“This is not a drill anymore, David. I’m not feeling fulfilled in life, and it’s because it’s time to get my abundance mastermind off the ground. I’ve learned how to help myself with anxiety and how to help myself with depression, and it’s time to help other entrepreneurs learn their value and how to set boundaries so they can achieve the peace and abundance I have,” I said to him last week during dinner.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be an algebra teacher. I was really good in math—not great, but up through algebra, math made a lot of sense. I liked the thought of teaching people and witnessing their growth, but growing up, money was much too scarce for my comfort, and sadly, with teaching being sorely undervalued in America, I tossed the idea out the window and pursued a career in sales.
My parents always said I should be a lawyer because I was so good at arguing, but I didn’t have money to pursue a higher education beyond my bachelor’s degree, so sales it was. This was much less a choice, and more, just accepting whichever job would have me (a theme present in all areas of my life up until I started on my healing journey seven years ago).
My first job paid me $33k a year, and I quickly became a top salesperson at my company, performing at the level of my colleagues twice my age, who were compensated double what I was. My manager told me that despite my outstanding performance, there was nothing he could do to reward me commensurate for my contributions. So, I moved on to another metal distribution company, where they doubled my compensation. Again, I became a top salesperson without opportunities for advancement. Actually, a position opened for a sales manager of our branch. While my boss couldn’t have loved me more, he told me, “Matt, you’re just too hard on others, and not enough people like you—the level of excellence you expect of yourself and others is just unreasonable, and we can’t have you in a role like this right now. Try to soften up and lower your expectations, and let’s see how things go.”
I understood what he meant and remember questioning whether striving for excellence was a bad thing, but I knew my drive was also problematic for my family, so I tucked the thought away. It didn’t matter long because The Great Recession of 2008 hit the metal business hard, and 401k matching along with commission ceased, and I moved to New York, where my drive for excellence had a home.
I completely changed my career and went from selling industrial supplies to burly men to working for aden + anais, selling baby products to sweet boutique owners. My drive for excellence rendered me $150k a year, and I never looked back.
I learned what abundant living was in New York. Before moving, I thought successful businesspeople earned $100k a year while doctors and lawyers earned something like $200k, but quickly learned I had it all wrong. In New York, I developed my abundant mindset as I learned that people just like me—unapologetically driven towards excellence—were making millions of dollars and quickly saw that if I had an idea and something I wanted to go after, all it takes is drive and commitment and I could attain any level of life improvement I could dream of.
The founder of aden + anais was a remarkable woman and, at that time, undoubtedly the smartest and most impressive person I’d ever met. I told her I wanted to start a business one day and said, “The only problem is that I don’t have any ideas.”
“Darl, (she’s Australian) I was 37 years old when my idea came to me—your idea will come if you let it,” she assured.
