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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

As ADAPT always signs their emails....

Yours in Movement,

Steven