My Life Defining Moment & Motivation / What's Yours?



JarredLv said:
Guess I have several moments. Most recent is the most depressing and brought me to tears a few times.

I work for the government. It sucks in ways words can't decribe. Imagine staring at a wall for 8 hours a day, knowing your job is just a joke to make people feel good. I was tested at a young age because my parents wanted to know why I acted out in school and got poor grades. Not to toot my own horn, but when I was tested at 13 years old, I was told to have an IQ of 138 and that school just wasn't challenging enough so I didn't take interest in it and thus the reason for my poor grades. I tell you this because I am literally losing my mind doing a job that requires zero thought process. I've been doing it for 6 years now. I have no problems to solve. No critical thinking. Nothing that requires the use of my mind.

Now I worked with this guy who used to tell me that I was way too smart to be doing this shit. That I'm meant for better things. Him and I would talk all the time about politics, religion, economics, etc. He was much older than me, about 55ish. He hated his job with just as much passion as I did. His wife recently divorced him, took a goo majority of his life savings. He worked all his life to give his kids and wife everything they needed to have a good life, sacrificing time for himself. But, finally, he had things lined up to retire. Between his years in federal service, military pension, and social security, he was going to be able to retire with decent amount of money which would allow him to finally start living his life.

As his retirement day approached, I saw a new man start to form. He was excited, he had a new outlook on life. He would talk about all the things he was going to do, all the things he wanted to do but never could because he was too busy slaving away for his cheating wife and kids who took him for granted. He talked about the travel plans he had, the boat he was about to buy, all sorts of great stuff. The day he retired seemed like the happiest day of his life, at his party he pulled me aside and talked to me for a good 20 minutes. He made me promise him that I wasn't going to live the life he did, that I was going to make something of myself and do it early enough in life that I would enjoy my life now, instead of following the slave, save, retire path he did. I made him that promise.

Then the tragic part. 5 weeks into his retirement he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. It came out of nowhere and fast. Doctors gave him no more than 6 months, he became weak rapidly, bound to a hospital bed 2 weeks after the diagnosis. He was dead 3 weeks later. The last time I was I saw him was in the hospital, his mind was going but he remembered that promise I made him. He took my hand, looked me dead in the eyes, and said "You do whatever you have to do to keep that promise, but you fucking keep it!" He died a week after that.

That was my defining moment. Looking into a dying mans eyes, a man who lived the kind of life I fear the most, and promising him that I will make something of myself and enjoy life while I can. I miss you Anthony Logan, you were one of the greatest men I had the pleasure of knowing. R.I.P. good sir. I will keep that promise, somehow.
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Holy crap.

I'm sure his life would be awesome if his family loved him and he didn't get unlucky with brain cancer.

I guess we can learn from this to be very careful to whom you marry and do as much as you can early in your life because you just might drown in a pool the next day.

I'm sure the dude would have still loved life if his family was tight and he didn't get brain cancer. Better to slave away for a good cause than to slave away for a family that takes you for granted.

Also, about 9-5 jobs, it doesn't really matter what job you do, but who your coworkers are.

I've never worked a 9-5 job, but I've done some volunteering that felt very similar to staring at a wall for 8 hours. When I was working with other cool volunteers though, it actually made the experience fun. When I worked with bad volunteers, it was shit.
 
JarredLv said:
Guess I have several moments. Most recent is the most depressing and brought me to tears a few times.

I work for the government. It sucks in ways words can't decribe. Imagine staring at a wall for 8 hours a day, knowing your job is just a joke to make people feel good. I was tested at a young age because my parents wanted to know why I acted out in school and got poor grades. Not to toot my own horn, but when I was tested at 13 years old, I was told to have an IQ of 138 and that school just wasn't challenging enough so I didn't take interest in it and thus the reason for my poor grades. I tell you this because I am literally losing my mind doing a job that requires zero thought process. I've been doing it for 6 years now. I have no problems to solve. No critical thinking. Nothing that requires the use of my mind.

