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Hey guys and gals, nice to meet you.
I'm here because of that too.
I ran into this website today while looking for some copywriting advice. Why was I looking for advice? Not sure. At this point, you know more about me than I know about writing copy.
I have not read The Millionaire Fastlane , UNSCRIPTED , or every GOLD and NOTABLE thread, yet. I wanted to introduce myself as I am when I discovered this website. The few GOLD threads I've read have already changed the way I think about some things. I was afraid that if I waited until I read all those, it could stain the truth about who I am right now and what I've done to get here.
I hope that makes sense.
Me
I had little say in how my life was shaped while I was growing up. But that happens to all of us, no?
I didn't know it then, but I was extremely privileged as a kid. I went to great schools. My college "ticket" was secured before I knew what college was. My grandfather never went to college, or high school for that matter, but he was a very successful journalist. He always told us that education, more specifically college/university, was priority # 1. So, I listened.
I believed in him blindly. I never once thought about it twice or asked questions. If you had the chance to be in the same room with him, you would know why. Not because I was afraid, but because he emanated trust and security just with his presence.
To be fair, I think he was right. Education is great, that's obvious. But I believe the act itself of attending college/university classes has value. It teaches you to be on time, public speaking, socializing, etc. You might not agree, 4-6 years of your life in exchange for those might not be the best bang for your buck. Not to mention no one cares about degrees anymore, as it should be. A piece of paper would mean nothing to me as an employer. We can get into all that later.
When I finished my formal education as a computer engineer with a master's degree in business (don't ask), I definitely felt more knowledgeable and prepared for life in general. I was lucky enough to be able to get this education in the U.S., so that might be part of the reason for my positive feedback.
At this point, my grandfather had passed away and no one else besides my mom really cared. It didn’t matter, I finally finished. I would go back home, get a job, give my best, and let life work itself out.
Guess what? It did. Almost like clockwork.
I got my first job, then my first raise, then my first promotion. Before I knew it, my career path was paved better than a Swiss road. I could almost see where it would end 40 years from now. In 10 years, I could replace my boss. In 15 I could replace his boss. 20 years from now I could be in the top spot if I played my cards right.
I panicked.
I ran for help. To my surprise, people seemed to be happy about it.
“You wish!”, “Work hard and it will be possible!”, “I can definitely see you on that role in the future!”, “Uh that’s cool, where are we going for lunch?”
I didn’t seem to understand. Am I supposed to work long hours every day, skip holidays, yell at people, get yelled at, be stressed all the time, and more. For what? So I can MAYBE become a VP and earn $150k a year in 30 years? Life has to be more than this.
Two things popped into my head that day. Death and entrepreneurship.
I started developing an unhealthy relationship with death, nothing scared me more. The thought of dying and ceasing to exist made me have panic attacks in the shower or when going to bed.
On the other hand, what was I not dying for? 2 weeks a year vacation?
“You can make it three weeks if you stay in the company for 5 years”. Shut up, Craig.
Life has to be more than this.
The constant thought of mortality made me gradually and naturally more present, aware, and thankful. I started thinking about entrepreneurship as a way to feel like this more often.
Two things made me doubt:
However, I had always been a dreamer.
I remember being 10 or 12, closing my eyes in bed and daydreaming I had a PlayStation. It was unattainable at that point in time. My grandfather lived abroad for 5 years because of his work, and it was difficult for my mother to pay the bills and buy food by herself. A year later my mom found a better job, and I was in my living room playing PlayStation. The exact game I imagined playing a year ago.
I remember being 16 or 17, daydreaming about having a car. I would picture myself arriving at my friend’s houses. Honking. I even knew what song I was going to play, full blast of course. “Guess what I got?”. Two years later my mom helped me get a car. She agreed on borrowing the money under her name if I made the monthly payments, which took most of my paycheck. The song was outdated by then, but I had my car.
I remember being 24 or 25, living in the U.S. while going to college. Dreaming of staying. My motivation wasn’t money or greed. Life was better there, it was comfortable. I liked being comfortable. What would I do without Amazon or online shopping? But I couldn’t stay. I didn’t have money for lawyers and I had to go back and help my family. Three years later I moved to North America. It took so much work, money I didn’t have, tears and sweat. But I did it. I had to do it.
That took care of point No. 2, which coincidentally took care of point No. 1. I had to quit my job to come here after all.
Finally, all my stars aligned. I was where I wanted to be and I was free to pursue the life path I wanted. A path of freedom and fulfillment.
Can you guess what I did next?
I got a great 9 to 5 job, a good apartment, and all my needs met.
Wait, wasn’t I here before already? Actually, no. It’s even worse. Now I have to wait 30 years to become my boss AND I have to do it while speaking a different language. I'm turning 30 soon.
I hate it.
Life has to be more than this.
I'm here because of that too.
I ran into this website today while looking for some copywriting advice. Why was I looking for advice? Not sure. At this point, you know more about me than I know about writing copy.
I have not read The Millionaire Fastlane , UNSCRIPTED , or every GOLD and NOTABLE thread, yet. I wanted to introduce myself as I am when I discovered this website. The few GOLD threads I've read have already changed the way I think about some things. I was afraid that if I waited until I read all those, it could stain the truth about who I am right now and what I've done to get here.
I hope that makes sense.
Me
I had little say in how my life was shaped while I was growing up. But that happens to all of us, no?
