Last week I wrote about what I’m up to.

Over the last year, my business philosophies and the way I think about my company and body of work have changed. Before my family’s windfall, I was trying to make a move that would put myself in the position where I would be miraculously booking many speeches, selling a lot of books, and creating the lifestyle that I want. Immediately after the win, I was so happy to have the cash infusion I needed in order to make my proverbial “big move.”

For whatever reason, I had trouble spending money on my company. I didn’t know why, but something in the back of my mind was saying that I was not ready yet. Maybe part of it was the fear of failure or that I finally had room to breathe. Clearly, I had been holding my breath over the year; I was not ready to go through that again.

We were given a gift and to jump back into the thick of things was a ludicrous idea. Creatively I was on fire. I was writing…a lot. In fact, there were days when I wrote two blog posts in an hour. I also wrote a draft of my book in two weeks. (Poor Kristi—who had to type!)

As I reflect back, I realize that’s only part of the story. First, I made many mistakes with my first book. I didn’t have a methodical plan in place. I would just try something, see what worked, and then go on to the next crazy idea. Second, and this one is hard to admit, I was working from a position of fear. I was scared that I would never buy a house. I was scared that my parents’ home and credit line had run out. I was scared that if I didn’t make that “big move” then I would be a bitter old man. Now I have the opportunity to work from a position of strength.

A couple of months ago, I wrote a post about patience. If you asked me about patience before the windfall, I would have said that it’s overrated. Now I say that patience is a sign of being methodical. Granted, I can afford to be patient, and for that I feel blessed.

The first time I published a book, I was new to the self-publishing industry. I learned along the way and realize that for my next project, I need to take a hard look at what went wrong, and—more importantly—what went right. I need time to relearn what I’ve already experienced and also learn the new, such as coming up with a comprehensive social media strategy. One of my goals over the next few months is to determine how marketers use Facebook and Twitter.

I am really happy that I put the brakes on my business for now. I felt that if I went ahead with the project I would be making a big mistake. Perhaps the biggest mistake of my professional career. No matter what happens, I feel that over the last month or two I have grown both as a person and a businessman, and for that I’m grateful.

Timelapse - Lighthouse (Oct 2012) from IMK Digital Multimedia on Vimeo.