Now I worked with this guy who used to tell me that I was way too smart to be doing this shit. That I'm meant for better things. Him and I would talk all the time about politics, religion, economics, etc. He was much older than me, about 55ish. He hated his job with just as much passion as I did. His wife recently divorced him, took a goo majority of his life savings. He worked all his life to give his kids and wife everything they needed to have a good life, sacrificing time for himself. But, finally, he had things lined up to retire. Between his years in federal service, military pension, and social security, he was going to be able to retire with decent amount of money which would allow him to finally start living his life.

As his retirement day approached, I saw a new man start to form. He was excited, he had a new outlook on life. He would talk about all the things he was going to do, all the things he wanted to do but never could because he was too busy slaving away for his cheating wife and kids who took him for granted. He talked about the travel plans he had, the boat he was about to buy, all sorts of great stuff. The day he retired seemed like the happiest day of his life, at his party he pulled me aside and talked to me for a good 20 minutes. He made me promise him that I wasn't going to live the life he did, that I was going to make something of myself and do it early enough in life that I would enjoy my life now, instead of following the slave, save, retire path he did. I made him that promise.

Then the tragic part. 5 weeks into his retirement he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. It came out of nowhere and fast. Doctors gave him no more than 6 months, he became weak rapidly, bound to a hospital bed 2 weeks after the diagnosis. He was dead 3 weeks later. The last time I was I saw him was in the hospital, his mind was going but he remembered that promise I made him. He took my hand, looked me dead in the eyes, and said "You do whatever you have to do to keep that promise, but you fucking keep it!" He died a week after that.

That was my defining moment. Looking into a dying mans eyes, a man who lived the kind of life I fear the most, and promising him that I will make something of myself and enjoy life while I can. I miss you Anthony Logan, you were one of the greatest men I had the pleasure of knowing. R.I.P. good sir. I will keep that promise, somehow.
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Shit that is deep. If you look on the bright side (and I know this sounds cheesy as hell) but if you think about it he changed your life for the better like you said. Maybe his life wasn't great, but the fact of the matter is he changed yours which made his life very valuable because he helped others. The way you talk about him how great of a person he was, my guess would be he helped a few other people close to him as well.
 
I've been running an IT department for 5 and a half years. It's good I'm my own boss and plod along keeping things running. However i'm just plodding along - I can imagine myself in 20 years sat in the same damm office doing shit. Then I found this forum - I've already got some good local SEO experience and having been making good money on the side by providing SEO to other businesses.

The posts on here make me see what is possible with just a little bit of imagination and a bit of hard work to scale things so I quit my job last week - this was a hard decision as it's a good job with almost 8 weeks leave a year and no real boss to answer to however I need to push myslef. I'm at the point in my life now that I either continue the same shit or make my dreams a bit closer to reality - I guess my mid life crisis is starting at 31!

REP+++ to this thread.
 
goldmercury said:
I've been running an IT department for 5 and a half years. It's good I'm my own boss and plod along keeping things running. However i'm just plodding along - I can imagine myself in 20 years sat in the same damm office doing shit. Then I found this forum - I've already got some good local SEO experience and having been making good money on the side by providing SEO to other businesses.

The posts on here make me see what is possible with just a little bit of imagination and a bit of hard work to scale things so I quit my job last week - this was a hard decision as it's a good job with almost 8 weeks leave a year and no real boss to answer to however I need to push myslef. I'm at the point in my life now that I either continue the same shit or make my dreams a bit closer to reality - I guess my mid life crisis is starting at 31!

REP+++ to this thread.
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we are the same age. I started 10 years ago. It is now or never. Do it!
 
fvaldes said:
im just going to post this picture here. This is where I grew up. Having a very poor childhood has its blessings.
4814141420_2554ee46a3.jpg
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Please do share your full zero to hero story.
 
Awesome thread. I would love to have a bunch of inspiring stories like these collected, with photos of like "before" and "after" to motivate me.

