Strawberries

I opened an email the other day where the subject was strawberries... lower case even.

And I think it potentially gave me the biggest light bulb moment I’ve had in ages.

It made me stop and ask myself a question I don’t think I’ve asked myself in a very long time. I’ve been so busy building my leadership coaching business and learning about business and sales and online marketing and executive coaching and on and on and on, that I stopped asking myself: What do I actually want my life to look like?

Not what should I build. Not what will make money. Not what would look impressive. Not what people say is scalable. Not what matches the brand and reputation I’ve built over on LinkedIn over the past 6 years. 

But what would actually make me happy?

This Lagoma Life idea has been brewing for a while now. And it won’t go away. 

It’s the kind of idea that you don’t tell anyone about because you don’t want their opinion, fears, advice, or two cents.

I want to protect it until it grows into whatever it decides to be. I’ve been experimenting a little bit on Pinterest. I took a beginner Pinterest course that I’m halfway through. But I haven’t gone all in yet. I'm dancing around the edges. Sure, but unclear.

And I’ve been feeling weirdly guilty about that. Because I know that Pinterest is a slow build, and every day I'm not moving on this feels like a lost day.

But I don’t want this to feel urgent. I don’t want it to feel like a panic.

Maybe I’m afraid that whatever it is will fail. Or maybe I’m afraid that whatever it is will succeed. Or maybe I’ve convinced myself that because I don’t know what it will be yet, I shouldn’t start yet.

But this time, I’m really listening to the resistance. Because my gut says it means something.

Something doesn’t feel right. And I really don’t think that’s an excuse; I really feel that if I start right now, I’ll wander off down the wrong track. It feels like this is a moment to properly reflect on the feel of what I want to build. I don't want this to feel impulsive or desperate; I want it to feel good.

Then I read the strawberries email.

It was from somebody whose emails I get because I’m always trying to learn things. Usually marketing, business, sales… all the things I’m not naturally good at.

Honestly, I don’t even know what she was selling. I think it was a membership for something.

Normally, I don’t open those emails because most of the time it’s, “Yeah, no. I don’t want what you’re selling.”

But something made me open it.

She opened with a story about weight loss and strawberries. About changing little things and realizing that if she wanted a certain result at the end of the day, then little things had to change.

But also… she had to enjoy what she was doing along the way. Or it wouldn’t work.

That was key.

One day, she realized: “I love strawberries. Why am I not eating more strawberries?”

She’d been doing low-fat this and keto that and all the things. White-knuckling it through all the diets. Then one day she thought, “Why don’t I just eat more fresh fruit and foods I genuinely enjoy?”

She loved volume foods. Fresh fruit. Vegetables.

So, she started doing that. The weight fell away. She got the result she was aiming for. She became the person she’d been trying to become all along.

And it was enjoyable. She enjoyed it every step of the way. She felt lucky to eat the strawberries.

And then she connected that idea to her business.

At first, she built what she thought would be easy to monetize. What people wanted.

And she did. And it worked. She built a mastermind, and it was successful. She made good money. She attracted the right people.

But then she realized something: This wasn’t actually the life she wanted.

It felt like a job. She didn’t have freedom, which was the whole reason she wanted to be an entrepreneur in the first place. She was working constantly. It morphed from passion to obligation and stress.

So she stopped asking, “What can I do to make money?”

And started asking: “What do I actually want my life to look like in a year? Or 18 months?”

Her answer was simple.

She wanted freedom. She wanted to work two to four hours a day from anywhere, doing something she genuinely liked. Time for her kids. Time for exercise. Time for herself.

And then she thought: “Why don’t I just do that?”

And if people wanted to follow along for the journey, she’d figure out what to do with them as she went.

That became her membership. Women building businesses that suit their lives. 

Whatever she became interested in, she brought people along with her. Whoever was interested stayed. Whoever wanted more bought more. As long as she stayed a few steps ahead, she could help.

So I read that email, had a shower, and got on with my day.

And then suddenly I thought: “Wait a second. What do I actually want my life to look like in a year to 18 months?

And I realized I’ve entertained this idea forever. I just didn’t know it was possible. Or maybe I didn’t know how to do it.

What I want is actually very simple.

I want to write. Not “write a book.” Not “write content.” Not write for the algorithm or the world. 

I mean writing like morning pages. Writing for myself. Writing because I love it.

And reading.

That's how I want to spend my time. Feels ridiculous to write that.

Honestly, I think reading and writing have probably changed my life more than almost anything else has.

I’ve always said (secretly to myself), “If only there were a way to be paid for reading and writing, I’d be in heaven.” 

And now I’m saying (still secretly to myself), “Let me read and write and figure out how to make money by doing that. I will find a way.”

I started doing morning pages over 20 years ago, and I can genuinely trace so much of my thinking, self-awareness, reflection, and even coaching back to that habit of sitting down and paying attention to my own thoughts.

And along the way, I completely fell in love with coaching too.

So yes, I’d like to make money doing that.

But the actual life I want feels surprisingly simple.

I want to read.

I want to write.

I want to coach sometimes.

And I want to be able to do it from anywhere.

That’s it.

And suddenly I thought: Okay. So why don’t I just build that?

That was the light bulb moment.

That’s what Lagoma Life is going to be.

It’s going to start with morning pages because, for me, they changed my life.

So that’s the starting point.

I’m going to explore Pinterest as a way to build this. I’m going to write more. Read more. Think more.

Because honestly, reading has taken a backseat while I’ve been busy trying to build my leadership coaching business.

And my goal now is to take some pressure off that.

Not abandon it. Just… stop forcing it so hard.

And instead build the thing I actually want.

Trust that people will find me.

Trust that it won’t feel like work.

Trust that it will feel exciting.

And honestly, I think the reason I wasn’t all in before is because I was unclear. I didn’t really know what this was supposed to be.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I still don’t know exactly what it’s going to look like.

But I know what I want to do.

And that feels very different.

So that’s what this is.

My journey, I guess.

Hopefully, some part of it helps you with yours.

I’ll create things I genuinely want to create. Things I would have liked to have had myself.

And maybe that’s enough.

Maybe Lagoma Life just becomes a place for growth through reading, writing, reflection, and connecting.

Honestly?

That sounds pretty good to me.