The other day I was thinking that in high school, I never really went to see my guidance counslor. Then I started to think, maybe I should have. I turned 40 years old this year. If I had to describe my life, I'd describe it as an ant on a kitchen table. It just walks around in circles. I guess it is sort of doing something, but it's not really getting there very efficiently. Then, I thought, in this day in age, with all the computers and smart people available at our fingertips, there must be somebody out there who could act as my missing high school guidance counselor. There must be some key phrase like "Life Planning" or something like that, that has oodles of books on the subject. So I went to youtube and typed in "Life Planning". I found this guy: He says some pretty interesting things. I guess the cliff notes version of what he says is to ask yourself: What is the coolest thing that could happen in the next 5 years? He tells you to grab a cup of coffee, sit down and write that question at the top of a piece of paper. Alright, so I did that. What is the coolest thing that could happen in the next 5 years? I did some soul searching and the answer that I came up with was: The coolest thing that could happen in the next 5 years is to regain my freedom and my time so that I could live my life the way I want. So then I stopped and thought about what the obstacles are to me achieving this goal. The main obstacle to achieving this goal is that digits on a computer screen are not high enough. The digits on the computer screen are at 100,000. I need to add another 0 there, so the digits read 1,000,000. That's all that I need to do to achieve my goal. Seems simple enough? I began referring to this as "the digit problem". Surely, there must be someone out there who could help me put one more 0 on a computer screen. I'm sure people do this every day. I guess "how" is the key question. People must solve the digit problem every day. I'm not the first person to walk down this road and wonder these things. In fact, I'm surprised there's not more research and information on the subject. This is information that EVERYONE wants to know. They have information on everything under the sun on youtube. Why isn't there an answer for the digit problem? Drive to an affluent town. Get out of your car and stroll around. You're surrounded by people who have figured out the digit problem. If someone took a survey and asked all the people in this affluent town how they solved their own digit problem, what would be the most common answer? If you got the most common answer, then surely this would be the most efficient and effective way to solve the digit problem for yourself. So I figured someone has probably already done just that. Low and behold, they have. Here's some of their answers. How to Get Rich in 2022: 11 Bold Moves That Guarantee Wealth 1. Exploit your skill as a self-employed expert and invest in it. 2. Hit $100K, then invest the rest. 3. Be an inventor and consider it as an opportunity to serve. 4. Join a start-up and get stock. 5. Develop property. https://www.blackexcellence.com/ways-to-get-rich/ How to become wealthy: It's simpler than most 'experts' say I spent 5 years analyzing how rich people get rich — and found there are generally 4 paths to wealth The answers seem to vary widely. I suppose if you took all of the answers floating around out there and distilled them into common themes, then perhaps you could make the assumption that these common themes may provide a reflection of the truth.
Ya know what the most pathetic excuse I've heard for giving up on ones future? A 40 yo with a 4 year degree saying he has so much student debt he'll never be able to pay it off. So he's waiting for the government to excuse his debt. Meanwhile he's mucking stalls.
Yeah. Sadder still is he's a nice guy. I'm working on him. The best life plan for me came in '75 with the USN. I learned to make my bed (EVERY DAY). I learned to present myself well (when needed). I learned to pay bills and save money. I LEARNED TO PAY MY DEBTS. Better yet have none.
