Good article. It sounds like you are discovering some things about yourself and found the courage to implement them.

Your daily activities did not seem to be in tune with your life goals. Someone with intensely disciplined productivity habits should have massive goals they directly correspond to. Being productive for productivity’s sake or because it vaguely moves you closer to a basket of goals is certainly not a recipe for happiness. Your previous insistence on checking off a list of activities every single day shows a larger preoccupation with activities than specific outcomes. Results-oriented action is far more flexible while being no less intense and efficient.

I also wanted to point out that you were already happily married, seemed to have made sufficient amounts of money, and were able to take time off in Bali to reflect on your life. Your realization was likely only possible because of the incredible work you put in leading up to it. You now know that making money a little more casually, genuinely prioritizing your family, and not being so obsessive over daily activities makes you happier, but you are only in a position to implement this new, happier lifestyle because you were so disciplined leading up to it.

Finally, things certainly do not always work out in the end. One needs only to walk into any major urban center and observe the homeless for that fact to become brutally clear. Your entrepreneurial ventures might have had some fortuitous elements involved, but the only reason you were able to exploit them is because of the hard work you and your teams put in. Please do not chalk success up to the karma gods, it encourages others to relax their discipline when they are not in a position to do so.

Wow, apparently this is a subject I felt strongly about. Please excuse the long comment! I really did enjoy this article and respect you for having the wisdom and discipline to recognize the need for a course correction and then implement it. Glad to hear you are happier!