MY STORY

“Often times we need to be inspired by those who have blazed the trails before us. Their trials and tribulations is what propels us into taking action.” – Isuru Epa

About 10 years ago I thought I had life figured out. I was in my last year of College, months away from Graduation and I had just proposed to my long-time Girlfriend from whom I had received a screeching“YES”. I was ecstatic. While it’s true that I had accumulated tens of thousands of Dollars in Student loans over the years it didn’t rattle me one bit, because like most guys in their twenties I had a sizzling hot“5 year plan”. The plan was to top up my Graduation with a few more zesty qualifications, help my (then) girlfriend complete her Medical Degree, find a well paying job, have 2 kids, 3 dogs, a cat and a Giraffe (in that precise order), retire early and enjoy life. And it all seemed to be working out just fine until one day, completely out of the blues, I get the “I love you, but I am not in love with you”call from you know who (no, not from the Giraffe). Wow! Talk about pulling the plug on the Party! Needless to say I was devastated.

So for the months that followed I spent my days like a Zombie who had just discovered the first ever Zombie-friendly TV remote control (you know those special glow-in-the-dark, brain flavored, “Limited Edition” ones). Oh! And while I was at it I did blow away all my money on a number of Psychics (don’t ask) and Relationship Councilors hoping to find answers. So my new debt had now reached a whopping $50,000 (not too shabby eh?).

It wasn’t all bad though. In my journey to finding answers I did come across a Relationship expert by the name of Dr Ellen Kriedman who opened my eyes to the World of self-help (being introduced to self-help to me was like being given an electric toaster to toast the bread as opposed to using direct sunlight and sharp piercing stares).

And after that I came across Anthony Robbins. Tony’s Personal Power program made me realize that I am not a victim of circumstances and that I had the power to shape my own destiny. So everyday I would listen to one session on my portable mp3 while walking around the block in an attempt to regain my sanity, my health and my weight. Yes, I was freakishly overweight and I was even somewhat of a junkie too, because I was popping some random pills that I had picked up online to help me with my sleep. But all in all, I was feeling better, getting stronger and losing weight one tiny freckle at a time.

It seemed for a while like I was on the road to recovery. What I didn’t anticipate is the big speed bump waiting for me right around the corner. So, on the 6th of January 2007 I get a call around 2am and I am met with a very familiar voice. It was my ex. She just told me very briefly that my Eldest Brother has been in an accident. It later turned out that it wasn’t an accident at all but rather that his alcoholism had finally gotten the better of him.

My Eldest Brother had been like a Dad to me all my life. He was my Guardian Angel in many ways. When I was surrounded by some pretty bad role models and I was slowly drifting in the same direction, he pulled me out and set me straight. He was also the guy who planned all my Birthdays, took me out clothes shopping, showed me how to use a PC, showed me how to do my own laundry, taught me simple carpentry, helped me to get into College, introduced me to Sci-Fi movies and fabulous music, showed me the value of money and most importantly showed me what it is like to love and be loved. When I was a kid he was pretty much all I had. I do have a second Brother but he was never around because he had his own battles to fight. And my Dad was pretty much a workaholic working 12-16 hour days, 7 days a week so that we didn’t have to settle for eyebrows and mustaches served with ketchup every morning. And my Mom…well, lets just say if Darth Vader ever wore Pink that would pretty much describe her accurately. You see, my birth was complicated and as a result my Mom was became paralyzed for several years. And she pretty much saw me as the “toothless, diaper dependent” perpetrator. So, my Big Brother was pretty much my ice cool lemonade: soothing, refreshing, kind and hilarious to the core.

Getting over his loss wasn’t easy. But I did realize that I had also gone through a transformation and that I was just not the same person as I was before. I was more resilient. And I had more tools (and more facial hair) to help me cope with the storms of life.

