Kind Folks Finish First

Chapter 2The Exit Ramp

I’ll be back in a few hours.

I said this to Camille, my wife, on my way out the door to meet my CEO. It was the Monday after I'd had my epiphany on the New Jersey Turnpike, or at the very least a steeling of my resolve. On a walk around the block with my CEO, I was told to leave. Just as I expected. And I was back home in a few hours with my wife as promised.

In some ways, that was the best walk around the block I'd ever taken. It was the springboard for everything that's happened since. I was ready to reframe the narrative of my life and take control of where I was headed. I wouldn't let this break me. I would come out stronger. I knew it.

Turning Failure into Opportunity

Self‐perception and narratives have such a hold over us. We all see ourselves as the star in our story, after all. But, we're also quick to see the worst in ourselves. To let doubt creep in and fear take over.

As I realized at the rest stop, the story of your life, the narrative that you tell yourself, can be determinative. Part of what finally clicked for me was that I didn't need to be the victim anymore. That I was stronger than I'd given myself credit for and that it was time to take a bet on myself and truly leap into the void of starting my own business and making my own money.

Before this revelation, I thought everyone would look down on me for being fired. Again. Or that anyone who told me it would be fine was lying. But once I viewed myself in a positive light, I could see ...