How much did you sacrifice?

[Marko]

Well... here I am putting in hours and hours of work, days and nights barely feeling my body cause I haven't hit the gym in so long. I miss working out and having a strong body, probably lost 10 kgs in the last half year cause I had to focus properly on getting myself out of the trenches. Working out would have killed my focus big time, I tried many times

When I see others getting rich with bitcoin for doing nothing... I almost get annoyed, I'm wondering how much you have to sacrifice to make it on your own.

Is it really part of it, is there another way to not sacrificing, not working non stop? For me it seems there isn't, I tried balancing but the focus is not the same, I lose track, I can't come up with any good ideas because my mind is stuck on gym, or socializing or whatever else I did that isn't business. So I had to cut it all off... I'm almost out... but def feeling the burnout...

What was the toughest things you went through? Sacrifices, cutting of friends family?

 

[bernard]

I would never sacrifice working out.

1.5 hours a day is what I do. Either running or lifting, with the lockdowns, mostly running. I couldn't do it without. Helps me centered, resets my mind and allows me to put everything into place mentally.

As for sacrifices, there has been many, social skills mostly. I don't know what people are chatting about at the water cooler.

 

[Ryuzaki]

To make a long story short, I gave up a career working for the government for what would be an easy low-to-mid 6 figures a year with all the pensions, 401k matching, health insurance, vacations, etc. All that day job stuff.

I gave up another career where I was climbing the ladder fast in a private company before I went full time. This was a job I had to tide me over while I replaced my income from internet marketing. When I did, I bailed.

For ten years I fought. I'd grow my empire to a respectable living and get wiped out to zero (my own fault twice [spam and then PBNs]). Had I not done those two things, I'd be way further ahead and I wouldn't have gone from living well to eating ramen to living well to surviving off Taco Bell dollar menus.

All of my college buddies? They got the cushy government jobs I've talked about. They got married and had kids. They have the big houses and nice cars and have had them for a long time. They watched me eat ramen and would invite me out and pay for my dinners.

I gave up dating. Lost two long-term relationships over being an entrepreneur. One was 4 years and one was 3 years long. I don't have kids yet either.

I lived in apartments for a long time, with noisy neighbors. If the rent got too high I'd have to move, and I'd try to rotate being the noisy upstairs neighbor versus being the downstairs guy where I could take the dog in and out easier and not have to carry furniture up the stairs when I moved. I moved so much I barely have or care for physical possessions any more. It made it easier to move to the next apartment.

I tried to keep going to the gym. I used to rock a 6-pack and run 5 miles a day. That slowly phased out. I ended up hurting my shoulders again (past injury) and probably need surgery and will do that soon. But I didn't have health insurance that whole time.

Guess where I'm at now? Making many, many multiples of what my college buddies make now. That's what the sacrifice gets you if you continually hone the craft and work smart and hard. They ask me for advice about their hair-brained ideas and only one guy ever takes any action. They want what I have but are not willing to sacrifice. They watched me do it and want no part of it. For them, the dream is tastier than the reality and telling me their next plan is a pressure release valve so they never have to act on it.

There's sacrifices, without a doubt. It's cheesy but that saying about "Live like nobody else will so you can live like nobody else can" is true. You gotta either live in the trenches for however long it takes or be ready to take on risk by using other people's money (without really knowing how to spend it because you didn't spend time in the trenches first).

It's no joke. If any of the newbies reading this really want to accumulate a lot of wealth... the asking price is pretty high... You're essentially saying "I'm gambling that I can give up nearly everything but break free of that in 3 years, 5 years, 10 years, 15 years and then be filthy rich rather than comfy and hopefully middle class for my whole adult life".

That level of sacrifice is not for everyone.

Some people... most people... SHOULD be aiming at simply supplementing their income while spending time with their significant other and kids and friends. It's infinitely harder once you have the house and kids to throw all that off and dive into the trenches with no guarantee of how long it'll last. The sacrifices need to come earlier in life than later.

