So this is my story....

If you're reading this let me start by saying "Thank you". I'm not sure how you came by this site or this blog, but thank you for taking the time to visit. In a world where everything is trying to capture our attention, I appreciate you spending a few moments here.

Let's jump right into it. This blog, this site, and everything associated with it, is the result of close to 20 years of my own personal journey to become the author or my life and live a life by design. My design. You see almost 20 years ago, I decided that I was going to become the author of my life. Ever since that day, just about everything I have in my life, all of the places I have been, the money I have made, hell even my wife, was written down on paper before it ever happened. After finally getting fed up and tired of going nowhere, financially broke, unhappy and in a dead end job, I said enough is enough.

In a moment of pain where I finally had the leverage to make a change, I seized it and took action. I began writing what I was no longer going to put up with in my life. I began to write who I was going to become, how much money I was going to make, what I was going to contribute to the world, the places I was going to travel to and what my life was going to become about. It was freedom, happiness, love, growth contribution, success and finally living the life I had imagined and believed to the core of my soul, I could create.

To give you a clue, I took massive action. I went from working as a bartender in a strip club to making over $350,000 in less than 4 years. That's not to impress you by the way. Many people have done more in less time. For me though, it was a pretty big freakin deal. But I didn't stop there. I now had the secret and went on a 20 year (and counting) journey of self development, self improvement, self awareness and doing my best to live the life I had imagined. All along I was writing it in my journal. Each year a new chapter, a new chance to write and live, the best life I could live. It hasn't always gone as quickly or as smoothly as I would have liked it. In fact, I really thought I would be in a different place right now. But maybe, I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing and now is exactly the right time. I've always tried to help other people live the life of their dreams and become the author of their lives, as I had done. I did it incrementally and on a small scale. To be honest, I'm not sure how many people I even had an effect on, but I would like to believe it was a few.

Recently however, I noticed that I had become complacent. One of my mentors, a man by the name of Steve Linder (www.strategicbrain.com) told me that complacency was like crack; it kills. It does. It kills drive, it kills goals, it kills momentum. Somewhere along the line, the story I was writing began to change. While it was and is a beautiful story, the progress had slowed down and I found myself unhappy again, and looking for something more. All of a sudden, I wasn't happy with the career that I had worked so hard to build. I was questioning my worth, my achievements and my place in the world. Someone said I was going through a mid-life crisis (I turned 50 last January). But I don't think that's what it was. I think that it's because I wasn't really growing anymore. Not the way I wanted to grow. I wasn't taking chances or getting out of my comfort zone. What got me to where I am today was just that, taking a chance on myself, believing in myself to become more. This idea to help people "Be The Author of Your Life" has been nagging in the back of my brain for years. I should do this, write this, take it big and help as many people as I can live a life by their design. Of course, I'm not unique in this space. There are many, many, many more people doing this on a grand scale. So I created a story that said, "why would anyone listen to me?" "I'm not that successful" "what do I have to offer?" and began to talk myself out of moving forward.

All of a sudden, my whole philosophy of "I was the author of my life" became bullshit. I started sliding backwards and doing things to sabotage my success and my mindset. Thankfully, I have learned the skills to interrupt that pattern and call bullshit on the bullshit story I was telling myself. (I know, that's a lot of bullshit right?) I used the pain I was feeling to create leverage to take action. Like a fulcrum on a boulder I started to apply pressure consciously and unconsciously to myself until I started to finally take action. This blog, this site and all that is about to come from it is the result of that pressure. I'm waaaay out of my comfort zone doing this and writing this. Because there is still that sense of fear. Do you know what I'm talking about?

The really cool thing is that these are learnable skills. If you have read this far, I'm guessing that you and I are a lot alike. We both have imagined the life of our dreams. We both have things we want to achieve, or do, or become. For many reasons, but mostly just because we know we can. Sometimes you just need some help. The truth is, I am special, I am unique, I have a unique perspective and a unique voice and I can help other people. Guess what? So are you, in your own perfectly imperfect way. So I invite you on this journey with me. And maybe, just maybe, I can help you become the "Author of Your Life" and write the amazing story of your life you were born to tell.

Since you've read this far, go ahead and sign up now to receive updates on this blog and my journey. Perhaps in reading about my journey, you'll gain the insight to get farther faster on your journey. Again, thank you for spending a few minutes with me. Now let's get to work.