I was thousands of dollars deep. My shelves were stacked with binders and books yet I had taken zero action. I had zero results.

Sure I learned stuff and had dreams and aspirations I never knew I had, but I had no return on my investment. It was all theory. Ideas yet to be realized and plans that only lived on paper.

I was an info-whore…

A seminar-junkie…

“Hi, my name is Oliver, and I’m a recovering seminar junkie.”

Information is where I got my fix.

For three years I was what they call a ‘wantrepreneur.’ I loved talking about what I was going to do but I would never do it.

It was great actually!

I got high off telling people what a success I was going to be!

To the annoyance of those around me, I would parrot/vomit the wealth of knowledge I had just soaked up.

From 2006–2009…

My nose could be found in books, my ass in a stiff seminar chair, and sleeping in my parent’s basement.

Then one day I remember one of my mentors speaking on stage. He showed us a slide that I’d seen countless times, only this time I finally heard and felt what it said.

It said:

4 out of 5 people do nothing with what they learn in books, seminars, whatever.

Fuck.

I looked around at the 400 other people in the room…

80% of us were going to remain wantrepreneurs. For life.

My mind was blown and I felt gross simultaneously. What the hell have I been doing all these years!?

The bubble of ‘always learning’ was a bubble of safety. It prevented me from taking action and creating possibility.

The wisdom of that statistic was overwhelming. Deep in my gut I knew it to be true.

It described who I’d been all this time, but not who I would become.

From that point on things were going to change.

Seminars, books and audio programs got me far but I needed support. I needed someone to actually show me the ropes.

This is when I began having conversations with people who were living the life of a true entrepreneur.

Solving problems, exploring ideas, taking action, and creating real life results. I got an inside look at what it’s like to get your hands dirty, make painful mistakes, as well as create possibility.

The things I had only imagined were now grounded in reality. I saw how my mentors lived, what they were committed to, how they showed up in the world.

Reading and listening to talks inspired me, but personally witnessing the journey of a human being living what I could only dream of lit my world on fire.

These conversations breathed life into my ideas. I felt more and more encouraged to take a swing at some of my ideas. I stopped caring whether I struck out or not. I was determined to escape that sad statistic on that slide.

Since then it has cost me a lot of money and a lot of heartache to make the mistakes I’ve made.

Doing business with the wrong people, falling for scams, chasing deals that led to nowhere… All were part of my process.

But through it all I’ve built incredible relationships.

I created partnerships, invested in property with none of my own money, created revenue out of ideas in my head.

I built a business. I killed that business. I’ve hit rock bottom and reinvented from scratch. I rose from the ashes.

All because instead of talking, I do.

Instead of professing… I practice, I live, and from there I teach.

And I can finally say securely, I don’t give a shit what I have and what I don’t have yet, who I’ve become inspires me. Truly.

I trust my resilience. I have faith that I can withstand life’s storms. I have seen and felt hell on earth.

And I am still standing motherfucker.