Community is one of the most important things in my life. It’s something that I love creating and encourage everyone to build (or plug into) in some capacity.

As a creator, being around “greatness” all the time has had an incredible effect on me as well.

I feel like I just awoke from a deep hibernation. Not because I was sleeping. Or because I was taking some time off but because I’ve been such an idiot. It’s kind of hard to explain.

This is an article where I dive deep into the decisions that I am making when it comes to my business and personal brand.

This has become one of my favorite topics to talk about in the last few months. Because there is so much fluff out there when it comes to personal branding. So I just want to dive right into it. Here are a handful of mistakes that I made when I first started and things that I wish I knew when it comes to making money with my personal brand.

This article is different from most of my articles in the past because I’m issuing a challenge to everyone that wants to push themselves: The #Before2020 challenge. What are you going to push yourself to achieve before the year 2020?

Real talk – I cried when the first Avengers 3 [Movie] trailer was released. The trailer! They have been so meticulous when it comes to the communication of their overarching narrative over the past 10 years. Every character has a part to play. Each hero's story has been fleshed out in their own movies, in the collaborative movies, and in the Marvel TV shows as well. Every single production contributes to the overarching narrative. And that's why I cried. Because I am emotionally attached to their overarching narrative. That's how your personal brand should be treated.

When I jumped into entrepreneurship full-time I had no idea what I was doing and it hit me hard: my first virtual reality startup failed within months, my girlfriend left me, my car was totaled, I burned through all of my funds, my agency struggled, and I racked up a ton of debt. I got to the point where I had -$900 in my bank account, rent due at the end of the week, and no income. And while I survived, my life royally sucked. That was pre-LinkedIn.