My life-defining moment hasn't arrived yet. I'm in my late 30's and I'm still too unfocused. I need to read stuff like this every morning to keep me on track for the day instead of reading fucking comics and stupid ass websites.
 
JoseArmando said:
Please do share your full zero to hero story.
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never said I was a hero but the simple fact that I have been working on my won successfully for 10 years is pretty good.

I am at point where I really dont have to worry about making ends meet. To me "making it" means having the freedom to do what you/like.

That house you see there is the shithole my family grew up in. Third world country and Communist.

An internet connection was illegal, meetings of more than 7 people at once banned and the government told you where you work and what you eat every month.

At the same time, you cant get a better "education" than living in this world. Nothing scares you after that.
 
goldmercury said:
I've been running an IT department for 5 and a half years. It's good I'm my own boss and plod along keeping things running. However i'm just plodding along - I can imagine myself in 20 years sat in the same damm office doing shit. Then I found this forum - I've already got some good local SEO experience and having been making good money on the side by providing SEO to other businesses.

The posts on here make me see what is possible with just a little bit of imagination and a bit of hard work to scale things so I quit my job last week - this was a hard decision as it's a good job with almost 8 weeks leave a year and no real boss to answer to however I need to push myslef. I'm at the point in my life now that I either continue the same shit or make my dreams a bit closer to reality - I guess my mid life crisis is starting at 31!

REP+++ to this thread.
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Don't be afraid.
You must be proud of yourself, only few men make these choices.
And if you are able of this hard choice nothing can stop you.
 
fvaldes said:
never said I was a hero but the simple fact that I have been working on my won successfully for 10 years is pretty good.

I am at point where I really dont have to worry about making ends meet. To me "making it" means having the freedom to do what you/like.

That house you see there is the shithole my family grew up in. Third world country and Communist.

An internet connection was illegal, meetings of more than 7 people at once banned and the government told you where you work and what you eat every month.

At the same time, you cant get a better "education" than living in this world. Nothing scares you after that.
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pa que lo sepan
 
This is not my life-defining moment, but I have to share, especially since OP is all about Chicago and it reinforces some decisions I'm about to make.

In April, I was in Vegas and hit it off with a girl from Chicago. She came to LA with friends, and we hit it off again bigtime. She then tells me to come visit her next, so I booked a flight to Chicago for a big 6-day couch-surfing trip, as I have family and a boatload of friends in Chitown. Took some time off my day job.

I come into the suburbs, play with my cousin's kids, and on Thursday afternoon, I run my "mobile office" from his guest room.

Then I take the train to a friend in the city, party with him, and on Friday I do mobile office from his place. My sites are going BONKERS and I have a zillion things going on, and am hugely productive.

That Friday night, I meet up with the girl I came to see, and things don't work out*.

So I snap my txting fingers and within 20 minutes have a bunch of my other girlfriends ready to party hard. We hit it hard all weekend (4AM bars are the end of me).

On Sunday, we're watching the World Cup championship, and I meet another girl at the bar. Spain wins, and they show the party in the streets on TV.

I go to the girl, "I'm totally jealous of them! I LOVE Spain - Let's go there and join the party!"

She says, "OK", gets on her cellphone, and tells me that for $200 if standby comes through, we'll be out of O'Hare at 8PM. "Let's go", she says. Apparently her dad works for Delta.

At that point, I have a decision, and I decide NOT to go. I tell her,

"Dude you totally called my bluff. Had you met me 2 months from now, I would have totally been in. But I just can't quit this job or get fired on these terms. I know shit's gonna be busy this week and I'm needed by tons of customers, and I just can't call my boss and say 'Sorry bud, I'm in fucking spain'. That's just not who I am and I don't burn bridges..."**

Many of you will say that I made the wrong decision, fuck it shoulda gone, you're a pussy, etc... but I am fine with my decision because of the 'excuses' above. I am responsible. They pay me to do a job and I will do it til the end.

