Hi everyone,
First of all, thanks to MJ for this book.
It is by far the most practical, honest book on business success that I have read in a loooooooong time (can't remember another one that can compare at this point).
My story is pretty simple.
I grew up basically middle class in the L.A. area, and I watched my parents work their asses off from early morning to late evening for people they hated and people that disrespected them, just so they could raise me and my brother somewhere not in the midst of gang violence so rampant in L.A. and give us a chance to succeed.
Because they hated their "slow lane" jobs they went to every day, I felt the negative energy impact on our household my entire childhood, and witnessed with confusion their poor mental and physical health, and their crappy social relationships....
...and I thought, "Why?"
They were "fortunate" to retire in the slow lane years ago, and then they figured out how crappy it was to downsize your life to a cardboard box just so you don't have to return to working.
I decided that I NEVER wanted to be in that situation, and I wanted to raise my (now 4 year old) son so that he sees his father HAPPY with his life and finances, and he can believe that he can have whatever lifestyle he wants.
College was a big party for me (I was LEGENDARY in that department
) but when it was time to get a job, I had a similar experience to MJ and I left school to pursue some business ventures.
Because I went to a prestigious school, many of my college buddies landed "great" Wall St. jobs.
Not me.
Similar to MJ, I hustled a million different ways to find opportunities.
Of course, none of them have those "great" Wall St jobs anymore.
Since college, I have built several companies myself and with partners.
Of course, most businesses were flops, and on a few I scored big.
I have hit what I THOUGHT were some home runs through flipping properties and marketing everything under the sun online, but after the (sometimes) 6-figure checks were spent, I didn't have any SOLID business systems that could replace me.
I found MJ's book last week based on a recommendation from another online marketer at a GREAT time in my life.
I had recently become very disappointed with some of my business ventures over the last few years, feeling that I was not charging ANYWHERE NEAR what my value was worth, just "whoring" out my real estate and online business consulting skills to pay bills.
I have been in this cycle it seems since the birth of my son at the beginning of the recession, which was also the time when I lost EVERYTHING and had to relocate and rebuild my financial life from scratch.
This book has helped inject some new life into my business, because I can clearly see where I went wrong in how I structured my relationships and businesses.
I appreciate the great value that this book has brought to my life, and I hope that some of my experience and wisdom can help someone else out there, as I have already gotten such GREAT value from all of you who have posted here.
And it's been less than a week!
Feel free to reach out to me, I love connecting with people who are like-minded.
One of the biggest mistakes I made when in the depths of my despair and depression during the Recession was to retreat and avoid people...
I was embarrassed because I had lived kind of a "high life" and then it all came crashing down in 2008, losing my home, my car, dealing with a bankruptcy situation, etc...
I really began to question whether I was simply "crazy" for going after my dreams...
Here's the good news: I AM CRAZY!!
And apparently I am in good company with all of you other "crazy" people who won't give up on THEIR dreams either!!
so, I'm glad we finally met...
Damn I just wish I'd read this book like 10 years ago.... GEEZ!
Continued success to you all, I feel like we are kindred spirits because we want to be able to enjoy our lives while we are still relatively young...
...and we can do it.
First of all, thanks to MJ for this book.
It is by far the most practical, honest book on business success that I have read in a loooooooong time (can't remember another one that can compare at this point).
My story is pretty simple.
I grew up basically middle class in the L.A. area, and I watched my parents work their asses off from early morning to late evening for people they hated and people that disrespected them, just so they could raise me and my brother somewhere not in the midst of gang violence so rampant in L.A. and give us a chance to succeed.
Because they hated their "slow lane" jobs they went to every day, I felt the negative energy impact on our household my entire childhood, and witnessed with confusion their poor mental and physical health, and their crappy social relationships....
...and I thought, "Why?"
They were "fortunate" to retire in the slow lane years ago, and then they figured out how crappy it was to downsize your life to a cardboard box just so you don't have to return to working.
I decided that I NEVER wanted to be in that situation, and I wanted to raise my (now 4 year old) son so that he sees his father HAPPY with his life and finances, and he can believe that he can have whatever lifestyle he wants.
College was a big party for me (I was LEGENDARY in that department
) but when it was time to get a job, I had a similar experience to MJ and I left school to pursue some business ventures.Because I went to a prestigious school, many of my college buddies landed "great" Wall St. jobs.
Not me.
Similar to MJ, I hustled a million different ways to find opportunities.
Of course, none of them have those "great" Wall St jobs anymore.
Since college, I have built several companies myself and with partners.
Of course, most businesses were flops, and on a few I scored big.
I have hit what I THOUGHT were some home runs through flipping properties and marketing everything under the sun online, but after the (sometimes) 6-figure checks were spent, I didn't have any SOLID business systems that could replace me.
I found MJ's book last week based on a recommendation from another online marketer at a GREAT time in my life.
I had recently become very disappointed with some of my business ventures over the last few years, feeling that I was not charging ANYWHERE NEAR what my value was worth, just "whoring" out my real estate and online business consulting skills to pay bills.
I have been in this cycle it seems since the birth of my son at the beginning of the recession, which was also the time when I lost EVERYTHING and had to relocate and rebuild my financial life from scratch.
This book has helped inject some new life into my business, because I can clearly see where I went wrong in how I structured my relationships and businesses.
I appreciate the great value that this book has brought to my life, and I hope that some of my experience and wisdom can help someone else out there, as I have already gotten such GREAT value from all of you who have posted here.
And it's been less than a week!
Feel free to reach out to me, I love connecting with people who are like-minded.
One of the biggest mistakes I made when in the depths of my despair and depression during the Recession was to retreat and avoid people...
I was embarrassed because I had lived kind of a "high life" and then it all came crashing down in 2008, losing my home, my car, dealing with a bankruptcy situation, etc...
I really began to question whether I was simply "crazy" for going after my dreams...
Here's the good news: I AM CRAZY!!
And apparently I am in good company with all of you other "crazy" people who won't give up on THEIR dreams either!!
so, I'm glad we finally met...
Damn I just wish I'd read this book like 10 years ago.... GEEZ!
Continued success to you all, I feel like we are kindred spirits because we want to be able to enjoy our lives while we are still relatively young...
...and we can do it.
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