If I only had …..
If I only had a new car I would be happy
If I only had a woman/man that made over six figures, I’d be happy.
If I only had a 3,000 square foot house with 5 bedrooms, and 3 bathrooms, I’d be happy.
If I only had 1 Billion dollars, I’d surely be happy.
If I only had 4 kids, I’d be happy.
Okay! Okay! Let’s get to the point here; NONE OF THIS WILL EVER MAKE YOU HAPPY!
The only thing that can make you happy is YOU. Happiness is a purely internal job. You are responsible for maintaining your happiness. I often hear people say that if they won a major jackpot in the lotto, then they would do this, and that. They would do all of the things that they dreamed of doing whether that be travelling the world or quitting that job they hate, spending time the way they want to spend their time. I call BS!
What causes people to postpone their dreams and put their confidence in fickle, and improbable chances of winning the lotto? Is it the years of conditioning in school? Is it because life happens? What makes people give up on their dreams? Why do adults stop dreaming?
I’ve been there before. There was a point in my life when I stopped dreaming. I sat, and sat performing my job duties; plugging away at numbers while sitting at a desk sedentary, and hating every moment of it. I was not moving in any direction on the career ladder, fixed to the bottom rung of the career ladder. I had my first child, and quite honestly I resigned to the belief that plugging away, and doing what was necessary to provide was the only important thing in life. I was scrapping by on a meager income and doing what was required to provide for our family. Somwhere during that time, my perspective changed; I used to think that life was all about plugging away, working, consuming, discarding, enjoying a bit after you hit 65, and then dying. I thought to myself who designed this?
This cannot be life!
During the time, I learned about the concept of financial independence as I read “Your Money or your Life”. I realized that I wasn’t making a living , but rather making a dying, only getting closer to death each year I sat there miserable. I quit shortly after reading the book without another job. It was a frightening choice, with a young child and wife, but I was dying each day I sat in that chair.
It was then where I learned that all the fears of my mind were developed over years of others passing and projecting their fears into me as I developed into an adult. I watched my daughter fearful of nothing, and thought to myself, “What am I scared of? Failure? Death?” I rejected my fears and leaped without a safety net to see if I would fall. Rather than flounder and fall to the ground I was surprised to see that I was still more alive than ever. Life did not end; I adapted to the new world I never experienced, and learned how to move in a world unattached to a job. It was remarkable that there is a whole world that exists outside of the context of the 9-5 just to stay alive crowd that is filled with opportunity. I learned during this period that when you work all the time, you are truly trading your life for something that might not be promised, as the future may not actually arrive due to illness, premature death, age, for example. From thereon, I learned to work for a purpose, and not just for the sake of money.
Since, taking the plunge and quitting the job where I was absolutely miserable, my income has tripled, I bike to work, and generally spend my time how I want to. I am only telling my story to help those in the similar stages/situations as I once was in,
Don’t be afraid to take a leap, and make a change to move on when you feel that something is truly killing your spirit. Your dreams, passions, and loves are what keep you alive; chase them.
My Lessons learned
- Life is too fun (not to short) to waste your life away at a crappy job that provides you with no fulfillment
- If you have a job that you hate, develop an exit plan yesterday with timelines as to where you want to go and where you want to be in the future.
- Map out how you are going to meet those timelines.
- Stay prepared as possible for the opportunity/role, so that you can deserve success. That is, this isn’t about luck, but about being prepared if and when the opportunity presents itself.
- Don’t miss out on opportunity due to a failure to prepare.
- Envision, believe it, be it.
- Remember where you’ve been;
Save/Stack/Invest/Repeat
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