What does chasing a dream in adulthood really look like? What does making my own path really mean? What does living life completely differently feel like? What are the good, the bad, and the painful? What have I learned?
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Tradeoffs?
Moving from a 3,000 square foot house overlooking Uptown Charlotte to living in roughly 500 square feet on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
My 37 year old body being super sore 100% of the time.
Wearing compression socks and ankle sleeves for recovery each day and sleeping in a boot at night.
Stretching hourly. (I hate it.)
Going from a six figure salary to literally zero.
Having comprehensive benefits to having none, then having to research, find, and pay for insurance on my own.
Leaving most of my friends and family and moving to a community where literally everyone was a stranger.
Not contributing to a retirement account in quite some time. (I’m never going to retire anyways.)
Watching a savings account go the wrong way.
Not sleeping in my own bed in over a year.
Leaving one of the fastest growing cities in America for one of the “lowest ranked” states in many categories.
Biggest Learnings?
Fear of failure is a mirage. Failure of what and defined by whom?
There are lots of normal human stressors (and even increased human stressors) with this setup. If you are wondering “doesn’t it this and doesn’t it that”, the answer is probably YES.
My golf teacher says the hardest thing to find in people is true, bona fide “want to”, not lip service “want to”. Lots of people have talent. Lots of people work hard. Some want it more than others. That comes from deep down.
There are lots of things that I want to do, but there are equally as many things that I absolutely do not want to do. I think that piece gets overlooked.
Pushing myself, testing my limits, and trying crazy new things have taken me to a magical new place.
I had a putt on the 14th hole worth about $35 the other day. Make or miss, it’s on me, and that’s what I love about this journey.
Every day I don’t take seriously is like throwing a $50 bill into the ocean.
It takes a bit of money, sure, but more importantly, it takes self-belief. In reality, you can go make some money doing anything. Traditional job, real estate investment, selling belongings, selling my lunch in middle school lol, winning golf shootouts, setting a few hats on fire 🔥 🤷🏽♂️, to name a few.
Zero debt and a little cash make the world real big.
Traveling to new places with new people make the world even bigger.
Quieting outside opinion makes the world huge.
Blazing my own trail has been ridiculously fulfilling. I thought it might be lonely, but now that I have my feet under me, it is absolutely mesmerizing.
Shooting that 73 recently left me saying, “Dream bigger, son.”
213 days of golf times an average of 5 hours per day is roughly 1,065 hours. It’s a good start.
As long as it is over 32 degrees, I’m playing.
My joints (and my golf ball) are ready for the hot weather to return.
I completely rewired the way I think about life, from the way the world encourages us to operate to what I actually believe and how I want to operate, in 2-3 years. That was much harder than what I am trying to do now.
Biggest Surprises?
How much I love the coast.
How hard the golf swing is on my feet and ankles.
How big my comfort zone has gotten.
That you can buy or build a beautiful house looking out on the Gulf for less than a starter home in Charlotte. Mind boggling.
Any Regrets?
No regrets, but during the last year, I wouldn’t do all the travel and golf simultaneously. I would fully focus on the golf. I probably lost a few work days there. But some of those trips were banging and most included great golf, so who knows?
Am I having fun?
Yes, and I hope Christy and Banks are too. I absolutely love the work, the constant learning and growth, and the unknown. Also, I love that I am being true to myself.
Best Part?
Getting to be Daddy Day Care for portions of the past year was absolutely priceless. What a unique opportunity that I’m so glad I got to have.
Have a great week.-Benj
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