Are you choosing your life, or just keeping up?

Good morning—

And welcome to the second issue of The Fam.

Let me ask you something… When was the last time you made a decision? The last time you actually stopped and reflected about what you wanted before pressing on? Too often, we fall into the habit of making decisions based on a reaction. 

Life moves fast. The calendar fills. The inbox piles up. The kids, the boss, the meetings, the dinner, the everything... keep coming. And to handle it all, you simply make that next decision based on what is most needed in the moment. 

You’re keeping up. But are you actually choosing?

This is what I call The Deadly Drift. It doesn’t crash in all at once. It creeps in. Slowly. Quietly. The Deadly Drift is a state of passivity, numbness, and conformity. It’s life on autopilot, shaped by external noise instead of internal truth. We unconsciously replace purpose with busyness, and control with productivity.

You stop steering. You start floating. And before you know it, you look around and wonder: Whose life am I actually living?

The world doesn’t ask you to trust yourself. It asks you to perform, conform, and keep up. And that noise starts calling the shots. Ralph Waldo Emerson had a name for this. In his essay Self-Reliance, he wrote:

"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string... obeying the Almighty effort, and advancing on Chaos and Dark."

He wasn’t just writing poetry. He was issuing a challenge. Because Chaos and Dark? They’re not just poetic ideas. Emerson, like I do, saw them as real forces. Forces that take control of our decisions, actions, and ultimately, when we drift too long, our lives.

Chaos is the external noise—the disorder, external challenges, social pressure.

Dark is the internal pull—doubt, fear, uncertainty.

Drift happens when we stop trusting ourselves and let them decide for us.

What’s one decision you’ve been avoiding because you’re afraid to trust yourself?

So, how can you take those first few steps away from this drift back towards trusting yourself to decide your own path? 

Here’s what I want you to try:

1. Name the drift. What area of your life feels like it’s on autopilot? Be honest. Work? Marriage? Your health?

2. Interrupt the pattern. Do one small thing differently this week. Say no to a meeting. Take a walk with your spouse, not your phone. Schedule 30 minutes for something that matters to you.

3. Ask the deeper question.

   • What am I saying “yes” to that no longer serves me?

   • "What am I avoiding, and why?"

   • What does my authentic self truly want, and how can I reclaim my control and honor that?

The drift ends when you start choosing again and rebuilding the trust you have in yourself. Even one small choice can begin to break the current. You don’t have to drift. You get to decide.

And deciding is where truly living your life begins.

I met a beautiful soul whose journey embodies everything The FAM stands for. Her name is Denise Champagne, and her story is a spark of inspiration for anyone feeling stuck in the drift.

In her career, Denise was successful by all external measures. But inside, she felt powerless—like she was living someone else’s version of her life. She followed rules she didn’t believe in and hit walls she couldn’t explain.

Then she showed up to one of our Innovation Summits. And something shifted.

She heard stories of disruption, felt something stir within her, and remembered a dream she had buried years ago. “I’m the lead person in my life,” she said. “Why am I letting others decide how I live it?”

That moment sparked a quiet revolution.

Denise went on to build Coffeeweed Cottage—a coffee shop rooted not in profit, but in purpose. No investors. No safety net. Just her belief, her research, and her decision to bet on herself.

“You only have to be brave for 30 seconds at a time,” she told me. And those 30 seconds? They’ve transformed her life—and her community.

Denise stopped the drift.

She shut out and shut down the chaos and the dark.

She chose to listen—not to what the world was saying, but to her intuition. She chose to trust herself.  

She reminds me what living fully alive looks like.

👉 I want to hear your stories. What dream have you been carrying? What would happen if you gave it 30 seconds of courage?

A while back, before this newsletter even had a name, I found myself alone in my home’s back room, reading Emerson’s Self-Reliance and wrestling with what it meant for my own life.

That day, I scribbled a note to myself in the margins of my journal:

“Dirk, create a place for people who are ready to find their courage. A space to think honestly, reflect regularly, and grow into who they were always meant to be. A place where we shake off what’s holding us back—and reconnect with the spark inside that reminds us we’re still alive, and meant for more.”

I’m smiling as I type this out. That quiet moment planted a seed. And now, here we are—The FAM, this newsletter, and this shared journey.

Thanks for showing up. It means more than you know.

Here’s to living fully alive,

We’re on a mission to empower one million people to live Fully Alive, and you’re one of them!