Before the change:

The person I was on the left spent most of the weekend hanging around the cool kids. They all liked me for my nice BMW, DJ career and carefree attitude.

While I never took drugs, they did. They smoked a drug called ice every weekend.

It destroyed their lives. They became drug addicts. I could have become like them. Luckily I didn’t. I found meaning and changed instead.

It wasn’t easy, but I ended up never talking to any of those friends again.

One year after this photo was taken my startup dream came crashing down.

I walked away from it all and realized that I had a severe mental illness. It was this battle with anxiety that caused me to be a drunk and act like an asshole in the first place. Instead of trying to solve the problem I attempted to cover it up.

Status, cars, money and drugs were what I used to avoid the problem.

After the change:

The person I was on the right (taken earlier this year) eats healthy, rarely drinks, reaches millions of people through regular blog posts, reads lots of books, is wise with money, leads a team of digital marketers for a 900 person listed company, and most of all — have overcome mental illness.

I spent every day since the photo on the left was taken trying to be a better person and figure out how I could help people in the process.

I didn’t come to this realization on my own.

I’m not that smart, unfortunately.

Through the process of reading what the most impactful people on the planet do, I saw a pattern. I’d have to be an idiot to miss it after reading so many books.

1. You must learn to deal with fear
2. You must have a meaning beyond your own existence
3. You must be patient, focused and work on your goals every day

Once I discovered this pattern, I began writing about it every week. I posted articles on my friends Wordpress Blog. No one really paid attention. I didn’t care. I was paying the price of discovering a meaning for my life and that was enough of a reward. Little did I know it was going to change other peoples lives.

Fast forward to when the photo on the right was taken, and I was reaching millions of people every month as a blogger. I never could have thought that I’d write so much and help so many people.

Being vulnerable and seen as a leader in front of so many people, scared the crap out of me. I nearly didn’t get on stage at Etihad Stadium. Then, I remembered the pain of what it was like to be the person on the left. I didn’t want to be that scared person any longer.

The key difference between the person on the left and the person on the right was this:

• The person on the right wasn’t selfish
• The person on the right overcame mental illness through understanding the power of thoughts
• The person on the right didn’t give up

I can’t even recognize the guy on the left anymore. He died many years ago.

It’s possible to become a completely different person. I’m living proof and I’m not special.

Find what is meaningful to you.

Tackle whatever challenge you’ve been avoiding.

Then you’ll change.