My Story...

From Ideas to Inspiration

1992 - It was all a dream... In the immortal words of Biggie Smalls, "It was all a dream..." I was 13 years old and was just starting high school. I lived in a small town and life was simple. Less than 100 miles away, there was a company changing the world. The CEO of this company was Bill Gates. I grew up in Washington state and everyone knew who Bill Gates was. Everyone knew who Microsoft was - and they still do. This was the first time I witnessed one man making a world wide impact - in real time. Even from afar, the impact was obvious. Later that year I had a life changing experience. I went to see the head football coach of Notre Dame speak - his name is Lou Holtz. The one down side was that I would have to sit through two days of someone I have never heard of named Jim Rohn. This is when everything changed. I remember that seminar as if it was yesterday. This was the when I heard someone say, "You can create your future." and it clicked. I sat for two days, mesmerized by learning the Philosophy of Success - which I affectionately call the Philosophy of Conscious Creation because success is subjective in many cases, yet we all create, even what we don't want. I remember when I heard, "Never wish things were easier, Wish you were better." Or, "Never wish for less problems, Wish for more skills." Or, "Invent something people use once and you'll make a million dollars, Invent something people use every day and you'll make hundreds of millions of dollars." My favorite, "A traditional education will make you a living, a Self-education will make you a fortune!" By the time Lou Holtz came out to speak, I had almost no interest in what he had to say because my mind was blown, my brain was full, and my dreams were ignited. Fast forward 4 years... 1996 - About those dreams... I had graduated from High School in 1996 - and that was a struggle. As a creative, free-thinking, self-determining teenager, it was near impossible for me to "fit in" - thank the heavens! This is a challenge throughout my entire life. In fall of 1996 I went off to college, with no idea how I would pay for it but I knew I was going to the promised land of progress! My excitement to spread my wings was unpleasantly short lived, I got to college only to find out that it was essentially the same as where I had come from..."Here, get in this box and stay there." Take the classes, answer the questions with the expected answers. Innovation? Not here. Somehow through a beautiful twist of fate I took a philosophy class and I saw someone challenging the cultural status quo handed out to the world. I studied the thoughts of great thinkers like Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato. I realized I needed to change my environment and I transferred to a new college where fate would intervene yet again...with a trip to the hospital... I spent the weekend prior to finals in the Emergency Room with an allergic reaction to improperly prescribed medication. I got out of the hospital late Sunday evening and I had 3 finals first thing the following morning. Needless to say, that did not work out well. I was still experiencing the toxic effects from a few days prior. I failed all 3 finals. A month and a half later, I was politely "kicked out of college". I was crushed. However, I believe a person determines their own fate, so I turned that fresh pain into a powerful motivation. This led to the greatest expansion of my life up to that point... 2000 - Dreams coming true... Between the end of 1998 and Summer of 2000 I had followed a divine path the universe had laid at my feet. I went from "kicked out of college" to working with the best engineering and business minds I have met. I found myself in a startup building the first "cloud" solutions - though the term didn't exist at the time. I was on top of the world and I felt like I was home. I was inspired and felt invincible working with these like-minded creators. Their list of accomplishments is the topic for an entire book. It was amazing. High energy. Dynamic. Challenging. Unlimited opportunity. Progress every single day! There was one small caveat, the biggest software company in the world was extremely unhappy about this. Which resulted in a pivot (before pivot was a thing). Ultimately the company was acquired by a large multi-national and I found myself in corporate life, being asked to kindly "stay in this box." Again, the time had come for a change. I left an amazing job, working with amazing people, with fantastic compensation. The reason I left is that I was unfulfilled. When I left, I set out to Fail Until I Succeeded. Period This led to a number of attempts to create my metaphorical light bulb - and as Edison said, "I haven't failed, I've just found a thousand ways that don't work." Then one day, the universe gave me a nudge... 2004 - The road less traveled... I found myself on crutches with my leg in a cast with a torn achilles tendon. I recommend avoiding this experience. Not only did I tear it once, I tore it twice. I was on crutches, pain killers, anti-inflammatories, blood thinners, and one or two other things. Needless to say I was miserable. I got two things from this experience: 1) a relationship with my father; and 2) a successful software business. While I was injured an opportunity came to me, one that wasn't shiny. It wasn't pretty. It was important. I found a place where I could apply my expertise. I passed on "job opportunities" from Microsoft, Apple, Google, and countless other companies because the words of Jim Rohn burned in my mind, "If you invent something people use once, you'll make a million dollars. If you invent something people use every day, you'll make hundreds of millions of dollars." The opportunity presented itself and I jumped on it... I knew that I was passing on predictable income, predictable days, predictable workload. Like so many entrepreneurs will tell you, "Sometimes not knowing how crazy something is, is a good thing." The next few years resulted in countless sleepless nights spent working. Situations that were work/live/work. Sleeping less than 10 feet from my computer many nights. A complete lack of balance. A complete obsession with results. After a few years of this I was facing a crossroads. I had two choices, either (a) burnout; or (b) create a massive shift in how I was living my life (or not living). Both would ultimately require a massive shift in my thinking. Fortunately, I knew where to start... 2013 - Firewalking... I think therefore I am. To be or not to be. All you need is love. The basic truth is that our thoughts determine our experience of what we call reality. In March of 2013 I traveled to Los Angeles, California to attend a seminar put on by Tony Robbins. The seminar is called Unleash The Power Within. This is the seminar that Oprah attended. That Marc Benioff attended 3 times before starting Salesforce.com. This sparked a transformation in my life from achievement oriented to balanced with fulfillment. 11 months later, I was at Tony's winter home with some of my closest friends. It was on this trip that I came to the profound realization that what I was searching for may already be in my possession. My friend Marc Faber, the billionaire investor and publisher of "Gloom Boom Doom" shared some epic wisdom after speaking for 3 hours about where to invest in southeast Asia. Lightening struck when Marc was asked for his official investment advice in one sentence he replied (with a uniquely Swiss accent), "Invest in Beer and Cigarettes! Because happiness is all that matters and everything else is just a game." From that one sentence a new found clarity arose. 2016 - From Unconscious to Conscious... In 2016 I faced the biggest challenge in life - my unconscious self. The part of me that had all of my beliefs, assumptions, convictions - all of my ambient thought. It is our-self, that is our most challenging opponent. All of our limits exist only between our ears. I committed to mastering how I think and mastering how I feel. All of the wisdom, teachings, and thinking of my entire life culminated in a simple formula as old as time: Thoughts determine our Feelings which manifest into our Actions/Behavior which dictate our Results which determine our Circumstances, and thus our Destiny. I believe that thoughts are the genesis of our reality. So to change anything in our life, we must first change our thoughts. I focused on creating my reality by changing my words which changed my thoughts and feelings. Our words paint the picture of our reality. In 2016, I went through the process of learning to improve my relationship with myself which immediately improved my relationship with others. In order to do this, I had to address my beliefs, my vision, and my rhythm. This process was so powerful for myself and others that I wrote a book about it and ultimately created "The Abundance Journal". The Abundance Journal is the answer to the question I asked myself, "How do I REALLY change my life? How do I REALLY create what I want?" 2017 - To Infinity and Beyond... I believe that the future belongs to all of us. I absolutely love creating innovative solutions that move humanity closer to a brighter future. I love the energy of creation and love working with Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. I believe Entrepreneurs are the guardians of the future. I founded PaidToday.com to solve a problem that all 22.5 million businesses in the U.S. have - as well as all businesses world wide. To support the entrepreneurial spirit, I have also created ExcaliburUniversity.com to provide a single place where Entrepreneurs can get real-world education to transform the future.