I was born and raised on a farm in Upper Michigan(actually born in a hospital). My mom and dad got divorced when I was about 3 yrs old. I went to live with my mom and would see my dad on the weekends and in the summertime. My dad re-married to a woman that got her kicks from abusing little boys(me). I was 4 yrs old and too scared to tell anyone about the abuse. My mom found out and my dad actually caught my step mother beating me one day. Needless to say, she was gone that day.
When I became a freshman in highschool, I moved to the farm with my dad so I could work more and make some money. I was always taught to work as hard as you can and save all the money you could.
After I graduated from highschool, I wanted to go to college.I did not qualify for financial aid to go to school so I paid for it from my savings. I underestimated how hard it would be to go to school full time and still have to work 60+ hours per week on the farm so I gave up going to school after one semester.:smx4:
I continued to work on the farm but was always unhappy with were I was and what I was doing with my life(and still am). I applied for other jobs but there was (and still is) not much opportunity in this area(the town I live in has only 13,000 people).
When I was 30 yrs old, I quit working on the farm to work for a medical co. filling oxygen cylinders. I loved the job but the pay was terrible. After working there for 5 yrs i was only making $10.50 per hour. But, I actually felt like what I was doing there was making a difference in people's lives.
I left the medical co. in 2005 for my current job at a paper mill. The pay is better(I make about $55,000 per year before taxes) but it's a dead end job. The sad thing is it's the best job around here. I live in a very small town. It's mostly an older community and there is not much , if any opportunity here. I have lived here my entire life and I wonder if that has kept me from being exposed to alot of ideas and opportunities(made me too narrow minded by only seeing what's around here). The only reason I still live here is because of my mom(I am her only child). She has had some major health problems(cancer twice and a brain aneurism) and I do not feel it would be right to leave her here alone( I cannot convince her to leave here).
I want more than anything to be in the fastlane. I want to help people any way I can. I would like to have the freedom and ability to take care of my family and spend more time with them. I want to help people, help myself and live the life I have dreamed of living for so long. I just don't know where to begin. I have alot of ideas but I feel I do not have enough knowledge to implement them. I feel that is the main thing that keeps me in the slowlane-lack of knowledge. I have the drive, the work ethic and the desire to make it.
Some people say to do what you love, but what if that's not an option? For example: I love cars, musclecars, hotrods, exotics, I love them all. But what do you do if there is not a market for that where I live? How do you get into the fastlane when you have virtually no money to start anything?
The point I want to stress the most is that I am not looking for a handout or anything like that. I am just looking for a point in the right direction to get me started so I can join the fastlane a.s.a.p. I am interested in internet businesses, brick and mortar businesses and inventing. Like I said earlier, I have some ideas for these fields. I have thought about looking into some mentorship programs I have found online but I do not want to get scammed and ripped off either.
I am very grateful to have found this forum because there are not any other people around here(where I live) that have the same ideals, dreams or goals as I do(that I know of). Everyone that I know is going to work everyday for someone else and just settling for where they are and what they have while always complaining about how bad they have it. Almost everyone I have shared my ideas with say the same thing. "That won't work" or "You can't do it" which is usually followed by, why can't you just be happy where you are?
I am grateful for the things I do have in my life but i am the type of person that is always trying to better myself and constantly improve my life. Well, that's my story so far, thanks for reading it.
Michael.
When I became a freshman in highschool, I moved to the farm with my dad so I could work more and make some money. I was always taught to work as hard as you can and save all the money you could.
After I graduated from highschool, I wanted to go to college.I did not qualify for financial aid to go to school so I paid for it from my savings. I underestimated how hard it would be to go to school full time and still have to work 60+ hours per week on the farm so I gave up going to school after one semester.:smx4:
I continued to work on the farm but was always unhappy with were I was and what I was doing with my life(and still am). I applied for other jobs but there was (and still is) not much opportunity in this area(the town I live in has only 13,000 people).
When I was 30 yrs old, I quit working on the farm to work for a medical co. filling oxygen cylinders. I loved the job but the pay was terrible. After working there for 5 yrs i was only making $10.50 per hour. But, I actually felt like what I was doing there was making a difference in people's lives.
I left the medical co. in 2005 for my current job at a paper mill. The pay is better(I make about $55,000 per year before taxes) but it's a dead end job. The sad thing is it's the best job around here. I live in a very small town. It's mostly an older community and there is not much , if any opportunity here. I have lived here my entire life and I wonder if that has kept me from being exposed to alot of ideas and opportunities(made me too narrow minded by only seeing what's around here). The only reason I still live here is because of my mom(I am her only child). She has had some major health problems(cancer twice and a brain aneurism) and I do not feel it would be right to leave her here alone( I cannot convince her to leave here).
I want more than anything to be in the fastlane. I want to help people any way I can. I would like to have the freedom and ability to take care of my family and spend more time with them. I want to help people, help myself and live the life I have dreamed of living for so long. I just don't know where to begin. I have alot of ideas but I feel I do not have enough knowledge to implement them. I feel that is the main thing that keeps me in the slowlane-lack of knowledge. I have the drive, the work ethic and the desire to make it.
Some people say to do what you love, but what if that's not an option? For example: I love cars, musclecars, hotrods, exotics, I love them all. But what do you do if there is not a market for that where I live? How do you get into the fastlane when you have virtually no money to start anything?
The point I want to stress the most is that I am not looking for a handout or anything like that. I am just looking for a point in the right direction to get me started so I can join the fastlane a.s.a.p. I am interested in internet businesses, brick and mortar businesses and inventing. Like I said earlier, I have some ideas for these fields. I have thought about looking into some mentorship programs I have found online but I do not want to get scammed and ripped off either.
I am very grateful to have found this forum because there are not any other people around here(where I live) that have the same ideals, dreams or goals as I do(that I know of). Everyone that I know is going to work everyday for someone else and just settling for where they are and what they have while always complaining about how bad they have it. Almost everyone I have shared my ideas with say the same thing. "That won't work" or "You can't do it" which is usually followed by, why can't you just be happy where you are?
I am grateful for the things I do have in my life but i am the type of person that is always trying to better myself and constantly improve my life. Well, that's my story so far, thanks for reading it.
Michael.
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