It was a slap in my face when my boss told me he was laying me off.

My face turned red immediately as he shook my hand and told me to turn in my laptop.

All the hard work of trying to succeed at my first sales position in Big Tech, gone.

The awkward stares from my coworkers were bad but that wasn’t the worst part.

What really got to me was knowing I had no back up plan.

The security of a steady paycheck was gone.

The embarrassment of not being good enough hurt.

Even more so I had to go my fiancé and tell her we now had to dip into our hard-earned savings, watching the work we put in go to waste, until I could find another job.

The glaring problem staring back at me was I could not survive for long without someone else hiring me and paying me for my work.

I had to rely on someone else to pay my bills and keep my life from spiraling out of control.

To me it seemed almost wrong.

I realized that I had no leverage in my life.

A college degree and 2 years of sales for what. I had nothing I owned or created that I could leverage.

I realized I couldn’t let this ever happen again.

I had always talked to those around me about how building a business and achieving financial freedom but where was the effort?

At the end of the day it had always been a dream. As Denzel Washington says, Dreams without goals are just dreams.

With a fire lit beneath me, I started to apply myself.

I focused like I had never focused before.

I organized my lifestyle to optimize learning.

I already had a base of knowledge being a book nerd.

I loved learning about Psychology, Philosophy, and Human Performance.

I took this a step further with Chat GPT.

Chat GPT had released and I was immediately drawn to it.

I focused on learning the best way to prompt it to help me.

Specifically, how to make it my AI counterpart.

You see, I didn’t have anyone to call upon.

This was something I had to figure out on my own, and it gave me a driving force to push what I had to the limit.

I gave Chat GPT everything I could think of.

My thoughts, my position in life, my resources at the time, and my goals.

I had lofty goals, but it outputted a 6-Month strategy to get to where I wanted to be.

Now this was not a get rich quick strategy.

This developed into something more.

It analyzed:

The reason I went with this is because I always knew I could find a job anywhere I went.

But who can say that they have a number of followers they could release a digital product to and get sales on it today?

This was something that seemed only the rich and famous “Tiktokers” could do.

But I believed it was possible to do that for myself as well.

The first step I had to do was figure out what my Mission, Vision, and Values were.

I dived into books, started researching top creators who had done this, and started to write about my thoughts.

I felt like I did not have anything to build off of until I watched a video on youtube by a person named Dan Koe.

This video was called The One-Person Business Model.

I dived into this video and decided that I needed to figure out what I could devote myself to and help those around me.

I started diving into my own psyche to learn about who I was and what I wanted.

I figured out:

Once I had direction, I found the creator who was doing what I thought was valuable.

Dan Koe was leading the way in understanding Human Potential and creating your own brand doing the things you love.

I paid for his 2-Hour Writer course and finished the 1st time around within 1 month.

From there I learned that building a one person business was about creating authority and authenticity by showing my work.

The only problem was I didn't have anything.

Or so I thought.

I looked at myself as someone with nothing to give but that wasn't true.

I went bare bones and looked at everything I had accomplished in my life.

Here is what I found.

I had a ton of things I had accomplished.

I had a lifetime of mistakes, education, and projects I had applied myself to.

I took all my journals from the past 4 years and started analyzing things I had been interested in, in the past.

I found trends and thought processes that got me to where I am today and started to condense everything.

I made a page in my notes and began writing everything down.

Dan Koe recommended keeping a notes tab called “The Queue” for ideas that pop up so you can implement them later. I applied this.

I thought the ideas would just pour into it, but they didn't.

I had 2-3 ideas that I previously had thought of but other than that, nothing.

I had goals but they weren’t tangible at that moment.

There was nothing to feed into the machine of idea generation.

As I went about my day the most peculiar thing would happen.

I would be listening to a YouTube video about speaking or something I was interested and all of a sudden, a thought would strike though my head.

Marketing Saas for CrossFit Gyms.

I looked at this and felt no emotion toward it. Nothing. I figured I could look into Saas companies that are doing it but thought it would be too much effort. So I tossed it in the Void.

The Void is like a Recycling bin that doesn't empty but could have something of value in it.

Most of the ideas I come up with I dont have a strong desire to open up and elaborate on so if it doesn’t spark my interest after 2 times of looking at it I throw it in the “Void.”

I check the void every 6 months or so to see if something sparks my interest again based upon what I am experiencing in life.

This came to me as I was in discord with a group of friends brainstorming ideas on how to make 1 Million dollars by 2030.

It was quick and it was fading but I put it down.

I would amass these notes for about a week before diving into what I had thought about.

As I would accumulate ideas I would have to offload them in order to make room for new ones.

These ideas typically would pop up when I was engaging in some form of review or learning.

As I have progressed in my note taking I realize that it follows a pattern of Intake and Output.

These ideas seem to quiet down if I am not consuming information related to growth or what I am interested in.

They do not show up when I am mindlessly scrolling, it has to be relevant information I can apply. These ideas would amass until I need to offload them and apply them to my life. I would then take Sundays to be my review day.

This day was a day to organize and attack a week.

After reading Jockos book on Extreme Ownership I applied his teachings of Reviewing and Prioritizing before executing.

