INTRODUCTION

My Story

The Bottom I Hit at 39

Picture this: Half a million dollars in debt. No job. A restaurant dream turned nightmare. Three children wondering why school suddenly stopped. My mother across oceans, sick and alone, believing in a son who couldn’t even believe in himself.

I became a master of avoidance. Snooze buttons became my best friend. Alcohol dulled the edges of failure. Blame became my default language. Procrastination dressed itself up as "planning for tomorrow."

Meanwhile, I watched friends climb mountains I couldn’t even see the base of anymore. Their success felt like spotlights on my failure. We couldn’t afford groceries some weeks. I lay awake calculating: If I skip this meal, can my kids have seconds?

I’d tried everything—public service, professional cooking in five-star hotels, startups, business development, life coaching, even a radio show. Nothing stuck. Every door I opened led to another closed room. I felt like a puzzle piece cut for the wrong picture.

If you’ve been there, you know: Simple tasks become mountains. Opening mail feels like opening wounds. Being present with family when your mind is drowning? Impossible. Even cooking—something I loved—became a chore heavy with shame.

Every morning, anxiety ran through my veins like electricity. Is this it? Is this what the rest of my life looks like?

The cruel irony? I knew exactly what to do. Get up. Face the bills. Get the kids ready. Make a budget. Find work. Reach out for help.

But knowing and doing stood on opposite shores, with an ocean of paralysis between them.

THE FOUNDATION

Chapter 1

Understanding What’s Yours to Hold

The Morning Everything Shifted

One morning, the alarm screamed into the darkness. I lay there, crushed under the weight of everything undone, everything impossible, everything wrong.

Then something strange happened.

A memory surfaced—watching a boxing match years ago, a fighter who kept saying "Yes! Yes!" after getting knocked down repeatedly. Something about that refusal to quit, that simple affirmation in the face of defeat...

What if I just said "Yes" to myself? What if I launched myself out of bed before thought could chain me down?

It seemed absurd. But desperation makes you try absurd things.

"Yes. Yes. Yes."

I moved.

Just like that. Before my brain could construct its daily prison of reasons why not. The revelation hit me: I can feel terrible and still do what needs doing.

This became my secret weapon. Seven seconds. That’s all you have between instinct and excuse making. Seven seconds to say yes and move your body before your mind builds walls.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Get out of bed.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Make that networking call.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Open the bills that have been gathering dust and dread.

I called it my Seven Second Yes Rule.

Here’s the science behind it: Counting demands focus. It interrupts autopilot mode. It gives you just enough momentum to overcome the inertia of fear, doubt, and procrastination. You tip the first domino, and suddenly you’re not thinking about doing—you’re already doing.

One seven-second decision at a time, I rebuilt my life from its ashes.

The Long Climb Back

Let me be clear: It wasn’t a montage scene from a movie. It was years of grinding, stumbling, getting back up with bruised knees and a stubborn heart.

Clawing out of debt isn’t glamorous. Neither is facing the cracks in your marriage. Silencing anxiety takes more than positive thinking. Rebuilding self-worth when you question your value? That’s daily work, not a weekend project.

I worked all day, came home to family responsibilities, spent precious minutes with my wife, then stayed up late searching for ways to make extra money. Not pretty. Not inspiring. Just necessary.

But here’s what I learned: Action is the only answer. Thinking about problems is just rehearsing them. Waiting to feel ready means never starting. No one’s coming to save you—you must save yourself from yourself.

Small moves. Daily moves. Especially when you don’t feel like it.

Using my Seven Second Yes, I pushed through excuses, anxiety, and fear. My wife used it to face her business challenges. Step by step, week by week, we rebuilt.

It took four years before I told anyone about this method. I felt like a fraud—who was I to give advice when I’d nearly destroyed my own life?

Then an old friend recommended me to speak at a small event about career changes. Free trip to South Africa? When you’re broke, that’s a vacation. I said yes.

Standing before 950 people, my first time on any stage, my mind went blank. Heart pounding. Hands shaking. For 21 minutes, I had a full-blown anxiety attack in public.

Nineteen minutes in, forgetting how to end, I blurted out my Seven Second Yes method because my brain had nothing else.

In my panic, I gave everyone my phone number and email.

Walking off that stage, I thought: That was the worst experience of my life. Thank God it’s over.

Turns out, they filmed it. It spread. Strangers started writing, calling, sharing how this simple method was changing their lives.

The Turning Point Moment

Late at night, after my family slept, I’d answer emails one by one. Read stories. Listen to voices on the other end of phone lines.

People used "Yes. Yes. Yes." to push through fear and change jobs. Lose a hundred pounds. Get sober. Launch businesses. Save marriages. Doctors used it to treat PTSD and OCD. Psychologists incorporated it into therapy.

