After a spontaneous mini-vacation this week from Monday through Thursday in the Smoky Mountains of Gatlinburg, TN, I spent a lot of time reflecting and soul-searching.

There’s something about being surrounded by nature that gets your mind in the state of perfect clarity. Maybe it’s the green trees stretching across the valley, maybe it’s the mysterious sounds of animals, or maybe it’s the mountains soaring to the sky that creates this clear mental state.

Regardless of the cause of this powerful reflection, the results were real. And suddenly I discovered that I needed to do something else by going a different direction with my life.

This is what I wanted to share with you.

The Big News

I found a good routine and rhythm with Take Your Success. But at the same time, I also found a rut where I’m stuck doing the same thing day in and day out.

Writing two blog posts (sometimes three) plus an email each week takes a surprisingly long time. For example, all the time put in from start to finish of a blog post usually takes six to eight hours depending on how much research I need to do before writing it, the piece, and the length.

And since January 1, 2015, I’ve wrote 147 blog posts, while I also became an author of two books—The Golden Resume and Freedom Money.

As you see, I’ve been hustling to write every single day and usually my days involve content creation for this website and the book I’m working on.

This doesn’t mention all the social sharing, marketing, responding to subscribers’ emails, connecting with influencers, and other responsibilities of running a quality blog.

While all of this work is a good thing and I enjoy it, sometimes when you get too much of a good thing it becomes not such a good thing anymore.

And that’s how I feel about TakeYourSuccess.com. I’m worn out and tired of it.

So after the countless hours I’ve put into this site for the past 16 months or so—from the beginning when I didn’t know how to create a website to now where this site reaches more than 100,000 views a year—I’ve decided to shut down Take Your Success and do something else.

Maybe I’ll continue to write books. Maybe instead of providing information and strategies, I’ll create a physical product or invention. Or maybe I’ll travel the world and hop from country to country as I find what I really want out of life.

I know it’s time to say goodbye.

Anyway, I truly want to express how grateful I am for you joining me in this ride. I hope you’ve learned something about defeating procrastination, studying, getting the job you want, applying to grad school, or something else.

Every email response, blog comment, book review, and share on your social media account means more to me than you will ever know.

I feel so fortunate to have started this blog when I did and now it’s time to embark on another journey…

… But Wait

April fools!

This entire blog post until now is a complete joke.

Did I have you fooled and you actually believed that I was shutting down my baby Take Your Success? I can not see myself ever shutting this down.

Ironically, I’m doing the opposite and ramping things up. I quit my full-time sales job back in February to focus more on Take Your Success and writing books. Because I absolutely love building this site and providing value to other people’s lives. I’ve been obsessed ever since I started this blog.

So this site and I am not going anywhere. Look forward to more content that will improve your life and help you get the most out of your time.

And watch out for other April Fools’ Day pranks the rest of the day. From my own experience, some can be vicious.

As always, cheers to your success.

What are some of the best or worst—depending on how you view it—April Fools’ Day pranks you’ve pulled off or encountered? Did you like this prank or hate it?