Why I do what I do - Fernando Dada

It seems that it doesn't matter in what part of the world you get to be born, human beings have a strong curiosity to learn the secret of a successful and joyful life. We learn this through our families, communities, schools, media, etc.  What I find sad is that it usually boils down to what we have and what we do only, and I think there is one more thing that is more important than any of those two. 

Through my childhood, I learned that it is possible to be free and live a life where I have to choose whatever I want to have or do. To have this kind of life I would have to focus on many things and also evolve the list with my own experience. Both of my parents were fundamental to this process in my development, and I can´t forget the day my father told me “You will do what you want when you pay for that yourself” at age 13. These words sunk into me deep and I had received a challenge. That was what I needed to drive my business or money-making pursuit. I had a small candy store (a table on the sidewalk) set up right away and spent hours after school trying to sell candy to anyone who walked by, this was my first “business”. 

In summer, when I was 14 I asked a friend of my dad for a job in a store that would resemble the low-key, third-world, 1992 version of a small Best Buy. I really wanted a saxophone and I had to work for it, so I spent all my summer vacations selling TVs, refrigerators, tools, etc at “Everything Bazar”, which is my best translation of the store name. 

By the age of 17, I was working in a Greek food restaurant that my family had started for my older brother and sister. By the age of 19, I opened my restaurant which lasted around 2 years. I had to wake up at 5 a.m. to go do some shopping at the local market before I had to head to school. After school, I would go directly to my restaurant and work there till 11 or midnight. We were open every day of the week, so it meant a lot of work and just small windows of time for my personal life. 

This is how my entrepreneurship started in life and how I fell in love with doing business and making my own money. At this time I understood these five key elements in life: 

1. Work hard & smart
2. Be disciplined
3. Do all the necessary stuff, even if you don´t particularly like doing it
4. Learn and become an expert at solving
5. Enjoy every single moment of it, and be grateful for the process

All these years were full of hard work and some success. I had other businesses and endeavors that filled my life with joy and created the possibilities for me to travel, have fun, and enjoy some amazing experiences. When I finished school I decided that I wanted to try out doing business in the USA. I was going to move away and just try my luck. I was enjoying my last moments in Cuernavaca, Mexico with my friends. It was at one of my best friends' birthday party that I a girl that just captured my heart. I really liked her and we spent hours talking at this party, but I knew I was moving to a different country soon and she also lived in a different city. There was a small probability we could get to know each other more and have some kind of relationship. 

But it was in my going away party that I got to see her again and my heart went crazy. She told me she was moving back to Cuernavaca soon with her parents and sister. This invited me to reconsider and I ended up deciding not to move to the state and try to get closer to her. We talked and saw each other every day for years, we fell in love. Soon enough I proposed to her and we agreed to get married in 2 years. We were extremely happy. After a couple of years, her father and I started talking about the possibility of opening a business in the States and moving there looking for a better future. Long story short, we moved to Austin, Texas. 

Life started to turn around for me. I purchased a coffee shop at The Lakeline Mall called “The Coffee Beanery” with a partner and that is how we managed to get an Investors Visa, my fiance and I got married and we were ready to conquer the world. We ended up selling the coffee shop and my now wife and I opened a very successful graphic design studio and print shop. 

We quickly managed to take that business to 7 figures in our first year. We had gained the trust of 3 very large organizations and were able to scale our local business by generating stronger community ties. By year 3 we had an 8 figure business going with over 70 employees including the Printing Facility. Everything that any entrepreneur couple could wish for seemed to be true. We had cars, and great office space in one of the most attractive communities in Autin, TX, we traveled many times during the year and we were looking to buy a beautiful house to start a family in. 

I could say that I was running a very successful business and that I was a successful founder/owner with a story to tell and a life of travel & leisure ahead. 

But I was missing something huge that took a hard hit to realize. I made some stupid decisions in the past that came to hunt me and my father was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer. In the blink of an eye I had lost my business, my investor´s visa & travel visa, and was back in Mexico trying to solve my problems in the US while going through my father´s illness. 

Fast forward eight months and I had no business nor home in the United States. Me and my wife were restarting our life in Mexico. My father passed away and it all seemed like a bad nightmare. 

This was a great opportunity to reinvent myself and rebuild something solid for my future and my family´s future. One of the first learnings that I learned from this horrible experience was: that I HAD NOT CREATED ANYTHING, I was just focused on doing things and having things, but there was no foundation, no purpose. I was 120 pounds overweight and my life with my wife was very transactional, even when we were having a lot of fun together. There was a huge sense of emptiness and a lack of contribution to something larger than the results of my work.

Through my first coaching certification as an International Life and Spiritual Coach, I began to understand that there are things that are also important in life aside from money, health, and family. Once I found out about this I started a journey that is close to 2 decades fully dedicated to taking myself, my life, and my practice constantly to the next level The journey included over 20 new certifications, 3 new university programs, 100+ books read, designing over 200 different programs for human development, etc. 

Now I have reached my full potential and achieved passion and fulfillment in all aspects of my life. I'm still working on myself and my practice, but I found that there are 4 fundamental pillars to be built with practice:

• Elevate Consciousness: Mindfulness, meditation, spirituality, focus and flow.
• Relationships: Generate more depth, collaboration, and closeness between people.
• Productivity: Methodologies and tools that help organize and use time better.
• Professional Effectiveness: Useful behaviors and tools to lead and collaborate constructively and consciously.

These pillars can drive anybody´s transformation through my 11 domains of concern in life: Character | Intellect | Emotional | Spiritual | Health & Body | Love Life | Family | Social relationships | Career | Finance | Life Experience

That's why I created The Conscious Executive, which is a program based on those 4 pillars and 11 domains of concern. Once you go through the program you will experience benefits like:

🔹Achieve the healthiest, wealthiest, and most loving version of yourself

🔹Gain clarity on where to invest your time and energy to receive and create deep value in your life. 

🔹Build individual, social, and professional relationships that help you create a better version of yourself.

🔹Create purpose-driven organizations and worthwhile endeavors that enable fulfillment and realization. 

🔹Wake up motivated and enthusiastic to face your day, knowing that you are fulfilling your true purpose and potential.

🔹Increase your income by 30% or more. 

🔹Improve your positioning within the organization.

I truly believe that we all have a unique path of development and evolution. No matter where you are, a conscious, organized, and disciplined practice will help you achieve your goals and create more freedom.

If this resonates with you, feel free to contact me directly or schedule a call with the link in my bio.