It's been about 7 months since I quit my job. Immediately I quit, things were difficult financially. My wife and I weren't making a lot of money. The job market isn't what it used to be. We'll be 28 this year and both of us were still toiling around with what used to be called "entry-level" pay. What really chokes our finances though is debt. It's up to our eyeballs. I'm ashamed to say a figure. Lets just say, if I ever had kids, I'd strongly recommend that they either be very good athletes so as to get scholarships, or, go to cheaper schools. I didn't do either of those. And honestly, I'd probably be better off if I skipped college. I'm not really using my degree. But that's a different topic altogether.
What I'm saying is it wasn't like we had a good amount of money saved up for the rainy day. My wife kept working (she was a teacher and felt it was right to finish out the year). So we had her income for another few months. We had to cut out half of our monthly expenses and live very conservatively. No cable, no internet, no gym memberships. Those things aren't the difficult bit. The difficult part is the games your mind plays with you. This is okay for now, but how long will this last? Will I have the same willpower I have now in 6 months? A year? I started doing research on the rich, and how they got there. What I found was encouraging. Many, many people have been where I am and have made it to success. The type that gives them real time to spend it how they want, as I elaborated on in my last post. So, then I started thinking, well, how many heads do those people have (my mom used to always say that)? What makes them able to do it and not me? And I started cultivating my mind and started believing in myself and in my ability to make my dreams come true. I did all this after the fact - after I'd already quit, and before I actually figured out what business I would start.
I think that was a necessary step for me. And I think that anyone who is going to take on this journey needs to go through that step. Cultivating your mind is not easy. It's hard to change your perspective on life and your way of thinking. So many people know what kind of future they want, but they can't get themselves to actually do anything about it. They daydream, and wish, just like I used to. They may even talk about doing it - starting a business and going for it, but they just can't actually take the plunge. Some envy the rich, and they may even make comments about the rich to make themselves feel better about not trying. Comments like, "They inherited it", or, "I'd rather be happy than be rich", or, "Must be nice". I used to do this. I hated seeing a really nice car drive by, and I didn't like seeing big mansions either in person or on TV, because I subconsciously envied the people who owned them and couldn't see myself ever getting there. It reminded me of how frustrated I was in my financial situation and in my career. My frame of mind was different. I planned on being in the same career for 5, 7, 10+ years - maybe even 20-30 years, hoping to eventually be making enough money to pay off debt and start making some profitable financial decisions. Or, just retire and die. Now? I think way differently. I now think being in the same stressful career for that long is just plain scary. I feel like I'd eventually be depressed - an unhappy human being, no matter how much money I'd be making. Much more, I'd regret not trying earlier to make something of my life myself. I'd feel like I wasted so many years. Cultivating your mind to start thinking like the rich think, to start seeing the opportunity, to believe in your potential enough to actually take the big, scary risks... This is an important step.
It took me weeks. I read books. I researched every rich person I could think of trying to learn their story. I wanted to know how they made it. What struggled did they overcome? I realized that most of them had to battle and beat challenges far bigger than mine. Some actually went to the extent of being homeless and living in their car! Some had kids and were just in a much weirder spot and it was much more difficult to start a business. I started looking at myself as blessed and fortunate, that I had it as easy as I had it, relatively speaking. I had a very supportive wife. No kids. Just a ton of bills. I wasn't totally drained. I could use my brain, and figure out ways to make this happen. I started truly believing I was going to make it.
I also had to cultivate my mind to have a no-quit mentality. I read a lot of Mark Cuban's words on becoming rich. He always talks about effort - that making it to success isn't about skills or qualifications. It's all about willpower. Are you willing to do the research necessary to learn your business, your competitors, and your market? Are you willing to give up life's everyday luxuries and live like "crap" for an undetermined period of time? Are you willing to persevere when your first idea doesn't work? How about after your second, or third? Are you willing to keep pushing until you make it, no matter how long it takes? Are you willing to fail and learn and try again? I started realizing an obvious fact. Being successful is not easy. If it were, everybody would be successful. I started getting it. Its all about your mindset and your effort. It's like the mentality Will Smith talks about. If we're both on a treadmill and we're seeing who can stay on longest, you'll quit before me. I'll either win, or die trying. I will not get off that treadmill. It's the mind that separates the rich from the middle class and the poor. The rich think about things different. They don't split up the ideas of being happy and being rich. They think you can have both at the same time. They don't wish, they act. They make moves. They learn from their mistakes and they try again. They don't quit. Eventually, they make it, because they made the necessary adjustments and figured out the winning formula. And, then they duplicate that formula and create passive income streams for themselves.
I learned that your mind is immensely powerful. It's indestructible. Whatever the mind decides it wants, it gets. If you decide you'll never give up, you'll never give up. If you decide, "well, I tried", and give up, then your mind decided that its time to give up. The mind is an unstoppable force. I finally started taking the famous quote seriously - the one that parents tell their kids so often. "You can be anything you want to be." "You can do anything you set your mind to." I know those statements are so true.
I can honestly say, that nothing will make me go back to the stressful, draining workforce. Nothing will make me submit to the corporate ladder ever again. My wife feels the same. She has now quit her job and is working on following her passions. We've seen the promised land and we aren't turning back. Nothing can ever make me regret the leap of faith I took. I know that we'll eventually make it. For me, I believe in myself, and in my idea because I've done the research to know its a good idea and it can work. But, I'm determined to learn. So if my idea doesn't work, I'll figure out why, and then I'll have a better chance at success the 2nd time around. One thing I am absolutely certain about - quitting is not an option.
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