First off -- Happy Valentine's Day! 🫶

If you don't have someone to go on a date with, go get some seasonal treats and have some fun.

My wife and I are heading up the peninsula to a hotel and trying a new Italian restaurant.

It's gonna be fun, but that's not why you opened this email.

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For all I know, this might be my last email. And yes, I've said this before.

Twice, actually. Maybe 3 times, I forget.

But this time is different (really).

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You might be asking yourself:

I already told you, if you read that email, that on Monday I found out something shocking -- I've been a Level 1 ADAPT-certified parkour coach for 10 years and I didn't know about it.

I've made decisions about my parkour practice and career that were based on the assumption that I did not have that certification yet.

And the last few days, I've been increasingly bothered about it.

You see, it was my dream to be a Level 2 ADAPT-certified parkour coach. I can't tell you how many times over even the past few years I've found myself visiting the Parkour Generations website looking for potential career pivots back into the world of parkour.

I never stopped wanting this. What I did do was stop trying.

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Now that I know I've got a Level 1 cert, and I have all the confidence and skills needed to start my own coaching practice if the YMCA doesn't approve of parkour classes, I'm no longer blocked by:

• Time
• Money
• Skill
• Red Tape
• Confidence

I'm officially out of excuses, for the first time in my life.

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This is still hard for me because none of this Social QA stuff was all about the money, even though I'm a big believer in charging money for your time.

It was about creative freedom, the opportunity to share my knowledge, building a learning community, helping others become more capable...

...and the more I think about it, it was about all the things parkour used to give me when I co-founded and co-ran a parkour club at University of Wisconsin - Whitewater.

Things were never the same after I graduated and I never found a way to fill that void...

...that is, until I started Social QA, but even that was incomplete as I'm now able to see clearly what it is I actually wanted.

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So here's what to expect:

• The current cohort of Social QA Bootcamp will continue to receive my full support as they go through the course. No changes there.
• I'm going to stop all comms: no email, no content.
• I'm no longer going to spend a single minute on product creation or enhancement, including the course.
• My morning hours and weekends and all the energy I put into this business will be reclaimed for parkour training and building a coaching practice in my local community.
• All of my products will still be available for purchase, except for Social QA Bootcamp, which will remain closed.

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If you want to know more about what the Level 2 ADAPT certification entails or what parkour is, I've just given you links so you can learn about them.

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I'm truly grateful for all the opportunities you've given me as your instructor, email writer, friend, mentor, or whatever it is I was to you.

But I'd truly regret not pursuing this next adventure, so I've made up my mind.

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I don't know where I'll blog or post about it, but I will find a way to document this journey somehow. It will be significant and significant things are worth documenting and remembering.

When I decide how that'll look, I'll send you an email about it.

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If you're looking for other people to learn from, I highly recommend looking up Artem Bondar and Anna Patterson.

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As ADAPT always signs their emails....

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Yours in Movement,

Steven