Hit my number last year — and nobody warned me about the strange part. The identity thing is real. I built my whole sense of self around "building something," and for six months after I was genuinely lost. The game was the point, not the score. Happy to answer anything.

The relationships piece hits hardest. When people learn you don't need the money, you find out fast who was around for the energy and who was around for what you could do for them. A filter you can't un-see.

Recalibrating, not criticizing: in a high-cost city with kids in private school, "the number" is comfortable, not infinite. The goalposts move because the inputs do. Worth saying out loud.

Time feels different when you can't hide behind being busy. That's the gift and the work, at the same time.