Today is the beginning of a new era in my life. An era when things begin to build as a result of years of laying the foundation. I’ll call it the “era of results.” The result of years of hard work, of failures and setbacks, of pushing forward, of going for “it”. The result of accumulated education (both street smarts and book smarts) applied to real situations with real consequences and real rewards. As much of a cliche as it is to say “never give up”, “take risks”, and “be aggressively ambitious,” this is what I’ve told myself since I first decided in my youth that I wanted to do something great with my life. Great people don’t stumble upon greatness; they sacrifice for it and dedicate themselves to the idea of greatness. Often they get off track; whether misguided, misinformed, or simply too spread thin trying to be great at several things at once. I’ve been all. But eventually these folks who actively pursue greatness will reach their “era of results” (or die leaving a legacy of profound ambition…the latter sucks, but contributes to awesome inspirational slogans).

Today I closed a deal to acquire the first national customer of my new music tech startup, ChazBo Music. It’s funny because just 4 months ago this company was my employer from where I was laid off. I could have been pissed (well, I was) and I could have ranted and attempted to publicly bash them and completely write them off in my book, but I believe that you shouldn’t burn bridges (even when a business relationship ends not in your favor).

A unique and ironic series of events has led to going from being laid-off to boasting a new venture in 4 months. Today, I enter the Era of Results.