Recently, I have struggled with consistency around exercise. I'd start strong. Then life would happen. I'd skip a day. Then a week. Injuries happened. I got tired. I got mad. Rinse. Repeat. Then I'd be back at square one. The problem wasn't discipline. The problem wasn't motivation. The problem was identity. I was trying to force a behavior without shifting who I was being when it was time to work out. So I created an identity to support me. I call it my Dark Power persona. What is Dark Power? It's the part of me that emerges after 9pm when everyone else goes to sleep. When the world quiets down. When the noise stops. That's when Dark Power shows up to train. It's unapologetically sovereign. Calm. Unflinching. Deeply rooted. It doesn't rush, explain, or seek permission. It knows when to apply pressure and when to withdraw it entirely. This persona isn't aggressive. It's inevitable. It holds clarity without losing softness. It holds edge without cruelty. Where other versions of me might over-care, over-explain, or over-effort, this one trusts timing. It allows consequences to teach. It lets silence do the work. This persona has access to destruction and creation and isn't afraid of either. Energetically, it feels like: ✅ Grounded stillness ✅ Quiet ✅ Powerful ✅ Kind Not forced. Not passivity. Precision. What happened when I started operating from this identity? Exercise stopped being a fight or an after thought. I didn't have to "motivate" myself. I didn't have to argue with resistance. When 9pm rolls around and everyone else goes to sleep, Dark Power wakes up. And Dark Power doesn't negotiate. Not in a harsh way. In a "this is what we do" way. Calm. Clear. Done. The night is mine. The work gets done. Here's the thing: This isn't just about exercise. This is about learning how to intentionally create identities that support the life you're building. Most people try to change behaviors without changing identity. That's why it doesn't stick. But when you shift who you're being, the behavior becomes effortless.

Most people skip the most important step. They know they need to change. They feel the gap. They see the problem. So they jump straight to solutions. New habits. New strategies. New frameworks. And then they wonder why nothing sticks. Here's what they missed: Assessment. The deep, honest look at who you're actually being right now, not who you think you are, not who you want to be, but who you're operating from in the moments that matter. Why does assessment matter so much? Because you can't shift from an identity you haven't named. You can't change a pattern you don't see. You can't select a new way of being if you're not clear on the current one. Think about it: If you're trying to lead differently but you don't see that you're operating from a "prove myself" identity, you'll just keep proving yourself in new ways. If you're trying to create something bold but you don't see that you're operating from a "stay safe" identity, you'll sabotage yourself every time you get close. If you're trying to relate differently but you don't see that you're operating from a "fix everyone" identity, you'll keep attracting people who need fixing. The identity you're operating from is invisible to you. But it's running the show. Assessment makes it visible. It's the moment you step back and ask: ✅ Who am I being right now? ✅ What identity am I defaulting to when the pressure is on? ✅ Where did this identity come from and was it built for what I'm facing now? ✅ Is this identity serving me or is it the ceiling? This isn't about judging yourself. This isn't about finding what's "wrong" with you. This is about seeing clearly and letting it be exactly as it is. Because once you see the identity you're operating from, you can choose whether to keep it or shift it. Here's what assessment reveals: 🔍 The patterns you keep repeating and why they keep showing up 🔍 The beliefs that are driving your behavior even when you don't realize it 🔍 The identity that was built for a previous version of your life and why it's not working anymore

I was intrigued by the word entrepreneur long before I ever knew what it really meant. Looking back, the mindset was there early in middle school and high school dreaming up backyard businesses like a makeshift putt-putt course, selling pencils or erasers, or mowing lawns to earn what I wanted. With a tiny allowance that barely moved the needle (a quarter a week toward a $16 video game will do that), I learned quickly that if I wanted something, I had to create it myself. By high school, I was running a small landscaping business, mowing over 20 lawns a week, and by college that work funded a large portion of my education. That was my first real shift from kid to creator. In college, despite internships and traditional career paths, the nine-to-five office model never really fit. What did fit was my lifelong connection to team sports. I leaned further into that world playing intramural football, then playing and coaching for a semi-professional football team, despite never having played organized football before. During and after college, I coached middle school and high school athletes and found real meaning in helping young men and women grow into who they were capable of becoming, not just in skill, but in how they showed up on the field of play. That period marked another turning point in how I learned to support real change, both in myself and others. Even while coaching, my entrepreneurial drive never slowed down. I was investing in real estate on the side buying, fixing, and renting homes, constantly problem-solving how to create income while balancing a modest coach’s salary. Eventually, I found my way back into landscaping through an opportunity with a property manager. It almost fell into my lap. I started the company with $700 and a cheap old truck and got rolling. Before long, I had built it into a business with 27 employees. Each stage required me to become a different version of myself, operator, leader, decision-maker, not just do different tasks. I was constantly reinventing who I was.

I just added a new practice to the Meditation Classroom called Concentration Meditation at the Depth of Presence and Absence. This is a short, structured meditation designed to help you stabilize attention and then gently deepen into presence—without forcing a state or trying to “get” anywhere. We start with concentration at the depth of parts, move into the depth of process, and then allow that stability to open into a quieter, more spacious sense of presence in the second half of the practice. This isn’t a relaxation exercise or a performance meditation. It’s a way of practicing letting be and letting unfold, while building the kind of attentional steadiness that supports deeper work and awareness in meditation and in life. For many this practice will be enough to really stretch our practice deeper than before. I will record the last meditation soon which will complete the 4 concentration meditations within our practice structure.

I just added a new Body Scan Meditation to the classroom. This practice slowly moves awareness from the left foot up the body and back down the right side, inviting you into direct, embodied presence. There’s nothing to change or improve, just sensing what’s already here. If you’ve been feeling in your head, scattered, or disconnected from your body, this is a simple way to build awareness throughout your body. Take your time with it. Slower is better. If you explore it, I’d love to hear what you notice: sensations, shifts, or even the absence of anything at all. Glad to have you practicing here 🙏