Lenny Kravitz Anthem
I want to get away
I want to fly away
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Though I have never been a huge fan of Lenny Kravitz, this has essentially been the chorus of my life for the past year or so. I have realized that the only way that I will ever be truly independent will be to leave everything I am dependent on and put myself in a position where I am forced to either sink or swim. However, where I want to “get away” to has been less clear to me. Right now, all the options are on the table, but certain areas look more appealing to me than others. One of these areas is Virginia/North Carolina.
Though I have only visited the region once, I feel that the environment and atmosphere would be conducive to my work and to my overall well-being. Obviously I need to do more in-depth research and become more familiar with the region, but that’s not what I am here to talk about today. No, today I want to talk about doubts.
My whole life up until now has revolved around doubts. “I doubt that I will ever be able to learn the Irish tin whistle,” or “I doubt that this girl will ever like me, so what’s the point in talking to her?” As with almost every aspect of my life, I have even begun to have doubts about the Virginia/North Carolina idea. In talking with one of my best friends who lives in North Carolina, I learned that the standard of living in the region is higher than it is here in Arizona, and with that, Doubt #1 entered my mind. Last night, I was talking with another entrepreneur who just moved here from Charlotte. He just graduated with a Master’s degree from the American Military University, but he needed to find a short-time job to help build up some capital for his app development ventures. He told me that he had had a difficult time finding a real job in the two years that he was in North Carolina and that he was overjoyed to have found a good job here just five days after arriving. The first thought that entered my mind was, “Wow. I guess that is another reason to not move to North Carolina,” and it was then that I realized how messed up my thinking really was.
First of all, if I do move to North Carolina or Virginia, my reasoning should have absolutely nothing to do with the job market. If my goal in life is to never have to fill out another résumé, then why should that matter to me? If the job market is a factor in my decision, then I will know without a doubt that I am not ready to leave yet.
Secondly, why should it matter what the standard of living is? If there is anything that working for a Fastlaner has taught me, it is that my mindset about money must radically change. My entire life up until this moment has been molded by the thought that I am limited by money and that there are certain luxuries that I will never be able to afford. This is an entirely wrong mindset, and this mindset is depicted perfectly on page four of Rich Dad Poor Dad, where author Robert Kiyosaki compares the thoughts of his two dads: “One dad said, ‘The reason I’m not rich is because I have you kids.’ The other said, ‘The reason I must be rich is because I have you kids.’”
Now before I move on, let me just say that I really have no desire to be rich. I feel no need to have a Benz in my driveway or a sprawling hilltop mansion. If anything, I am a minimalist, and I would be far more happy with a reliable Camry and a 1,400 square foot house. I only want what I need to survive and anything more will feel like an iron ball shackled to my ankle. However, with that said, I want to be able to comfortably provide for myself and my future family (if I have one). If I want to have 9 kids, then I want to be able to, and I don’t want to have to struggle to provide for those 9 kids, which is exactly what the Poor Dad mindset leads to because that mindset is essentially saying that I am limited by my external factors instead of saying that I am motivated by my external factors.
The only factor that I should ever feel limited by is time. No matter what my mindset about time is, I will never be able to gain more of it. Carlos Slim is the richest man in the world, but when his time comes, his $69 billion fortune will do absolutely nothing for him. Money is just a tool and nothing more. Time is the real asset. I shouldn’t let my mindset about money limit me when money is not the limiting factor. Just something for me to keep in mind in case another one of those doubts appears on my horizon