If I could time-travel to 1990, I would say to my former self, “Kid, no one is going to help you except you.”
But I’d need a car as fancy as a DeLorean and a Mad scientist to become Marty McFly. And by the moment, Elon Musk is busy. He won’t return my calls, and I don’t think he wants to build me a time-traveling Tesla.
No problemo.
I can apply my advice even if I am now 40 years old instead of 9 and also you. It’s still valid.
NO ONE is coming to help you.
NO ONE is coming to help me.
Listen, mate. We have to be our heroes.
And that’s the ugly truth nobody is talking about.
The point of no return
Let’s face it. As Chuck Palahniuk writes in his novel Fight Club, “We grew up with television that made us believe that someday we would be millionaires, movie gods or rock stars, but we won’t be, and we slowly understand that which makes us very pissed off.”
And we are very pissed off. But the game does not end until all the tiles are back in the box. And it’s our turn. So it’s our turn to roll the dice.
So let’s play.
Stop complaining.
I know life has beaten you down, but it’s time: to get up and walk.
Remember that the good thing when you hit bottom is that you can propel yourself with it.
Remember that when life puts you between the sword and the wall, you can always steal the sword, grit your teeth, and attack.
Remember that you are the hero of your movie.
Listen to the call of adventure.
Listen to your hearth.
What makes it beat?
- Writing
- Studying
- Traveling
- Start a startup
- Find a partner
Whatever your dream is, let’s chase it.
No matter if you don’t have the skills, the experiences, the contacts, or the money, as James Patterson’s grandmother used to say to her grandson,
“HUNGRY DOGS RUN FASTER”
Find a mentor
You live in the information age and have more access to free information through the internet than any of your ancestors.
What you do with that information is up to you.
You can play video games all day long or read books, listen to podcasts, and sign up for courses.
It doesn’t take money.
While raising capital, study how the best in your field do. And make them your mentors.
I always read Tim Denning, Ryan Holiday, Benjamin Hardy, Mark Manson, and James Altucher. (Reading those who write better than you is how you learn).
Then when you get some capital, you can give back by buying their books.
Change your life by changing the story you tell yourself.
Argentine writer Ricardo Pligia said it better than me, “We imagine what we want to do, and we live in that illusion. In short, they are the stories we tell ourselves to survive.”
We are the consequences of the things we read, hear, and see. With all of that, we tell a story.
So start curating the things you see on the internet. And the people you listen to.
Better your inputs, and you’ll better your outputs.
Escape from that victimhood story you tell yourself trying to get the attention of others.
Tell yourself a new one.
A great story in which you are self-determined, become the hero of your life, and pull yourself out of your hole.
I’ll wait for you on the other side.
A virtual hug
AG
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