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Lifestyle Freedom & Pivot Questions
Recently I sat down with my friend Vincent Pugliese for his excellent Total Life Freedom Podcast. In this episode we discuss lifestyle freedom and he pulled out so many of the foundational, pivotal stories from my career. If you wanted to know more about my journey then this show is for you.
Becoming an entrepreneur is not all it's cracked up to be. Lots of twists and turns, some highs and lows throughout the chapters of life already written. From the heady days of politics and White House Christmas dinners to a house fire and almost losing a child you'll hear how the journeys of business can take unusual turns.
In this episode, one area that stuck out to many was my personal "pivot retreat" and a list of questions I had to answer. Since this episode aired I've had many people approach me about this list of questions. So I've put them together here for you. Feel free to download and use personally or professionally as you wish. May they help you clarify your calling and pursue a lifestyle of freedom and fulfillment.
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From Vincent:
And Then Covid Happened...
That is a book title if you'd like to run with it. And I'm not talking about anything to do with health. But I am talking about how so many businesses and careers were tossed around and flipped on their side like a swath of boats strewn along the land after a major hurricane.
Today on the Total Life Freedom Podcast, I'm thrilled to have Chris Niemeyer as my guest. Chris has been a friend of mine for close to five years, and as we joked during the episode, we've taken more long beach walks with each other than anyone else besides our wives! That's because when our families get together, or we meet at some conference, Chris and I are fortunate to have so many common interests when it comes to family, business, lifestyle design and freedom.
Each conversation we have could be a podcast episode. Whether we're throwing the football on the beach with our kids in La Jolla, enjoying a great Mexican feast at Podcast Movement or in his driveway shooting off fireworks for the Fourth of July, Chris is one of those people that I can have meaningful conversations with at any time.
So when we decided that Building A Lifestyle Business would be the first theme for the Total Life Freedom Podcast, and adding guest experts would be a part of that, Chris was a natural first choice.
Freedom- and the lifestyle that comes with it- is what not only brought our friendship together, but so many of the aspects around it are what leads to our connection. Yet that wasn't a focus for Chris when his career began. I'm not sure how well we would have connected in school. I barely graduated while he was elected Valedictorian. He began a promising career in the political arena at a young age, hobnobbing with highly respected and influential people in that world while helping raise funds for candidates.
But as enthralling as that was, it left him with little time for his new wife Alicia and even less time for being the person that he wanted to be.
Niemeyer experienced a pivotal moment while driving home from work late one evening. That moment- and the subsequent conversation with his wife that evening, led him to realize that life was not what they desired.
Throughout our conversation on today's podcast, we weave through what happened after that night and the first business that they created. That business created freedom but took a harrowing twist. A devastating fire in their home made him realize that the business had caused him to create damage beyond what was experienced in their home.
Those lessons helped him and Alicia to create what many would consider a dream business. One with time freedom, great money, extensive travel and the ability to shape most days exactly how they wanted.
...and then Covid happened.
And in the most challenging time of his life, he had to find a way to reinvent himself.
We dive into it all, including the heart tugging question that his then four-year-old daughter asked him during the most challenging month that he experienced.
