I had a conversation with a potential business coaching client and he said to me the other day “You seem like a guy that has it all together.”
As always, I said “RECEIVED.”
Then I asked him if it was okay to share the road I traveled to become the man I am today.
He said “ABSOLUTELY!” Thanks
When I took the picture above I was at rock bottom. Correction, I was BEYOND rock bottom.
I was ALREADY at rock bottom and then another rock bottom smashed on top of me. It was like an Oreo cookie and I was the filling.
The details:
I call this period, My Rock Bottom Sandwich.
I was financially BROKE.
(33 yrs old, Making $11/hr pt time)
Emotionally BROKEN.
(Unable/Unwilling to feel anything)
2 DUI’s
(Drowning my apathy in booze, parties and sex/porn)
Girlfriend PAYING THE BILLS.
(Because I was unwilling to confront what wasn’t working in my life…I deferred to her leadership and then resented her for it.)
The picture to the bottom left was taken while I was working, correction HIDING, in that job making $11/hr from a retrofitted barn in the middle of Nowhere, LA.
I could NOT believe I had gone from:
Being an actor in 3 National commercials
Acting/Performing in 2National TV Shows
Being signed to a label on Universal Music Group and writing for Nick Lachey, 98 Degrees, and Too Short…
To hiding my 6’8 self working as an administrative assistant in a barn in the middle of nowhere doing large format printing and banners for red carpets events.
I had literally lost ALL BELIEF IN MYSELF.
However, there’s a quote that goes,
“Sometimes you need to believe in someone else’s belief in you until your own belief kicks in.”
For me, the person whose “belief I needed to believe in” was a life long and successful actor named, Obba Babatunde.
He came to the barn one day in person to pick up a red carpet banner for a film he was premiering.
When he walked in the door, I stood up and greeted him, “How are you doing?”
He STOPS, looks at me and the first words out of his mouth are “What are you doing?”
Then he added, “Obviously you’re working at this job. Lol. What I mean is a guy like YOU has GOT to be up to something BIG, what are you up to in the world?”
I was in SHOCK.
We LITERALLY just met.
What the hell was he talking about?
I didn’t realize that someone could see your greatness without knowing you intimately.
So, we talked a bit, Obba grabbed his banner, gave me his number and said “call me and I’ll explain.”
I called him that night and Obba NEVER ANSWERED THE PHONE.
I was mad he didn’t answer because I wanted him to tell me what he saw in me…then I realized that OBBA HAD ALREADY DONE HIS MAGIC.
What was his magic?
He helped me shift from being in SHOCK to being in SEARCH.
He helped me shift from SITTING to STANDING.
He helped me shift from NEEDING HIS ANSWERS to FINDING MY OWN ANSWERS.
Obba’s magic had already been done. What was his magic? It was simple…HE BELIEVED IN ME. God bless the Obba Babatunde’s of the world.
And as a result of him SEEING ME it helped me transform my life to the point where my full time job is to SEE the greatness in the men I serve.
I don’t just see what you have…I SEE WHO YOU ARE and the possibility in the man you can become.
And yes, we talk tons of BUSINESS STRATEGY as well as METHODS to prosper financially, However I believe at the core, men come to me because I SEE THEIR GREATNESS and then help them SEE THE GREATNESS IN THEMSEVES.
Sometimes you just need someone to believe in you…when you can’t believe in yourself.
And now, powerful successful men come to me because everyone needs someone that can believe in them.
I have made it my life’s mission to believe in men and help them believe in themselves.
By doing three things.
Scale The Man (Identity & Being)
Scale The Machine (The Biz & Income)
Scale The Mission (The Impact & Influence)
Which brings me back to the original conversation, and I told the man I was speaking with that “the only reason I have it ‘all together’ is because I’ve seen it all fall apart and I have accepted both outcomes.”
My final question to him “Are you ready to go ALL-IN?”
I’ll let you guess his answer.
A deep and sincere thank you to Obba Babatunde
With Love And Fuego