kylemschmitz
New Contributor
Funny how life takes us.
Takes us by surprise.
Takes us by storm.
Takes us like fools.
And we wake up one day and realize we've been... well, taken.
When all along we've had the power to push.
Yet we've settled for being pulled.
Pulled with the current of mediocrity.
Pulled further downstream of our potential.
And we have our reasons...
"The current is too strong..."
"I'm too weak..."
"I was made to move in this direction..."
"No one will help me..."
And that's when it clicked.
Clicked for me.
You see, I had parents that did the best they knew how. But there were gaps to be filled.
I spent my early twenties with my head up some dark crevices apparently enjoying myself.
I had no direction. But I was being pulled.
The first phase of my salvation came through books.
I take to learning like a sponge takes to water. Though I never gave much time to books.
But the idea of reading suddenly seemed cool. And so I did.
The more I read, the more I learned.
The more I learned, the more I realized how much I had to learn.
And as I mused, the fire burned...
Why hadn't anyone told me these things before?
Why has a quarter of a century passed and I'm just now being exposed to such essentials?
And let alone through books.
I was mad – no, furious.
I burned.
But I waited.
Waited for that father-hunger to be filled.
Waited for that father-figure to come along and tell me everything.
Take a risk on me.
Invest in me.
And I waited.
For years, I waited.
But no one ever came.
And all along, I was being pulled... further down, further out.
And then he passed me.
A kid half my age.
Feet firmly planted on the riverbed.
Marching upstream.
Chin up, staring the world in the face.
And all at once, it hit me...
No one was coming.
No one was ever going to come.
And why?
Because no one cares.
No one cares about my dreams.
After all, they have their own.
But more than that...
No one can.
No one can make my dreams reality but me.
No one is coming.
No one cares.
And no one can...
But me.
Right then and there, my feet rooted in that riverbed.
Chin up, staring the world in the face.
Marching upstream.
Ever pushing... further up, further in.
And so began phase two.
It seems to me every man must come to that decisive point in life for himself.
To realize the greatest thing he can ever do is to take a risk on himself.
Invest in himself.
Go all in on himself.
Burn the ships on himself.
The fight is far from over.
And I have much yet to learn.
But I will never back down.
And I will never give up.
There is only one direction now...
Further up, and further in.
______________________________
Thanks for reading, and thanks for welcoming me into The Fastlane community.
I'm about halfway through both TMF and Unscripted and heartily enjoying every page.
I'm the founder and host of What Not To Do: a podcast that gives Entrepreneurs a platform to share their failures to equip you for success.
It riffs on the old maxim that good men learn from their own mistakes, but great men learn from the mistakes of others.
My #1 guiding principle in life is to give more in use value than I take in cash value.
And my #1 goal in life is to be a reverse tither: living on 10% and giving away 90%.
Again, thanks for the warm welcome here.
I look forward to marching upstream with you all – chin up, staring the world in the face – ever pushing...
Further up, and further in...
Kyle
Takes us by surprise.
Takes us by storm.
Takes us like fools.
And we wake up one day and realize we've been... well, taken.
When all along we've had the power to push.
Yet we've settled for being pulled.
Pulled with the current of mediocrity.
Pulled further downstream of our potential.
And we have our reasons...
"The current is too strong..."
"I'm too weak..."
"I was made to move in this direction..."
"No one will help me..."
And that's when it clicked.
Clicked for me.
You see, I had parents that did the best they knew how. But there were gaps to be filled.
I spent my early twenties with my head up some dark crevices apparently enjoying myself.
I had no direction. But I was being pulled.
The first phase of my salvation came through books.
I take to learning like a sponge takes to water. Though I never gave much time to books.
But the idea of reading suddenly seemed cool. And so I did.
The more I read, the more I learned.
The more I learned, the more I realized how much I had to learn.
And as I mused, the fire burned...
Why hadn't anyone told me these things before?
Why has a quarter of a century passed and I'm just now being exposed to such essentials?
And let alone through books.
I was mad – no, furious.
I burned.
But I waited.
Waited for that father-hunger to be filled.
Waited for that father-figure to come along and tell me everything.
Take a risk on me.
Invest in me.
And I waited.
For years, I waited.
But no one ever came.
And all along, I was being pulled... further down, further out.
And then he passed me.
A kid half my age.
Feet firmly planted on the riverbed.
Marching upstream.
Chin up, staring the world in the face.
And all at once, it hit me...
No one was coming.
No one was ever going to come.
And why?
Because no one cares.
No one cares about my dreams.
After all, they have their own.
But more than that...
No one can.
No one can make my dreams reality but me.
No one is coming.
No one cares.
And no one can...
But me.
Right then and there, my feet rooted in that riverbed.
Chin up, staring the world in the face.
Marching upstream.
Ever pushing... further up, further in.
And so began phase two.
It seems to me every man must come to that decisive point in life for himself.
To realize the greatest thing he can ever do is to take a risk on himself.
Invest in himself.
Go all in on himself.
Burn the ships on himself.
The fight is far from over.
And I have much yet to learn.
But I will never back down.
And I will never give up.
There is only one direction now...
Further up, and further in.
______________________________
Thanks for reading, and thanks for welcoming me into The Fastlane community.
I'm about halfway through both TMF and Unscripted and heartily enjoying every page.
I'm the founder and host of What Not To Do: a podcast that gives Entrepreneurs a platform to share their failures to equip you for success.
It riffs on the old maxim that good men learn from their own mistakes, but great men learn from the mistakes of others.
My #1 guiding principle in life is to give more in use value than I take in cash value.
And my #1 goal in life is to be a reverse tither: living on 10% and giving away 90%.
Again, thanks for the warm welcome here.
I look forward to marching upstream with you all – chin up, staring the world in the face – ever pushing...
Further up, and further in...
Kyle
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