I would spend roughly 1.5 hours going over my week, assessing goals and progress, and analyzing what went right and what went wrong.

1 Particular Sunday an Idea came to my mind that stuck.

“I have studied the mind and body for the past 7 years but I have kept all the information in my journals. What if I wrote about it?”

I had gone to college for Health and Human Performance, I had dived into Psychology and studied how and why the brain works the way it does, I had focused on optimizing the brain and body but had not been showing my work.

Using the frameworks and aspects I learned from books and my personal experiences, I created a Blog.

It was challenging to fit writing time into my day and not to mention Time-Consuming but it allowed me to articulate my ideas and share my passions with others.

It didnt help that I didn’t know how to write.

I had written essays in college but those were really just thrown together in an effort to make at least a B.

To really take my ideas and articulate them into a fashion that would show authenticity and authority was a whole different ball game.

I am a massive follower of Jordan Peterson and had watched his video on Youtube on how writing is key to success.

I found his method of writing published in a template on google and utilized it.

It was insane.

It increased my writing skills 10x faster than ever before.

As I continued to be inspired, reflect on my ideas, and write; I began to follow a natural path.

This path wasn’t something I had mapped out, but it was Moreso something that was unfolding in front of me.

I pursued what I enjoyed and was actually working through in my own life.

Problems I encountered were simply stepping stones in my writing.

I began to hone in on what I was truly driven to research and dive into.

It rang in my head.

These words MEANT something to me.

They were tangible and I could craft something from them.

I dived into what that meant.

The first idea I had wasnt some fluke.

It was my mind presenting what it wanted to me.

I researched how to make people become the best version of themselves through Mental and Physical wellness and devoted time into writing about it.

I created a Newsletter and dived into creating the very tools I started writing about.

I Believed I could do this as a side gig so I posted a video to tell everyone I had created a blog.

This came with immediate mental roadblocks including:

But the video I had posted, telling people I had started down this path, gave me something to hold myself accountable to.

Putting myself out there was tough.

For some reason when you find something you truly have a passion for you get a feeling like you don’t want anyone to ruin that.

I knew how ruthless the internet is and it was scary to open myself up to that.

I felt like a fraud and had this idea that I couldn’t do what I wanted because I didn’t have the “credentials” or the “experience.”

I was just an average guy who had no massive accomplishments.

I’m not an Olympian, I’m not a Special Forces Agent, and I’m certainly not a Scientist.

But I do have a passion for helping people.

Little did I know that putting my work out there was me validating myself and creating a base for me to create on.

I turned to talking about Stress Management and Mindfulness on YouTube and to my surprise my content got the attention of a representative from Keller Williams.

She reached out to me to come speak at one of their Mental Health events they were having.

She said Mental Health was a focus for them and they would pay to have me come speak for them.

This was huge. But it was also daunting. The fact that I had to deliver a 45 minute speech and speak in front a crowd of people was scary to say the least.

But this was a challenge I was not going to back down from.

I had 2 months to prepare and I dedicated every spare moment I had to it.

The first month and a half was focused on the speech, visual additions, and resources I would bring with me.

I was shocked that an average guy like we was being looked at as someone who could help people in their workplace.

I took it as a challenge and devoted myself to creating a presentation that I would be proud of.

2 Weeks up until the event I was focused on practicing my speech over and over to focus on tone and delivering the message.

The day came and I did it.

Sure, it wasn’t the best, it was nowhere near where I believe I can be, but it was a step in the right direction.

This was an insane journey up until this point and it all led to that moment.

Did I know that Chat GPT was actually going to lead to this? No.

Did it get me started in the right direction and just show me a possible path? Yes.

Looking back there are plenty of lessons I learned along the way.

Not to mention the countless roadblocks of my mind trying to hold myself back.

Sometimes, this push comes in the form of something unexpected like Chat GPT. Other times, it's the pain of losing a steady job and the security it brings.

So, do not fear the unknown. Embrace the challenge. Step out of your comfort zone and lean into the discomfort. It is the key to learning, growing, and realizing your potential.

Whether you're starting a business, writing a blog, speaking publicly, or venturing into a new hobby, remember to start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

In the end, it's not about having all the answers but about asking the right questions.

It's not about the destination, but the journey.

And as you travel down your path, remember to pause and appreciate how far you've come.

If there's one thing, I want you to take away from my story, it's this:

Use every setback as a set-up for a comeback.

Always be learning.

Never stop dreaming.

And remember, even when life gives you a slap in the face, it's just preparing you for a comeback.

It’s not the events in life that define us, but rather how we choose to react to them. Getting let go was the best thing that could have happened to me. It set me on a path of self-discovery, growth, and eventual success.

So, don’t shy away from challenges. Embrace them. They are opportunities in disguise.

Remember to persevere, remain positive, and keep moving forward. You are stronger than you think. You are more capable than you believe. You are on your path to greatness.

If you found value in my journey, make sure to sign up for my newsletter/follow my blog for more inspirational stories, lessons, and frameworks learned along the way.

For those of you who are facing similar challenges, remember that you're not alone. I offer personalized coaching sessions/products designed to help you navigate through these difficult times all on your budget. Connect with me to learn more!