If you dive in later, you need cash flow to pay for the time and to put other people in the trenches for you, because your clock is already running out. I know they say Colonel Sanders hit it big in his 60's or whatever with his chicken recipe. Forget all that. The sacrificing of your time and quality of life is a young man's game. If you're not a young man, you have to be ready to sacrifice money. If you can't do that, accept that this is a hobby and that an extra $1k or $2k a month would be nice that you grinded out in your 3 free hours a week over the course of several years.

There's no shame in taking inventory of your own life and figuring out what's appropriate for you own life. As long as you can be honest about what you find and set your expectations accordingly.

If you want to strike it BIG, there's a big cost to pay and it's one you can't win back: Time and spending that time living like a plow mule sub-minimum wage bum who's way too smart to be living like that while everyone else wonders what the hell you're doing with your life.

If you're actually smart, one day you'll be saying "told you so" to all those people.

-----

The problem you're talking about, where there's just not enough time to have work/life balance... that can be overcome once you have cash flowing. That's a systems, processes, training, and hiring issue. Ultimately you can work 20% of the time you used to (if you want) if you have the processes in place. Shave that to 10% by getting a manager in place. Some things you won't want to let go of, but most you can.

But you likely won't work 10% of your time's capacity. You'll find higher value activities to multiply your revenues even further. We don't do this for fun, but out of love (and money of course). If I was sitting on a billion dollars I'd still be doing this, just in much bigger fashions.

 

[Asad]

You dont want to know. If you did, would you still be willing to take the journey?
You think work is all that it takes? You think sacrificing the gym is a sacrifice?

Everybodys path is different but if your path takes you through hell then it will be a hell specially tailored to your biggest vulnerabilities.

Many have slept in their cars during winter. Forced into bankruptcy over taxes or other rookie mistakes. Cried in the darkness and reached out to a cold and indifferent god. Worked on a project for months and years only to realize its a flop. Ate shit in front of friends and families and exes who celebrate your suffering.

You sacrifice your goddamn body if you have to. You walk until your shoes fall apart and limp on feet cracked bloody. When your feet give out move forward on hands and knees. You type until your fingers gnarl then switch to voice commands until your saliva turns to glue.

You dont know whats ahead and its a bloody good thing you dont because you would be on linkedin panhandling your resume. The only way you win is either getting real smart real fast or by pulling your plow like a dumb mule until you dredge up a nugget of gold.

We allhave our reason for doing this and if the reason is compelling enough then you will sacrifice EVERYTHING.

Do some freaking pushups and get back to your turret.

 

[Potatoe]

You walk until your shoes fall apart and limp on feet cracked bloody.

Walk? You're not even running?

While you're walking with bloody feet, your competitor is sprinting with broken legs.

 

[Asad]

Walk? You're not even running?

While you're walking with bloody feet, your competitor is sprinting with broken legs.

Today I get to pay others to sprint while I watch with a well deserved glencairn of Bookers.

 

[eliquid]

I've gave up almost everything, at some point.

It's not about what you did sacrifice, but about what you are WILLING to sacrifice.

I could tell you I sacrificed X or Y, but if I draw the limit at Z.. maybe that is what prevents me from getting to the next level.

You have to be WILLING to sacrifice almost everything and anything.

At the end of the day, it's about doing whatever it takes to get whatever it is you want. Anyone that has an issue with that, should read Felix Dennis book "how to get rich" to understand better.

If you aren't willing to do almost anything, then you aren't really sacrificing.. You're just playing the game wrong and losing the battle because something is holding you back.

 

[Asad]

I was drunk and ranting last night but seriously. Calculate your ROI.

If you had insider info that BTC would go up 7,000% what would you do?

Me? I would sell everything down to my clothes, get loans, sell my house, and start DMing @eliquid to borrow some money to go all in. That would not be a sacrifice. Thats an investment.

