Freedom From….or Freedom To
Reflections from The 2026 Bigelow Forum

2 minute read

Portsmouth, NH

What I am Reading / Listening to

What to Make of a Life: Cliffs, Fog, Fire and the Self-Knowledge Imperative (2026)
By Jim Collins

Jim Collins is one of the most gifted entrepreneur thinkers of our time. In this work What to Make of a Life – in my opinion the most important of all his work—he turns his considerable research geek curiosity, mental frameworks, and organizational dissection onto ourselves. A decade of research. Thirty-four lives. Matched pairs. Not to determine who “won,” but to understand how different decisions, at pivotal moments, shape entirely different outcomes. And in that shift—from better to different—you begin to see the real point; life is not a hierarchy, it is a set of choices.

Most entrepreneurs I know have a strategy for their business. They have a plan for growth. They have dashboards, KPI’s, metrics, advisors, and capital.

But their life? No strategy. It unfolds…frequently…by default.

Jim Collins, in What to Make of a Life, does something subtle but powerful: He applies the same discipline we admire him for in studying great companies to the question almost no one rigorously asks—What am I building my life for?

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Entrepreneurs are often exceptional at intentionality in their enterprise…and often shockingly passive about everything else. We say family matters. We say health matters. We say meaning matters. But if you audit the calendar—the ultimate truth-teller—you often see a different story. Collins recognizes this immediately. Because in our world, resource allocation is strategy.

And our life is nothing more (or less) than how we allocate: Positive Energy, Intention, Attention, Commitment, Time.

I am reminded of what Angela Duckworth comically told me one afternoon: “Hey Pete, you know all RE-search is ME-search”. And so this is Collins at his most ambitious. Over a decade of research. Thirty-four lives. Matched pairs. Not to determine who “won,” but to understand how different decisions, at pivotal moments, shape entirely different outcomes.  And in that shift—from better to different—you begin to see the real point: Life is not a hierarchy—It is a set of choices.

ENCODINGS. Collins introduces the idea of encodings—a kind of internal architecture. Not skills. Not credentials. But latent capacities waiting to be expressed. Definitionally, I would say super close to what my friend Dan Sullivan would call Unique Ability.  What Mike Csikszentmihalyi might call FLOW.

The question is not whether you have them (the encodings or Unique Ability®). The question is whether you have structured your life in a way that allows them to come through, to give you leverage. Most people are capable. Far fewer are aligned. And the difference shows up—in energy, in performance, in impact.

CLIFFS. Then come the cliffs. A cliff is any moment that ends life as you knew it. A transaction. A loss. A transition you didn’t choose. Sometimes after a success. Retirement.  Sometimes you see them coming, sometimes you don’t. Entrepreneurs know this moment well—often after a sale, when the identity built around the enterprise is no longer relevant.

Cliffs are not rare. They are inevitable.

FOG. After the cliff comes the fog. And this is where even the most accomplished people lose their footing. Because fog is uncomfortable. Psychologists might call it “liminal space” where you’ve let go of the trapeze bar behind you, and are swinging towards the one in front of you but…haven’t quite grabbed it yet.

So frequently, we rush. We take the next deal. We join more boards. We stay in motion—not because it’s right, but because it’s familiar.

Collins offers a different discipline:

ANTIDOTE FOR FOG. Simplex stepping. Take the next right step you can see. Not the perfect plan. Not the fully formed vision. Just the next step. Over time, clarity emerges—not before.

There is another idea here that will challenge many high performers. Ready? Our most meaningful contribution may still be ahead of us. Not behind. Collins’ research suggests that the most important chapters of a life often come later—when experience, self-knowledge, and choice finally align.

And then Collins removes the final distraction:

Legacy. The people who built meaningful lives were not focused on how they would be remembered. They were focused on what they were still responsible for. Because time is finite. And once spent, it does not return.

Bottom line. This is not a book about achievement. It is a book about intention and alignment.

It asks you to apply the same rigor you bring to building a business—to building a life. And for the entrepreneur who is willing to look directly at their own life—not just their enterprise—it becomes something more than a book.

It becomes a mirror.

Entrepreneur Owner-Manager™ Quote

"Congratulations on another amazing Forum!  The music, flowers, décor, and food combined with your incredible team and an awesome collection of EOMs created yet another fabulous, inspiring experience.  Christopher and I will always feel blessed to have found your company.  When we look at the pictures of us with our Bigelow Team, we just feel very thankful to have walked through one of the most intense experiences of our lives with Chris, Dan, Rob, and Krystle.  Thank you for allowing us to share our story again this year.  It was a powerful conclusion to our careers."

—Maren Boothby, Founder & Former President of Boothby Therapy Services