How was Charles before getting where he is at today?
As a child growing up in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Charles’s mind was already set on attending the United States Military Academy as soon as he hit 18. He wanted to commission as an Army Officer, there was no telling him otherwise. The entrepreneur life wasn’t even a thought in his head at this point. It wasn’t until a year into the military where he had a major shift in his mindset which lead him to become the entrepreneur that he is today. The military, social anxiety and well like all of us… some relationship issues played a huge part of his journey.
How did the Military, Social Anxiety and Relationship issues play such a huge part of who Charles is today?
He enrolled as a cadet at West Point as well as got his first girlfriend at 18. Charles graduated in engineering management and was commissioned as a second lieutenant becoming an engineer officer. Later on, he took fate into his own hands and became an Army Dive Officer and absolutely loved everything about this new position that he earned. As well as having the dream girl, the one he thought he’d never have, the girl he thought he’d marry.
But like every love story, the bad was just waiting to happen. This break up wasn’t taken lightly, I’m sure we all can relate with our first break up. Well after a while, he tried to come out of this state of depression and read self-help books on subjects like self-esteem, social psychology and the art of sales. These books touched all the areas Charles felt he needed the most improvement in. Soon after, an event took place that will change his life forever, he just didn’t know it at the moment.
One day at the military base he watched this man speak, his name was Donovan England, who owned a custom suit fashion line. Donovan spoke about fashion and the different characteristics you express when you wear different style suits. Charles subconsciously had an entrepreneurial impulsive reaction that lead him to find out the speaker’s phone number and actually leave him a voicemail. He worked up the confidence to call this businessman and pitch him the idea to sell his custom suits for a 20% commission. Donovan loved the idea and gave Charles a call back to confirm this agreement. Let’s just say that was a very mutually beneficial agreement they made, considering Donovan went from $40k in sales in his first year to $200k in his second year having Charles as his head salesman! Not only did he start making really good money selling for this guy, he also got himself another girlfriend around the same time. Three years later Charles hired Donovan a new sales guy because he was graduating and starting his Military career.
He was relocated to Hawaii to be an army dive officer in Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
The setback for a strong comeback
Soon after, he was sent on a mission as a US Army Dive Officer in Vietnam. On this mission he became ill and had to leave the Military due to medical reasons. Since we all know that when it rains, it pours... during this exact same period of time… yet another break-up on top of his medical discharge meaning he was officially jobless and heartbroken again.
Considering he already shifted into an entrepreneurial mindset previously, it was only natural for survival mode to kick in and execute his game plan to do a comeback. He wanted the aftermath of this break up and financial deficit to strictly focus on turning a negative into a positive. Charles made it a point to turn a negative into a positive by researching new subjects and really getting into fitness.
Before his discharge, he was able to start an ATM business while living in Hawaii, which turned out to become a successful business for him. Then he encountered the person that really helped him reach new levels mentally … but this time it wasn’t a girl. It was a person who not only became a mentor but a very close friend. Justin Kimbrough, being the extremely intellectual and positive individual that he is, helped Charles out of his rut. He was able to fulfill what Charles was lacking at the time, a supportive friend who not only truly cared about him and his state of mind but would also lead him to discover new entrepreneurial ventures. Charles started selling Justin’s investments for a commission, as well as making his own investments and it hasn’t stopped since. He is also working on a personal project he calls “The Alpha Manifest.” This project targets men that grew up with social anxiety, low levels of confidence, and a lack of knowledge in fitness and business. He truly wants to be the mentor he once needed himself!
5 Tips Charles Wants to Share with those that Feel Stuck:
1. FAIL, FAIL, FAIL! Whatever you do be prepared to fail. Fail in everything and you will eventually learn how to succeed, no matter what the subject.
2. GO GET REJECTED! At 18 I was very uncomfortable talking to anybody in public, especially beautiful women. After I studied subjects to help me improve, I realized in order to improve my confidence I would have to practice talking to people and be prepared to be rejected. If you’re a young guy with little confidence, the last thing you want is to get rejected. However, you need to know rejection is the only thing standing in between you and the girl of your dreams. The more comfortable you are with rejection, the easier it is to talk to anybody.
3. GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE! Life is too short to hide when it throws you a new experience. Go find those new experiences, grow your knowledge, talk to people. The reason I am where I am is because I was able to listen and learn from others that are better than me.
4. MANIFEST! Anything you want, you can speak into existence. It might be a cheesy thing to hear that you can do anything you want, but it’s the truth. You want to make money, go do it. You want to be more social, seek knowledge. You want to change something, change it.
5. POSITIVE MINDSET! This is the most important tip I can give you. Even a bad day is still a good day, it is a day you needed to get where you want to be. Everything you do in life, every decision you make, every trap you fall into is set for you to escape and make you stronger. Life is short, it’s full of ups and downs but that’s what makes life so amazing. Know yourself and know your weaknesses when you see yourself slipping. Bring yourself up and surround yourself with like-minded people who support you and your dreams no matter how grand they are.
You can reach Charles Masters at [email protected] or @thealphamanifest on Instagram