Whatever you have to invest is worth it if the ROI is high enough.

 

[Marko]

Personally I've been sacrificing everything and anything... and I got to the point where I'm asking if it's worth it. All or nothing... all for nothing? Probably the last months of heavy work are taking the toll on me because after all, looking back, sometimes it feels I haven't had that much of a terrible life. In fact, many people I meet (when I do) are always interested and looking up to me.

I'm at the point where I think of the supercar I've always wanted... and I realize I will have it and I don't think it's going to make me happy... even though I never believed it will anyway. But I think I might have some mental issues if a damn supercar doesn't make me happy.

I'm only thinking of financial freedom right now, retiring my parents and that's going to be great.

But otherwise It's like I've grown up and the filth of the world got to me and turned me into a negativist bastard that can't see the beauty or joy in anything anymore so I'm asking if the price we pay isn't too big.

Maybe it's burnout effects but it doesn't seem that the dreams you have when you're young are worth it. If that isn't, then what is? Nothing I guess.

But then... still... I'm thinking if it would have been ok if I was an average guy, as g eazy referes in one of his songs, and of course that's not true and it would have been worse and hating every second of it.

Don't know.. but I feel like this the single place I can write this and be understood. Probably burnout and need to rest to find joy in anything

 

[Ryuzaki]

@Marko,

Forget all the guru-ish nonsense. It's up to you to decide what kind of work/life balance best keeps you plugging along. If sacrificing everything causes you to fail, these same guru-ish advice givers in the "motivation industry" have a gambit ready for that too, which is "well I guess you weren't cut out for this life".

What matters is getting to the end goal.

If you sacrifice everything and it causes you to fail, sacrificing everything was not an effective strategy.

If you work 18 hours a day at 50% efficiency, that's just stupid, when you could work 9 hours a day at 100% efficiency because you took the time to rest, recharge your batteries, and have a social life. "But you should do 18 hours at 100% efficiency!" The gambits are everywhere and you can call them out before they even come up because they're that predictable and easy to come up with.

For me, I can work 16 hour days for about 11 days straight, starting on a Sunday all the way back to Sunday and then on to the following Wednesday before my brain just says "nope". If I keep going past that, I'm wasting time. It makes way more sense to stop, rest, see friends, make some calls to family, go to dinner, watch a movie, etc. Because that tops off my battery and brings me back to 100% for another 11 days.

If that's the case for you, then take some time off. Who cares. Don't fall for guru fantasy role playing marketing crap. You're obviously feeling and being less productive than if you kept plowing. It's literally stupid to keep going like that, and more effective to take a break.

You also can't rewind time and be a part of your daughter growing up. You can't rewind time to recapture the years you let slip away before one of your parents suddenly discovered they were in stage 4 cancer or a car wreck. You can't get time back.

You gotta watch out for these "all-or-nothing" mis-truths. There are rarely any true binary choices in life where you have to choose between one extreme or another. How much you sacrifice is certainly not one of them.

This is called a "false dichotomy". It's a very effective trick used in other strategies like "divide and conquer". It's never to the benefit of the person being divided. The truth is always on the "Middle Path" between the extremes, where the synthesis of the two opposites is the actual truth. In this case, work is on one extreme and a non-work life is on the other. The truth is "work / non-work life in balance".

How does this sound? "Yay, I finally made it. Time to celebrate! Ouch, my body is broken. Whoa, my mental health is in tatters. My friends don't care about me any more. My parents are dead. I'm a fat 55 year old single "predator" as far as anyone else is concerned, in my super sports car that only 20 year olds should be seen in. I guess I'll do the same shit I could have been doing this whole time, but now I'll do it alone, on my throne of loneliness, since I can't trust any of my new friends to like me for who I am and not for my money."

That's obviously an extreme example in itself, but that's pretty much how it plays out in the engineering field for everyone, especially contractors, which is why I quit that industry as mentioned in this thread.

