About Me

So where to begin? At the beginning? I don’t think so… when and where I was born has little to do with anything.

School Days? - suffice it to say I was always an “A” student but scored a “D-” when it came to anything social

Alright… I’ll start by introducing myself… that always works!

My name is Alan Harris and I am:

• A Communist-at-Heart – I believe we need to take care of each other
• A True Music Lover – I’ve travelled all over the US, the Carribean, and Europe to see concerts
• A Social Psychologist – I study why normal people do normal things… i.e. make purchases, casts votes, etc.
• A Sports Fan – Though rarely a “homer”… I support organizations more than geography

My story so far:

After high school I was so burned out that I took a year off before returning to college. I gave up a scholarship to do it. Problem is, when I went back the following year I still had little interest in education… my interest was in the women there.

So I met a great one, and we spent so much time together that we stopped going to classes and dropped out of school.

So I got a minimum wage job… and then another… and another… I couldn’t stay at one for more than a few weeks at best. I left many of them after one day.

Then along came Multi-Level-Marketing and I thought I had found my calling.

WRONG!!

After two years of struggling with over-priced product I couldn’t move, I finally did the math. MLM was a pyramid scheme, and I was at the bottom! No thanks!

So not long after that, my college sweetheart dumped me… and I was left out into the great big world alone.

I still couldn’t hold a job… and by the time I was 25 I was so far in debt that I had absolutely no idea how much debt there was. I hadn’t been able to pay my rent on time, and my landlord was treating it as if it were a credit card. Soon my late fees and penalties were more than my rent.

A few lawsuits later, I finally moved out.

It was then that my life started getting interesting!

I still went from job-to-job until I found a CRAZY routine that only someone in their twenties can pull off.

• 8:00am – 4:00pm –> Installed telephones and wiring in houses and buildings
• 5:00pm-11:00pm –> Delivered pizzas
• 11:00pm – 2:00am –> Off… some sleep
• 2:00am – 7:00am –> Delivered newspapers

The phone work was Monday – Friday… The pizzas were 6 days per week (usually Tuesday off)… and the newspapers were 7 days per week and 365 days per year… the Holidays were the worst days of the year, because the paper triples in size to hold all of the advertising!

I maintained that lifestyle for almost three years!

Finally it caught up with me, and I was fired from the newspaper job and quit the pizza gig…

I was still doing phone work, but I discovered the super fun world of party DJs!

I was not a cool DJ that got to hang out in posh clubs rubbing up against movie stars and athletes…

I did weddings, bar mitzvahs, graduations, proms, bars… you name it! Christmas parties and New Year’s Eve were the big money shows… but it was a TON of fun!

At this point a realization set in… I was NOT like other people!

I had no real social skills… and this is part of what was making it hard for me to keep jobs. I could quickly “rub someone the wrong way” and I would never know it… and apparently that made me seem quite unlikable.

I quickly discovered that my lack of social skills was going to be a BIG obstacle to my success. But somehow, as a DJ, I could put on a new persona and hold back the fear.

What a discovery!

I milked the DJ gig for as long as I could… even moving to New York to expand my horizons (and oh yeah… to follow  a woman)… but the work was highly seasonal…

So I went back to phone work full time, working on a major overhaul in a Chrysler plant. It was then that I was “discovered!”

Actually, it was just that I was working with my Dad at the plant and he used to work for “The Phone Company,” now known locally as Verizon. One day a tech came into the plant that Dad had worked with before he retired. The tech told me that Verizon was hiring… so I put in my resume…

I got hired into the top-paying technical craft in the company right off the street!

I had things now that I had never had before:

• A company vehicle
• Health insurance
• Tuition-assistance
• A Union Job
• And a STEADY paycheck!

Man things were looking up for me! Or so I thought…

I actually found out that no matter how many years I spent somewhere, I was never going to “fit in.” I had run-ins with supervisors, other techs, and especially my dispatchers. And somehow I always came out the bad guy.

So I decided that I was not going to stay there for more than 5 years… I was going to make my money and get out!

Eleven years later I did just that!

While I was working for Verizon, a few things happened to me.

1. I went back to school and finished my degree in Psychology. OK, truth time here… my degree is actually in Behavioral Sciences. That was the only degree program the school had when I started. In order for me to have added the Psych degree as a double major, I was going to have to stay 3 more semesters… and remember… I burn out quickly! So officially I have a B.S. in B.S. Not everyone can say that!
2. I discovered music festivals. I had been seeing concerts since before I could drive, but they were always one night affairs. Then in 1999 a friend asked me if I wanted to go to a festival in Vermont with her. I thought, sure, why not. After that weekend I swore I’d go again. I did go again the next year with my new girlfriend. Then we went to two more festivals right after that. By 2002 we were driving to places like Maine and Georgia on a whim to see shows. I haven’t stopped and don’t intend to! By now I’ve seen shows at all four corners of the “Lower 48″ as well as shows in the Carribean, London, and Amsterdam.
3. I was finally able to see better therapists (though not all of them were any good). What this did was to give me perspective into my illness. Of course, learning psychology helped as well. Now it’s very hard to pinpoint exactly what my illness is. Names are quite elusive. My condition falls into the “autism spectrum.” I’m not completely silent and unrepsonsive like Hollywood-style autism, but I likely have something called “Asperger’s Syndrome.” It’s a fun condition that makes it very difficult for me to read other people. I don’t pick up on the subtle signals that most folks do, which means I can seem callous to those who don’t know me. It leads to much anxiety for me in uncertain social situations, because I never know who I may have “pissed off” until it’s too late.

