Erik Wood

It all started when I was 2....just kidding...It all really did start when I was young because I had always dreamed of living the lifestyle of the rich and famous.  Whether it was being a professional athlete, an actor, or a successful businessman, I knew that I wanted to live free, but it took me many years to figure out what being freedom actually was. 

I went to college at Boston University and was under a Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship for the US Air Force. For those who do not know, ROTC is one of three main ways you can receive your commission as an officer in the US Armed Forces. While I was at Boston University, I was studying Electrical Engineering and learning how to be a military officer. I enjoyed my time and was actually the Cadet Wing Commander of our Air Force Detachment, Detachment 355 - Home of the Flying Tigers. I could not have asked for a better responsibility because I learned a lot about life, leadership, and most importantly, discipline.

I also met my future wife during my college years. She was in the Navy ROTC program and we met on a fluke training event in which neither one of us was supposed to attend. To make a long story short, I finally convinced this beautiful lady that I was the man for her and I must have had my four-leaf clover in my pocket because she said yes. We got married right after I graduated and received my Commission.

Once I graduated and received my commission as a Communications Officer in the US Air Force, I went to my first assignment at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia (Not CIA Langley, but Langley AFB - two completely different places). I spent two years at Langley AFB before moving on to my next assignment at the Air Force Research Laboratories in Rome, NY. I was so excited; I was thinking Rome, this is going to be awesome and then I saw the two letter abbreviation after it - NY. Yeah...not quite the same thing:)

I enjoyed my time up in Rome, but it was much colder than we expected, much more snow, and my wife, being a California girl decided it was enough. After about a year and a half, I separated from the Air Force and we headed back to Boston. My wife was working on Hanscom Air Force Base and I was working for a support contractor for the US Air Force. We both have very good jobs and the pay is great. Life is good, but something was missing. As chance would have it, my wife, not me, ran into an individual who forever changed our lives.

Now what was missing? I still didn't know, but this individual who my wife ran into, was able to show us. It was called freedom. I laughed at first when I heard this because I was like, I just got out of the Air Force, I know what freedom is and I have it. I am free to do what I want, when I want, and as long as it is legal, no one is going to stop me. That's where my ignorance showed up. I showed I knew what freedom was, but what I didn't know was that I really wasn't free. Huh?

We work because we have bills to pay and the necessities of life must be provided. We typically could go where we wanted and when we wanted. But two things always came up - can I get the time off of work and can/should we spend the money on it? As a DINK (Dual Income No Kids) couple, we do OK, but none of our income is residual...we always have to be there to put in our time and earn it. This created the desire in me to have both freedom of both time AND money. 

I learned that Freedom is the ability to do what you want to do, when you want to do it, without the need to worry about how much it will cost.

That sounds like retirement right? (Except for the not worrying about the cost part) I started asking myself the questions - Why should we wait until we are 55, 60, 65, 70 or beyond to retire? Why not retire at the age of 30, 35, or 40 - the time when we're still young, energetic, and can enjoy watching our family grow up in front of our eyes instead of trying to make time for the family when the job allows.

When I heard this, I was blown away. We were no longer in the rat race as we were shown a way out.  But we struggled as many do in the network marketing industry.  We went to the malls trying to "contact people"; going to weekly meeting in hotel rooms everynight; going to quarterly conferences.  Some people succeed doing this, some people do not.  I was not one of those people.  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. 

I struggled in my home business for 3 years until I watched this Insider Secrets video.  

I now not only work more efficiently, I have found the solution to my struggles in network marketing.  I see the light at the end of the tunnel and its gets closer everyday because I know that I am finally on the right path to fulfill my dreams and live the life that I have always wanted to.

Thank you again for reading my story.

Best and Warmest Regards,

Erik Wood