I am so passionate about doing interviews because I love sharing people’s stories. Every story truly matters. I love sharing the journey that a person goes through to reach their version and their level of success. Because so often, we see someone who is successful and think they must have gotten really lucky, or something magical must have happened. But I love to show the grit; to gain an understanding of all that it took, the hard work and perseverance that it took to get there. It’s so important to get an inside look at what someone’s journey has been like, especially the people we look up to. Because they didn’t just wake up one morning with tremendous success in their lives.
I had the honor of sitting down and chatting with Charly Caldwell last week. I have such admiration and respect for Charly; he’s also High Performance coach with over 3000 coaching sessions under his belt. I look up to him and really feel that the work he is doing is so impactful.
Charly has an exceptional story; he describes his life as being “out of order”. He became an entrepreneur, sort of by accident, in his early 20’s. He put himself through “business bootcamp” while he was in college; he built his business out very quickly but also burned himself out very quickly. He was working long hours, trading hours for money. In 1994, Charly had an epiphany: Recurring Income = Freedom. Charly went to work and the next year, he built out an internet services business that was based on subscription revenue. He created the business with wife at the time, grew the business, sold it and retired at the age of 29. He and his wife hit the road in a motorhome for the next 18 months, and then started their family in 2002.
Sounds amazing, right? But it wasn’t just smooth sailing from that point on. “I felt like I won the lottery. But I was also really destroyed in lot of ways.” He had let himself go, and was up to 270lbs, not taking care of himself or his health. He had let his relationship with his wife go. He had to rediscover who he was because he had been controlled and buried in his work for so long.
This is such an important lesson and one that I’ve spoken on in the past; how can you balance having tremendous success in your life, but while ALSO maintaining your health, happiness, relationships and fulfillment? The truth is that you actually CAN do both; it requires a strong mindset and allowing yourself enough space in a day for peace and reflection.
Into the retired life, Charly started to get really depressed; he started to lose his sensation of living purposefully. We may not relate in the sense that I’m betting most of us didn’t also retire at the age of 29, but here’s where we can relate wholeheartedly: Did I do enough? Have I done all the work in the world I’m supposed to do? How can I live into my passion and my purpose? Am I living into my best?
That was a pinnacle shift for Charly as he realized that he had never thought about the future vision of himself. He didn’t have an ambition there and had no definition of what that looked like. With that, he started to make some changes in his life. Within 6 months, he lost the weight and has kept it off. He got back into business, combining his love of technology and working with people.
For the last 18 years, Charly has had a career of helping individuals, entrepreneurs, small businesses and organizations create their own ‘FREEDOM’ by living purposefully, passionately, positively, productively and profitably through his teaching, online training and coaching business called the Life and Business Success Group, Inc. He is a published co-author of two best selling books: “I’m Having It” and “Having Ease with Money”. He is an international professional speaker and the Youtube and podcast creator of “Health, Wealth and Happiness” and “Business and Internet Mastery.”
The other major turning point in Charly’s life was when he became a dad. He’s the proud father of two girls and everything he does is for his girls; to be the best role model and best version of himself he can be. He and his girls’ mother are divorced, but they remain great friends and have an excellent co-parenting relationship. I love how Charly shows up in that way as such a strong role model for his children. It’s a conversation and a message that really needs to be put out into the world. Future generations matter; and what we do now really matters.
How did Charly get here?
1. Perseverance. Charly really focused in on staying true to his purpose throughout his journey and really living into it, even in the times he didn’t always want to. It’s about persevering and remaining consistent through the times that you want to quit. Part of the coaching that Charly and I do is helping people develop a stronger mindset, so that they too can get to that place; where you’re able to stick through it in the toughest times, to honor the struggle and really push towards your goals. It’s a skill that takes consistency and practice, but most of all, it requires a crystal clear vision of your goals.
2. Belief in the ability to figure it out. Charly always believed in his ability to figure things out. If someone invented it, he knew he could figure into out or find someone who could help him figure it out. This is such a critical piece; because things don’t just fall into place easily all the time. I see so many people shut down and give up as soon as that frustration and lack of confidence in their ability and skill sets in. It’s not about having the skill or the knowledge or the ability; it’s about having the ability to figure it out. And we all have that; we just sometimes need more time, more resources and some mentorship to help us.
3. Get clear on the vision. Be very purposeful about what that vision looks like and why it’s important. Then give fuel to that vision to propel it forward. Charly’s fuel is to be the best role model for his girls, his family and the people he is blessed to serve and help. Get crystal clear and define your vision. What do you want your life to be like in 5 years? What do you want to look like? Feel like? What could your life be like? Open a journal and add to it for just 5 minutes a night. The power of words and the power of our thoughts shouldn’t be underestimated. Visualize the future you want and you’ll get there.
I see so many people struggle and give up when things start to get tough because they lack these two key things that Charly possessed: perseverance and the ability to figure it out. The best part is that going through these struggles is where the biggest amount of growth occurs. You just have to push through and honor the struggle to reap those benefits.
Charly’s big focus now is serving and helping people to live into the 5 P’s: Purposefully, Passionately, Positively, Productively and Profitably.
They really are ratings and questions you need to ask yourself. Challenge yourself to ask yourself these questions each day:
How purposeful have I been today? How passionate have I been? How positive have I been? How productive? How profitable have I been? Am I really creating profit in my life/business?
He has created an online, monthly mastery community where he helps people do just that. Helping and serving others is at the core of everything Charly does, and I really admire him for that and strive to do the same in my work. You can find more information about Charly’s work on his website www.charly2.com
I ended the interview by asking Charly what advice he would give to his younger self.
“Don’t take anything personally. People have their own experiences and their own visions of the world; it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them. As a reformed people pleaser, I can relate to this so much. Confidence plays a big part in this, as well; when you feel so comfortable in your own skin, you know it’s not about you. It’s about how the other person is thinking and feeling. In learning how not to connect to those things in a personal way, I’m not saying you’ll never have moments that hurt or that you take things personally. The difference is that you’ll bounce back so much more quickly; it won’t derail you for the rest of the day or week.”