Article placement secured as part of a paid partnership with a PR firm that sought various media opportunities for Casey Weade and Howard Bailey.

The pursuit of success can derail everything important in life. That’s a lesson that Casey Weade didn’t learn until he took a long, hard look in the mirror one morning during his late 20s.

Weade should have felt overjoyed. Facing him in the mirror was a list of life goals he’d outlined since graduating college — and he’d accomplished every single one. His business was running itself, and he no longer had to work because of the financial independence he had achieved. Weade had “made it,” yet he felt empty and disillusioned, not knowing what to do next.

“It’s a strange feeling to focus on money your entire life and then realize you don’t need it anymore,” says Weade, who is CEO and "Chief Visionary" of the retirement planning firm Howard Bailey. His obsession with building wealth had taken priority over almost everything else in his life, including family.