The learning lessons from this trip:
1. NEVER book a flight with the PRIMARY goal of seeing a girl you don't know so well, but whatever.. more importantly:

2. THIS AM SHIT IS AWESOME. I can do this from ANYWHERE. This is what I want to do with my life right now.

3. I want the freedom to end up in motherfucking Europe on a random Sunday night / Monday morning to go get wasted ANY TIME I PLEASE.
​
It wasn't defining, but it was re-inforcing of EVERYTHING I've been working for.



* Since I'm sure you're wondering, although it's not relevant to the thread: I could tell things were off with the girl I came to see. Friday night, after about 5 beers, she finally says "I have to tell you something". Ruh Roh. I joke, "You're married with two kids?". "No. Since you booked your flight... I met someone local that I like".

Well, I'm like "Well, that's cool. I don't really want a long-distance relationship" (i just wanted to get my dick good and raw by sunday). Problem is, she's not slutty enough to bang both of us, and I could tell it wasn't worth much additional effort. And as far as continuing things, she doesn't like LA and I'm not moving anywhere anytime soon. She asks if I want to hang the next day, and I'm like "fuck no, it's party time."

Either way, I dominated that weekend. Biggest pain was the fact that some other dude, local or not, beat me. I'm a competitive mofo, and this business makes me MORE so. I hate losing.

I have no problem getting ass, but I typically don't connect with people like I did with her, which is why I took the risk. No love lost, no love found.

** Despite no trip to Spain, things still ended well with girl #2 :D
 
Berto said:
This is not my life-defining moment, but I have to share, especially since OP is all about Chicago and it reinforces some decisions I'm about to make.

In April, I was in Vegas and hit it off with a girl from Chicago. She came to LA with friends, and we hit it off again bigtime. She then tells me to come visit her next, so I booked a flight to Chicago for a big 6-day couch-surfing trip, as I have family and a boatload of friends in Chitown. Took some time off my day job.

I come into the suburbs, play with my cousin's kids, and on Thursday afternoon, I run my "mobile office" from his guest room.

Then I take the train to a friend in the city, party with him, and on Friday I do mobile office from his place. My sites are going BONKERS and I have a zillion things going on, and am hugely productive.

That Friday night, I meet up with the girl I came to see, and things don't work out*.

So I snap my txting fingers and within 20 minutes have a bunch of my other girlfriends ready to party hard. We hit it hard all weekend (4AM bars are the end of me).

On Sunday, we're watching the World Cup championship, and I meet another girl at the bar. Spain wins, and they show the party in the streets on TV.

I go to the girl, "I'm totally jealous of them! I LOVE Spain - Let's go there and join the party!"

She says, "OK", gets on her cellphone, and tells me that for $200 if standby comes through, we'll be out of O'Hare at 8PM. "Let's go", she says. Apparently her dad works for Delta.

At that point, I have a decision, and I decide NOT to go. I tell her,

"Dude you totally called my bluff. Had you met me 2 months from now, I would have totally been in. But I just can't quit this job or get fired on these terms. I know shit's gonna be busy this week and I'm needed by tons of customers, and I just can't call my boss and say 'Sorry bud, I'm in fucking spain'. That's just not who I am and I don't burn bridges..."**

Many of you will say that I made the wrong decision, fuck it shoulda gone, you're a pussy, etc... but I am fine with my decision because of the 'excuses' above. I am responsible. They pay me to do a job and I will do it til the end.

The learning lessons from this trip:
1. NEVER book a flight with the PRIMARY goal of seeing a girl you don't know so well, but whatever.. more importantly:

2. THIS AM SHIT IS AWESOME. I can do this from ANYWHERE. This is what I want to do with my life right now.

3. I want the freedom to end up in motherfucking Europe on a random Sunday night / Monday morning to go get wasted ANY TIME I PLEASE.
​
It wasn't defining, but it was re-inforcing of EVERYTHING I've been working for.



* Since I'm sure you're wondering, although it's not relevant to the thread: I could tell things were off with the girl I came to see. Friday night, after about 5 beers, she finally says "I have to tell you something". Ruh Roh. I joke, "You're married with two kids?". "No. Since you booked your flight... I met someone local that I like".

