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Let’s start with my backstory.
I turn 34 next month. It’s a solid age and I can look back at my years of experience and pick out the exact path that got me to where I am today. More importantly, I can use that path and get a good idea of what my future will look like if I were to continue on as I have been. But you know what? F*ck that path. I was following the path the 99% follow and I can tell you exactly where it leads. Mediocrity, regret, and a bull sh*t life with no legacy or merit beyond the small handful of people that depended on you to not screw things up. One could argue that such a life has security, safety, and such, but that kind of BS is a roll of the dice, you can follow that path and still end up in the crapper. My dad followed that path, he went to college, got his degrees, got his mountain of debt that plagued our family for a hefty chunk of my life. I grew up living off welfare and food stamps, my mom spent her Sundays clipping coupons and bargain shopping for the cheapest food stuff, often hitting 5 or 6 stores because Store 1 had the cheapest bread, Store 2 had the cheapest milk, and Store 10 had the cheapest whatever. Hand-me-downs and PB&J’s were the norm, I remember the A/C in our house was so pathetic, the coils would freeze over in the summer and we’d have to run a hair dryer to thaw it out. Arizona gets hot AF guys. I’d get a wet washcloth, stick it in the freezer before bed, then put it over my head while in bed and hope I fell asleep before the damn thing unfroze, otherwise I’d be up all night, sweaty and miserable. For all that I was a content kid.
How could I know there was any other way? Then cancer happened, seriously, F*CK cancer, F*CK it to F*CK’N Hell….After my mom's funeral I got my first exposure to a richer lifestyle, something that was impossible before hand because F*ck cancer. We went to stay for a week at my Aunt and Uncle's cabin, it was enormous, beautiful, and my older siblings would mention that it was because they were rich, because Uncle was a lawyer. But this was all just an experience that didn’t amount to anything. We were still poor and it never struck me that we didn’t have to be poor, dad was poor because he was an engineer while Uncle was rich because he was a lawyer so nothing to do about that.
I set out to follow the same path as my dad. I went to college, got married, had a couple kids and managed to do all this while working a full-time job building helicopters. I graduated debt free and was able to land a decent paying job which elevated our lifestyle. No more food stamps and welfare, no more scrimping and saving every penny to keep the lights on. We were comfortable. I can’t tell you how much of a relief it was to be at this point in my life but it was pretty short-lived. God damned cancer, again, this time it took my dad. The man was 2 years away from retirement, then he was gone and I was looking down into a freaking black pit. I followed in his footsteps, and I could see the future. F*ck that path. It would be 5 more years till I finally realized there was another way, I was so heavily scripted that even though I could see the future, I could see what was in store for me and my family, I still kept chugging along the path of mediocrity and regret like that stupid little train. My FTE happened about a year ago when my Uncle came into town to visit and I just asked him how he had so much money. How could he afford the big beautiful cabin, the cars, the toys, the boats. Up till then I thought he was just a lawyer, I was dead wrong. Sure he got a law degree and was technically a lawyer, but he OWNED his own law practice with several practicing attorneys working under him, working for him. He also opened several hair salon schools and made a killing there as well. He owned dozens of properties, rentals, and apartments. He told me of one property, a hospital that he owns and leases out to the government for $180K a month, A MONTH!? I couldn’t fathom that kind of wealth. My entire perception of the man was flipped upside-down. He was an entrepreneur.
Since then the path has changed. It’s been an absolute slog to reprogram my mindset, I’ve devoured books on business, marketing, and sales. I started out following Ramit Sethi and his Zero To Launch and his Earnable courses, soaking up everything I could. Reading books by Greene, Brunt, Hill, Robbins, Kiyosaki, Newport, Covey, Gilkey and many many more. I put together a rudimentary business plan, filed for my first LLC and got to work.
My Uncle graciously mentored me and not long after I landed my first gig as a freelance web developer. It was a simple job and I nailed it! I was ecstatic, but something weird happened at this point. I had completed the job, the client was happy but I couldn’t bring myself to send the invoice. I can’t explain what was going on in my mind, it took me nearly 3 weeks after work was complete to finally send the bill. Like I was terrified that they would refuse to pay me, that they would criticize me in some way, that I was crossing some illusionary line. Nothing of the sort happened and I was paid well for the job. Thrilled but chagrined at my hesitancy, I moved on to acquiring my second client, which took some time but eventually a local trophy shop asked me to do some re-work for their website and this is where things fell apart. Blinded by my first success I dove into the work and promised to knock their socks off. I was excited to get paid again, I was already shopping for a new computer, new office chair, and more. So much so that my promise to ‘knock their socks off’ fell flat and what I produced was lackluster at best. I still charged them full tilt though and the response was blistering. I failed to deliver an exceptional service and charged them like I did. I was chasing money and while the client was still happy, there was this unshakable feeling that I had missed something, that I had failed. No matter, I got paid. Bought the computer, bought the chair, funds were low but hey I could find another client, no problem. I spent the next 2 months searching and came up short, I was losing motivation and getting frustrated. The business was failing miserably and I didn’t know what to do. Should I just give up? Go back to my cushy comfy 9-to-5? Maybe I wasn’t doing what I loved. This is about when I came across a YouTube video that showed some know-it-all type guy named MJ something or other giving a lecture. In it, this MJ guy said something that hit me like a sledgehammer,
“Discipline Pains weigh ounces, Regret Pains weigh tons”.
I don’t know why it hit me so hard but I decided to learn more and came across his books and his forum. It was like Manna from heaven. I read and re-read his books, I joined this forum and revel in the wealth of knowledge, experience, and expertise of this amazing community. I closed shop on my first failed business and decided to start a new business and this time I'm going to do it right.
