The Day of My AWAKENING

I awakened back in 2013, the day I nearly lost my life. I was mixed with the wrong people and was on my way to have lunch with a few friends that were waiting for me outside a taco stand in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. That day I took a wrong turn and was two minutes late to my destination. Within those two minutes, a jeep raced in, and four men with high power automatic rifles got off and massacred every single one of them. I felt it within my heart that I needed a total mental, spiritual, and life overhaul.

That day, I made the decision to begin seeking out my purpose and change every area of my life for better.

Although it wasn't necessary, I took out a notebook and began writing a letter to God. In the letter, I boldly asked God to lead me to my true purpose. I promised that for every step I took back, that I would as quickly as possible, take two forward. I gave him permission to demolish and rebuild me as he deemed necessary for me to discover my purpose and lead the abundant life he promised if I committed to allowing him to work in me. I chose to trust that whatever happened next in my life, that it was for the better.

Little did I know, there was much demolition to be done, and what was going to happen next, was going to hurt.

I began to change from one day to another; the quality of words I used, I started listening to nothing but motivational, and gospel music. I also began attending church one to two times per week. I had no notion of what personal development was. I didn't know a fraction of what I know today, but I did have the single most important things to get the reconstruction of my life started, God and a bold choice to change.

I currently owned a fitness facility, one that many of you may have been members of here in the city of El Paso. I had opened it in 2010. A couple hundred thousand dollars invested, but more than that, I spent in the first year an average of 90 hours per week and many countless hours in the years to come. Due to poor financial planning, I was forced to work extensive hours as I couldn't afford employees. Fast forward to the day I wrote the letter, July 2013. I had nearly one thousand members. It was a success! Moreover, all my hard work had paid off.

From the day of my awakening, words of wisdom and encouragement began to pour from my mind and onto social media. It's hard to explain; I had this immense desire to serve. I've always had it since my early years, but this level of desire was ten times stronger. My desire to serve was on steroids. Everywhere I went, people would approach me, people, who needed uplifting. I was posting uplifting words on social media several times a day. On average, about two to five people would reach out to me for prayer or simply uplifting. God was speaking through me. I always had the right words to say.

Fast forward to early 2014, about six months after writing the letter. I began to meet with people who were needing additional uplifting at Starbucks or wherever they needed me. Keep in mind that I had no notion that Life Coaches existed, much less that I could actually make money in exchange for the life-changing value I was rendering.

As I met with different people, I began to get better and better with my words. I went from uplifting to teaching them life principles. I'd pull analogies from Lord knows where. God as my witness, I hadn't read any books on personal development or life in itself. People would ask if I had learned specific techniques from a particular book they'd name, and I'd swear that I had not. The wisdom was pouring out directly from my spirit which God was speaking into.

March 2014, I lost my fitness facility. I still remember it was on a Sunday, noon when I got the call. I had made a colossal error in the paperwork upon opening the gym and allowed my partner at the time, to yank it right out of my hands. I was angry, yet another part of me said, "Trust God!" That day, I remembered the letter and the promise I made. No matter what happens next, I'm going to trust that this is you God taking me to my real purpose.

So now, I had to make a choice, go back to my old ways or keep allowing God to lead me. I chose to let God. My ex-wife, stepdaughter and I were forced to move to my parents' house, early 2014. We all lived in one bedroom, one bed. It was a hard situation, but I knew God was humbling me and building me back up, one piece at a time. I had to learn to be appreciative of every little thing we had, even though it wasn't much.

Part of me was at peace, but another part of me wanted revenge. I'm not going to lie, I wanted to hurt the man who betrayed me, and I had evidence to hurt him badly, but then again, that action wasn't congruent with the letter I wrote. I forgave him and moved on. Not only was God tearing away the old me, but he was tearing away everything I started unrighteously.

My ex-wife and I decided that I would try to open another gym. This time I was going to need investor money as we had zero dollars to our name. We had almost nothing as I had to sell all of my things to keep the gym afloat in its first three years. Putting together a business plan for a seven hundred and fifty thousand dollar project and convincing investors to lend me the money wasn't going to be an easy task. My wife, at the time, got a job serving tables. Meanwhile, I attempted to open up the new gym.

It was hard having to see her go from owning her business and having it all to serving tables. Having to explain to our 11-year-old daughter why things were happening in such an unreasonable manner was a challenge, but it taught me to be honest and patient in explaining things in terms of cause and effect. Didn't help that my stepdaughter had 100% Puerto Rican blood. She was a tough cookie to breakthrough!

I immediately began putting together a business plan, looking for a building, and talking to people that I knew had legit money.

Meanwhile, all of this is happening; I continued to pour out wisdom onto social media and meeting with people who were facing tough struggles; both past and present. Seeing people break through the emotional barriers which robbed them of experiencing the joy they deserved made me feel the highest level of significance that I had ever felt in my life. I wasn't getting paid. I was doing it because it felt right. Have you ever done something that feels right down in your core, your spirit, but doesn't make sense to other people? Something told me down in my heart, keep seeing people as they come. So I did!

I had found a building a month later (May 2014) for my new gym and began doing my numbers and plugging them into the business plan. I'd meet with several investors. Some said no, and some would say they can contribute a portion of the project. I couldn't sign a lease agreement until all investors were in place. I'd find another investor to help to another part of the project, but another investor that was committed would back out for whatever reason. The building got leased to another company, so I had to look for another building. Keep in mind that it takes weeks to find a building because parking, prices, size, and the area must be perfect.

