By Seth Weinstein
I know what you’re thinking upon reading this headline. What a real accomplishment. Most people would look at this and yell, “gadzooks,” then immediately question why they’d hollered the phrase “gadzooks” as we all know it stopped being popular in the 90’s.
Back to my point. How in the hell did someone actually waste $100K in 6 months?!
Try asking instead: what did I gain from this? Let’s dig deep to find the kernel of growth that can come from some of the lowest points in our lives. I wasted this money on none other than the fact I was in…college! Dun. Dun… Duuuunnnnnnnnn. (What a big shocker that a 19-year-old did something stupid when he was given access to an account with more money than he had ever had and an additional shocker that he decided to waste it. Call Ripley because I don’t believe it…) I’m secretly thankful for this foolish act and time in my life because I learned and grew from the most important lesson I’d ever experienced.
I was just like any other kid. Pressured by the expectation to go to college. Who had no idea how the real world works. Well, the real world kinda sucks sometimes.
I did not like the outcome.
Genius decisions are made every day. Elon Musk invented Tesla and I bought a 2002 Sparkling Gold Chrysler PT “Dream Cruiser” because I thought that’ll be really cool looking to drive around in… As I type this, I fear someone out there will try to defend my decision and I applaud you honestly. It’s true. This was a new car with low miles, and this thing could have become a collector’s item one day. Though that collector would have replaced the water pipe, a head gasket, lost all his power steerings, popped a wheel and neglected oil changes. (I had no idea cars need oil changes).
So…that car broke. It was time to get a new one. Fortunately, the PT Cruiser only set me back $7K or whatever. Then I got an even better idea! I still knew next to nothing about cars so it made sense that I would go out and get a loan for a 2007 BMW 3-Series with a messed up oil pan on a ride notorious for catastrophic failure. One BMW with a busted engine later, I was yet again without a vehicle, but now I had a $20K debt that I couldn’t pay back because I’d blown the rest of my money on televisions, game systems, a reckless abandon of decking out the “party house,” computers, alcohol, rent, tuition for classes I never attended, textbooks for classes I never attended — you get the gist.
Flat Broke and Stuck In Pennsylvania.
Having Nothing and Still Giving It All Up.
Suddenly, and simply through working for myself and pursuing my passion, I became happier than I had ever been.
I turned my life around just from doing what I love and you should, too!
Skip forward a few years and I’m working with my nose to the grindstone, which brings us up to present day. My life is finally changing, becoming how it needs to be. I have begun working with amazing people who daily drive me to try new things and to explore all that the world we live in truly has to offer.
Don’t let yourself be torn apart by indecision. Be willing to let everything that you have go, so you can find what you have left in yourself. Be comfortable wasting every cent you have before saying it doesn’t work.
Don’t wait for permission. You are your permission.
Fuck Your Excuses and Start Already.
