Last week, Renee shared a personal story about how Advocacy has served her and those she loves in all aspects of life. This week, I am sharing a valuable lesson that emerged for me.
There’s something humbling about realizing the very thing you teach… is the thing inviting you to go deeper.
I talk a lot about living by design. Not by default, not by pressure, not just by momentum, but by conscious choice. And over the past year, we’ve been doing exactly that in many ways. We’ve built and launched some incredible things. The Visionary Leaders Media Network has come to life as a platform for podcast and YouTube hosts. We created Connect and Convert, a 3-day online experience I co-host with David Riklan, with Renee somehow managing all the moving parts behind the scenes. We’ve expanded our work through JV Launch Lab (which Renee and I also co-lead), JV Matchmaker with Ken Cook, and the ongoing evolution of JV Directory 2.0. We partnered with Sheri Rosenthal on the online workshop, The Profitable Path to Purpose-Led Retreats, and we’re preparing for the Retreat Leaders Immersion with her this September in Ontario.
All of it has been intentional. All of it aligned. And, to be fully transparent, it’s been a lot.
Somewhere along the way, I realized I had started measuring alignment mostly by impact and growth. If it was working, if it was expanding, if it was helping more people, I called it aligned. But I wasn’t asking a deeper question. I wasn’t checking in with how it felt in my body or how present I was in my own life. And that’s where I noticed a subtle disconnect beginning to emerge.
At the beginning of the month, Renee led our first MetaMind Insights and Integration Session with our new cohort, and the theme was something we’ve taught for years. What used to be Time Management evolved into Time Mastery, and now feels even more true as Time Freedom. That shift really landed for me. Because the goal was never to control time, it was to feel free within it.
During that session, Renee shared how she approaches delegation and outsourcing in our business, something she’s incredibly intentional about and supports our clients with as well. At one point, she mentioned hiring someone from TaskRabbit to assemble furniture for Xen. I joked that it would save time and probably our relationship, too.
We laughed, but underneath it was something real. Time freedom isn’t just about getting more done. It’s about protecting what matters most.
Over the past couple of years, I’ve been very focused on growing our businesses and expanding our impact. Supporting more transformational leaders, creating more opportunities, and building more platforms. And I’m proud of what we’ve created. But there was a cost I didn’t fully see at first.
They say sitting is the new smoking, and when I really looked at my days, I saw how much of my life was being lived behind a screen. It didn’t happen all at once. It was gradual, like a frog in water that slowly heats up. There wasn’t a moment when I thought something was wrong. Just a slow drift away from the full expression of how I actually want to live.
So this year, I’m making a different commitment. Not to do less for the sake of doing less, but to be more intentional about how I live while doing everything I’m here to do. To be more present with Renee, more engaged with our family, more aware of my physical health, and more connected to my own energy.
Because what’s the point of building a life you love if you’re too disconnected to actually experience it?
More than ever, alignment feels essential in every decision. Not just the big ones, but the small, everyday choices. I shared a simple question with a friend recently that’s been guiding me more and more: Is this choice aligned with my vision and values to serve my highest good?
Not just what makes sense. Not just what moves things forward. But what truly aligns.
When I ask that question honestly, it changes things. It brings me back into presence. It helps me choose more consciously instead of just reacting to what’s next.
For me, walking my talk right now means continuing to build meaningful, impactful work in the world while fully living the life it’s meant to support. Not choosing between success and presence. Not sacrificing one for the other. But designing a life where they actually reinforce each other.
And wherever you are right now, whether you’re building something new, stepping into a bigger season, or simply taking a moment to reflect, I invite you to ask yourself the same question.
Is the way you’re living aligned with the life you actually want?
Because you don’t have to wait for things to slow down. You don’t have to earn alignment later.
You can choose it now.
One decision at a time.