Major decision paralysis - need guidance.

[p31]

TL;DR - Out of job. Do I get the next fulltime rightaway, or freelance while starting side businesses? Aging parents. $300,000 in student loans. Am 35.​

Whew, what a ride past two months has been. I'm writing this out of agony, pain from decision paralysis.
Join me for a ride inside my head.

I've been in a successful biotech startup for the past year and 10 months. I really loved it - the science was solid, products were being sold, and my IT team was freaking amazing. Talented people with kind personalities.. you couldn't ask for more. Well me yes I could've asked for raise. But that was promised.

Then in the last two months, the income stream dried up because of a series of unforeseen, unlucky events. Company went from employing hundreds to having less then thirty, just barely scraping by. I was told to look for jobs.

... all that happened in the last two months. The last day my mental stability cracked and I came down with a cold. In Summer.

I've been mindlessly fixing my LinkedIn, looking for next place where I can use the skillset as an App Developer. Applying to some jobs with one of those 1-click hiring apps.

Then I realized I'm at that point.

That point in all the "entrepreneur origin" articles about how they started. Specifically that paragraph where they stopped climbing the ladder. Where they realized they didn't want to be an engineer forever. Where they then holed up in their parent's garage and started to experiment starting businesses. And then some hard working months later, they start making bank.

But it torments me. From reading so much I know this is the moment. I'm scared because it's actually happening in my life. I am old enough so number of "F*ck ups" my life can buffer are limited.

If you read my earlier posts, I'm $300,000 down in student loans. Savings allow about 10 months runway given my monthly expenses (living in garage with parents).
Federal loans allow income-based-payment, so I am not required to make any payments, but I pay $400 monthly.

I have three goals and three desires, and I really don't know what my next steps should be.

Goals:
1. Liberate my parents from their time-dependent family business in two years so they can enjoy life (they are hitting ages 60~65)
2. Save enough and build stability to actually look for a potential wife and tie the know in two years (I'm 35)
3. Long term is founding $10mil in profit company, short term goal is forming multiple cash flow (stable job + side business) to pay back loans at $10,000/mo so I'll be done paying in 3 years.

Desires:
1. I want to be in a full time job that pays well and I can quench my thirst for programming. It's really like mental crack for me.
2. I want to learn Machine Learning(ML), because I want to, I NEED TO, get into data science. Programming for data is .. so enticing. ML and cryptocurrency is the way to be future-safe if you want to be a successful software engineer that's future-proof. ML is going down the commoditized path so fast. Ethereum is blowing up. And I've intended to learn them for.. a year now.
3. I want to use every little programming, marketing, SEO, trendy tech I have in my arsenal to double down and help the family business so it reaches goal #1.

Knowing all too well I'm at a very important inflection point, I'm very hesitant to decide on a path.
How do I reach my goals? I can't just do my desires, because the goals are the bare minimum to provide a stable future, where my parents, my future family, will be happy and satisfied.

Just my desires alone would leave me mentally happy, but leave my entrepreneur goals in limbo until God knows when. I can't do that. I need income fast.

My de-facto plan, the autopilot I'm on, is this one:

1. Get a full-time job as a full-stack web developer, or possibly some equal pay as a data engineer in the healthcare sector
2. Split free time after job to study ML and cryptocurrency, while using my skills for family business.
3. And after all that, if I do have some time, work on side businesses.

Alternative one, scary and less feasible to reach my goals is:

1. Prolong getting a full-time job, while doing related freelancing work to hone my data science/engineer game.
2. Learn ML and Data science, make web presence to get known.
3. Attempt to get Data Science job.
4. .. with slightly more free time, work on family business to reach goal #1
5. .. while also trying to start side businesses, reaching goal #3.

.. or other plans I'm missing (please help me if so)

I don't know which is better. Which is more correct. I think my "de-facto" plan is realistic, and my "alternative" plan is too dreamy. I'm doing down "de-facto" plan now. Applying to jobs.

Am I right in my conclusion? Should I follow "de-facto"? Or is it remnants of Sidelane echoing in my decisions? What am I missing in the teachings of MF? Unscripted ?

Thank you for reading. I just had to write it somewhere, just had to ask somewhere.

 

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[Lafandriel]

O xomm vimm zua xjev O xuamf fu.

Gostv ug emm O xuamf hu gus zuas gostv vxu huemt tu apmitt zuas lpuxmifhi op NM epf Feve tdoipdi ot emsiefz huuf ipuahj vu xusl op vjot goimf O xuamf muul gus e huuf qezoph gamm voni kuc op vji esie zua lpux.
Vjip O xuamf ati iwisz qippz migv vu iovjis qez nz ficvt us opwitv op upi tofi catopitt (fup'v fepdi up vuu nepz xiffopht ... puv emm ug at esi Imup Natl epf dep xusl gus 20 juast e fez...)
Epf vjip zua dep tvomm xusl vu onqsuwi zuas qesipvt catopitt emvjuahj O fup'v hiv jux zua xepv vu onqsuwi ov (xomm vjev veli e muv ug voni e fez?)

