| | Ever had a dream you wanted to pursue, but had people putting that dream down? Yeah... that's been happening to me lately. I'm not getting constant put downs, but when I mention that I really feel like I should be opening my own business, people have been acting like I'm just joking, and it will never happen. If you've been keeping up, you have probably read about how I don't have a job and yada yada yada.... Well, one of my solutions to generate income as of late has been to build PCs and sell them on eBay and to people I know. It's nothing big at the moment, just a hundred or two hundred here and there, helping me pay for stuff I need while I'm still living at home, thankful for parents who are patient. The thing is, for the last few years, it's been my dream to make it big. When I think of Drew's PCs, I see a business- turning into a corporation- turning into a worldwide name. Sure I see starting off small, but I've never been one to keep things small. I believe if you're going to do something, go all out, you never gain if you don't take risks. My question right now is where to start.
I was watching Cake Boss on TLC with my family Monday night, and the boss mentioned something that struck home with me. He was decorating a cake, and he said that when he decorates a cake, all of his worries fall off him, he clears his mind, and for that short period of time, everything around him stops. That is what he loves to do, and that is what keeps him in the business. He loves what he does, so his job doesn't seem like work. I realized yesterday that that was exactly why I want to run my own PC business. When I'm building a computer, it's like an art to me. I'm taking a raw case and parts and putting the pieces together to create something that did not exist before. Finding the perfect combination of parts and seeing what the result will be in the end. Sometimes it doesn't work out the way I want, but most often that is because I did something to mess it up. I love that feeling, and I assume it's the same feeling that carpenters, mechanics, masons, artists, and anyone else who creates or fixes things gets. To know you've made something with your hands. Every computer I build has love and pride put into it, and I enjoy helping others find good deals on computers.
So I've got the dream. I've been reading books on money lately, and the best book I've read has got to be Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. The book talks about concepts for income and the mindset you need if you want to be secure financially. If you notice, the rich seem to play by a different set of rules, so what makes them different? The main thing that sets wealthy people apart from those of us trapped in the "rat race" is their mindset. We are taught that it's the norm to go to school, get a good job, and work the rest of our lives to pay off bills and taxes. People who make the big money have broken away from that mindset. Why use your mind to make money for a business, when you could own that business? If you are not your own boss, you are making someone else money. You are also working almost 5 months out of the year just to pay off taxes. Kiyosaki explains principals in the book that are necessary to change the mindset that we are supposed to grow up to be just another cog in the machine. We've got to stop working for our money, and start making our money work for us. It has really helped me see that I should do my best to follow my dream of owning my own business. I think it was also a little nudge from God, because I had been really feeling strongly about opening a business for myself, and then reading the book at that key moment in my life helped me see what I need to do.
My problem is that whenever someone asks me if I have a job yet, and I mention that I want to build computers in my own business, most people tell me not to bother, and to "go get a real job." Wait, if Bill Gates hadn't dropped out of college and sought after his dreams, would he have made billions? Possibly, but probably not. If Thomas Edison had said "Oh I think I'll just be a factory worker," would we have even half the stuff we have today? Telling someone who has a dream to get a "real" job is the worst thing you can do. I love my parents, but I'm disappointed in them sometimes. My mom was the one who got me to read Rich Dad Poor Dad in the first place, but sometimes when I mention that I want to start a business, she will tell me it's too hard for someone like me, or that I should work a "real" job somewhere first. My dad seems to be keeping his mouth shut, but I can see him holding back the fact that he's not too keen on the idea. I see the point in working for someone for a while, to get the money up to start a business, but once you have the money, you have to start investing in assets to make a better living with. Otherwise you'll be stuck in a job, working the rest of your life to pay off debts, thinking that you are living the American dream.
So to close my rant, I just want to mention that if you see someone trying to make their own way in the world, don't be quick to criticize. We need to turn away from the thought pattern that tells us it is our duty to go to college, get a degree, and start working for the rest of our lives. We need to realize that this is only getting us further into debt. People need to see that building assets through investments and making their money work for them is what will help them to get rid of debt. I can feel that traditional mindset falling off of me like chains, slowly (because it's been ingrained in my head for 22 years), but surely. I'm opening my eyes to a new world. One in which I will not have to worry that my next paycheck might not go far enough to cover my bills, and that I know I will have the money and time to be able to go on mission trips and help people in need.
P.S. Another good book to read is The Treasure Principal by Randy Alcorn. You learn more about how to give back to God the money you make, and how to accumulate Heavenly treasures instead of Earthly rust. |
| | Posted 7/8/2009 11:33 AM - 25 Views - 8 eProps - 6 comments
- recommend
  - recs0
- share
- email
 - sent0
|
