Hi everyone!
First of all, I'm new here and I just finished reading The Millionaire Fastlane . English is not my native language (I live in French speaking part of Canada) and I don't have the opportunity to speak it often, so pardon me if I make few mistakes.
I've been reading stories on this forum and for the first time in my life I would actually like to share my story which led me here. It is not a Fastlane story, but a life story about experience and learning.
I was born in Bosnia to a single mother in 1990. My father had left us before my birth. We had a pretty decent life, heck I could even say that we were in the upper middle class. Then everything changed. The war started in 1992, 6 days before my 2nd birthday. Our apartment was robbed by one of my mother's "friends" and we ended up losing almost everything. She didn't have a job and I actually remember her crying and saying "I don't know what to do" (even tho I was only 2-3 years old when it happened).
During the war, she got a job with United Nations Police Task Force IPTF as a translator. I didn't know what the job was about at the time because I was too young. Years later I learned that she was putting her life on the line every day. But that job brought the food on the table, and even more - it was highly paid considering the chaos that ruled during the war. The war has ended in 1995 but the IPTF stayed in Bosnia until 2002-2003. She lost her job.
She didn't move much and started having health problems. Her legs were weakening and I was always with her, helping her to stand and walk. Medication was helpful and she got a job at my elementary school as English teacher. However, once the treatment was over, leg problem was back and once again, she lost her job. She had saved some money during the years. Her health problems got worse and on one November morning in 2004 she died. I continued living alone (as a 14 year old because social services didn't know what to do - what a joke of a country) on the money that was left. That is the day I met my father but he didn't do much.
My uncle, who moved to Canada during the war, asked me if I wanted to come. At first I said no, but it took me like 2 weeks to see what world really is and I changed my decision. Six months into living alone, my best friend's parents invited me to live with them in the meantime. It was a big family, two parents and four kids, plus me. They always told me: "if there is enough place and food for six, there will be enough for one more."
In 2006, my girlfriend who I really loved, left me. My arrogance and frustrations grew and I got hooked on weed, drugs and alcohol. I became violent and almost got a police record which could have stopped my immigration process. After this, I changed my life a little bit, started reading and stayed out of the trouble.
After 3 and a half years of waiting, immigration process was done. I left everything I have ever known, loved or had in search of a better life. It was pretty hard in the beginning because everything was so different, the language, mentality, school system - really everything. I had problems with my family because we didn't see eye to eye. I learned french in a couple of months and got a job in a hotel restaurant as a dish washer. I went to college but screwed up 2 times because I was always waiting for that "magic opportunity" and I was always in search of something I didn't know what it was. It tried love, relationships, going out, almost everything. I got pretty depressed, and I felt lost once again. Once again, I turned to books, this time psychology mainly because I wanted to understand myself better and going to see a psy wasn't an option. I like solving my problems on my own. And i did.
I discovered a lot about my beliefs, my thinking patterns and determination. I moved out to live alone, got a student job as a programmer while keeping my old job at the restaurant (as a cook, I got upgraded in the meantime) and went on to finish college. This involved full time work and full time studying. It was a switch from Sidewalk to Slowlane. I finished college last month and I'm looking for a job as a programmer. I discovered the element that was making me unhappy - it is time. I want to have that free time, I hate being in chains. I've been reading get rich books and articles for a while but none has had an impact and such logic as TMF .
So that is my next step - to work full time so I can have some income while spending my evenings, weekends and all free moments learning everything I need to get started which is not hard since I love to learn new things. I know I will make it, because every single time I had determination and passion, I got incredible results.
If you have any advice, feel free to speak. I like to listen to what other people have to say, it is also a good form of learning. And sorry for a really long post.
First of all, I'm new here and I just finished reading The Millionaire Fastlane . English is not my native language (I live in French speaking part of Canada) and I don't have the opportunity to speak it often, so pardon me if I make few mistakes.
I've been reading stories on this forum and for the first time in my life I would actually like to share my story which led me here. It is not a Fastlane story, but a life story about experience and learning.
I was born in Bosnia to a single mother in 1990. My father had left us before my birth. We had a pretty decent life, heck I could even say that we were in the upper middle class. Then everything changed. The war started in 1992, 6 days before my 2nd birthday. Our apartment was robbed by one of my mother's "friends" and we ended up losing almost everything. She didn't have a job and I actually remember her crying and saying "I don't know what to do" (even tho I was only 2-3 years old when it happened).
During the war, she got a job with United Nations Police Task Force IPTF as a translator. I didn't know what the job was about at the time because I was too young. Years later I learned that she was putting her life on the line every day. But that job brought the food on the table, and even more - it was highly paid considering the chaos that ruled during the war. The war has ended in 1995 but the IPTF stayed in Bosnia until 2002-2003. She lost her job.
She didn't move much and started having health problems. Her legs were weakening and I was always with her, helping her to stand and walk. Medication was helpful and she got a job at my elementary school as English teacher. However, once the treatment was over, leg problem was back and once again, she lost her job. She had saved some money during the years. Her health problems got worse and on one November morning in 2004 she died. I continued living alone (as a 14 year old because social services didn't know what to do - what a joke of a country) on the money that was left. That is the day I met my father but he didn't do much.
My uncle, who moved to Canada during the war, asked me if I wanted to come. At first I said no, but it took me like 2 weeks to see what world really is and I changed my decision. Six months into living alone, my best friend's parents invited me to live with them in the meantime. It was a big family, two parents and four kids, plus me. They always told me: "if there is enough place and food for six, there will be enough for one more."
In 2006, my girlfriend who I really loved, left me. My arrogance and frustrations grew and I got hooked on weed, drugs and alcohol. I became violent and almost got a police record which could have stopped my immigration process. After this, I changed my life a little bit, started reading and stayed out of the trouble.
After 3 and a half years of waiting, immigration process was done. I left everything I have ever known, loved or had in search of a better life. It was pretty hard in the beginning because everything was so different, the language, mentality, school system - really everything. I had problems with my family because we didn't see eye to eye. I learned french in a couple of months and got a job in a hotel restaurant as a dish washer. I went to college but screwed up 2 times because I was always waiting for that "magic opportunity" and I was always in search of something I didn't know what it was. It tried love, relationships, going out, almost everything. I got pretty depressed, and I felt lost once again. Once again, I turned to books, this time psychology mainly because I wanted to understand myself better and going to see a psy wasn't an option. I like solving my problems on my own. And i did.
I discovered a lot about my beliefs, my thinking patterns and determination. I moved out to live alone, got a student job as a programmer while keeping my old job at the restaurant (as a cook, I got upgraded in the meantime) and went on to finish college. This involved full time work and full time studying. It was a switch from Sidewalk to Slowlane. I finished college last month and I'm looking for a job as a programmer. I discovered the element that was making me unhappy - it is time. I want to have that free time, I hate being in chains. I've been reading get rich books and articles for a while but none has had an impact and such logic as TMF .
So that is my next step - to work full time so I can have some income while spending my evenings, weekends and all free moments learning everything I need to get started which is not hard since I love to learn new things. I know I will make it, because every single time I had determination and passion, I got incredible results.
If you have any advice, feel free to speak. I like to listen to what other people have to say, it is also a good form of learning. And sorry for a really long post.
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