Her revelations (“I realized how much I let fear
keep me back”) led her to quit the law for good
and go all-in on her own ventures, including
a stretch as a dating coach. She then began
speaking to groups and organizations about her
dating project and realized she was good at it.
The self-doubt was easy to focus on in the
beginning after she gave up a regular paycheck.
By projecting that into the world, Goodroe said,
she made it difficult for others to support her.
Brooks stressed that not all second acts are
about business. A second act could be a
spiritual journey, or a commitment to long-term
volunteer work, he said. Whatever it is, it’s not an
easy quest.
“You need a problem-filled life if you want to
have a lot of opportunities,” he said. “If you have
smooth sailing, if you get everything that you
want, you’re going to be basically bored out of
your mind.”