Who are you now?

I have previously written about The Crash that many entrepreneurs experience after a business sale.

There is a lot to be said about this. Sometimes the most insightful observations are throwaways in a broader conversation. In a recent podcast, author and executive coach Marshall Goldsmith talked about how he addresses this in his work with retiring chief executives (emphasis is mine):

…when you live in the past, you’re living someone else’s life too. The guy sitting at the bar talking about Super Bowl III, he wasn’t in Super Bowl III, a kid was in Super Bowl III, a young version of him 50 years ago was in Super Bowl III, not him. Well, that’s just another form of vicarious living. He’s living with what he used to be.

So I’ve done nine programs from my house with retiring CEOs. And first thing I tell them, is you can’t live in the past. You can’t sit there and say, “I used to be the CEO of something.” You have to be where you are. You have to find meaning now, you know what you did was great. You did it, that was nice. The previous versions of you did that, good for them. That’s not you. What are you doing now?

I love the philosophical way in which he frames this. We are not what we did yesterday. Nothing exists but the present moment. The future is yet to be written.

You have to be where you are.

What are you doing now?