I decided at sixteen that I would not disappear into my work.

At twenty I started a computer repair business out of my garage with five hundred dollars and enough monthly clients to cover half my bills. At twenty-three I went full time. Within a few years I had twelve employees and more money than I'd ever seen.

And I was taking four days off a year and feeling guilty about every one of them.

"I had confused being needed with being alive."

So I left for six months to find out whether the company could run without me. It ran better. My general manager, Trey Hart, was doing a better job than I was. At the end of 2022 I sold Adam D. Technology to him, and at thirty-seven I hit the goal I'd set as a teenager: retire before forty.

Retirement, for me, looks more like graduation. I coach owners through Being In Action. I run Adam D Creative. I'm a licensed skydiving instructor. I played rugby for fourteen years with the Tucson Magpies and flew to Japan for the 2019 World Cup. And I wrote a book about everything I learned.