Chapter 4, principle number four. Scared money, don't make money. You can play it safe in life or play it full out.

I've done both. I played it safe for a long time. Then one day when I had to risk everything, I won more than I ever had before.

I became unstoppable. The level of risk determines the level of reward, and there was nothing I couldn't achieve

because I bet at all. It wasn't because of what I bet, but because my attitude changed, losing wasn't

an option. That decision happened while my own family and I were on a trip to Disneyland in December

2015. Christmas was around the corner, so it was purely family time.

I was trying to enjoy myself, but I couldn't relax. I was stressed out about the company,

our money, and our future. At one point in the day, while the kids were on a ride, Liz and I sat

down at a red picnic table nearby, where we both sweating profusiously, licking ice cream

cones, and waiting for the kids to finish. We're going to have to shut the doors, I said to Liz.

It's the first time I'm ever going to fail. I can't get this to work. I was talking about power

home solar. For a year, we've been trying to get the business into profitability and just

couldn't make it happen. She looked at me, but didn't say anything. Kevin thinks so, too, I added.

Kevin was by my side again for this venture. Like I said, he's my business ride or die. Again,

Liz didn't say much. The kids came back, jacked full of adrenaline, and talking

a mile a minute. So we put the conversation on hold until later that night when we were alone in our

hotel room. I did have a solution to keep the doors open. I knew Liz was not going to be happy,

but it's what we had to do. At the end of my first year with Power Home Solar, the company was losing money, and I had to

consider shutting the doors.

Cash flow was a real problem because we weren't getting paid until after the projects were

installed, and that was tough.

I felt like the shock clock was running out.

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