Power in the Journey - Dan Inman
My Background
My name is Dan Inman, and if there is anything I’ve learned across more than four decades of teaching, coaching, leading, and listening, it’s that every one of us is both stronger and more fragile than we appear. I’ve spent my life around teenagers, young adults, and adults trying to figure out who they are, athletes pushing their limits, colleagues striving to lead well, and adult learners searching for second chances. I’ve seen greatness in unlikely places and quiet wounds behind strong faces, including my own.
My journey began long before I ever stood in a classroom or on a football field. I grew up as the sixth child in a home full of siblings and stories, learning early to be independent, responsible, and steady. But it wasn’t until much later in life that I really began asking more profound questions about why I lived the way I did, why I felt what I felt, and why specific patterns stayed with me long after childhood ended.
I don’t hold a degree in psychology. Still, I’ve spent much of my life studying human behavior in the most real way possible—by watching people, working with them, loving them, and trying to understand myself in the process. The classroom taught me facts; life taught me insight. Coaching taught me strategy; people taught me compassion. Leadership taught me responsibility; reflection taught me humility, and my parents and family taught me never to get too big for my britches!
Over the years, I’ve served as a teacher, a coach, a mentor, and, eventually, a system president overseeing a group of private colleges. Those titles mattered at the time, but what stayed with me were the conversations—the moments when someone trusted me enough to be honest, or when a student’s eyes lit up in understanding, or when a colleague admitted they were struggling and we worked through it together.
This book grew out of the same desire that fueled my life’s work:
To understand, to listen, to heal, and to help others see themselves clearly.
I wrote these pages the way I’ve lived my life—one honest step at a time. Not as an expert, but as a man who has spent years asking “why?” and finally found peace not in having all the answers, but in telling the truth about the questions.
Today, I continue to learn. I continue to grow. And I continue to believe that every person carries within them an incredible capacity for healing, courage, and transformation. My hope is that my journey, and these words, will give you permission to explore your own with gentleness and grace.