When I was 12, I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I replied, “I don’t know, but I want to make a difference.” Where has that kid been hiding the past 21 years? Somewhere along the way, amidst personal tragedy, a growing fear of rejection, and a lack of common business sense, she was lost. In her place is me, a 33 year old happily married, mother of two working in a corporate, 9 to 5 job and absolutely no freedom with time or money. I am fortunate to have a loving and supportive family, but I am certainly not making a difference in the world; and aside from being unfulfilled in the workplace, I don’t have the time or money to support fulfilling activities outside of work for myself, my husband, or my kids.
As a child, I was always design-driven and would spend my time drawing and creating invention-type games that would both bore and aggravate my friends. I would also throw marketing spiels at my parents every time I saw a new product flash on my television and craft items to sell to any unlucky neighbor who happened to answer the door. Maybe this is normal for some, but in my small, WV town, I always knew I was different and I prided myself on it. Despite my actions no one thought that I might have the makings of an entrepreneur or inventor – that just wasn’t a realistic option in anyone’s mind.
Any adult I spoke to told me to go to college, get a degree, and get a job with a good company that offered a benefit package. Well, I have three design degrees and a job making slightly above average for my location with great benefits. However, as with many people my age, there was no talk of the ever surmounting debt that would take years, even after climbing the corporate ladder, to pay. I also did not foresee the challenges of being a woman in a major corporation or anticipate the degrading feeling of diminishing into a number rather than a valued individual. It didn’t take long to realize that ultimately, the corporate life is not for me.
With a teenager and newborn at home, living paycheck to paycheck just isn’t acceptable anymore. My husband and I have struggled due to our own choices and lack of financial education, but as I began researching solutions everything seemed to be a lecture or a long term illusion of wealth. I’ve been reading/listening to a multitude of financial books, blogs, and talking to my financially savvy friends just to try and get up to speed. We have spent the last few months educating ourselves and creating strong habits enabling us to live responsibly with what we have. However, just as MJ DeMarco speaks to in Unscripted and TMF , everything I read was about building my wealth for the next 30, 40, or 50 years down the road. I would be struggling to scrape every extra penny into savings or mutual funds for the rest of my life, then probably die before I could ever use it. I just thought there has to be a different way. Then MJ’s Unscripted showed up in my Audible recommendations.
I read Unscripted first based on some reviews and am glad I did. It was more of the wakeup call I needed to really see how much I have been living inside the lines. Now I am ¾ of the way through TMF and finally feel that living a productive and lucrative life outside the norm is actually possible (before the age of 70.) I finally believe that instead of being an idea person I can start focusing on actions that is going to allow me to implement those ideas. My goal within the next five years is to learn the skills (I’ve already started with EDX.org) I need to create a system and become a “producer,” so that I can make a difference and my family and I can finally live. I believe the passion and skills of our youth are undervalued and hide beneath years of following the “script.” I hope to tap into some of that old passion and innovation and really allow it to turn into something bigger, something life-changing. I plan on utilizing this Forum to both gain insight and share what I learn on my journey as well as to help keep me accountable. I know how short life can be, and it is time to start living that way.
As a child, I was always design-driven and would spend my time drawing and creating invention-type games that would both bore and aggravate my friends. I would also throw marketing spiels at my parents every time I saw a new product flash on my television and craft items to sell to any unlucky neighbor who happened to answer the door. Maybe this is normal for some, but in my small, WV town, I always knew I was different and I prided myself on it. Despite my actions no one thought that I might have the makings of an entrepreneur or inventor – that just wasn’t a realistic option in anyone’s mind.
Any adult I spoke to told me to go to college, get a degree, and get a job with a good company that offered a benefit package. Well, I have three design degrees and a job making slightly above average for my location with great benefits. However, as with many people my age, there was no talk of the ever surmounting debt that would take years, even after climbing the corporate ladder, to pay. I also did not foresee the challenges of being a woman in a major corporation or anticipate the degrading feeling of diminishing into a number rather than a valued individual. It didn’t take long to realize that ultimately, the corporate life is not for me.
With a teenager and newborn at home, living paycheck to paycheck just isn’t acceptable anymore. My husband and I have struggled due to our own choices and lack of financial education, but as I began researching solutions everything seemed to be a lecture or a long term illusion of wealth. I’ve been reading/listening to a multitude of financial books, blogs, and talking to my financially savvy friends just to try and get up to speed. We have spent the last few months educating ourselves and creating strong habits enabling us to live responsibly with what we have. However, just as MJ DeMarco speaks to in Unscripted and TMF , everything I read was about building my wealth for the next 30, 40, or 50 years down the road. I would be struggling to scrape every extra penny into savings or mutual funds for the rest of my life, then probably die before I could ever use it. I just thought there has to be a different way. Then MJ’s Unscripted showed up in my Audible recommendations.
I read Unscripted first based on some reviews and am glad I did. It was more of the wakeup call I needed to really see how much I have been living inside the lines. Now I am ¾ of the way through TMF and finally feel that living a productive and lucrative life outside the norm is actually possible (before the age of 70.) I finally believe that instead of being an idea person I can start focusing on actions that is going to allow me to implement those ideas. My goal within the next five years is to learn the skills (I’ve already started with EDX.org) I need to create a system and become a “producer,” so that I can make a difference and my family and I can finally live. I believe the passion and skills of our youth are undervalued and hide beneath years of following the “script.” I hope to tap into some of that old passion and innovation and really allow it to turn into something bigger, something life-changing. I plan on utilizing this Forum to both gain insight and share what I learn on my journey as well as to help keep me accountable. I know how short life can be, and it is time to start living that way.
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