Well, I'm like "Well, that's cool. I don't really want a long-distance relationship" (i just wanted to get my dick good and raw by sunday). Problem is, she's not slutty enough to bang both of us, and I could tell it wasn't worth much additional effort. And as far as continuing things, she doesn't like LA and I'm not moving anywhere anytime soon. She asks if I want to hang the next day, and I'm like "fuck no, it's party time."

Either way, I dominated that weekend. Biggest pain was the fact that some other dude, local or not, beat me. I'm a competitive mofo, and this business makes me MORE so. I hate losing.

I have no problem getting ass, but I typically don't connect with people like I did with her, which is why I took the risk. No love lost, no love found.

** Despite no trip to Spain, things still ended well with girl #2 :D
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In regards to you not going to Spain, it reminds me of a quote from a movie that I didn't think would of been worth quoting until I saw this:

"Fifty years from now, when you're looking back at your life, don't you want to be able to say you had the guts to get in the car?"
- Sam Witwickey
(To Mikela about entering Bumblebee)
 
Speaking of motivation, I just submitted the only offer on a new house. I'm pretty excited and it's through a friend so I expect to get it once I can get the terms right. it's a 4,000 sq ft house on about 2 acres here in South Florida.

Things are getting serious, this is motivating me like nothing else right now.
internet-serious-business-02.jpg
 
Soupyone said:
Speaking of motivation, I just submitted the only offer on a new house. I'm pretty excited and it's through a friend so I expect to get it once I can get the terms right. it's a 4,000 sq ft house on about 2 acres here in South Florida.

Things are getting serious, this is motivating me like nothing else right now.
internet-serious-business-02.jpg
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awesome man... im in miami too. What are is the house in? Dont act too quickly ...south florida has a long way to go down still.
I am on the sidelines for now looking to buy in the next year.
 
fvaldes said:
awesome man... im in miami too. What are is the house in? Dont act too quickly ...south florida has a long way to go down still.
I am on the sidelines for now looking to buy in the next year.
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The house is actually NO WHERE near Miami. I'm running away from all of the people! Ahhhh!!!

It's in Loxahatchee, I need some land for a horse and garage to work on my car(s). Ballin! LMAO

Condition of the house is fine, a friend of a CLOSE friend just moved to Tennessee and can't afford both houses.
 
JarredLv said:
Not to toot my own horn, but when I was tested at 13 years old, I was told to have an IQ of 138 and that school just wasn't challenging enough so I didn't take interest in it and thus the reason for my poor grades. I tell you this because I am literally losing my mind doing a job that requires zero thought process. I've been doing it for 6 years now. I have no problems to solve. No critical thinking. Nothing that requires the use of my mind.
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Man, tell me about it. When I had that test done I got the results back saying I had an IQ of 142, that was the start of me wondering why I was even in the school system. Proceeded to completely let my grades slip and dropped out 5-6 times by the time I finally quit for good. Nothing in school was ever challenging/interesting enough to make me stay, but try explaining that to parents.
 
JarredLv said:
Not to toot my own horn, but when I was tested at 13 years old, I was told to have an IQ of 138 and that school just wasn't challenging enough so I didn't take interest in it and thus the reason for my poor grades. I tell you this because I am literally losing my mind doing a job that requires zero thought process. I've been doing it for 6 years now. I have no problems to solve. No critical thinking. Nothing that requires the use of my mind.
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TylerL said:
Man, tell me about it. When I had that test done I got the results back saying I had an IQ of 142, that was the start of me wondering why I was even in the school system. Proceeded to completely let my grades slip and dropped out 5-6 times by the time I finally quit for good. Nothing in school was ever challenging/interesting enough to make me stay, but try explaining that to parents.
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I got tested in 1st grade at the recommendation of my 1st grade teacher with an IQ of ~140. I'm really thankful I was tested that early since my parents were able to help shape my work ethic at a young age before I got too full of myself.
 
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