Five years ago, on Valentine’s Day 2021, I got on a plane from Florida back to Hawai‘i.
COVID had flipped my life upside down.
I had burned through my savings.
I had cashed out my 401k.
I was running out of options.
But I knew there was an opportunity in Maui.
My friend Jay had been number one in the company before COVID.
When they started rebuilding, they wanted him back.
He told them, “If you take me, you take Nugget too.”
I never interviewed.
Never talked to HR.
They just agreed.
On a layover on the way to O‘ahu, I called my best friend Pure.
I told him I had an opportunity to change my life. I knew I could do it. I just needed help getting there.
I asked him to loan me $10,000.
He agreed on the spot.
When I landed in O‘ahu, I had ten days.
Ten days to pack up my life and Jay’s life.
Ten days to sell everything in storage.
Ten days to ship both of our cars to Maui.
Ten days to close one chapter and start another.
Melissa Solomon picked us up from the airport. Let us stay at her place. Let us borrow her truck so we could move everything.
My girlfriend at the time and her little dog moved with me. I felt responsible for them, too. This was not just my bet.
We sold everything piece by piece and got it done.
Then we moved to Maui.
Kyle Goodman let us stay in his spare room for a week.
After that, a coworker named Billy, who was heading to Nicaragua for a month, let us stay at his place in Olowalu until we found something more permanent.
If you have ever driven that stretch of Highway 30, you know how quiet it is.
Mountains on one side.
Ocean on the other.
A handful of houses in between.
It felt isolating after 18 years in Waikīkī.
Every morning before work, I ran along that highway in the dark.
I was reading Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins.
And I kept thinking about a quote that had always resonated with me.
You never know how strong you are
until being strong is your only choice.
I remember thinking that even if this did not work out, I would be able to look back and be proud of myself.
I gave it everything I had.
That was why I ran every morning.
Why I stayed positive.
Why I listened to motivational music and videos on the way to work.
I was not willing to quit on myself again.
Here’s what most people don’t know.
I had worked for this company before.
The first time, I did not do very well.
I was used to a different structure. A different safety net. When it got uncomfortable, I went back to the original company I started with because it felt familiar.
Comfort pulled me back.
This time was different.
If I failed this time, there was no comfort waiting.
So I made a decision.
I burned the boats.
There was no backup plan.
No, “I’ll just go back.”
I was going to figure it out.
They pulled me out of training early because they
were short on reps.
I took a tour.
I closed a deal.
Then another.
Less than a year later, I was on a plane for New Year’s Eve.
I realized something quietly powerful.
My car was paid off.
My credit cards were paid off.
I was debt-free.
That moment meant more to me than any income number that came later.
The following year became the biggest financial year of my life.
But the real shift happened before that.
It happened on the plane.
It happened on those early morning runs.
It happened the day I decided there was no exit plan.
Looking back now, I see it clearly.
It was a burn-the-boats moment.
But it was also a moment of self-trust.
I was scared.
But I was more certain than I was scared.
And that decision changed my standards forever.
Grateful for the friends who believed in me.
Grateful I did not talk myself out of it.
Grateful I chose growth over comfort.
That decision did not just change my income.
It changed who I became.
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