Navigating the land of opportunity

Over Thanksgiving, Mike I were talking to Lu about her future. We’ve always encouraged her to dream big, go after what makes her happy and generates a decent income to support herself. Then we were talking to some friends and I realized some folks just don’t really know how to do this. It sounds so simple, but there is a lot of soul searching and hard work involved.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying we know what’s best for you. We just know what works/ed for us and I want to share our personal experiences with you. We genuinely like to help folks who want to help themselves. We have the same 24 hours every day just like everyone else.

We have come a long way, you may read this post I wrote earlier this year to get a feel for how our choices have shaped our lives today. Spoiler alert: It was 100% PURE, HARD WORK. There were no handouts, just hard work and folks who helped us help ourselves. So, I feel like this post is our way of paying it forward.

I grew up in the ghetto in Fresno, CA. I was literally ghetto fabulous. My parents struggled every day to put food on the table, keep a roof over our heads. Sometimes we couldn’t afford new school clothes or shoes, but we always had enough. When I look back now, I thought everyone had to constantly struggle and that was just part of life.

The truth is that the need to struggle goes away with making hard choices and harder work.

Here are a few ideas:

• Before you do anything, go to the Mike RoweWORKS site and read this. Take your time, I’ll wait.
  

  “The goal of Profoundly Disconnected® is to challenge the absurd belief that a four-year degree is the only path to success. The Skills Gap is here, and if we don’t close it, it’ll swallow us all.” – Mike RoweWORKS website

  Are you back? Cool!

• Take what you just read and apply it to your life. That’s an excellent start.
• There is absolutely nothing wrong with going to college, but it’s not for everyone. I don’t have a college degree nor do I wish to obtain one. But I am genuinely happy with my job. It’s something I am passionate about and I make more than a lot of college educated folks. The key here is happiness and everything else falls into place.
• It’s never too late for a career change. Mike started a brand new career at the age of 42 and is happier than ever. It was not an easy transition. It took a couple years and a lot of disappointment but he NEVER gave up.
• Take the crappiest job if you have to. You’re not better than any job. Make it appear glamorous, be happy about it, work you ass off knowing it is a stepping stone closer to your goal. My first job was mopping floors at McDonalds. I was 16 and happy to be making a little income and you can bet those floors were spotless. Bottom line, find any job and start working. Then work on getting promotes or finding a better job.
• Stop thinking the world owes you. With that mentality you are doomed for failure. Take responsibility for yourself and work for what you want.

My best advice is to WORK HARD and don’t stop until you are happy & passionate about your life. Realize it may take months or years to get there, but it is SO worth the effort.

Ha and you expected to come to SCB to read something dumb or some vague Elf movie reference! Sorry, I’ll come up with something idiotic and mind numbing to write about tomorrow. Deal?

Any other tips?

Share your struggles success stories. I would LOVE to hear them.