Friends,
Eighty percent of my work is national. I have clients in most major U.S. cities, and a few in Europe. I don't travel much, working primarily by phone, e-mail, FedEx and the Internet. That's a big change.

When I began career consulting in 1978, it was all face-to-face. No telephone counseling at all. Now the situation is reversed. Clients who live a mile from my office call and ask, "Is it OK if we meet by phone today? I don't feel like making the drive."

The drive? One mile? How hard could it be?

Sure, we use Skype sometimes, and I often exchange photos. I like to know clients' families. I've never met 80% of my job candidates face-to-face, and that's okay, as long as they're successful. The work is equally effective in person, or by distance.

In 2006, my commercial office was 2,500 square feet. Today it's 150. That's a big change. My home office, though, has tripled in size, occupying the lower-level master suite.

It's been agony getting here. Even though I haven't changed careers, I've made mid-career course corrections, which often are painful. I guess that's how I identify with others. My life is much like yours.

I'm including my recent photo, not because I'm in love with myself, but because many readers haven't seen me for several years, and as I said: some have never seen me.

I was lucky enough to get a four-generation photo of my family this summer, including my wife, Beverly, my father Scott, the retired internist (96), my sons Brandon and Kenny (44 and 43), and Brandon's son, Adam (age 7).

I'm spending Fridays with my father, and grateful to be learning about his life, my life, and the painful journey of living into advanced old age. We're blessed that his mind is clear, though he moves in slow motion.

He's a terror with a shopping cart at Safeway.

Michael Smith, the Manager at the Regus offices is a Marine (I've learned you're never an ex-Marine). I send Michael a Marine quote with every email. I discovered this one just as I was preparing someone for a high-stakes interview, and I think it applies broadly.

"Being ready is not what matters. What matters is winning after you get there."
~ LtGen Victor H. Krulak, USMC