So, Now What?

 The fact that you made it here tells me that you and I have more in common than we show on the surface.  Because you want to make a better life and you are willing to make a change to do it.  Because of this, we have something in common that separates us from most people.

Looking back to when I was 17 years old, I realize now that I had no idea what I wanted to do in life. My parents just said “You can be anything.” Instead of finishing High School, I joined the military and didn't have a clue what to do next. All I could think was "What does be anything mean anyway?"

I wanted to live a good life like my friends were. 

The military was the best paycheck I could find and it  wasn't enough. What I wanted was to live a life like I read about in books and magazines. I wanted a nice home, nice cars and a job or a business that made me want to get out of bed in the morning and go to work. Instead I got into the military and didn't have a clue what to do next.  I stayed 20 years in the reserves because I later found a purpose in the reserves.

Early on, I had a skill set that landed me on a Military Competition Team. From that team I learned the principles of success and only applied them to the team.  That team and I won several gold medals in Regional and National Competitions and yet somehow I didn't know how to apply the principles of success to the rest of my life. I still felt like I was falling farther behind every day, I am sure you have felt that way sometimes too.

Eventually I got stuck deep in a rut, I didn't have the money I wanted, I didn't have the time to hang out with my friends and I didn't like my work. I would do my best to have fun and fit in, but deep down I knew that I could do better and I could be happier, the question was how.

Finally after years of working a side job to keep my business going my wife and I sat down to talk. Something had to give.  I couldn't take the work schedule any longer, she couldn't take the stress.

I realized that for nearly 20 years I had been working with no real direction or idea what to do next. I just did what everyone else expected me to do to make them happy. The truth is they weren't happy either, they just didn't have to deal with me if I just went off and did my work.

During those 20 years, I read just about every success book I could find.  I went to dozens of seminars, bought all the home study courses and still felt like I was running in a sand trap.  I still couldn't find my own path to success and happiness.

One piece was always missing, and I didn't figure it out unitl a couple of years ago even though it was something I knew deep inside, I just couldn't bring it out.

I woke up one day and found myself with nothing do to for an entire week. It was during the holidays, my store and office were closed and I didn't have enough money to go anywhere. For the second time since we had been married,my wife and were spending our holidays at home alone with each other because we were out of money.  We didn't even have the money for gas to see our family.  This is a hard thing for anyone to have to live through, never mind admit on a website.  That week I decided it was time to change.

I still didn't know how, I just knew I had to change.

This might sound like the decision you made that brought you here to my website.  Maybe you decided to find the answer to the question, So, Now What? Just like I did a couple of years ago.

I remember sitting in my bedroom,  lost and broke looking at my medals wondering how some people get medals and end up rich and famous while others drift of to obscurity like I had. I wondered how could I be so good at something and so lousy at so many other things.  Then it hit me, my wife and friends were right, and I began to understand what and how I needed to change.

At that time, I had a million dollar a year business, and I was just beating myself up to keep it alive. On the surface it looked great.  The reality was all of my employees were making more money than I was.  One million dollars came in the door, and pretty close to a million went out the door every year, sometimes more.  I sat there thinking to my self, So, Now What? As I sat down and reviewed my success in life along with my failures, I realized the failures were all required in order to understand my success.