My point is, nobody maintains efficiency and effectiveness without rest and balance and with that comes non-work life. Nobody. Not a single person in this thread. Not Bezos, Musk, Gates. Despite the war stories of their climb up the mountain, they had girlfriends and got married and had kids and took time off and did normal people stuff. The motivation industry is so full of shit and people who don't even live like that will repeat it to each other.

Yes, there's sacrifices, but you can still have friends, call your mom, have dinner, etc. There is nothing to gain by not maintaining those things, only things to lose that can't be replaced, fixed, or bought with money.

But I think I might have some mental issues if a damn supercar doesn't make me happy.

That's because a supercar is an empty material possession, much like the empty platitudes being spewed in this thread. This is about to be the 9th post in this thread and I'm still the only one who's told you what I actually had to sacrifice. Everyone else is happy to tell you what they'd theoretically give up or be willing to give up. Both of those imply they haven't given up the things they're talking about.

I'm only thinking of financial freedom right now, retiring my parents and that's going to be great.

This is a worthy reason to live through the lifestyle. This will absolutely be great. It's an honorable, noble, virtuous, righteous goal.

Back in 2015 I wrote - What is Your Reason?
Back in 2014 I wrote - Ritual Sacrifice & Alchemical Transmutation

You might get something out of those (the 2nd one is purposefully obtuse. I thought it was cute when I wrote it).

 

[Marko]

Amazing reply, thank you friend and I totally agree, only some time ago I realized everything has a battery and perhaps an expiration time in which things have to be done.

Either it's your dream that must be achieved in 5 or 10 years or it's almost worthless... either it's 5 or 8 or 15 work hours and that's your battery to get things done otherwise you're going to have a hard time after that.

 

[bernard]

Years ago I bought into the hype about being a libertarian, Ayn Rand'ish, digital nomad, entrepeneur, international playboy thing.

I had a lot of fun, but one day, and it felt like it was overnight, I woke up and felt empty and lonely, sitting in some hotel room. I just wanted to go home and be with my family and friends.

It's not that I regret it as such, I just wish someone would have told me, that might be something that would happen.

So I want to tell younger people this, so that they know that. Don't burn your bridges. Be more like Godfather instead of Scarface.

 

[Asad]

but it doesn't seem that the dreams you have when you're young are worth it. If that isn't, then what is? Nothing I guess.

If yore gonna be a nihilist might as we be the hedonistic kind instead of the stoic kind

 

[CCarter]

Approaching this from another angle - what's the alternative? You want to be some average guy that's got a 9-5, pretending to play with their kids on the weekend (really just watching football matches on the telly).

As well, I think people don't really understand what the word "sacrifice" means.

Sacrifice means giving up something of higher value for something of lower value, not the other way around.

It's not a sacrifice to give up $100 for $100,000. It's a sacrifice to give up $100,000 for $100.

If you have a child it's not a sacrifice to go to work so you can feed your kid. It's a sacrifice if you let your kid starve and give the food to your neighbor's kid.

You aren't sacrificing by exchanging a low value for a higher value.

Now if you believe that having a 9-5, social time on the weekends, and living the normal average joe life is BETTER than being an entrepreneur, then you definitely are sacrificing.

I know that the hot thing to do is be an "entrepreneur" but it has to be who you ARE.

There are early indicators as a child what you like and gravitate towards, most entrepreneur sold candy or lemonade or baseball cards or something similar as a child for money. I did. I got into a ton of trouble in middle and high school cause their "system" was always trying to "break" me of that spirit.

I always asked the teachers why can't I sell? "It's against the rules."

Think about it, at the core level of the schooling system it literally attempts to punish you for thinking outside the box. It dissuades you from being an entrepreneur. Why? Cause the system is build to create consumers, not producers which entrepreneur are.

When I say entrepreneur, I mean successful ones, not Reddit wannabes.

