one life you’ve been given.
The things that feel impossible for you aren’t signs of weakness, they are the bearings for your path forward.
They are direct orders from your inner compass telling you that you don’t belong there — which, contrary to popular discourse, is a good thing.
Everyone’s always trying so hard to belong. Wherever they go, they want to belong.
You know what’s better than that?
Start telling the truth. Start building a business, a career, a life that actually feels like you.
Because the longer you lie to yourself about work you no longer enjoy, the harder it gets to build anything worth waking up for.
😌 Go for Ease
Let’s clear something up.
When I talk about ease, I’m not talking about hammocks and four-hour work weeks (unless that’s truly your thing, in which case — respect).
I’m talking about building with alignment.
Ease is waking up and realizing you’re pulled toward your work, not pushed into it.
It’s working in your zone of brilliance more often than not — where effort still exists, but resistance doesn’t.
Ease is:
Saying yes to the clients who get it — and saying no (without guilt) to the ones who don’t.
Designing your schedule to match your energy, not someone else’s urgency.
Creating a business model or career that fits your strengths instead of constantly battling your weaknesses.
Partnering with people who light a spark instead of dimming your momentum.
Living and working in environments that inspire you vs. those that are constantly making you crazy.
Making decisions not out of fear, but out of conviction.
This isn’t fantasyland.
It’s the actual, achievable outcome when you stop trying to prove something and start building towards enjoying something.
Ease is the reward for finally listening to what you’ve always known:
This works for me.
That doesn’t.
And I’m not apologizing for it anymore.
You don’t need to justify your preferences. You need to honor them.
Because work that’s built around your preferences — your real ones, not the ones you think you’re supposed to have — is sustainable.
Scalable. Enjoyable.
And, most importantly: yours.
Live bravely,
Michael
P.S. Be brutally honest about what no longer works for you. And let me know what you come up with.
