I was on a phone call with a friend yesterday morning.

We hadn't chatted since the holidays, so we caught up on how everything went and how we started the year.

I remember saying something that felt odd the moment it left my mouth:

"I didn't hit this year with my foot on the gas. I actually eased into it. In fact, I'm easing in so much that I'm going away for another 10 days."

It struck me as weird when I said it. But I realized... I did this intentionally.

I purposely haven't loaded up my calendar. I spent most of last week carefully going through every part of my site, trying to create better alignment and resonance with where I'm at, with my offers, with my services.

By Monday of this week, I felt pretty good about where everything landed.

I talked to Brandon about playing with the design around 5 o'clock that afternoon.

Then, by 5 o'clock that night, I had this deep, deep dissatisfaction.

This feeling of I don't like what I did.

And I couldn't put words to what I was feeling.

So I went into my GPT that knows everything about me and started processing these thoughts out loud.

What came out was actually really amazing.

In analyzing all the work I'd done (which by all accounts is a really great direct marketing website), I realized something:

What I've been doing on that site, and even inside these newsletters, is convincing people to like me.

Convincing people to work with me.

Trying to prove to people that I'm worth it.

And I really didn't like the energy of what I was putting together.

Here's what I know, and this isn't a blanket statement about marketing, it's a true statement about me:

The people I end up working with are:

That's it.

You could argue that's maybe true for everybody. But for me, it's exceptionally true.

And I'm not sure that anybody who has hired me has done so because I've done a good job of convincing them that I'm worth it.

In fact, if I'm really honest, the fact that I would try to convince somebody to work with me probably has the counter effect.

It turns people off.

When I sat and looked at my website, having 20 testimonials on a page felt like I was bombarding people with proof that I'm worth it.

Here's all these people that you might know, or are just like you, saying Bob is worth it. Hire him. Hire him.

But in reality, if I'm really honest with myself, it's kind of a way to cover up my own insecurities.

So my website is going to remain live, but I've done something completely counterintuitive.

Counter-cultural.

Certainly goes against what I've been trained to do.

I am now going to completely undersell myself.

Maybe in the end, this is a whipsaw in the wrong direction. But when I read my home page now, it's a pretty accurate reflection of what my energy is and what I want my energy to be.

I'm not going to share it with you here. If you feel like going to bobregnerus.com, feel free.

What's more important to me is the lesson it's taught me about alignment.

I spend a lot of time in every coaching conversation helping people remember who they are.

It's my fundamental core purpose.

I'm here to remember who I am, and I'm here to help people remember who they are.

And when people remember who they are, it makes it really easy for them to understand what they need to do next.

So I feel like, in a way, I had forgotten who I was.

Or at least I was trying to put on a good argument to share with people who I want them to think that I am.

That's really exhausting.

It's really not who I am.

So I've done a lot to take away the convincing on my site.

I remain committed to doing this newsletter every week because it's a way for me to express in real time what I experience, what I have to say, what I have to share, and what I'm excited about.

I know many of you find this valuable, and it's something that you take time to read every week. I'm humbled and honored by that.

But what I want to check myself on going forward is spending less time convincing you of my value, and simply sharing who I am.

Because if that's what I do for my clients, I should really be doing that for myself.

I know this isn't what they teach in marketing courses.

It's certainly not what I've taught others.

But for me, right now, on January 14, 2026, this feels like alignment.

And that's what I'm going with.

Until next week,
-Coach Reg