So the question comes down to, IS this path really you?

You see stories of Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Bezos, Steve Jobs, and the greats, even Thomas Edison, all slept at their office.

The disconnect is they WANTED to do that. They were at the office 24/7 cause they LOVED every moment of it.

To the average Joe, sleeping at the office where they make their small wage sounds like fucking a nightmare.

The entrepreneur LOVES the game. Even when shit is going bad, and this are going in a downward spiral, they wouldn't give it up for anything else. Even if this business or project fails they are going to go start another business or project, and then another and then another. Because it's who they ARE.

Example, I've never played golf and I personally think I would hate it. I couldn't imagine being on a golf course for 4-8 hours or whatever a day hitting balls around. That sounds like a fucking nightmare to me. But there are people that are on the golf course 4-7 days a week, they love the game.

Same with running, I don't like running, but there are some people that LOVE running - they are runners.

@eliquid and @Ryuzaki have these in-depth threads where they ask you what your values are and what you are willing to give up. You have to ask yourself is this who you truly are? OR are you looking to make a quick buck and go home and play with your kids.

If you had a billion dollars in your pockets - would you still be doing what you are doing?

For an entrepreneur yes, money is a side effect, it's not an end goal. Runners aren't running to "run 32 laps", that's not their "goal".

If you say no then you should not be trying to work 18 hours a day on something you have no passion for.

The real question I have is are you looking at what's happening to the average joe employee out there right now during this COVID stuff? Their companies are using this excuse to get rid of high-cost employees (individuals with high salaries).

That's been happening since corporations started merging, you get rid of the deadweight. Deadweight is usually high-priced individuals that are middle-age, or in middle management positions.

Imagine being 40, 50, or 60 years old and trying to get a job right now. There are people with 23 years of experience in fields getting entry level jobs. There is a TON of downfall of being in the middle class and a wager earner right now. Unless you have some sort of badass job lined up - what is the alternative you see for yourself by not continuing down this route?

What about the unemployment? What about having to listen to some boss that's stupider than you tell you to do something that's not in the best interest of success?

When I see others getting rich with bitcoin for doing nothing

Buttcoin is not a business or job. That comment kind of makes me wonder why you are in this game? Are you just looking to make a ton of money and fuck off, or do you really love the game?

Some guys pretending to be making buttcoin money shouldn't mean a single thing to you - that's not being an entrepreneur. That's being a gambler, and basement armchair investor at best.

Whenever I see these claims if millions of dollars in buttcoin... Am I really suppose to believe people like this furry above are rolling in buttcoin money in the millions? Perhaps they have a $600 or $1000 investment in the coin - PERHAPS. But I have a feeling most people are just talking shit cause "bitcoin is what is hot now", just like being an entrepreneur was what was hot 3-10 years ago.

And then you have to think about it - someone else making a million dollars, what does that have to do with you?

--

In the spirit of this thread, when I had a 9-5 I was sitting in traffic 1-2 hours in the morning and then 2-3 hours at night to and from work. First of all ATTEMPTING the 9-5 life, which I tried for 3-4 years, was the stupidest thing I did. But it literally reminded me that being an employee was not who I was.

But I was in traffic that particular day and everyone was honking their horns - fucking gridlock on the highway - no exits for miles, I was like 23 at the time, and I thought "this is going to be my life for the next 40 years? Sitting in traffic for 3 to 6 hours a day with horns honking. WHILE knowing there is a better way AND already having experienced the freedom of being an entrepreneur. Why would I do this?"

The fact that I KNEW that every single day going to "work" and "coming home" I would be thinking that exact same thought - even if I didn't stop that nonsense then, just a survival instinct, 2 years more, 5 years more, 10 years more, I would have eventually jumped ship. It's a repeating question, an itch, that's unfortunately has got to get scratched.

