Why am I doing this?

Those of you who know or have met me in the past might be wondering why I am embarking on this journey of starting up my own consulting business.

To be honest, it's something I've thought about for a long time. Thought about, but never really took any action on. "Maybe I'd like that, but... Things are fine! I'm comfortable! Why would I want to throw myself into that uncertainty now?"

God has a way of knowing the exact right time to push us out of our comfortable nest and into the great unknown

As it turns out, my decision was made for me. My employer decided that my team was no longer necessary, and so I found myself at the beginning of summer with a severance package and a lot of time to think. It didn't take me too long to realize that this was the push/kick I'd needed to move me off thinking about starting my own business to actually doing it.

I immediately dubbed this period my sabbatical. I love this term for two reasons. First is that it's from the Greek sabbatikos "of the sabbath"... in other words, a time of rest. And it didn't take me more than a week to realize that I really did need a time of rest.

The second reason is it's a much better conversation starter to say "I'm on sabbatical" rather than "I'm in transition" (which has a whole other meaning these days) or "I'm in between jobs" or "I'm unemployed" or whatever. Because the fact is, the more I had time to reflect, the more I realized that I really didn't want to work for just one company any longer. I wanted to share what I know as widely as possible.

So as my new venture's moniker suggests, it took me becoming unfettered from my old patterns to be able to embrace this new reality. I'm incredibly grateful for the support and wise counsel of my wife throughout this journey, and I'm eager to embrace the future, uncertainty and all.