Forced Retirement Test Drive
Paul Childs
I teach entrepreneurs how to get out of their own way. I show them how to create a scalable business. Not create another job.
I know I’ve disappeared for a while. I wish I could tell you I disappeared to "find myself."
I thought my spirit animal was a majestic eagle soaring above the problems of the little people. Nope. Its a caffeinated squirrel with a color-coded to-do list
Pain has a way of teaching what comfort never could.
My back had other plans for me. a pinched nerve in my sciatica staged a full-blown protest, a coup d'etat that put me out of commission faster than my dog who ate my marijuana stash
One minute I was grinding, planning, building.
The next minute I couldn’t walk across the room without feeling like lightning was shooting down my spine and leg.
Pain humbled me.
THE ILLUSION OF CONTROL
Pain stripped away any illusion of control.
Pain forced me into stillness. Not the kind of Instagram post with sunsets and yoga poses. More like screaming, spitting and cursing the universe
It was ugly stillness, the unwanted, forced stillness where every distraction, hustle and identity you built, falls apart.
At first, I fought it. I tried to "power through it," like entrepreneurs do.I forgot I’m old. At least my body is old. I couldn’t outwork the problem. I could only surrender to a body in full rebellion.
And in that surrender, I stumbled into something unexpected:
Enlightenment through pain.
Not the mountaintop kind. The dirty floor kind that teaches you real worth isn’t in what you produce—it’s in who you are when you produce nothing.
I realized:
My value isn't my productivity.
My identity isn't my output.
My worth isn’t up for negotiation every time my calendar is empty.
The pinched nerve didn't just immobilize my body. It freed my mind.
PEACE OR PRESSURE
It ripped the hustle mask right off my face and made me ask questions I hadn’t slowed down enough to ask:
Why am I really doing all this?
What am I trying to prove—and to who?
What would it feel like to build from peace, not pressure?
It hurt like hell. And it healed something much deeper than my spine.
Doing less doesn’t mean becoming less.
Stillness isn’t weakness. It’s wisdom learned the hard way.
Building with intention always beats grinding out of fear.
If you've ever been forced to slow down,
If you've ever had life rip the steering wheel out of your hands
Sometimes pain is the only teacher we’ll actually listen to.
The nerve pain eventually eased (mostly).
But the lessons stayed.
LESSONS LEARNED
Doing less doesn’t mean becoming less.
Stillness isn’t weakness. It’s wisdom earned the hard way.
Building with intention will always beat grinding out of fear.
Now I am building with intention, not just intensity.
My mission is more important than my task list.
Ambition without meaning is building a house you'll hate living in
If that's you—I'd love to hear what you learned, too.
Drop a comment.
Let’s talk about the truths you only discover when everything else stops.
My website Business Mastery
Strategic Communications and Marketing Leader | Project Management and Product Development
4moGreat article and insight. Thank you. As Dr Barbara Ann Brennan (the energy healer/teacher/author of “Hands of Light,”) said, “pain is the simplest form of guidance.” It means, you’re not following your soul’s path. I have also had this experience and it definitely changed my life for the better.
Journalist, Editor, Mystery and Historical Fiction Author
4moAhhh pain, indeed the agent of humility. Living through masses of it at the moment, I greatly appreciate your story and your insights, and perhaps I will also come to a point of some acceptance, if not enlightenment. Still in a battle with the demons. Thank you, Paul.
Chief Strategist at The Townsend Team
5moWhat a journey, my friend! Insights that could prove helpful to many.
Helping CEO's of Small to Mid-Market Companies build High Performing Organizations.
5moPaul -- i have gone through several rounds of sciatica in past 3 years. The pain rents alot of space in your brain. Learning how to be be quiet is a whole new experience. I will be 85 in 3 months. Bill
Constantly curious, easily surprised, rarely speechless and absolutely awed by the magic in people.
5moDifficult journey with important insights Paul. Retirement rather than pain has taken me into some of these dark corners of self reflection. I remind myself that this leg is also about the journey and certainly not about the destination. We all know what the destination is. Thanks for sharing. I appreciate the great reminders.