Before I even introduce myself I want to say thank you to all the members who motivate, inspire and get people thinking on the right track on these forums.

So I guess it is time to say a little about me: My name is Brandon and I am a 23 year old from Northern California (Modesto/Stockton area). I attended a university for 2 years and then decided it wasn't for me. I work a 9-5 (or should I say 3-11am since those are my hours!) and am a wedding photographer on the weekends. I have been a lurker here on and off for a little over a year and couldn't go another day without signing up. I think I got to these forums through the L4P forums or 6Speed - I can't remember!

The information you guys provide here is unlike any other forum. Since about the age of 17 I have read about successful business men and women who were doing incredible things in life and never understood how exactly they made it - all I knew is that I couldn't imagine my life working 9-5 I would watch TV shows and couldn't stand when they showed another football player. I wanted to hear the back stories about the 'Lifestyles of The Rich and Not So Famous' (Heavy Hitters slogan) To this day I will see a beautiful home or car and will wonder about the back story, the business, the man/woman behind it all.

Reading for years I have understood little bits and pieces of how people get where they are, but the whole picture never came together for me until I found this resource. Within the last week I have been training myself to see the opportunities in everything and it is amazing. The more I focus on it the more it seems to become second nature. That in itself is a liberating feeling and it is because of MJ and the members on this forum.

My setback, which is sometimes hard for me to admit, is that I read too much - and that is in anything I do. I will read for hours and days on end and then never implement. I will find an opportunity and research for what seems like forever about it but I am never satisfied enough to get started. I always think that the next hour of research might uncover that it has been done or that it actually won't work. It is a flaw I am trying to overcome by just deciding to DO.

One key thing that you guys have taught me is that trading your time for money will never get me where I want to go. In the photography industry it is just that unless I want to have 10 other photographers shooting weddings under me. I have built a business around myself and my style so that is very unlikely. My job pays the bills and my photography is going to be funding my opportunities.

I am ready. Thank you guys for slowly opening my eyes over the past year. It seems like it has taken me a few years to get to the last week's 'aha' moment, but I am here and ready.