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My Story Of Success
This thread is about my journey through entrepreneurship. Very soon I will cross the #1 goal off my dream list. Therefore to me, it's a success story, and means everything to me.
I decided to place this thread outside the "INSIDERS" section, so that newbies can read it. I know there are a lot of hopeful entrepreneurs on this forum who are in the exact same position I was. Stuck in the rat race, looking for a way out.
Hopefully this thread will motivate and help some of you to accomplish your dreams.
Just like I'm about to do.
Cheers,
Mark
PART 1:
"Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake."
- Henry David Thoreau
In a few weeks time, one of my dreams comes true. I check off the most important goal on my dream list.
I free myself from the rat race.
I'm a little early in writing this, but I don't give a shit, I feel like writing it now. Rarely am I in a writing mood.
March 27th 2015 is the day I free myself from the rat race. Or as I like to call it... Hell.
Because that's exactly what it feels like to me.
And I will never return. Ever!
It's hard to describe how I feel right now. Nothing really compares.
This day means everything to me, It's #1 on my dream list. And hey, It only took me 4 F#%@ing years!
Sure it would be nice to have a Lambo one day, and I'm sure I'll be pretty damn happy when I buy one. But I know that the enjoyment will be fleeting.
Where as my freedom will not be.
"It always seems impossible until its done."
- Nelson Mandela
That's how I used to think. The impossible part.
I grew up thinking that it was impossible for me to become a millionaire. Although I am not one yet, and probably won’t be for a few more years, it no longer feels unfeasible. In fact it's quite the opposite, it feels quite feasible. Dare I say... Easy.
Now don't get me wrong, I've had some pretty rough times pursuing this goal, there have been many brain F*cks along the way,(the mental ones are the hardest) thankfully the joyful moments out weight those. So when I say easy, I'm comparing it to my previous goal in life. Which was finding a job in the field I choose. Which I'll get to later.
Also, I use the term millionaire, because for me the term millionaire, means freedom. And that's what my real journey is about.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where money is a necessity. If you don't have any, chances are you'll probably die. That is unless you live off the land and you hunt and kill your own food, then your respectfully exonerated from this conversation. I give you props.
It is true, there are more important things in life other then money, such as family, friends and life itself.
But to fully enjoy those aspects at 100% capacity, you need to free yourself from the shackles of the rat race.
And to do that, you need money.
I don't care what your number is, that's your business. My number is freedom. The freedom to enjoy life as much as possible.
I think this quote pretty much sums it up.
"Wealth is the ability to fully experience life."
- Henry David Thoreau
That's what money means to me now.
Period.
I Had No Choice
I started my journey into Entrepreneurship around 2011.
It was about 6 months after I started working for Ubisoft.
~Side Note: And I'm serious when I say this, I didn't even know what the word "Entrepreneur" meant at that time. I shit you not!
Anyway, I spent about 10 years focused on getting into a place like Ubisoft. It meant everything to me (at the time). I had to succeed, otherwise what would I do? It was the only way I knew of to use my talent to make a living. Or I should say, the only way I was told. It's not my parents or teachers fault, because that's the only way they knew. And I know they only wanted the best for me.
After many years of school and hard work, and busting my a$$ in my free time trying to get into the industry, I finally did it in October of 2010 (I was at a much smaller studio 1 year before Ubi, but that wasn't the goal). Keep in mind, I started Art college in 2000, f#%@ed up the first year and drank all my dads money away, then got my shit together the following year. Spent 4 years at Sheridan Art College then went to Full Sail in Orlando for Computer Animation for about 17-20 months, cant remember exactly. So ya, about 5-6 years of schooling. Then another year or so busting my a$$ on my own, because school wasn't enough, you need more then just schooling to make it, at least in my field.
So ya, I did it! It was 2010 and I finally got into the video game industry, and was working for one of the largest game developers in the world. Yay! A good goal to achieve... So I thought.
Then, out of nowhere, about 6 months in, everything started to change.
I began to dread going into work. As the days went by, more and more it became worse. Until the inevitable... I hated it. I couldn't envision a future where I was happy doing what I was doing. I felt the same way @biophase did, can’t remember what Bio said exactly, but it was something like this. "I didn't necessarily hate what I did, what I hated was the routine."
I hated what I built for myself. I felt that my life was wasting away.
In contrast, I thought I was building a great life for myself. But in reality, what I was really building, was a prison. One that is very difficult to escape from.
Sure, making video games is pretty damn cool. But in the end, It's still just a job, I'm still confined to a desk all day long taking orders 5 days a week, and all the other bullshit that comes with it. Which is kind of bad to say, because so many people out there just need jobs and people are lined out the front door for my position. But I had to set that mentality aside and focus on my life and make a change, otherwise I would be severely depressed.
Fortunately, I hated it so much, that I had no choice. It was either free myself from this hell OR spend the rest of my life being miserable.
When you look at your life is this perspective, the decision becomes pretty obvious.
Unfortunately, it's not as obvious to the people in your life that love you...For example, your family.