Over a thousand people told me they used it to stop themselves from suicide and ask for help instead.

This simple tool worked for everyone who tried it.

I started speaking at more events—bars, church basements, high school classrooms, friend’s lunch meetings. I’d break out in hives holding the microphone. Wasn’t getting paid. But I was obsessed with understanding why this worked.

I put on my research hat. Studied habits, human behavior, motivation science. Built a case from therapists’ accounts, medical doctors’ recommendations, ordinary people’s transformations.

The answer? Small, consistent action changes everything.

Meanwhile, my friends and family had no idea what I was doing. I was too scared to tell them. Eduson? Giving advice? The guy who almost destroyed his own life?

My wife had left the business, struggling with depression. We were still drowning in debt. I worked full-time while dedicating nights and weekends to speaking and essentially writing a dissertation on motivation.

I wanted to teach this full-time but didn’t know how. Looking back, I see I was paralyzed by imposter syndrome. What right did I have to call myself an expert?

I was waiting for permission that would never come.

Maybe you’re doing that right now. Waiting for the right time. Waiting to feel ready. Waiting for someone to tell you it’s okay to start.

The only permission you need is your own.

Building Something Real

Deciding to become a motivational speaker seriously was one of my best decisions ever.

First year: 12 paid speeches. Every dollar went to debt.

Second year: 40 speeches. I quit my day job.

Third year: 129 speeches plus a 19-city tour.

I became one of the most-booked speakers in the world. Companies I admired were hiring me.

How? By forcing myself out of bed on mornings I didn’t feel like it. By learning to push through fear, self-doubt, and excuses.

This is a life skill you can learn.

Once you master it, you understand: You can achieve anything through small, consistent forward movement.

I found myself on the road 150 days a year, teaching while my wife stayed home with our kids. Word spread. Authors and thought leaders started recommending my work.

I learned everything the hard way—by screwing up my life, then fixing it. In 2026, I self-published The Seven Second Yes Rule.

It’s being read by millions and translated into 41 languages.

Through years of traveling and speaking, I learned three truths:

First: Most of us are just trying to do our best—pay bills, raise families, fall in love, have fun, reach our potential. We’re looking for simple ways to be happier and make life better, not just for ourselves but for those we love.

Second: I can distill complex research into simple, actionable advice anyone can use. Third: Nothing brings me more joy than sharing what I learn with people like you. So I made it my mission: Find and share simple tools to help anyone create a better life.

THE REVELATION: LET IT BE

My life didn’t change from one thing I did. It changed from thousands of mornings where I woke up, didn’t feel like getting out of bed, but made myself do it anyway.

Changing my life wasn’t exciting or glitzy. It was grueling.

I didn’t achieve success because of secrets. I did it because I was willing to do what most won’t: Wake up every day and, regardless of how I felt, keep chipping away at my goals for over a decade.

Some days, I just tried to be a little better than yesterday. Often, that’s all you need. I’m not special or gifted or lucky. I just found tools that worked and used them.

Here’s what I discovered: You never feel ready to change your life. One day, you just get tired of your own excuses and force yourself to do it.

You’re never going to feel like going to the gym. One day you just make yourself go.

You’re never going to feel like having that hard conversation. One day you get sick of avoiding it.

The Seven Second Yes Rule helps you push through internal obstacles and take action when motivation is absent.

But here’s what it can’t do: It can’t remove the external battles you fight every day.

No matter how many times you say "Yes," it won’t stop traffic jams, inconsiderate strangers, micromanaging bosses, or your family’s endless judgment and demands.

And the more you push yourself to change, the more you wish other people would change too.

The Three Words That Changed Everything

For a decade, I focused on self-improvement tools. But I never tackled the number one factor that determines whether we live healthy, happy lives: relationships.

Two years ago, I stumbled upon two words: Let It Be.

It was like flipping a switch.

The Seven Second Yes changed my relationship with myself.

Let It Be changed my relationship with other people.

Let me explain.

The Seven Second Yes is about SELF-improvement. It helps YOU get out of bed, go to the gym, take risks, face bills, do hard things.

But over the years, I wondered: Why do I need to constantly force myself forward? Why am I so afraid? What’s in my way?

Have you truly considered: What causes you to procrastinate? To feel tired? To overthink? What’s underneath that doubt? What stops you?

What are you afraid of?

I was shocked by my answer: Other people.

Or rather, how I was letting other people impact me.

I was spending too much time and energy managing or worrying about others—what they do, say, think, feel, expect from me.

Here’s reality: You cannot control other people. Yet you live as if you can.

You live as though saying the right things will make people like you. Taking on more work will earn respect. Catering to your mom’s wants and keeping friends happy will bring peace.

It won’t.

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