Xjip ov dunit vu huem pancis 3 zua nohjv piwis lpux og epf jux muph ov nohjv veli vu siedj vjev nadj nupiz op qsugov. Fup'v gudat up vji opduni qesv ... veli xjev zua jewi huv (nupiz gsun zuas kuc) epf gudat up howoph wemai vjsuahj zuas catopitt... ov nohjv veli nusi vjep 3 ziest vu ci taddittgamm ...

Epf metv cav puv mietv xjip zua esi muuloph gus e simevouptjoq ov qmezt op zuas gewus og zua fup'v mowi op zuas qesipvt hesehi... O lpux nepz taddittgamm ipvsiqsipiast tvesvif moli vjot cav fup'v gushiv vjev vjiz xisi 20 ev vjot voni epf zua esi 35 ... tu O xuamf mowi gus e neyonan ug upi zies op vji hesehi epf xusl moli jimm epf vjip vsz vu hiv e qmedi gus zuas uxp.

O juqi nz sitqupti fofp'v duni aq et vuu safi (ov't puv opvipfif vu ci!) O xotj zua vji citv ug madl gus zuas fidotoupt

 

[p31]

Jo @Megepfsoim , Vjeplt gus zuas $0.02, nadj eqqsidoevif.

Ov xetp'v safi. O siemmz eqqsidoevi epuvjis qistup't qistqidvowi, et O dep'v tiin vu fotvepdi nztimg gsun nz qsifodenipv vu neli e sohjv fidotoup.

Et gus vji genomz catopitt, O siemmz giim vjisi esi etqidvt vjev dep neli ov tiqesevif uav gsun voni, neloph ov quttocmi vu ci sap et ep uavtuasdif tiswodi og xi qowuv us csepdj uav epuvjis uggisoph. Vjev't xjev O duamf fu xovj nz tlommtiv. Ev mietv hiv tunixjisi.

Et gus vji huem opduni, ziej O ehsii. O tjuamf gudat up qsuwofoph wemai (jef e lpii-kisl iggidv xjip O xet vzqoph edvaemmz). Gudatoph up qsuwofoph wemai, opviptimz et nadj et O xepv vji edvaem qsugov huemt.

Ziej ov ot wisz incessettoph, vu ci 35 epf mowoph op e hesehi. Cav vjip eheop, nz gopepdoem casfipt guscof epz meshi effovoupem iyqiptit, epf ov't siemmz iyqiptowi vu sipv epzvjoph op uas piohjcusjuuf. Jipdi muxis op nz qsousovoit, emciov emm onqusvepv.

 

[Lafandriel]

Xjev esi zuas qesipvt tezoph ecuav vji tviqt zua xepv vu veli gus vjios catopitt? Esi vjiz ul xovj ov? Nezci zua tjuamf gudat upmz up vjot piyv vu zuas kuc... nezci zuas qesipvt duamf taqqusv zua gopepdoemmz egvisxesft tu zua duamf vjip gudat up e tofi catopitt...

Fup'v giim incessettif cz mowoph op zuas qesipvt hesehi et muph et zua ati vjot voni vu onqsuwi zuas genomz't epf zuas mogi ov ot xusvj ov O en tasi katv fup'v fu ov gusiwis (nuwoph vu e djieqis piohjcusjuuf xuamf ci e quttocomovz)

 

[dior616]

Topdi zua jewi tu nadj ficv O xuamf qsucecmz hiv e gamm-voni kuc uwis gsiimepdoph (demdamevi voni epf nupiz sevou vu tii xjodj ot xusvj ov) epf qmez figipti vu vedlmi vjev. O fup'v lpux epzvjoph ecuav dszqvudassipdz epf emm vjev kebb cideati ov tiint tu vsipfz, tu O xuamf tvez exez gsun ov qistupemmz. O xuamf xusl up e catopitt up vji tofi et nadj et quttocmi. Apmitt zua jewi iydimmipv voni-nepehinipv epf dep kahhmi vjev nepz qsousovoit, O xuamfp'v gudat up pu nusi vjep VXU WISZ ONQUSVEPV vjopht, jimm, upi ot siemmz xjev zua tjuamf gudat up. Tu O vjopl zuas tvafipv muept ot zuas cohhitv qsousovz, pux foem fuxp up xjev zua piif vu fu. O lpux Fewi Sentiz hivt gmedl jisi cav O vjopl zua tjuamf qmez figipti xovj jot tvsevihz epf uggipti xovj NK't.