| Live simple, create the life you want, then live the life you created. I spent a couple of years eating Kraft macaroni and cheese (my generation's ramen noodles) five days a week, driving a $200 car (country boy - no public transportation) and worked 12 hours a day, six days a week to get my business off the ground. For much of those two years I worked nights to buy the little we had. I had two kids at the time I quit my paycheck. I gave them more than I gave myself. In 1981 I received the last paycheck that was signed by anyone other than myself. A year later I was living fairly comfortably. I put my kids through college with no student loans. Today I live on the ocean, have any car I want, never worry about money, travel where and when I want. You can work to get a large paycheck, I'm sure. But in exchange for that paycheck someone else owns your life. I am by no means smarter than most, I have no real education, no one gave me financial support in the beginning, I was just doggedly persistent in pursuing my vision. Hangout with people who are smarter, more successful and more diligent than you. You want to be the dumb kid in the company of great rather than the top of a group of underachievers. Meetups or trade organizations are a great start. But also seek out the people in your industry that you admire the most, tell them your interest and offer to buy them lunch to hear their story. Personally I feel that this generation's pivoting is often just giving up too soon. Decide what you want to do and then move mountains with a teaspoon if that is what it takes to make it happen. Others will disagree and they are just as right. But if you truly want to do something, quit reading Hacker News and get on with doing the job at hand. If for no other reason than HN exposes you to a wealth of choices, which makes it harder to focus on one. Once you succeed come back and read the cool new stuff that is out there. Best of luck. |