Mike’s passion lies in the great outdoors. Some of his favorite activities are hiking, running, and his favorite, biking. In fact, he loves biking so much that he spent 20 years pioneering a rails-to-trails project that turned into a multi-state 100+ mile trial for bicyclists around the country to enjoy. As the trail gained in popularity, weekends and after-work times became congested, so Mike instead would hop on his bike during the daytime working hours to enjoy the trail all to himself.
The joy of cycling always ended when he had to head back to work, where he had to face problem after problem. It got so overwhelming for him that he felt verbally attacked when he walked through the office door, which at one point resulted in him snapping and shouting at his team, saying that he couldn’t even leave for a few hours without “all this B.S.” happening.
Mike eventually realized that his business was built with him at the center of everything, and when that master gear was removed from the machine for just 2 hours, the whole engine came to a halt. This made it virtually impossible for Mike to even take a few hours out of his day to go on a bike ride when he wanted, so he ended up compromising and going out during the busy times.
The fact that his business blocked him from his joy of bicycling literally sucked any remaining fun out of his work life. Mike kept fighting days of silent desperation, feeling like a victim of his own creation without knowing a way out.
Then he discovered Half-Retire, and one of the first things he learned is that it’s against the rules to suck up the B.S. and fight through unenjoyable situations. Instead, he realized that business should actually be fun and serve his life, not the other way around. Once the light-bulb switched on in his head that he could craft his business to serve his likes and dislikes, everything changed!
After completing all six steps of the Half-Retire process, he’s given himself complete freedom to come and go as he wishes. Today, Mike runs or cycles every morning, depending on the weather. He even took two weeks off in Park City when he learned they had late Spring snow. Mike wouldn’t trade his Half-Retirement freedom for anything now.
“I felt like the bottleneck of my business. I had my fingers in everything. I was overworked and slowing down our progress. But I could not figure out how to extricate myself from things. Shifting my mindset to Half-Retire Mode helped me unwind my ever-ending task list. I’m not working fewer hours, but I am less stressed, more productive, and the business is growing again.”