Changing My Path

In 2017 my life changed.

I mentioned I had been drifting but this event shifted my trajectory and is one my biggest blessings in disguise to date.

In a basketball tournament I got a concussion. I jumped high in the air off balance and my legs were taken out from underneath me. I landed flat on my back and hit my head. I didn't lose consciousness and finished the game.

The next day I felt like I was hit by a bus. I went to the hospital and was told I had a concussion. It was no big deal but what followed that was the challenge. I had post concussion syndrome. (full concussion symptoms for months).

The symptoms dragged out and the effects were lasting. Headaches during everything. Screen time for homework, TV, loud music, drinking, and working out all made things worse.

Feelings of not being able to breathe and the anxiety returned. I finished the semester and went home for the summer.

At home I started physical therapy. I did vestibular exercises, balance work, massage work, and increased exposure to screen time to slowly bring me back.

During this time I had lots of time and few options. I decided it was time to start reading again. I went to the library and checked out 6 books.

One that impacted me the most and the first one that I read was The Little Red Book of Selling by Jeffrey Gitomer.

Jeffrey said that writing was the key to credibility. So I decided I needed to write. I created a LinkedIn and started writing my first Linkedin article.

80% better and with school a month out I decided to return to my apartment and look for a job. 

I drove down late on a hot humid night. It was 85 degrees and the air was thick. I go up to my 3rd floor apartment and the AC is broken, it's over 100 degrees and there's a crazy smell. I guess the heat had been cooking my apartment all summer. All my clothes smelled, my bed smelled, everything.

I leave, try to fix the problem, and ultimately end up staying the night there. I wake up in the morning sick. Frustrated I go outside and call my mom.

At this point I broke down. I felt helpless and cried for the first time since I was a kid. At that moment I doubted everything. How am I going to be able to finish school? How am I going to ever move into a new apartment and get a job? But this was good. Adversity is good.

I asked my family to come help me move everything out and that same day they did! Being at a low point this was the most loyal "family moment" I've ever had. I needed them so bad and my mom, stepdad and siblings dropped everything they were doing to come help me.

A month later I moved into a new town home. Cautiously optimistic, everything went great. I saw a counselor and within a month I overcame the remaining anxiety. I got back to working out, focusing on school and having fun.

Thanks to books I had some new habits. I had been writing a few Linkedin articles, listening to podcasts, and changing my thinking. I began sharing my belief publicly and then a perfectly timed opportunity presented itself. (more about this in my book)

A friend of mine was partnered with a brand new health and wellness company that just launched. He spoke of the benefits of being a founding member, at the time I could tell it was what I needed.

I always said I was going to be great and do big things but I had no active investments and wasn't working towards that goal. 

So I bet on myself. I took $1200 I had in loan money and joined a network marketing company, Vasayo.

Vasayo was my launching pad into personal growth and took things to the next level. I made incredible friends, actively grew my social media, did dozens of Facebook lives, plugged into a personal development training school called Overcome Nation, hosted events, traveled to a few cities and started earning money.

A lot of consistent activities working towards growing this business which in turn was developing my confidence, and belief systems.

Even with a "side hustle" the plan was still to get a regular sales job out of college. I started putting all my eggs into the get hired by The Chicago Bulls basket. It started here and continued up until 2018.

If you are wondering why there isn't much to report in 2017 it's because it was a rebound year. Aside from working on the Vasayo business I spent my free time at school, working out and going out with friends.

During this time I had one other hobby that I spent time studying and that was credit hacks. I learned the importance of good credit and realized that you could make money utilizing all the bonuses.

I built up to 13 cards, earned a few thousand dollars in free money and achieved an 800+ credit score.

I even won a flight on a private jet, One of the guys I was learning from held a contest for a free flight. The day after christmas I won a flight from Chicago to New York City.