Here I go again to find another building. A couple of months later, I found another location. Went back to committee investors and some had changed their mind, so I'd have to look for other investors. Spoke to some guys in Dallas who wanted to invest. I was excited and thought, surely this must be the hand of God. By now, we were approaching 2015. Dallas investors said yes, everyone was in position! I just needed one signature from a lawyer investor, and finally, I could sign the lease. I announced the opening of Club Thrive Fitness. Coming Soon, Summer 2015!

Investor took a few weeks to sign a document that had to be approved before signing the building agreement where they would start renovations. Well, guess what? Owner of the building said I took to long and leased to a trucking company.

I gave up on trying to open the gym!

My marriage was falling apart, I kept having setbacks with the opening of the new gym, and I was seeing people at no cost for about 10-20 hours per week. Honestly, seeing people change was the only thing keeping me alive.

Again, I remembered the letter I wrote. I always kept it close to me.

Tired, defeated, and having lost touch with a part of my masculinity for seeing my wife hurt, I asked God, "What next?"

The reply which I felt in my spirit: "Keep posting what comes to your heart and help everyone whom I send to you."

So I did, I kept posting and seeing people as they came. I began to think about how I could make money in exchange for empowering people to become better in the quality of there emotions. I was not too fond of school, so I wasn't willing to go to school for a degree to become a counselor, psychologists, or therapists. Besides, most of the people I was helping had already been to a multiple of the above.

I began to look into the lives of some of the people which I'd hear on motivational videos — one of the voices of one of these motivational speakers resonated with me. His name is Tony Robbins. I thought this guy must have a degree or something of that sort. It turns out he had none of that, just a high school degree. I learned that he learned to create a radical shift in the lives of others by only beginning to work with people who were facing some of the worse situations life can present. He had seen patterns over and over again. So I began to follow him and other influencers to acquire more insight and knowledge to be able to help people on a larger emotional scale. I already had what mattered most and what most Psyche Professionals lacked to help people take back control of their mental state; a sincere desire to help others, empathy, and mutual suffering. I learned that it took 10,000 hours of consistent practice in any given skill to become an expert. That's 40 hours per week for five years, and I was already about 1,000 hours into it.

May 2015, I decided I would become a Life Coach but not until I worked with people for at least 4,000 hours. So, I continued to practice working with people who were troubled by their very own minds and people they were in relationships with. I'd challenge and invite people via social media to challenge me in helping them overcome any struggle they may be facing. I never had anyone, up to this day, that was facing a small challenge. Raped, cheated on, mentally and or physically abused, depressed, anxious, attempted suicides, you name it. God was preparing me through the best schooling to influence a massive change within others.

My ex-wife would try to support and believe what I was preparing for, but it was hard for her, and I didn't blame her. I practiced and studied the greatest influencers for another two years. These two years were the most difficult years of my life, yet the two years I credit the most for whom I have become today, for the level of emotional intelligence I possess, and for the level of skill I have. My family stopped believing in me. People thought I was crazy and had lost my mind. "What is this broke man doing helping other people when he can't even help himself or family?" I knew what God was doing. Only me and the people I had helped could understand what God was up to. It was hard going from being my wife's hero to her misery. It was hard, but deep down, I knew I had to keep helping people. The results people were experiencing only got more magnificent.

Fast forward, 2017, I was ready to begin exchanging money for my service. I'm the kind of person that if you're going to give me your money, you better expect to get back value multiplied.

My marriage was hanging by a string. I assumed I'd get clients pouring in, but it wasn't like that. I now lacked sales skills and marketing skills. My ex-wife and I had moved out of my parents one-bedroom early 2017. We had faith that clients would come in fast. Clients weren't coming in, and the ones that were couldn't afford my services. I decided to do a seminar on February 2017 for free and accept donations after. Had about 100 people show up, but only got enough donations to cover event costs. I felt like such a failure. The stress of my marriage falling apart, not having money, utilities getting disconnected, I was falling apart.

Now, I had to learn the psychology of sales and had to learn to market myself, and this was going to take me a few months to learn. Bringing in very little income and not making ends meet, my ex-wife called it quits, and I don't blame her one bit. She was very supportive, but her string ran out.

Late 2017, I was back at my parents. Internal conflict was kicking my butt. I had already worked with people for about 4,000 hours and had created about 2,000 posts on life. None of this mattered at the moment, I had lost my marriage and was living on a couch. As strong as I knew I was, and as many people I had already helped and as grand as my gift, I had identified as a failure.

I fell back into a few old habits, stopped believing in myself. I prayed to God and asked,

"Why did you let this happen to me if I was serving you and your people?"

The reply I felt in my spirit,

"Now you will be able to relate to totally hopeless people. You'll know what it feels like to meet with self-defeat again and again. To press forward again and again after falling. Now you can teach people how to forgive because you have forgiven. Now you know how to help people discover their purpose. You asked me to take you to your purpose, and you permitted me to recreate your identity in me. You're almost there, keep your promise that for every step back, you'll take two forward."

I agreed to press forward. Early 2018, I got my first full-paying client. She is today, my fiancé. I experienced a few more setbacks after and still face some today.

I'm now filling up my schedule with new clients, getting ready to do seminars, writing a book on my life and have a more excellent vision to create a TV series where I'll be taking homeless and building them up and a few other ideas I'll be acting upon as God sees me ready to do so.

Many times I wanted to quit and go back to old habits, but the words contained in the letter I wrote, and God, kept me committed to discovering my purpose.

Whenever you set out to become a better person and or discover your highest calling where you will serve best and be the happiest, the enemy will begin to attack. Family, friends, and your very own mind will attack.

Don't take it personally; your happiness and purpose are worth more than the opinion and actions of others.

Thank you to all who have supported me through the years! If I could go back, I'd do it again!