The Beginning

The journey officially started in 2017 when I started consuming personal development. Before that I want to fill you in on what the previous years looked like.

Growing up it was me and my mom. She did the best she could and looking back I really had a fun and exciting childhood.

In 1st through 3rd grade I loved school. I was so nerdy that I was given the option to skip to the 2nd grade. In 3rd grade I won a 1st place medal for a top score in a critical thinking equations test.

At age 9 I got to reconnect with my dad and my grandparents, this was exciting! I got to see them several times a year.

In the 4th through the 8th grade, grades and school became less of a priority for me. I started to get in to trouble and spent every day after school playing sports with all the neighborhood kids. During this time I ended up at the police station on several occasions..

In high school I joined the basketball team, this was the first major shift in my life.The group I hung out with in middle school got into the party scene and I wasn't into it. That year I cut ties with all my friends at school.

In 10th grade, basketball helped me clean up my act. I stopped getting into trouble and made a whole new group of friends. I played all four years of highschool and had a blast.

After high school I went to a community college. I planned to play basketball but that summer I injured my knee. I didn't have health insurance or the right resources. For two years I didn't run or play sports until I eventually got it fixed.

In community college I struggled. I spent three years there before I got my associates degree. I had an interest in business and sales but didn't know what kind of job I wanted to do. 

I took semesters off, failed classes, and lacked focus. I worked at Goodwill and HHGREG (basically Best Buy) as an appliance and tv salesman. I also had my first major relationship during this time.

It's important to note, that the relationship I had was key at the time. All my friends from high school went to four year colleges. I began to question, "is this it, was high-school the peak of my life"?

Through the years up until this point two things held true.

1. I always had a void. I was happy but knew that we didn't have the luxuries that my friends had. My first car was this musty van you could always hear me before you could see me. I was embarrassed of where we lived and we never went on the traditional family vacations. I didn't like the limitations and always desired to have more some day!

2. I was constantly hustling and seeking ways to make my own money. Nobody taught me, it was just naturally within me. In 2nd grade I sold $200 worth of Pokémon cards and did lemonade stands. 

In 3rd grade I would buy 4 packs of hubba bubba gum for $1 and sell them for $1 each. I did inboxdollars (online surveys), I learned GameStop throws away videos games and accessories and began "dumpster diving" their stores and selling the items online. I called up the local McDonald's and asked for their large cardboard cutouts they used for promotions. Then I would sell them on craigslist. I started an eBay business flipping things from garage sales and Goodwill. Then I started a hat business wholesaling hats from China. (this was my first big win, I made $8K profit and bought my first car).

Throughout this time I never really had the role model or a mentor to show me the way. I had several step dads who came in out of the picture and I saw my dad once or twice a year but didn't get this mindset from him.

Because of that I did a lot of trial error and figured things out on my own.

The year I graduated from community college (2015) something significant happened. 

My grandparents invited me to Hawaii and paid for the whole trip. I spent 30 days there! I went whale watching, segwayed through the jungle, drove up a giant mountain to see the stars, flew over volcanoes in a helicopter, stayed in an ocean front luxury condo and ate good every night.

On the last day of this trip I had a moment that ignited my flame. I was thinking I was never going to see this again and then I changed my mind. Why not me? Why can't I be great? Why Can't I replicate all this and 10x it. In this moment I decided I was going to become the one. Here's that moment below.

In 2016 I was accepted into Illinois State University. I got off to a rough start when the first apartment I moved into had a mold problem. Being super allergic it was a problem. After several days I was sick, weak, and had no appetite. After a few weeks it became a big issue and I started driving home 3 hours every weekend just to get away from it.

Under a lot of stress I had my first run in with anxiety. Driving home there was a moment where I felt like I couldn't breathe. After a few episodes I started fearing the idea of having these moments and more came.

Shortly after I decided I needed to leave all together. I went to class and crashed on a friends couch every day for a month while looking for apartments. I tried every possible lead with no luck and just before I was going to decide between moving in with 3 girls or living off campus, the perfect apartment fell into my lap.

It was huge win, I got better and started doing great! Life was good.

Later taht semester I got straight A's and had a lot of fun.

Although my aspirations still existed they were just ideas. I was drifting without really realizing it. In my 2nd semester I was faced with major adversity. This event was the one that ultimately course corrected me and woke me up to the path I'm on today.