I turn 34 next month. It’s a solid age and I can look back at my years of experience and pick out the exact path that got me to where I am today. More importantly, I can use that path and get a good idea of what my future will look like if I were to continue on as I have been. But you know what? F*ck that path. I was following the path the 99% follow and I can tell you exactly where it leads. Mediocrity, regret, and a bull sh*t life with no legacy or merit beyond the small handful of people that depended on you to not screw things up. One could argue that such a life has security, safety, and such, but that kind of BS is a roll of the dice, you can follow that path and still end up in the crapper. My dad followed that path, he went to college, got his degrees, got his mountain of debt that plagued our family for a hefty chunk of my life. I grew up living off welfare and food stamps, my mom spent her Sundays clipping coupons and bargain shopping for the cheapest food stuff, often hitting 5 or 6 stores because Store 1 had the cheapest bread, Store 2 had the cheapest milk, and Store 10 had the cheapest whatever. Hand-me-downs and PB&J’s were the norm, I remember the A/C in our house was so pathetic, the coils would freeze over in the summer and we’d have to run a hair dryer to thaw it out. Arizona gets hot AF guys. I’d get a wet washcloth, stick it in the freezer before bed, then put it over my head while in bed and hope I fell asleep before the damn thing unfroze, otherwise I’d be up all night, sweaty and miserable. For all that I was a content kid.
How could I know there was any other way? Then cancer happened, seriously, F*CK cancer, F*CK it to F*CK’N Hell….After my mom's funeral I got my first exposure to a richer lifestyle, something that was impossible before hand because F*ck cancer. We went to stay for a week at my Aunt and Uncle's cabin, it was enormous, beautiful, and my older siblings would mention that it was because they were rich, because Uncle was a lawyer. But this was all just an experience that didn’t amount to anything. We were still poor and it never struck me that we didn’t have to be poor, dad was poor because he was an engineer while Uncle was rich because he was a lawyer so nothing to do about that.
I set out to follow the same path as my dad. I went to college, got married, had a couple kids and managed to do all this while working a full-time job building helicopters. I graduated debt free and was able to land a decent paying job which elevated our lifestyle. No more food stamps and welfare, no more scrimping and saving every penny to keep the lights on. We were comfortable. I can’t tell you how much of a relief it was to be at this point in my life but it was pretty short-lived. God damned cancer, again, this time it took my dad. The man was 2 years away from retirement, then he was gone and I was looking down into a freaking black pit. I followed in his footsteps, and I could see the future. F*ck that path. It would be 5 more years till I finally realized there was another way, I was so heavily scripted that even though I could see the future, I could see what was in store for me and my family, I still kept chugging along the path of mediocrity and regret like that stupid little train. My FTE happened about a year ago when my Uncle came into town to visit and I just asked him how he had so much money. How could he afford the big beautiful cabin, the cars, the toys, the boats. Up till then I thought he was just a lawyer, I was dead wrong. Sure he got a law degree and was technically a lawyer, but he OWNED his own law practice with several practicing attorneys working under him, working for him. He also opened several hair salon schools and made a killing there as well. He owned dozens of properties, rentals, and apartments. He told me of one property, a hospital that he owns and leases out to the government for $180K a month, A MONTH!? I couldn’t fathom that kind of wealth. My entire perception of the man was flipped upside-down. He was an entrepreneur.
Since then the path has changed. It’s been an absolute slog to reprogram my mindset, I’ve devoured books on business, marketing, and sales. I started out following Ramit Sethi and his Zero To Launch and his Earnable courses, soaking up everything I could. Reading books by Greene, Brunt, Hill, Robbins, Kiyosaki, Newport, Covey, Gilkey and many many more. I put together a rudimentary business plan, filed for my first LLC and got to work.
My Uncle graciously mentored me and not long after I landed my first gig as a freelance web developer. It was a simple job and I nailed it! I was ecstatic, but something weird happened at this point. I had completed the job, the client was happy but I couldn’t bring myself to send the invoice. I can’t explain what was going on in my mind, it took me nearly 3 weeks after work was complete to finally send the bill. Like I was terrified that they would refuse to pay me, that they would criticize me in some way, that I was crossing some illusionary line. Nothing of the sort happened and I was paid well for the job. Thrilled but chagrined at my hesitancy, I moved on to acquiring my second client, which took some time but eventually a local trophy shop asked me to do some re-work for their website and this is where things fell apart. Blinded by my first success I dove into the work and promised to knock their socks off. I was excited to get paid again, I was already shopping for a new computer, new office chair, and more. So much so that my promise to ‘knock their socks off’ fell flat and what I produced was lackluster at best. I still charged them full tilt though and the response was blistering. I failed to deliver an exceptional service and charged them like I did. I was chasing money and while the client was still happy, there was this unshakable feeling that I had missed something, that I had failed. No matter, I got paid. Bought the computer, bought the chair, funds were low but hey I could find another client, no problem. I spent the next 2 months searching and came up short, I was losing motivation and getting frustrated. The business was failing miserably and I didn’t know what to do. Should I just give up? Go back to my cushy comfy 9-to-5? Maybe I wasn’t doing what I loved. This is about when I came across a YouTube video that showed some know-it-all type guy named MJ something or other giving a lecture. In it, this MJ guy said something that hit me like a sledgehammer,
“Discipline Pains weigh ounces, Regret Pains weigh tons”.
I don’t know why it hit me so hard but I decided to learn more and came across his books and his forum. It was like Manna from heaven. I read and re-read his books, I joined this forum and revel in the wealth of knowledge, experience, and expertise of this amazing community. I closed shop on my first failed business and decided to start a new business and this time I'm going to do it right.