“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
-Alvin Toffler, Futurist, Journalist, and Author
Andrew Chang is an author, entrepreneur, and speaker in training and development, health, real estate, media, and peak performance technologies. His inspiring transformational story—defying suicidal odds, living Olympian dreams, and creating a medical miracle—has been featured in various media outlets, including SF Chronicle, Bodybuilding.com, and a Stanford M.F.A documentary.
Andrew was an obese and abused youth, a bulimic and troubled teen, and a weak and worthless juvenile who had no friends and no future. He wanted to change the nightmare of mental disorders, crisis centers, and asylums, but he could not even dream of a new life. Yet, he knew he must create a light, or die of the darkness.
At 12 years old, he found a way to transform his body and his life through Bruce Lee, Dali Lama, and Tony Robbins. Within 6 years, he read over 700 books in martial arts, fitness, and peak performance psychology; he strategically and systematically applied the best practices unto his body and into his life. By 18, Andrew was living his dreams of breaking world strength records, creating fitness revolutions, and building a health empire.
At 20, just as his professional athletic career was about to take off with national sponsorships and show requests from leaders like NBC, Muscle Magazine, and Calvin Klein, Andrew went through intense martial arts injuries that crippled his body and almost ended his life. Due to severe damage to the upper spine, nerves, and surrounding tissues, he lost over 70 pounds of muscle, his entire shoulder became a bone, and his whole neuromusculoskeketal system deteriorated to debilitating dysfunctions. Doctors said that his 20 year old body had the damages of a 90 year old man, that he would be doomed to a lifetime of increasing pain and decreasing function, and that he would never walk or move properly again, much less train again.
To survive, Andrew faced the death of all that he once dreamed, and forged a destiny he never even imagined. To succeed, the warrior became an entrepreneur. Andrew had to do in one year what he once thought he would have his whole life to do. Within two years, from age 20-22, Andrew earned four degrees (psychology major, business minor, sociology minor, and professional financial analyst certification) from two top universities (HKU and UCSD); worked two jobs; started three businesses; read over 1,000 books; found love; traveled the world; and consulted with over 30 doctors to find a cure.
When all the experts said that there was no case of anyone ever healing from his level of nerve damage, muscular atrophy, and spinal injury, Andrew defied their diagnosis of an invalid body. He refused a life of pain, of drugs, of paralysis. He committed to creating the cure. From age 20-25, he consulted with over 90 leading doctors, therapists, and healers to create a medical miracle. Through intensive bio-mechanics, energy healing, meditation, body work, and spiritual science, he regenerated nerves, tissues, and muscles from what were once only bones.
Andrew realized that sometimes in life, we get broken down, not to be destroyed, but to be disassembled. So we can be reassembled, rebuilt, and renewed, with new parts we never had before, with new functions we never used before, and with new powers we never even dreamed before!
Andrew shows that it’s never too late to be who we always wanted to be, to do what we always wanted to do, and to go where we always wanted to go—no matter what age, what background, what challenges:
- Overcame all the disorders—clinical depression, morbid obesity, antisocial personality disorders, eating disorders, speech disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorders—that were supposed to, at best, hold him back from life, and, at worst, end his life
- Graduated with psychology major, business minor, sociology minor, and professional financial analyst certification from 2 of the world’s top universities in just 7 hours a week, in just 1 hour a day, with 3.5-4.0 GPA’s—without ever buying a single textbook
- Traveled to over 40 cities in 12 countries with 50%-75% discounts, with luxurious VIP experiences at backpacker prices, as a full time student in Asia’s number one business program—Hong Kong University
- Created 6 businesses by 25 years old—Dao of Life (training and development), Health Wealth Truth (health programs and products), Inspiration Innovation Integration (productivity and education technology), Global Dao Center (real estate, construction, and urban design), Dragon Tear Productions (movie, audio, book, event, and art production), and Andrew B Chang (executive coaching, personal training, and marketing)
- Partnered with over 120 leaders—including legendary Qi Qong masters, Taoist healers, Tantric therapists, Zen monks, Olympic doctors, Martial Arts champions, and Personal Development gurus—to be a medical miracle
Andrew is alive today because of heroes like Tony Robbins, Dali Lama, and Steve Jobs who taught him to dream bigger, to do greater, and to be better. His purpose in life is to innovate, integrate, and inspire the health, real estate, and technological industries, so that everyone is empowered to freely and fully learn, grow, love, contribute, and champion their gifts for a better world.