Connecting the Dots

"You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life." - Steve Jobs, 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

This past weekend, I spent 3 days in a conference room of a Marriott hotel, learning about real estate investing. I've done this before. Twice before, to be exact, around the 2008 time period. One of these was the Robert Kiyosaki 3 day training, which was motivating and inspirational, but I took it nowhere. The other one was at the Lifestyles Unlimited headquarters in Irving. After this one, we had the opportunity to spend a few minutes doing an open Q&A with Del Walmsley. I asked him a question along the lines of where do I get started and his answer was "get yourself a better paying job for a while and some work experience" ... ummm ... excuse me? 

At that time in my life, I had been working for 8 years. I'd spent 6 years working at a bank as a high school and college student, started my first 401(k) at the age of 17, finished my BBA in under 4 years, and was working at a very large telecommunications company, making a salary of $38,000 a year. I was making more than a few other people in the audience quoted as their annual salaries, that he respectfully gave a 1 minute business plan response to. What was it about me that indicated to him that I was, essentially, a lazy kid with no business there? It didn't hurt my feelings, I just took it as a sign that maybe that group wasn't for me. So I let that dream go. 

I continued to work in my corporate job, with dreams of doing something else. That something else was real estate investing, but I didn't have the capital to get started, and that was my limiting belief. In 2010, I invested what I DID have in a row home in Baltimore, but it wasn't in my name. I made the down payment, I paid for the roof to be replaced, I paid for the day laborers that I picked up for a 7-11, I paid for pizzas for them all, I paid for materials and gas to move who I thought was my girlfriend to Maryland to get this going. What I paid for was a whole shit ton of life lessons and was being flat out manipulated and used. And I knew it, but I was too far into it to give up. 

Three months into living there, in the basement of her parents' house, I resolved to move back to Texas, to throw in the towel and take the losses as they were. What was becoming increasingly more important as each day passed, was getting away from her and into a place of safety and sanity. I spent 5 weeks working in a row home in Baltimore, not in the worst part of the city, but not in the best part either. Many of those days, I was there alone, in that space, with no security and no money. I remember counting my change to get a jug of tea to have something to drink while I worked. I'd take a package of crackers to have something to eat. I ate a lot of peanut butter sandwiches during that summer. They were cheap and filling, and stopped my stomach from growling. After the 5 weeks when I was down to my last few dollars, I spent a day pounding the concrete and secured 2 jobs: mall copping and stocking the new grocery section at the new Target in Annapolis. One paid $8.50/hour and one paid $9/hour. I'd prioritize the $9/hour one over the $8.50/hour one, but most of the time, I worked both. A day off to me was only working one 8 hour shift and not two. 

My shift at Target began at 3 AM most days, and my mall copping shift was 3-11 PM. This left about 3 hours for sleep each night. Sometimes I could squeeze a nap in between my morning shift at Target before I went to the mall, but the stress was too much to nap. It felt like I was wasting the day. I kept a notebook, tracking the number of hours I worked at each and how much money I made each day. My goals were very humble: make enough to figure out my next move. I had to decide to stay there and keep searching and hoping for another corporate job to come my way, to continue working 2 jobs to make a portion of what I left Nortel making, or to move back to Texas to regroup. 

Zephyr was my top priority. I didn't know if she would be there, safe and sound, when I got home from each shift. Of all my material items that got stolen from the person I sacrificed and gave so much to, she was manipulative and crazy enough to take my Zephyr, just to be malicious. I can't describe the relief I experienced each day, the comfort I felt each time I got back to her beautiful face and the relief I felt lift from my shoulders the night we drove out of Maryland and into Virginia. 

My Mom flew up on a Friday night, my last day there, to drive back with me. The succubus's brother and best friend knew just how badly things could go with her, so they helped me pack up my things and get out safely, without her knowing when I was leaving. We hurriedly packed and loaded and tied things down, watching the road and driveway for her car, hoping it didn't appear. The friends I made during that summer all gathered at Applebee's for a going away party. I had never felt so loved by friends. It was like we'd known each other for our entire lives, yet it was literally only a couple short months. It's a summer I will never forget, and one that I hold so near and dear to me. 

Once I got back to Texas, I lived with my parents for about 6 weeks. I searched and applied for jobs like it was my job. I spent 60+ hours a week on my computer, applying, reading, applying for more. I didn't want to go back to Dallas, it felt that was an expired part of my life and I wanted something new, so I was looking all over the country. One day while getting some BBQ for lunch, I got a call for a position with a startup called Acadia. I went through the phone interviews, the in person interview the following week in their Addison office and got the job offer within a week from that. It's not called Acadia now, but I still work there. We were next VCE Company, then a division of EMC Corporation and now a division of Dell EMC. It's been a wild ride, and I'm thankful for every single minute of my experience there.

I've grown into myself, in so many ways, while working there. Developing business relationships, public speaking, money and time management, professionalism, project management, leadership, managing people, dressing well, asking for what you want, being rewarded, traveling the world ... it's been a powerful experience indeed. I wouldn't trade it for anything. 

But, as all good things must come to an end to allow for new beginnings, I feel the time has come to plot out my next move. I don't know the stability of my position there, and want more for myself, my family, my life and legacy. This past weekend, things came full circle, as other things in 2016 have done and I invested a large portion of my 401(l) into education for myself, to take this next step in life. Education and mentorship are paramount if you want to get to the next level - whatever that next level might be for you. I took the plunge and am super fucking excited for it. I know challenges lie ahead, they always do. Those challenges are what propel us forward, what drive us, shape us and sharpen us. 

I joined Phill Grove's Big Dog Program and am pretty excited for the year long journey that lies ahead. Today is day 1 of it - setting up my calendar for the daily calls, getting websites going, taking out the loan to fund the cost to join, getting other bits and bobs squared away. There's so much to learn, so much to do and I can't WAIT to start doing deals. I want to do a deal a day by this time next year. I want to do a deal in my first month and 2 the next month, 4 the next and then 8 and then 16 and .... you see where this is going! Let's do more deals! 

I've said all that, to say this: do what lights your soul on fire. Do what keeps you awake at night because the excitement is too much to let you fall asleep. Do what you love, whatever you love that benefits others. Helping others is another level of being, another level of living. When we serve our true selves, we serve the world. Don't let anyone hold you back, fucking go forth, make your own path if you must. Take action. As Nike says, JUST DO IT! 

Live good, live well.