After his funeral, I decided to stick around for awhile and be a role model as best I can for his kids (my Niece was 16 and my Nephew was just 10 years of age at the time). And that meant I had to come off the drugs, get whipped into shape and get my finances under control etc. Since kids just unwittingly “copy” their biological peers (for the most part), I knew that I had a major role to play in their lives. I might not have qualified as a biological peer, but I had known them pretty much their whole lives and I did look and sound so much like my Brother. So I was sure that my “way of life” would undoubtedly have a significant impact in the way they would choose to live theirs.

I did eventually come off the drugs, started exercising daily and even started eating healthy to the point that I couldn’t believe who was looking back at me in the mirror. I even had the mirror changed a couple of times just to be sure. I was happy. I was making progress. And more importantly everyone appreciated my company.

I also made significant strides at work. I was working on my Postgraduate while pushing on all cylinders to get a promotion at work. I was working for a Social club for a very modest salary and I knew that a Management position with the company would change all that. But my superiors didn’t really embrace my passion to climb up the ranks with the cuddliest of hugs. I did eventually pass all the Management exams only to get fired a few months later (actually I walked out and later came back in to find that my Boss wasn’t really ecstatic about the whole episode).

But it wasn’t all bad news. A few months before this all went down, I had started learning online marketing and had discovered a shiny new strategy called “sniper sites” that alot of people seemed to be doing ok with. It was basically a way of creating a bare-boned website that would rank high in the Search Engines with very little effort. So I decided to do the same. I had built up several sniper sites, most of which flopped and some of which stuck. The ones that stuck started bringing in a handful of sales every month. It wasn’t anything to do somersaults and cartwheels about but it was enough to pay for my bills and groceries. I had also joined a Self-help MLM company called iLearning Global. And I was on a debt management plan which seemed to be working out ok for me. So onward and upward right? WRONG!

One morning I woke up, did my usual rank check for the sites while sipping on my morning coffee and I nearly gasped and spill the coffee on my keyboard. ALL of the sites that I had ranking on the first page of Google were gone. Just like that. I had been Google slapped and slapped silly. And if that bad wasn’t enough, iLearning Global (the MLM company I signed up with) shut down operations just a few weeks later.

Why Power: It’s an “inside job”

Despite the setbacks I had a strong enough why to push forward. My why was to one day be able to help the people who matter the most to me, to live a gracious and fulfilling life without limits, to be a shinning beacon of hope for people who are suffering from depression, abuse, grief, broken relationships, job loss or have just fallen pray to additions, to help orphanages and charities that make a real difference in the world and most importantly to play a pivotal role in restoring the humanity deeply wounded by news media, politicized religion and negative peer influences.

So in my journey to financial abundance, I tried many things and landed flat on my face many times. And the few things that did work only worked for a brief period of time. And after about 4 years of spinning my wheels I was seriously beginning to think this whole online revenue generation thing was just a big hoax. But then I found out that the reason why I wasn’t succeeding is because I was too busy chasing various shiny “make a million bucks overnight” opportunities that sprouted all over like wild mushrooms.

You see, most people make their money online as product creators. But much of these products haven’t been tried and tested in the real world. So the material could be heavily outdated, dependent on a loophole that no longer exists, are just rehashed low quality Private Label Rights products that aren’t supposed to work anyhow or they just don’t seem to show you all the pieces of the of the puzzle.

What worked back then and what still works now (without the usual hiccups and burps) is what I refer to as the Evergreen Commissions Blueprint (which you can download off of this website for free). A major hindrance to online success is people treating the internet “as a technology”. And technology is supposed to give us instance gratification. And it is this “video games mentality” coupled with the “something for nothing mindset”that really holds us back. The law of sawing and reaping is universal in whatever we do in life (offline or online).

But the really awesome thing is, if you do the work necessary over several months consistently and plough through despite the bad weather and despite the setbacks, you will eventually have yourself a money tree that you can depend on (and takes very little effort to maintain) for many years to come (much like what I have done).

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