15 Years to 2015...
Everyone has walls built in their mind when they think about going after their dreams and goals.
My walls were the following:
As a kid, school taught me that I was stupid. I didn’t make great grades and wasn’t “book smart” so I obviously wasn’t going to be a success. I had very, very low self-esteem and never tried to do anything worthwhile.
I got Ds in my first business and IT related classes in college. I nearly failed out of school, lost tuition assistance on multiple semesters, so “I must be an awful student and will never do well in life.”
In college at 22 years old, I’ve found myself spending more of my parent’s money than I could ever earn myself on eating out and alcohol on the weekends... Sorry Mom =(
I once got an ex-girlfriend pregnant. I secretly wished she would have a miscarriage, and never told anyone how relieved I was when it happened. Looking back on this, I knew I was messed up.
At 24 years old, a person I looked up to told me that he had “endless ideas to be successful”. I remember thinking “Bah, I’ll never be that guy. I couldn’t come up with a great idea to save my life”
The technical side of IT scared the crap out of me. Since I nearly failed my computer classes, I bought a book called “TCP IP for Dummies”. That’s how I learned what a server really does.
On April 2010, I finally got Cisco certified and started calling myself an IT professional. I used what time and money I could to invest into various things in my life, helping others, my education, non-profits, and my faith in Jesus Christ - the one who saves.
Since then, I’ve met more amazing people with unbelievable stories than I can ever count.
In 2013, I was given a passion in Photography and since then, I’ve photographed the poorest of the poor, and the craziest of the crazy… Photographing pure love during beautiful Hawaii engagement shoots to fear filled Iraqi and Syrian refugees escaping in the Middle East.
I once mentored just 4 people in the business IT field. They now have a combined income of over a million dollars, mentor others, and are able to live and give like no one else.
A young adult in my small group once told me “your life’s story saved my life, and still encourages me today to hope for more”
In 2014, I was blessed with a beautiful wife who loves me, and a little 4 year old daughter who is crazy about me.
In 2015, I was given a work opportunity to go to the Holy Land and walk the steps of Moses, Elijah, Jacob and Jesus himself.
Just a few weeks ago, My wife and I launched our own Photography/Photo booth business.
UPDATE 2016* HNL Photobooth Company is now the leading modern photo booth service in Hawaii.
That’s right. The guy who was a horrible student that nearly failed business in college now is an entrepreneur.
So what has changed from then to now? I simply believed. I believed in myself. I believed in God. I believed in Philippians 4:13, with God, I knew anything was possible.
What are your walls today?
If I can do this, anyone can.