So I went home, figured out how much money to survived for 6 months - cause every idiot says have 6 month worth reserve (stupid), and I got the number. For the next 5 months I saved every penny, no going out to eat on the weekends, no dates, no nothing. I ate oatmeal 2 meals a day, I skipped lunch, and around 6 months later I quit and started my marketing agency.

Now the crazy part is if you have 6 months reserve, you tend to take shit easy for 4-5 months. You can guess what happened, exactly when I had my back against the wall and only 1 month saving left did we suddenly close our first client and then a ton of other clients and the agency blew up.

It's always when your back is against the wall when your brain goes into overdrive. All nonsense falls away.

But even if I failed I NEVER EVER EVER had a thought for even a nanosecond that I would go find a job. The sun would have to eat the Earth before I call someone else "boss".

 

[Philip J. Fry]

Single-hood. The two investors and another guy in my company had an intervention with me. They told me I can’t be CMO or any other executive position unless I get married. Nope! Can’t be an executive and single. FML.

 

[Marko]

Great question, what's the alternative... there isn't one. For sure this has to be the best path you can ever take, no doubt about it no matter how hard it can get along the way, it can never be as hard as any other way.

Great comparison with covid which is a tragedy, I even look at singers, actors here locally... even those that were at the top then a few years later they are left out, some of them without even minimum income for food and that was before covid...

I think life is such a losing path for most, especially financially, sometimes it looks like you can't win. So many frauds and fakers, not many even being what they seem. Crazy out there... but makes you very grateful.

I swear, sometimes I don't know how good I have it and I'm just an ungrateful pick because I'm tired or whatever reason. I got to the point where I simply ignore what I feel, what I think.

And true, I had the wrong definition of sacrifice. What I was probably asking myself is if the effort is worth it and it's def worth it, being free is worth anything.

 

[Philip J. Fry]

Great question, what's the alternative... there isn't one. For sure this has to be the best path you can ever take, no doubt about it no matter how hard it can get along the way, it can never be as hard as any other way.

The alternative is being lonely, dying uncared for without children, and having no family.

 

[Marko]

Aren't we all alone until someone has an interest to be around us

 

[Philip J. Fry]

Aren't we all alone until someone has an interest to be around us

If there is none, then you are forever alone! Good thing you’re also free! hang in there.

 

[eliquid]

@Ryuzaki mentioned he was the only one to state what he gave up in this thread.

I've posted on other places online, in prior threads, in some fashion.. but I'll list out here:

• I gave up a lot of social activities that normal kids that are middle school age do, so I could read my mom's money magazines and sell baseball cards, comics and candy. Lots of days skipped I could have been playing football outside, skateboarding, and other things. I ended up being very socially distant to people I could have just been friends with.
  
  
• High school sped this up several notches. I actually did not go to my prom, special events, homecoming, or graduation. I shit you not. All because I was working, had plans to work, or was advancing my financial path on those days. Same with reunions... my 5, 10 and 15 and 20 came and went and I was busy building my empire or something else was in the way that weekend.
  
  
• I had a pretty good relationship with a girl I was dating. She did nothing wrong and was very caring and thoughtful. The toll of working a job, driving to and from that job, working on my side business, and then spending time with her was too much. So I dumped her, twice.
  
  
• I gave a lot of time with my wife and kids. This is too numerous to list really. Some are down right fucking embarrassing. Highlights? My wife taught my kids how to ride their bikes. I missed many cousins and in-law's birthdays and special events like graduations. I brought laptops and cellphones to dinners out, when I could have just been relaxing and enjoying the family. I routinely was the last one to arrive and first one to leave many events. Every vacation was ruined because I "need to work". Everything was rushed or hurried because I couldn't waste time or some "client needed something".
  
  
• In my early life, the one person I wanted to be like and looked up to.. died one day when I became an adult. As a child I spent much time with him. Once I turned 16 and got out in the world, I spent less time with them. Once I turned a dad at 25 and was running side businesses, I just about never saw them again even though they lived less than an hour away from me. I was always too busy and had other things to do. The day they died, I hadn't really seen or talked to them in 10 years. I wished I would had.
  
