I've Wasted My Life.

[TheEngin33r]

Hello all. I'm not really sure how to classify this post. It's probably more a combination of a rant and realization. I joined this forum over 10 years ago with excitement to start something, posted some questions to get the ball roll rolling and then just stopped. Since then I have had multiple 9am-5pm jobs but was finally able to land a good job. I consider myself successful in my field, make good money for children's school, sports activities, auto leases and the once a year vacation. No matter what though, I still always randomly though about the "what if's". What if I would have opended something, what if I would have started drop-shipping early, what if I would have put money up for my wife to start her event company. Throughout all the "what if's", I still just kept moving forward like a solider with what I thought was success. It wasn't until about a month that things changed within. One of my kids said they wish they had a pool and that little statement which was so pure and innocent, pissed me off. Although it might be considered a spoiled statement, it made me question - "Why can't I have a pool". I currently rent and don't have a yard but this started to make me think, why don't I still have a house or at least a bigger place. These thoughts which should drive and push me are actually doing the opposite and suppressing me. I'm basically beating myself up for wasting precious time. When my first son was born I had dreams and plans, it is now 15 years later and I am in the same exact position. My family and I are healthy and again, I pay for so many extra activities, trips and items that my children would be considered privileged but is that it ? I still have to answer why I clocked in at 9:10am instead of 9:00am. I still have to hear my landlord telling me the kids are making too much noise and I still have to tell my wife - can food shopping wait until next week ? When all is said and done and I am 65 years old, I will finally be able to access my 401k and spend the money freely. I am furious just typing this.

Ok, rant over. Now the positive.

FINALLY, I made a move and started a small cleaning business. This is the field I am in for my daily job and consider myself experienced. It's in the commercial field which is more profitable then residential and I am able to use some of the labor and suppliers I know. I have a logo, business cards, domain email, and have been running Instagram ads. I have had some contacts with Instagram but they never came through. Any work I have had is from neighborhood locals. I am making profit but it's nothing to quit my job over but still, it's profit. This little bit of success has my mind going. The last couple of days I have been all over the place. The two things I keep coming back to are drop-shipping and private label. My wife and I always use to joke about selling these specific items. There is a market for them but unfortunately there are multiple companies, BUT marketing is key. If we can market it correctly then who knows what can happen, right ? As far as drop shipping, I know that is hit or miss. You either do good or you don't. Same with private label, except that may be worse because if you don't do go then you are stuck with the product.

What I do know is I want to do more alongside of my 9-5 and also my cleaning service. I want to have multiple things going on. It would be great if I could quite my job but not to sound negative, I don't believe that will ever be an option. The health benefits I receive override everything, especially for my wife. At this point in my life, I would be happy making $1,000 monthly profit off of one of these avenues. I know this may not be the right mindset but after years of living paycheck to paycheck, having $1,000 extra to pay bills or re-invest into something bigger would be a huge accomplishment for me.

Now the negative.

I don't have extra money to play with so I'm not sure which avenue to go. I don't have access to loans or credit cards so the little I have to invest is extremely important to me and want to make sure I spend wisely. Even though drop-shipping is saturated, can I at least get lucky with a positive couple of months ? I am not asking for anyone to hand it to me on a platter but I'm hoping someone can at least help me go in a positive direction. At one point, I was going to use chatGPT to help me right an e-book just to get something out there but I think that was the desperate part of me. I'm all over the place which is exciting.

Besides my wife who is supportive, I don't have anyone around me that I can talk with. My small circle of friends are robots and live their life textbook, step by step and will never think outside the box. If I brought this up to them, they will try to talk me out of it.

I'm hoping this turns into a positive post. Let me know your thoughts.

I've been exactly there, and questioning your past decisions will only lead to ever more questions and an ever more desolate feeling.

Steve Jobs said it best, "you can only connect the dots by looking backward." But I like more what Theo Von said: "Nothing changes if nothing changes."

You can do what is easy, or you can do what is hard. The latter will add more value to your life in the long run and will make everything else better, easier. Pay attention to how you use your time to ideate, build, release, and adjust. You can't wait for the stars to perfectly align before you make the decision to create something for yourself, for your family.

Make peace with your past; realize that the future starts today. Wishing you the best!

 

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[leebut]

Vjev ot hipisemmz wisz huuf efwodi.
Puv gus tuniupi 65+ vjuahj.

Zua duamf gov e tveos mogv vu vji meffis.