I want to tell you a story about ego and hubris — but really, it’s a story about timing.
At one point in my career, I worked for a late-stage tech startup that everyone was obsessed with. We were the “prettiest girl at the dance" with the best product, 5x annual revenue growth, and hundreds of employees in a dozen countries.
At one point, the CEO got an offer to sell for $750 million, but he turned it down. “This is a billion-dollar company,” he said.
Except...it wasn’t. That big offer never came back. And when the company finally sold years later, it went for barely more than the total money it had raised.
He missed the window.
Here’s what that taught me: we like to think opportunities hang around. They don’t. Doors open — and then they close. And when one opens, you have to be willing to walk through it.
That’s true in love, in work, in creativity, and with big ideas— everywhere.
Take my client James. At the age of 50, he had an idea for a climate risk platform. On paper, it was terrible timing: He had a mortgage, four kids heading into college, and three failed startups already behind him.
But he felt it. The moment was now.
He sold his house, downsized into a much smaller apartment, and his wife even joined the company. They went all in. Four years later? He sold the business — and he never has to work again. If he had waited a year, both he and I agree that the company would have never sold.
The point isn’t “take wild risks.”
It’s this: If something keeps tugging at you, pay attention. That’s usually a door cracking open.
Don’t wait to take the trip.
Don’t wait to write the screenplay.
Don’t wait to start the thing that won’t leave you alone.
Lesson #1 about timing: if you can’t stop thinking about it, that’s your sign.
I’ve watched so many clients delay brilliant ideas — “just one more quarter,” then another — and suddenly someone else launches the exact same thing. I’ve seen friends talk themselves out of books, businesses, podcasts, blogs… until the spark just fades.
And yes, sometimes life really does slow you down. But you can keep moving forward, even if it's in much smaller steps than you wanted.
When I tried to sell the book proposal for AQ in late 2023, my publisher had just released my first book, The Karma of Success. They wanted me to focus on that book — not jump into a new one. They passed. And with my daughter's due date just weeks away, I made the conscious choice to accept the yield signs and slow down. But I didn’t abandon the idea.
I jotted thoughts while breastfeeding. I stared at my baby’s face and kept thinking about the AQ lessons she was already teaching me. Then, when Taia was 10 weeks old, I picked up the proposal again and moved as quickly as I could. I harassed and pestered my agent, even when she ghosted me twice, until she finally sent it out to prospective editors.
Three months later, we had four offers, and we sold the book at auction — to my dream publisher.
Lesson #2 about timing: be relentless, even when the timing feels suboptimal. You won’t always have the perfect plan or support. Move anyway — even in tiny steps.
And here’s why I’m sharing this now: a new door is opening for all of us. It’s the New Year — and 2026 is the Year of the Horse. The Year of the Horse is all about action, boldness, and forward momentum. It’s a year that asks you to move — with speed and urgency.
I talk more about it in my latest podcast episode if you want to listen.
We all stall because of fear, self-doubt, and that sneaky voice that says, “Later.” But this year invites you to think past the fear and step into who you’re becoming.
In my next newsletter, I’ll share details about a workshop I created to help you build courage and confidence for 2026. The best part is that it’s free if you pre-order AQ. I’ll also share my book-tour dates — it kicks off in just a month!
So here’s to us, to the Year of the Horse, and to the doors opening in front of you.
Let’s walk through them.
With love,
Liz
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Ep 82. AQ: Your Playbook for 2026
Welcome to a very special New Year's episode of the podcast. 2026 invites in very different themes, energies, and potential than 2025. Listen to find out more about what 2025 represented, and how this will shift in the coming weeks.
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