  
• Me and my wife fought constantly. She wasn't like me in my wife of thinking or doing. She has been the most generous ands giving person outside of my "blood" family I know. So many weeks/months/years lost to disagreements. So many bad mistakes made due to "my work" so I could provide HER and the kids a better life. Would I trade it all for that time back and "do over" change again? I honestly think sometimes I would.
  
  
• Health - luckily nothing bad has happened to me that is serious. I haven't been to a doctor in years for a checkup ( kinda easy to do when you don't have issues to go for ), but at my age I should have had a colonoscopy and prostate exam, etc. None of that has been done. Forget eye exams or other things, not been done either. But this can't go on forever. At some point the fast food ( faster and easier to get ), sodas, and life at the computer chair 18 hours a day takes it tolls. I already feel the impact after a couple hours and I get up and my legs are sore and back hurts. All my time goes into the business to feed the lifestyle for my family, which means no time for me to improve my MENTAL health, PHYSICAL health, etc...
  
  
• Mental well being. Think about all the things I wrote above. Now think about all the things I couldn't write about because of time or because some things I just can't share. After decades, don't you think that takes a toll mentally? All of the self doubt, all of the gambles, all of the payoffs and losses. All of the loneliness and late nights. There were many good highlights and perks, lots of things 99% of the people in this world will never know or experience that I did, but the cost is high and can drag out for a long time.

In some ways, I feel like the little Dutch boy with the finger in the dam protecting my family from a flood of bad that both me and my wife experienced growing up as children. Things we didn't want them to experience.

While I hold the flood back, my wife is the one doing the things with the kids and family I can't.

However, that causes me to miss a lot. Miss a ton.

It's only now, because of certain things, I can plug the hole in the dam with a rag or pay someone else to put their finger in it I can start to not miss out on things. But it took a long time to get to that spot of financial freedom/intelligence to do so. What if I would have died before I got to this level though? In some ways, it can cause a lot of water under the bridge once you can step away. You just have to navigate it.


My advice, build in time for those things like you would anything else.

Every Wednesday morning, call your mom. - takes 5 minutes

Every day spend an hour with just you and your wife. No cell phones and no kids if you can.

Every day, read a story to your kids at night if they are young before bed. - 15 minutes is all it takes

Spend 30 minutes playing chess or reading a book for yourself daily.

Send a txt or email to someone you haven't talked to in the last 90 days randomly. - Easy 3 minutes

Block out Sat or Sun for just things you need to do, like teach your kids to ride a bike. I made sure when they turned 16 I was there to teach them how to drive though since I missed out on the bike.

Tell someone you're sorry. It's not for them really, it's for you.

.

 

[Philip J. Fry]

Once I turned 16 and got out in the world, I spent less time with them. Once I turned a dad at 25 and was running side businesses,

Tell someone you're sorry. It's not for them really, it's for you.

Don't have a kid when you're 25. When one's not ready to be a provider, why should one have children? That's putting the cart before the horse. No wonder why you felt so much pressure to work. If you just did it the other way around, by focusing on your career first and having children in mid-career, there wouldn't have been so much pressure.

I'm sorry if I said something that offended you in the past, in an existential way, that affected your very being. I can be an asshole at times. Your family sounds wonderful. Hopefully my family would be... rich. haha. I gotta be more caring. Women don't like cruel men. Caring of not just their family but of society and community too. And the environment. And animals. Oh boy! This is going to get expensive.

 

[eliquid]

The thing I forgot to add in my post above...

While it seems like I complained or went through a lot, messed up a lot or have regrets.. the one thing it does do is make me NOT WANT TO GIVE UP now.

Why?

You think I'm gonna lay down like some bitch now? After all of that? After decades of what I gave up?