On the plus side, all of these realizations have allowed me to grow and improve as a person. And by 2006 I was on top of my little world.

I was still working for Verizon, but putting in crazy long hours as a volunteer for a music-based NPO called HeadCount. We were going to concerts and festivals and registering new voters. It was a TON of work, but something I truly believe in. I was the oldest intern in the bunch, a good ten years older than the rest.

At the end of the year, I was given an award for being the most valuable intern. I got to go on Jam Cruise, a five-day floating music festival with ports of call on Grand Turk Island and Cayo Levantado. That year I actually did an eleven-day run starting with 3 nights in Boston for New Year’s Eve with Assembly of Dust, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, and the Ryan Montbleau Band… then flew straight to Ft. Lauderdale to catch the boat out to sea. After the five days out, there was a welcome back show with the Disco Biscuits in Ft. Lauderdale. I can’t even number, let alone name, all the bands and artists I saw through that run.

When I returned, my boss at Verizon was threatening to fire me! I had taken the first week of the year as a vacation week, and he had dropped the ball and hadn’t allowed us to select vacations during the prior calendar year. So I had gone to my boss to get him to sign off on the vacation, since it couldn’t go through normal channels due to his error. He signed off no problem, but then lost my paperwork… and then FORGOT THAT EVER SIGNED THEM!

So when I got home, he was accusing me of job abandonment and calling me a liar in front of my entire crew. I knew then that I wasn’t long for that job!

I survived 2007 only by the grace of FMLA legislation, but had fallen into a deep depression, even putting myself into a treatment facility for a short time. At the end of 2007, Verizon made me a buyout offer. I wanted to take it in the worst way, but since my last day on the job would be December 31 and I started working at Verizon on January 15… they weren’t going to credit me with my last year of service. So I turned them down, and felt terrible about my decision.

Work was getting worse all the time… Verizon was desperate to cut labor and was refusing to finance work for us… so it was a LOT of weeks of 40 hours of thumb-twiddling. Great money for no work… but I was having trouble sitting still as usual. The company refused to even give me unpaid time off and I was about to explode.

When they offer the next buy-out, I jumped at it! I got nearly a year’s salary to leave… and I was gone!

I had already started an eBay business by then… and it was starting to make a few dollars… so I was golden!

Then in July my Mother fell ill… she was hospitalized and it became apparent that she wasn’t going to last long. Of course that put my business on the back burner. Spending 14 hours a day at the hospital doesn’t leave much time for work.

At the end of August she passed away quietly in her sleep, and we layed her to rest in a nice ceremony.

Then the work began. You see, my Mother was also ill, though refused to admit it. One way in which her illness manifested itself was in her hording tendencies. My Mom had bills from the 1970s still in the house, because she couldn’t bear to throw them away. The attic was filled with old clothes, empty boxes and bags, broken Christmas decorations, you name it. And that didn’t include the three outbuildings piled high with stuff.

We filled three dumpsters. And that didn’t include furniture… Dad still lives in the house with his great grandson. Which is why we needed to re-habilitate the place!

By the time we were finished, it was October… and the economy had crashed…

No problem I thought… I still have a few dollars… I can wait it out.

I was also holding tickets to Europe… I had bought them right after the buyout, and they were non-transferrable… I was going to Europe after all…

The trouble is that my depression had never really subsided, and the loss of my Mom made it worse. I spent as little time out of my house as possible… and had begun to develop a fear of the outside world.

Yet here I was going to Europe ALONE!

I did it though… and had an Amazing Time in London and Amsterdam! Such a great time that I am going back this year… just not sure how yet!

When I got back from Europe I was flat broke… I had spent way more money than I had planned… and was hemorraging cash from the business that I never really closed down (eBay fees, Sellathon fees, Paypal fees, etc. were all still running).

It was at this point that I bought out my 401K to live on to get me through until the economy rebounded… and I still sat around and frittered it away too…

So then… there I was in May of this year… on the very last of my money… and I decided to throw myself back into my business.

I put up all the items that sold well for me last year… and found out that those markets were now glutted… no more profits there… and STILL no jobs to be found!

So I decided to learn Internet Marketing… how hard could it be, right? Learn a little coding, a few tricks, and make some money!

Hah!

Luckily I’m not a big buyer… so I didn’t buy into every scheme I saw like many of us do… but I gleaned all the free info I could… and soon…

I was awash in Information Overload and running in circles…

I was working 18-20 hours per day and bring in $20 or $30 on a good day! That sucks!

Finally I decided I needed help… I needed someone who could show me what to do, and what NOT to do…

And then I heard Alex Jeffreys start talking about all the things that I was just coming to realize… and knew that if nothing else… his timing was impeccible. So I signed up for his coaching course…

WoW!

I am a little over two weeks in… and I have accomplished so much more than I had in the weeks leading up to it… and more than I had accomplished in all of last year.

This blogsite is an example… I’ve tried writing blogs before… and it was too much like work… not so anymore… this is actually kinda fun!

So anyway… that’s my story so far… I look forward to sharing the rest of it with you right here…

Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions you may like to in the box below…

Peace,

Alan