But you can ease there indecisiveness/confusion/WTF are you talking about mentality. Because they definitely won’t accept it with open arms, they may show it on the outside, but inside they'll think your stupid. It's very difficult for people to accept doing shit on your own, when all they know is what everyone else knows. They like to play it safe.
So your first task should be to convince them, because your going to need there support. This is also your first attempt at selling. You must sell them your dream.
So how do you do that? How do you convince your wife/her family/your family that you can create something that would be valuable to someone else?
Easy.
You don't! You don’t mention it at all. You create your idea before telling anyone.
Do it behind closed doors, before mentioning anything.
This is exactly what I did. Because I knew it would ease the blow. Because for me, it was a big blow, after all the hard work I did in school, etc.
Secretly I worked at night on creating the building blocks of my first business idea. Which was fairly easy for me because it was art related, so my wife thought I was just painting in the computer, therefore she was none the wiser. (This was my first business attempt, an online art business, I sold modern digital artwork on large canvases, the business was called Pixel Prints.)
I spent about 3 months secretly making paintings in the computer. Then when I had enough tangible goods to show her. I presented the idea to her.
When I showed her the idea, her eyes widened and she said something like... "I was wondering why you were always painting those stupid things, usually your making monsters."
After a quick explanation of the idea, she was all for it. Her next words were... "When can you start selling them?"
If I didn't have the business planned out and paintings made. She would've never been swayed so easily. I showed her that I could take action, before words. Which led to her being way more supportive.
So my advice. Keep your idea and dream to yourself until you can effectively showcase all the details.
It's also a good lesson on being proactive and learning to turn the TV off, taking action and being persistent. People will see that, and they respect it. You need to take action before mentioning your entrepreneur aspirations. Otherwise to them, you’re just a dreamer.
~Side Note: I should also mention, I was doing all this stuff before I read MJ's book, in fact it was before I read any business book. Only later once Pixel Prints was active for awhile did I venture into educating myself on business. At the time, I just knew what I needed to know...What do I sell, and how do I sell it! I also educated myself by watching a lot Youtube videos at work all day long(don't do this a lot, it's procrastinating, I did it only at my day job because I couldn't do anything else business related). Anyway, it was a huge benefit of having a job where I sit in front of the computer all day. My job was paying me to work, but it was also paying me to free myself from them. Ironically.
Anyway, I ran this business for about a year, but I eventually did what Kevin O'leary would've done. I took it out back and shot it. Why?
It wasn't selling.
I failed.
Part 2:
You Will Fail, So Get Use To It!
This thread is about my journey through entrepreneurship. Very soon I will cross the #1 goal off my dream list. Therefore to me, it's a success story, and means everything to me.
I decided to place this thread outside the "INSIDERS" section, so that newbies can read it. I know there are a lot of hopeful entrepreneurs on this forum who are in the exact same position I was. Stuck in the rat race, looking for a way out.
Hopefully this thread will motivate and help some of you to accomplish your dreams.
Just like I'm about to do.
Cheers,
Mark
PART 1:
"Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake."
- Henry David Thoreau
In a few weeks time, one of my dreams comes true. I check off the most important goal on my dream list.
I free myself from the rat race.
I'm a little early in writing this, but I don't give a shit, I feel like writing it now. Rarely am I in a writing mood.
March 27th 2015 is the day I free myself from the rat race. Or as I like to call it... Hell.
Because that's exactly what it feels like to me.
And I will never return. Ever!
It's hard to describe how I feel right now. Nothing really compares.
This day means everything to me, It's #1 on my dream list. And hey, It only took me 4 F#%@ing years!
Sure it would be nice to have a Lambo one day, and I'm sure I'll be pretty damn happy when I buy one. But I know that the enjoyment will be fleeting.
Where as my freedom will not be.
"It always seems impossible until its done."
- Nelson Mandela
That's how I used to think. The impossible part.
I grew up thinking that it was impossible for me to become a millionaire. Although I am not one yet, and probably won’t be for a few more years, it no longer feels unfeasible. In fact it's quite the opposite, it feels quite feasible. Dare I say... Easy.
Now don't get me wrong, I've had some pretty rough times pursuing this goal, there have been many brain F*cks along the way,(the mental ones are the hardest) thankfully the joyful moments out weight those. So when I say easy, I'm comparing it to my previous goal in life. Which was finding a job in the field I choose. Which I'll get to later.
Also, I use the term millionaire, because for me the term millionaire, means freedom. And that's what my real journey is about.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where money is a necessity. If you don't have any, chances are you'll probably die. That is unless you live off the land and you hunt and kill your own food, then your respectfully exonerated from this conversation. I give you props.
It is true, there are more important things in life other then money, such as family, friends and life itself.
But to fully enjoy those aspects at 100% capacity, you need to free yourself from the shackles of the rat race.
And to do that, you need money.
I don't care what your number is, that's your business. My number is freedom. The freedom to enjoy life as much as possible.
I think this quote pretty much sums it up.
"Wealth is the ability to fully experience life."
