On Determination

Most people don't know this about me - I was originally a Computer Science major at Rutgers, destined for the software engineering track.

I led a programming club as President, maintained solid grades, and had internships lined up.

Everything looked perfect on paper.

But I walked away from it all.

It didn’t start in University though…

My father taught me business from day one. When I wanted a new video game or gadget, he didn't just hand me money, he sent me door-to-door offering to detail neighbors' cars.

In high school, I became the neighborhood "gum dealer," buying bulk multipacks at Costco and flipping them for profit.

In college, I hand-knit hats and built a word-of-mouth business among friends.

Computer Science was never my passion… it was my strategy.

A way to build savings for the entrepreneurial leap I envisioned.

Then something shifted.

A deep, undeniable calling emerged. It wasn't just a career change, it was a spiritual pull so strong it felt like destiny itself had hooked me and was reeling me in.

When I told my family I was dropping out to chase my dreams, they pulled their financial support.

And honestly? I don't blame them.

They were supporting me so that I could focus on my college degree, and now that I dropped out, why would they endorse such a risky move?

What followed were two years that tested every fiber of my being.

Homelessness.

Sleeping in my car, on couches, in hostels (sometimes promising payment I couldn't deliver).

Three nights on the street, 2 of which were in Medellín, Colombia.

Taking out loans to fly to Lithuania to learn from a business coach… buying a heavily discounted one-way ticket through... “creative” means… convincing border agents to let me in with no money and no return plan.

I lived completely on the edge for two years, then ran on loans and credit cards for four more before finally building a business that sustained me.

Here's what I learned:

This journey can be engineered. You don't have to endure the same trial by fire I did.

But there's a universal truth buried in this chaos: When your dream transforms from "someday" to "non-negotiable," the universe itself shifts to make it happen.

And that shift can’t just be in words… it has to be in your very being.

At your core, you must declare to yourself and the universe that your vision IS reality.

The turning point wasn't when I got smarter or luckier.

It wasn’t even when I learned from my first attempts and corrected them.

It was when I stopped treating my entrepreneurial dream like a nice-to-have and started treating it like an absolute certainty.

Not "I hope to become an entrepreneur someday."

Not "Maybe I'll try starting a business later when I have the money/time/knowledge."

"I AM becoming an entrepreneur. Right now. Because I've decided."

Dreams become reality the moment we stop negotiating with ourselves and decide it’s happening.

The world then catches up.

Your dreams aren't waiting for permission.

They're waiting for your decision.

Stop keeping them chained. Decide they are non-negotiable right now.

Or drop them.

But don't lie to yourself that you aren't committed.