You think I'm going to lay in bed, let the world roll over me, and then let all that pain and guilt and missing out go towards me now giving up? If I did, all of that would have been for nothing.

You think I'm gonna let all that vanish now for NOTHING? Nope.

Missing prom, missing out on a normal childhood, giving up girlfriends, ruined vacations, missing out on my kids youth, all those late nights I could have went to be early, all those early mornings I could have been working out instead, all those dollars lost to failed experiments and ventures, all those times I slept in my car because I had nothing else?

That shit is worth something.

I payed the piper. Now I want to hear my song.

You don't miss out and fail, just to give up. Too much is invested in all of that to give up.

.

 

[Poplanu]

I feel this is getting pretty far from the original question / intent of the post, but here's my thoughts.

Using the word "sacrifice" puts you in that negative "scarcity" space of mind, where you focus on all the things that you can't / won't have.

So why not flip the question on its head and ask: "What did you choose not to sacrifice?"

Without going into too much detail, I chose not to sacrifice:

• My belief in myself and my ability to make it on my own, and the belief that in the long run I could earn more running my own shop than working with an employer
• Fast-tracking my skills & career development
• The freedom to work from anywhere, anytime (having an office is better, though)
• Learning & developing every single day in different areas (management, SOPs, technical, persuasion, finance, accounting, etc.), which is far from guaranteed if you hold a 9-5 job
• Building & managing a scalable operation/asset (vs. trading my time for money)
• Living up to my full potential

That's all that comes to mind for now, and the comparison is of course the typical 9-5 job.

I would really like to write a perfect answer here, but since the original post is a bit of a rant that covers multiple different angles, I'll just leave it like this. Maybe it helps someone switch their mindset a little.

 

[Magister]

I find this thread depressing.

Newbie can read all this and get scared: "Do I really have to work 12 hours a day, let someone else raise my children, stay virgin until 30 and have no friends?"

You don't need to sacrifice same things to get to the $100k/month and $5k/month.

Someone should correct me if I'm wrong but you can easily spend 6 hours a day of productive work, and build a 5-10k a month business. And still have time for socializing, gym, family and travel. You would still need to sacrifice things like wasting time on social media, drinking, going out every day etc. But you don't have to go to the extremes.

If you are at 0 or $1k a month you have a totally different mindset than someone who is making $100k. You probably can't even understand them. If you are just starting focus on sacrificing stupid things first and how to become more productive.

It all comes down to what you really want.

 

[eliquid]

I find this thread depressing.

Newbie can read all this and get scared: "Do I really have to work 12 hours a day, let someone else raise my children, stay virgin until 30 and have no friends?"

You don't need to sacrifice same things to get to the $100k/month and $5k/month.

Someone should correct me if I'm wrong but you can easily spend 6 hours a day of productive work, and build a 5-10k a month business. And still have time for socializing, gym, family and travel. You would still need to sacrifice things like wasting time on social media, drinking, going out every day etc. But you don't have to go to the extremes.

If you are at 0 or $1k a month you have a totally different mindset than someone who is making $100k. You probably can't even understand them. If you are just starting focus on sacrificing stupid things first and how to become more productive.

It all comes down to what you really want.

This picture sums it all up. Until you actually live it, until you actually hit financial freedom and business success... you don't know anything.

Those jumbled lines?

That's the whole shit that's got you scared. The whole "Do I really have to work 12 hours a day, let someone else raise my children, stay virgin until 30 and have no friends?" stuff you mentioned.

Go ask many of the rags to riches stories, excluding lotto winners, how many 6 hours day they had coming up to the $100k a month. You gonna get laughed out.

This guy said 6 hours. 6 hours!

People working salaried jobs work more than that.

The only way you gonna work 6 hour days is IF you are already hitting your $5k or $10k a month goal ( or $100k a month ) and you finally let yourself go and relax and enjoy it.

Not while you coming up to obtain it.