- Henry David Thoreau
That's what money means to me now.
Period.
I Had No Choice
I started my journey into Entrepreneurship around 2011.
It was about 6 months after I started working for Ubisoft.
~Side Note: And I'm serious when I say this, I didn't even know what the word "Entrepreneur" meant at that time. I shit you not!
Anyway, I spent about 10 years focused on getting into a place like Ubisoft. It meant everything to me (at the time). I had to succeed, otherwise what would I do? It was the only way I knew of to use my talent to make a living. Or I should say, the only way I was told. It's not my parents or teachers fault, because that's the only way they knew. And I know they only wanted the best for me.
After many years of school and hard work, and busting my a$$ in my free time trying to get into the industry, I finally did it in October of 2010 (I was at a much smaller studio 1 year before Ubi, but that wasn't the goal). Keep in mind, I started Art college in 2000, f#%@ed up the first year and drank all my dads money away, then got my shit together the following year. Spent 4 years at Sheridan Art College then went to Full Sail in Orlando for Computer Animation for about 17-20 months, cant remember exactly. So ya, about 5-6 years of schooling. Then another year or so busting my a$$ on my own, because school wasn't enough, you need more then just schooling to make it, at least in my field.
So ya, I did it! It was 2010 and I finally got into the video game industry, and was working for one of the largest game developers in the world. Yay! A good goal to achieve... So I thought.
Then, out of nowhere, about 6 months in, everything started to change.
I began to dread going into work. As the days went by, more and more it became worse. Until the inevitable... I hated it. I couldn't envision a future where I was happy doing what I was doing. I felt the same way @biophase did, can’t remember what Bio said exactly, but it was something like this. "I didn't necessarily hate what I did, what I hated was the routine."
I hated what I built for myself. I felt that my life was wasting away.
In contrast, I thought I was building a great life for myself. But in reality, what I was really building, was a prison. One that is very difficult to escape from.
Sure, making video games is pretty damn cool. But in the end, It's still just a job, I'm still confined to a desk all day long taking orders 5 days a week, and all the other bullshit that comes with it. Which is kind of bad to say, because so many people out there just need jobs and people are lined out the front door for my position. But I had to set that mentality aside and focus on my life and make a change, otherwise I would be severely depressed.
Fortunately, I hated it so much, that I had no choice. It was either free myself from this hell OR spend the rest of my life being miserable.
When you look at your life is this perspective, the decision becomes pretty obvious.
Unfortunately, it's not as obvious to the people in your life that love you...For example, your family.
But you can ease there indecisiveness/confusion/WTF are you talking about mentality. Because they definitely won’t accept it with open arms, they may show it on the outside, but inside they'll think your stupid. It's very difficult for people to accept doing shit on your own, when all they know is what everyone else knows. They like to play it safe.
So your first task should be to convince them, because your going to need there support. This is also your first attempt at selling. You must sell them your dream.
So how do you do that? How do you convince your wife/her family/your family that you can create something that would be valuable to someone else?
Easy.
You don't! You don’t mention it at all. You create your idea before telling anyone.
Do it behind closed doors, before mentioning anything.
This is exactly what I did. Because I knew it would ease the blow. Because for me, it was a big blow, after all the hard work I did in school, etc.
Secretly I worked at night on creating the building blocks of my first business idea. Which was fairly easy for me because it was art related, so my wife thought I was just painting in the computer, therefore she was none the wiser. (This was my first business attempt, an online art business, I sold modern digital artwork on large canvases, the business was called Pixel Prints.)
I spent about 3 months secretly making paintings in the computer. Then when I had enough tangible goods to show her. I presented the idea to her.
When I showed her the idea, her eyes widened and she said something like... "I was wondering why you were always painting those stupid things, usually your making monsters."
After a quick explanation of the idea, she was all for it. Her next words were... "When can you start selling them?"
If I didn't have the business planned out and paintings made. She would've never been swayed so easily. I showed her that I could take action, before words. Which led to her being way more supportive.
So my advice. Keep your idea and dream to yourself until you can effectively showcase all the details.
It's also a good lesson on being proactive and learning to turn the TV off, taking action and being persistent. People will see that, and they respect it. You need to take action before mentioning your entrepreneur aspirations. Otherwise to them, you’re just a dreamer.
~Side Note: I should also mention, I was doing all this stuff before I read MJ's book, in fact it was before I read any business book. Only later once Pixel Prints was active for awhile did I venture into educating myself on business. At the time, I just knew what I needed to know...What do I sell, and how do I sell it! I also educated myself by watching a lot Youtube videos at work all day long(don't do this a lot, it's procrastinating, I did it only at my day job because I couldn't do anything else business related). Anyway, it was a huge benefit of having a job where I sit in front of the computer all day. My job was paying me to work, but it was also paying me to free myself from them. Ironically.
Anyway, I ran this business for about a year, but I eventually did what Kevin O'leary would've done. I took it out back and shot it. Why?
It wasn't selling.
I failed.
Part 2:
You Will Fail, So Get Use To It!
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