It’s 2025

It is the year 2025. My eldest son is nine years old, and the youngest is 5. I’m 43 years old now, and I feel like I finally know what I’m doing, but I still wish I had started sooner.

We live in Arkansas in a home that we want instead of just afford. It isn’t ridiculous, but it makes us smile and we won’t worry about running out of room with our family.

It’s still uncertain if my retirement will work out in the next ten years, but there’s a great trend, and I’ve been able to accumulate nearly $800k in investments.

I travel now, but I keep it limited to only two days a week, and even then, it doesn’t happen every week. I work steadily for six months in a year, and then I can take a breather. I choose every client I take on past that. The pressure to make up for lost time pushes me.

I’m in the software industry. I consult primarily for start-ups and mid-size companies. I sometimes take on a Fortune 500 client, but I tend to focus on different things. My clients say that they are way better off since they hired me. It’s pretty often I wonder if I’m losing out on other clients because they want me to stay more often than not.

My clients love that when it comes to knowing what that next step is, I have the answer and the way to get there. Sometimes its in technical delivery, others its having agility deliver something more, sometimes its around product strategy, and now and then it is pure coaching for leaders.

I’ve finally figured out value-based pricing. This was hard to get right, but now that I have, I sleep well knowing I’m not leaving a lot of money on the table and that watching the clock is behind me.

I’ve published two more books that have both sold well.

I’ve made it an intentional part of my life to look out for everyone else that looks out for me. I find ways to use my business to work with people who need the chance, or that I’ve always wanted to work with. Sometimes it’s hard to get clear on terms, but it’s work the work.

I speak at business, agile, and technical conferences around eight times a year, and when I do, I try to turn it into a family vacation.