For anyone who knows me, Italy holds a special place in my heart.

I went for the first time in April 2022 — right as I was leaving my corporate career and stepping into full-time coaching. It felt like the perfect crescendo of one chapter and the beginning of another. I fell completely in love. Florence especially. And I told myself I'd go back soon.

That was four years ago.

Every year since, the inner critic had a reason to wait. You're not making what you made in corporate yet. You can't be gone for a whole month. That's irresponsible. Build the business first, then enjoy life.

Sound familiar?

I've spent years helping clients recognize this exact pattern — the "when I finally have enough, then I'll allow myself to be happy" story. And here I was, living it around a plane ticket to Florence.

Something shifted in March. Not a dramatic breakthrough. Just a quiet decision: I'm going to Italy in September regardless. I'm trusting that this soul's urge is correct and that things will work out.

The self-doubt didn't disappear — if anything it got louder. Maybe shorten the trip. Maybe wait one more year. Maybe this is irresponsible.

But I held the decision through all of it.

And last week, as if the universe had been watching to see if I actually meant it — something completely unexpected showed up that made the whole September trip not just possible but easy. I hadn't forced it or chased it. I just had to stay committed to choosing myself first.

So this September I'll be in Italy and Portugal for a month. And before that, New York City for nine days starting July 22nd — another trip I'd been delaying for two years.

Here's what I know to be true, both from my own journey and from sitting with clients in their deepest patterns:

You don't get to abundance by waiting until you feel worthy of it. You get there by deciding you already are.

The same worthiness blocks that kept me from booking a flight are the ones I help clients move through every day. In relationships, in intimacy, in how much joy they allow themselves to receive.

Turns out it's all the same work.

If any of this resonates and you've been putting something off that your soul keeps calling you toward — I'd love to hear what it is. Hit reply.

With love from a man who's finally going back to Florence,
Ryan