My awakening

[GoodluckChuck]

Hey everyone! My name is Chuck. I am a 29 year old contractor, but I haven't always been in construction. I spent my 20's being everything from a ski bum at Snowbird in Salt Lake City, Utah to a sushi chef at the worlds most exclusive ski resort. It was at this exclusive ski resort that I was exposed to some serious wealth. The kind of wealth that resulted in mansions where the kids had their own wing of the house, packed with fun things like multilevel slides and rooms that were only 5 feet tall. The kind of wealth that resulted in employees being given Cadillac Escalades as tips. I cut fish for Bill Gates, Tom Brady, NPH, and countless other stars. I also served a plethora of other uber-rich folks that you would never hear of. Guys that owned 700 old folks homes all over the East Coast, guys that ran hedge-funds, and even Ben Affleck! Dogma! I saw how "the other side" lives and I have to say, seeing that stuff would make Jesus envious. While working there I talked to some very successful people, and a lot of them were self-made. I always thought, "If I could only figure out a way."

The winter ended and I moved back home to join the family business, remodeling. I thought that if I could just own my own business, I could enjoy a small piece of the wealth like what I saw at the club. I spent the last three years learning bits and pieces of all the trades and growing my skills in customer service, sales, finance, and business. I was working my way to taking over the business for myself. A sad day came when I realized that I would be married to this business until I died. It's like a treadmill. You have to keep running or you are going to fall off! This was how my family ran it, and I didn't want it anymore. I had to try something new, so I left.

I moved to Portland, Oregon to see what I could do on my own. I spent some time framing a custom home, meanwhile keeping my eyes open for other opportunities. After that I bounced around a little bit until, one day, a connection my girlfriend made at work turned into a meeting with a guy who owns a small remodeling company that did over 1 million last year and he was looking for someone to not only help, but to soon become partner, and after ten years take over the business completely. The offered salary was great and the job included tons of perks. It really is a dream job for a remodel carpenter.

Of course, I took him up on the offer, and so far we are killing it. It is looking like a it's going to be another good year! There is still a little part of me that is not so sure about this path, just like before. Throughout my life people always asked me, "What do you want to do for a career?" I would always respond that I wanted to be in business for myself. When they asked what kind of business I would reply, "The kind that operates when I'm not there." They always laughed and said things like, "that would be the dream", or "good luck". It hurt to hear people say that because that is what I wanted. It's like the movie series The Land Before Time. The dinosaurs are always looking for the promised land, the valley full of star leaves where they could all eat and live happy for the rest of their days. The only problem was they didn't know where it was or how to get there, or even which direction to head. That has been my life until very recently.

Most of you have probably read the book so you know what I'm talking about. The book that outlines the way you were taught to think since the time you were a toddler getting into cupboards. "I swear that kid is going to be a lawyer" they would say when I argued everything said by an adult when I was ten. My whole life I was told that I had to get a job and save as much money as I could, and that someday I would be able to retire and live happily ever after. Even though I knew I wanted more, I thought that was all there was for me. That changed four days ago.

The other day I listened to Brian Tracy's audiobook on self discipline. It's a simple common sense book that basically says you will be more successful than others if you do the things they won't do. Basically put in extra time and effort into making yourself more valuable on the job market. I listened diligently for the fifth time and noticed something new this time around. I noticed the part about time management. If I learn to manage my time and fill it up with constructive tasks I will be more successful. Duh! The wheels were turning.

I went online in an act of desperation. What do I do? Where do I go? Where are the answers I'm looking for? What are the questions? I googled, "How to be successful?" It sounds silly but thats what I did. I came across a reddit post by someone that sounded like they might know what's up. They said to read, and read a lot. They recommended a list of books and on top of that list was The Millionaire Fastlane. I figured since it was on top that it was his favorite, so I went to amazon and bought it. My girlfriend was out of town for the week so why not spend some time reading. I started in on it and fell in head first. It's been four days and I am about 20 pages from the end. It is chocked full of things i have thought before, but never could organize in my mind. Some of it was new but most of it was stuff I already knew deep down. All of this stuff was buried by the Slowlane belief system I was indoctrinated into. Seeing the math really did it for me. I realized I will never get to where I want to be even by saving 30% of my income. That is alarming! I probably won't even be able to retire if I start saving that much now for the next 35 years. I was so thankful to get to the part about the Fastlane. It was such a relief to find a place to start. That's all I needed, an awakening to the fact that it is totally possible for me to be financially free, just not the way I was trying before.

So here I am. I write this as I take a break from reading. A plan is starting to solidify in my mind of the first steps to take. I realize my time is the most valuable thing I have and in order to keep it, I have to change lanes. The Slowlane has become a plan b. Plan A is my way. Like the dinosaurs from The Land Before Time, my home has been burned down and it's time to set off on a journey into the unknown. I know where I wan't to go, and I know which direction to head, but other than that I am flying blind, and it's the best feeling I've had in a long time.

 

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[beatgoezon]

Hsiev opvsufadvoup, epf ximduni vu vji gusan

O sinincis nz gostv voni, vuu. O'f piwis ciip nusi vjsommif epf epyouat ev vji teni voni!

 

[Dark Water]

Ipkuzif siefoph zuas opvsufadvoup, epf itqidoemmz getdopevif cz zuas voni tqipv et e tatjo djig xjodj xet ep izi uqipoph iyqisoipdi gus zua. Duum tvusz! Ximduni vu vji gusan.