How 48 Days took me from helpless to high-achiever

This is a guest post from 48Days.net member John Henderson.  Recently John sent me a copy of his book along with a handwritten note from his kids that said: “Dear Dan Miller, Thank you for helping my dad find the work he likes. Thanks to you we can live any were we want.  Sincerely Malachi, Porter and Barry.”  John says:  I started my adult life in a less than perfect situation.  Broke, homeless, addicted and on the verge of multiple felonies, I began to change my life.  After years of trying, a few wins and a number of losses, I have re-bounded my life in big ways.  Walking hand in hand with my wife of over 15 years I am a leader in church, speak, write, coach and create content that inspires and motivates people to win.  We live in a beautiful home in Hawaii and have a great outlook on the future.  You can find me at lifewisefuture.com.  If you’d like to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.

“You will have a $1.7 million budget.”  I could hardly believe what I was hearing.  I knew the interview went well but the reality of how well it went didn’t hit me until this point.  I could not help but think about how drastically my life had changed.                                           

If in 1997 you had asked anyone who knew me what I would be in 2013 they would’ve probably said “dead”.  Even if you could’ve gotten in touch with my mother I highly doubt that her answer would have included college professor.  She would not have said “He will build and teach a new two-year degree at a college and make well over six figures per year. “   You see by 1997 I had acquired many different labels very honestly.  Some of the descriptions of me were high-school dropout, drunk, homeless, criminal and jerk to name a few.  I had decided that life was out to get me.  The game was rigged and the only way to get ahead in life was to cheat.  So I cheated.

I stole the things I wanted, I drank my way to happiness, and I spent time with whoever was around.  I had no purpose or drive.  No guidance.  No plan.  There was no part of me that wanted anything to do with self-help or motivation.  A life coach!  Ha!  I was alive already why did I need a coach for that?  It wasn’t until I was influenced by a different type of person that I decided to control the people who spoke into my life.  Once I felt the reach and authority of Sheriff Joe Arpaio I decided that the other option wasn’t such a bad idea!

It took some time to find the people I respected enough to listen too, maybe because I was bull-headed or because I hadn’t heard the right message yet.  Either way it wasn’t until I heard the collaborative message of Dan Miller, Dave Ramsey and Michael Hyatt that I really began to listen.  These three (The Tennessee Trio?) began to help me re-shape and re-think my life.  It was with the help of these men that I learned that the work wasn’t over.  It was with the 48 Days process that I came up with the idea that I could be anything, even a college professor!

It was going to be an uphill battle!  I had been a blue collar worker my entire life.  I knew I needed out but how could I make the jump from manual labor to intellectual worker with just a GED?  I couldn’t.  I needed one more piece of the puzzle.  I needed 48 Days to the Work You Love.  

I was able to filter my way to the top of potential candidates.  I was the person with the best message.  I was the one who aced the interview and when it came time to hire I was the clear and obvious choice.  The poor background and lack of even a high-school diploma were just small hurdles that were easily overlooked.

I have laid out my story in my e book but as I sat at the table discussing amounts of money that I had never even imagined one thing was very clear.  The 48 Days method helped me do things in my career that were not even on my map just a few years earlier.  Jenny Hester talked about having a plan in this earlier post and I took the 48 Days plan and ran with it!  Today I no longer am a college professor.  I live on Maui with my wonderful family and spend time working on my dream every day.  If there is any doubt in your mind about the power of the 48 Days book I’d love to discuss it with you on my patio, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, eating fresh pineapple from the abandoned field next door.  That is if you can catch me between ocean kayaking, diving and doing the work that I love!