Throwing Caution Into the Wind For My Hopes and Dreams.

bymroy01

86 followers

6 years ago

It's like they always say. Life really does have a way of throwing you a few curveballs. This was my story as of late. Not knowing where the future would take me, I found Wealthy Affiliate through searching for an online job. But I didn't want just any online job. I wanted to invest time and money into something I knew would be worthwhile for me, and I wanted it to have to do with the very thing I love the most: music.

My Dreams Put On Hold.

I knew when I was young that it had to be fate, it had to be destiny, that I would be doing something in rock music. I was not sure if it was me playing in a band on stage, owning a music store, teaching kids a certain instrument, or what it was. But I knew since I was at least five years old, I wanted a piece of the action. I wanted to rock and roll.

My best friend Eric and I worked on a few different music projects in high school, even making a demo and selling all five CDs we made for a dollar. We thought that we were going to go on and do this for a living. However, he found his passion: theatre. We still made music, but it wasn't as serious, though the quality of the music improved.

I found myself doing the very thing my punk-rock bad attitude self was dreading: getting ready for college. I knew that after high school I just wanted to jump right into the workforce and build my rock resume up until I landed a big contract like Poison or Def Leppard did, eventually playing in sold-out arenas and shredding on my axe. However, I took what I felt like was the "safer" option, the option that I knew deep down wasn't what I should have been doing: I went to college.

Don't get me wrong, it was an experience that I not only realized I needed, but quite actually enjoyed. I met some of my closest friends there, and I learned some of the most valuable lessons. However, I just did not feel like I belonged there. It wasn't anyone or anything making me feel that way (okay, maybe it was the tens of thousands of dollars in tuition). But I had a general sense that I wasn't doing the right thing, that I was wasting my time.

I felt like I put myself in a place where over time I felt like I wasn't advancing myself intelligently. I was spending thousands upon thousands of dollars of grants, scholarships, my money, my parents money, and loans just to go there, barely being able to afford it, when half the classes felt like it was just there to keep me busy. I wasn't learning anything. I was going through the motions. But I stayed on the course because I was afraid of going against what my parents, my teachers, and at least 90% of all adult figures around me were telling me: "Get good grades, go to college, graduate, get a job, get a house, get a car, get married, have a family, have kids, have money for retirement, finally retire, and live happily ever after." It sounds nice, but I knew life just wasn't that simple given my childhood experiences. And I knew I wasn't doing what was best for me.

But I was too afraid to jump in the deep end of the pool and trust myself that I could survive in life. I was deathly afraid I would not make it if I went off course like my best friend did when he decided to drop out of college and make a life for himself in Rochester, Minnesota. I knew it was possible. I just was too cowardly to do it.

Life's Wake-Up Call.

All of a sudden, all the bad things happened to me all at once. I couldn't afford to go to college anymore, my parents and I couldn't afford a loan, my car had issues and eventually stopped running, I had a death in the family, and I just felt like all of it was my fault, and I was a failure. I felt like it was all part of that destiny that I was talking about, though. Someone doesn't just get denied from getting a student loan for no apparent reason. My car doesn't just stop working. It made me wake up and realize that time was short, and I should act now. But what was I to do? I couldn't drive to work for a job because my car wasn't reliable. So I decided to try to find something online.

I did work doing transcription jobs for awhile via freelancing. But after awhile, it became monotonous work. I was spending hours at a time struggling to hear every single detail in an audio recording making at most $6 an hour, making at the most $200 a week. While that can be a good chunk of change to some people, I was working 12 hours a day at times to get to that mark. I wanted something more. I wanted to do something worth my time.

Then I found Wealthy Affiliate.

Why Wealthy Affiliate Has Helped Me.

Even though I started out at the Starter rank, I knew I was already investing time into something worthy, even with the limited features of the rank. I knew my niche was something to do with the concept of rock and roll. I knew this was a way to possibly help people save money while making money doing the two things I love to do: helping people out and doing something with music.

I knew nothing about the process of making a website. I thought I would be wasting my time learning code and struggling just to make a webpage. But Wealthy Affiliate has held my hand along the way and made it simple. However, I got to the end of the first set of classes, and I knew already I wanted to invest real money into this business. The thing was, I still was waiting on my car bill.

Funny enough. after a month, my car still wasn't working. Time was short, and the window of opportunity was closing. I figured it had to be a sign from above to just invest into this already. So I decided to do something I haven't done in a long time. I jumped into the deep end of the pool. I invested in the premium membership, and I plan to ride this wave all the way to see where it takes me.

Wealthy Affiliate will help me make money. I know that much. But what is often forgotten about the general concept of business is the other side of life: self-esteem. Sure, it helps to see monetary results, but the real results I am already seeing from investing in a future business opportunity is the boost in my morale. For the first time in forever, I believe in myself again. And I can't thank everyone here at Wealthy Affiliate enough for that.

Best of luck to current and future members! I know this is the first day of the rest of my life.