I didn't know it then, but I was extremely privileged as a kid. I went to great schools. My college "ticket" was secured before I knew what college was. My grandfather never went to college, or high school for that matter, but he was a very successful journalist. He always told us that education, more specifically college/university, was priority # 1. So, I listened.
I believed in him blindly. I never once thought about it twice or asked questions. If you had the chance to be in the same room with him, you would know why. Not because I was afraid, but because he emanated trust and security just with his presence.
To be fair, I think he was right. Education is great, that's obvious. But I believe the act itself of attending college/university classes has value. It teaches you to be on time, public speaking, socializing, etc. You might not agree, 4-6 years of your life in exchange for those might not be the best bang for your buck. Not to mention no one cares about degrees anymore, as it should be. A piece of paper would mean nothing to me as an employer. We can get into all that later.
When I finished my formal education as a computer engineer with a master's degree in business (don't ask), I definitely felt more knowledgeable and prepared for life in general. I was lucky enough to be able to get this education in the U.S., so that might be part of the reason for my positive feedback.
At this point, my grandfather had passed away and no one else besides my mom really cared. It didn’t matter, I finally finished. I would go back home, get a job, give my best, and let life work itself out.
Guess what? It did. Almost like clockwork.
I got my first job, then my first raise, then my first promotion. Before I knew it, my career path was paved better than a Swiss road. I could almost see where it would end 40 years from now. In 10 years, I could replace my boss. In 15 I could replace his boss. 20 years from now I could be in the top spot if I played my cards right.
I panicked.
I ran for help. To my surprise, people seemed to be happy about it.
“You wish!”, “Work hard and it will be possible!”, “I can definitely see you on that role in the future!”, “Uh that’s cool, where are we going for lunch?”
I didn’t seem to understand. Am I supposed to work long hours every day, skip holidays, yell at people, get yelled at, be stressed all the time, and more. For what? So I can MAYBE become a VP and earn $150k a year in 30 years? Life has to be more than this.
Two things popped into my head that day. Death and entrepreneurship.
I started developing an unhealthy relationship with death, nothing scared me more. The thought of dying and ceasing to exist made me have panic attacks in the shower or when going to bed.
On the other hand, what was I not dying for? 2 weeks a year vacation?
“You can make it three weeks if you stay in the company for 5 years”. Shut up, Craig.
Life has to be more than this.
The constant thought of mortality made me gradually and naturally more present, aware, and thankful. I started thinking about entrepreneurship as a way to feel like this more often.
Two things made me doubt:
1. I did have a choice
I always thought of entrepreneurs as superstar athletes. People that come from nothing and rise out of necessity to become millionaires. “I had no choice; I sold my grandmother’s ashes to buy my first camera instead of food and the rest is history” is what every story looked like to me back then.
That wasn’t me. I did have a choice. A very hard one at that. I had a fair share of luck and privilege come my way, but I also went through brutal times with my family. After my grandfather died, we were “cut off” (my parents were divorced, and he was not her dad, but my father’s). She had to work extremely hard for me to be able to finish school and get my degrees. Nothing was given to me besides the two pieces of paper.
I had to work hard to get my job, and even harder to get promoted. I had a great job. It really was great (as far as J.O.B.’s go). The people were nice, my boss was a great person, they let me learn and grow within the company. Risking all of this didn’t make sense, I still hated it.
2. Location, location, location
As you probably already know by now, I wasn’t born in North America and English isn’t my first language. We did not have Bill Gates, Ingvar Kamprad, or Bernard Arnault. We didn’t have anyone for that matter. The most successful entrepreneur I knew had a medium-sized budget grocery store chain. He worked triple as I did, and didn’t have any time to spend his money. Not very inspirational.
However, I had always been a dreamer.
I remember being 10 or 12, closing my eyes in bed and daydreaming I had a PlayStation. It was unattainable at that point in time. My grandfather lived abroad for 5 years because of his work, and it was difficult for my mother to pay the bills and buy food by herself. A year later my mom found a better job, and I was in my living room playing PlayStation. The exact game I imagined playing a year ago.
I remember being 16 or 17, daydreaming about having a car. I would picture myself arriving at my friend’s houses. Honking. I even knew what song I was going to play, full blast of course. “Guess what I got?”. Two years later my mom helped me get a car. She agreed on borrowing the money under her name if I made the monthly payments, which took most of my paycheck. The song was outdated by then, but I had my car.
I remember being 24 or 25, living in the U.S. while going to college. Dreaming of staying. My motivation wasn’t money or greed. Life was better there, it was comfortable. I liked being comfortable. What would I do without Amazon or online shopping? But I couldn’t stay. I didn’t have money for lawyers and I had to go back and help my family. Three years later I moved to North America. It took so much work, money I didn’t have, tears and sweat. But I did it. I had to do it.
That took care of point No. 2, which coincidentally took care of point No. 1. I had to quit my job to come here after all.
Finally, all my stars aligned. I was where I wanted to be and I was free to pursue the life path I wanted. A path of freedom and fulfillment.
Can you guess what I did next?
I got a great 9 to 5 job, a good apartment, and all my needs met.
Wait, wasn’t I here before already? Actually, no. It’s even worse. Now I have to wait 30 years to become my boss AND I have to do it while speaking a different language. I'm turning 30 soon.
I hate it.
Life has to be more than this.
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