Halligan's Accident Awakening

Brian Halligan shares how a severe snowmobile accident in Vermont became a transformative life event.

"I was snowmobiling up in Vermont with my son Luke. We hit a tree so hard it broke my helmet. I broke 12 or 13 bones - my left knee, tibia, femur, right wrist, left elbow, left shoulder were all trashed. My son broke his femur and knee and got a concussion.

Lying there in the snow thinking I was going to die, I thought to myself 'How is your life? Are you proud of it? Are you enjoying your life?' It was sort of a reset button for me. Looking back, it may be the best thing that ever happened to me because I made a lot of life changes.

I broke up with my girlfriend of a couple years. My whole life was HubSpot, and I didn't spend time on other causes. I found the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and joined their board. I started taking my health more seriously - now I get my heart rate up to 160 daily. I want to live a long healthy life. I'm 54, and I want to be a very vibrant 70-year-old.

During recovery, I had everyone from a neurosurgeon to a shaman helping me. They all said to do one thing - meditate. I was never a meditator before, I tried and was so bad at it that I gave up. Now I'm a pretty big meditator. I'm taking classes on Vedic meditation because I want to get better at it. It seems like it unlocks a lot."