My life, as many others, and possibly even yours... was no smooth snailing. I grew up in quite the dysfunctional home environment, the emotional effects of which lasted far into my adult years. Long story short... by the time I had reached the age of 30, I was married, divorced, broke, and bankrupt. I lost my home and was living on canned tuna fish salad everyday because I didn't know I qualified for welfare, and would have probably been too ashamed to apply for it anyway. Life felt like one big depressing struggle. I would spend days on end, without leaving my home, shutting myself off from the outside world. People thought it was weird. I was still functional and responsible enough to my job of course, doing my best to put on a smile and even making people laugh. But the truth was that I was in quiet desperation. I felt trapped and yearned for freedom. I yearned for freedom from the constraints of life, of a job, of social norms, societal judgement, of lack and limitation. I didn't desire to be rich in monetary wealth or to live in luxury. I just wanted to be free and live life on my own terms without the feeling of chains and shackles.

Since the young age of 18 I remember getting involved in numerous business opportunities that offered the dream of financial freedom and independence. It started with an insurance company called A.L. Williams. Next, I think it was Cutco Knives. Over the years I then found myself in couple nutrition companies, Herbalife, and then Shaklee. Oh, and some time in between, I remember selling vacuums, lol. I absolutely yearned to have my own business and be my own boss. Yet, I failed at - every - single - one - of these businesses, and I couldn't, for the life of me, understand why others were making it and I wasn't. I did my best to implement all of the strategies I was told to do... talk to my family and friends, which I hated; wear a button that read, "Lose weight, ask me how", which I hated even more; go to the swap meet and put flyers on cars, which was annoying when the security would them all off and toss them in the trash; and pass them out to people at the malls or wherever else I happened to be, which I found a little embarrassing. It all felt so "sales-y" and uncomfortable. I attended weekly meetings and paid the expenses of traveling to annual out-of-state conventions. But after it all, I was still just as broke as when I started.

Years gone by when I stumbled upon yet another company online, Empower Network, which introduced me to the concept of digital marketing. This was a new concept that got me excited. To think that I won't have to do all those silly strategies that didn't work for me was exciting. I did my best, also traveling to attend a few of their events. But in the end, while I couldn't seem to get this one going either, I now understood the powerful potential of the internet, and set hopes on this endeavor.

Meanwhile, it wasn't until many unnecessary years later of continued struggle that I finally came to the realization of the true source of my success, or lack of should I say. And that source was ME, with a capital M and a capital E - ME. My emotional state of being. My mind and my thoughts. My perspective on life. My perspective on myself. And my perspective of others. It was all ME the entire time. And all, or almost all, of it was negative and destructive. Albeit subconsciously, I allowed all the negative emotional experiences of growing up in a dysfunctional home environment to become a part of me and more so, allowed it to define who I thought I was, and also how I defined and judged other people as well. Given all of the negative energy I was putting out, it was no wonder I was broke, stressed, and depressed.

However, over time through a daily personal development practice, I was able to maintain more and more awareness of the truth of who I really am. I began making a conscious effort to give out love and positivity, instead of criticism and judgement. This wasn't the freedom I thought I was seeking, but it was freedom in every sense of the word. It was the deepest kind of internal freedom that makes way for those other "freedoms" to materialize. That's just the way the universe works. Then, low and behold, slowly I began to see life change before my very eyes. It didn't happen overnight, but I will tell you, several of those big unexpected blessings did seem to come out of nowhere. I was able to release a lot of the heavy emotional junk and get my mind and my focus clear on what it was that I did want to create in my life. With this new higher perspective, I began attracting the resources and opportunities that has brought me closer to finally realizing my dream of starting and maintaining successful business.