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by Ming, Level 69
Last updated at October 27, 2006, 10:53 pm
As most of you probably already know, Youtube was recently sold to Google for a whopping 1.65 billion dollars. One of its co-founders, Steve Chen (as seen in this video) was in heavy debt less than two years ago when the company was founded.
A look at Million Dollar Homepage will probably makes you scratch your head and wonder what hell is this all about. You will probably be amazed just like I was if you knew a 21 year old college student made over a million dollars from this site in just four months by selling pixels as advertisement space.
Yes, I am perfectly aware of the fact that for every success story we hear, there are hundreds of failures. I will say without hesitation that as of right now, I am one of those failures. Yet I know for a fact that as long as I can believe in myself again, I will be able to rebuild and regain the edge I lost. My previous career didn't end because I was a poor performer, it was because I suddenly lost my desire to earn financial freedom with my own hands and wanted the stability of a biweekly check.
The biggest mistake I ever made in my life was the day I went back to college. Yes, I will go into my grave believing that. It was 30 months into my career as a trader, and I was profitable for 27 out of 30 months, only lost money during my newbie days. I remember the Christmas when I went to a party with my parents, some old woman was bragging about how her daughter got into an ivy league school, and was telling me how dropping out of college was a bad idea and I would ultimately fail. I told her straight up that there was very little a school can teach me, that most valuable skills and lessons are not taught in a classroom. I truly believed every word of it as I have competed against people with elite educations yet stomped all over them when it came to actually making money in the market.
Despite of my early success, my parents never really recognized me, my mother in particular always wanted me to get a degree in case the stock market thing doesn't work out. I tried hard to block it all out, but I was having a slow year. I talked to my friends about the problems I had, another terrible mistake, as the only person you should listen to is yourself. Going with the opinion of the majority is accepting mediocrity. Most of them supported the idea of going back to school as a backup plan. Eventually, I surrendered and basically said it can't hurt to take some classes, and went to a school far worse than the school I dropped out of.The worst thing a young entrepreneur can do is giving himself a backup plan. The business world is an all-out war. When surrendering is an option, you will most likely succumb to hostility. When you know your back is against the wall, that it is do or die, your true strength will manifest, and more often than not you will overcome the obstacle. The second you start thinking about "if I fail in A I can still do B and live comfortably", your fate is sealed.
This is especially if you are pursuing something that is not commonly accepted as the high ground. Trading stocks is considered gambling to most people outside of the industry, especially post-2000 when countless people lost their shirt. Even at the peak of my success, I had to face serious doubts from my very own parents, and it compounded when my performance started to decline. When I finally started going to school, my resolve softened, and I would do worse and worse in the market because mentally, I was already looking for a way out. A steady job without putting myself in the line of fire everyday, that is what I was looking for. I lost the courage to pursue what I really wanted.
A lot of books will tell you that you can get into whatever business by doing part time first then convert to full time when the time comes. The reality is if you don't have the confidence to go full time, chances are you will never make it big or even make it at all. No matter what field you pursue, you will be battling people that give it all they have. Without dedicating tremendous amount of hours, and more importantly, without believing in the program, you are simply wasting your time. The comfort of a steady job is exactly what keeps you from testing your limit.
Whatever you are doing, whether you want to be a stock broker, a musician, or even a professional poker player. Take my advice, don't talk to your parents about it, don't ask your friends about it, true power comes from solitude, comes from the heart within. If you think you can make a million dollars doing something, don't ask for second opinions, just do it.
A look at Million Dollar Homepage will probably makes you scratch your head and wonder what hell is this all about. You will probably be amazed just like I was if you knew a 21 year old college student made over a million dollars from this site in just four months by selling pixels as advertisement space.
Yes, I am perfectly aware of the fact that for every success story we hear, there are hundreds of failures. I will say without hesitation that as of right now, I am one of those failures. Yet I know for a fact that as long as I can believe in myself again, I will be able to rebuild and regain the edge I lost. My previous career didn't end because I was a poor performer, it was because I suddenly lost my desire to earn financial freedom with my own hands and wanted the stability of a biweekly check.
The biggest mistake I ever made in my life was the day I went back to college. Yes, I will go into my grave believing that. It was 30 months into my career as a trader, and I was profitable for 27 out of 30 months, only lost money during my newbie days. I remember the Christmas when I went to a party with my parents, some old woman was bragging about how her daughter got into an ivy league school, and was telling me how dropping out of college was a bad idea and I would ultimately fail. I told her straight up that there was very little a school can teach me, that most valuable skills and lessons are not taught in a classroom. I truly believed every word of it as I have competed against people with elite educations yet stomped all over them when it came to actually making money in the market.
Despite of my early success, my parents never really recognized me, my mother in particular always wanted me to get a degree in case the stock market thing doesn't work out. I tried hard to block it all out, but I was having a slow year. I talked to my friends about the problems I had, another terrible mistake, as the only person you should listen to is yourself. Going with the opinion of the majority is accepting mediocrity. Most of them supported the idea of going back to school as a backup plan. Eventually, I surrendered and basically said it can't hurt to take some classes, and went to a school far worse than the school I dropped out of.The worst thing a young entrepreneur can do is giving himself a backup plan. The business world is an all-out war. When surrendering is an option, you will most likely succumb to hostility. When you know your back is against the wall, that it is do or die, your true strength will manifest, and more often than not you will overcome the obstacle. The second you start thinking about "if I fail in A I can still do B and live comfortably", your fate is sealed.
This is especially if you are pursuing something that is not commonly accepted as the high ground. Trading stocks is considered gambling to most people outside of the industry, especially post-2000 when countless people lost their shirt. Even at the peak of my success, I had to face serious doubts from my very own parents, and it compounded when my performance started to decline. When I finally started going to school, my resolve softened, and I would do worse and worse in the market because mentally, I was already looking for a way out. A steady job without putting myself in the line of fire everyday, that is what I was looking for. I lost the courage to pursue what I really wanted.
A lot of books will tell you that you can get into whatever business by doing part time first then convert to full time when the time comes. The reality is if you don't have the confidence to go full time, chances are you will never make it big or even make it at all. No matter what field you pursue, you will be battling people that give it all they have. Without dedicating tremendous amount of hours, and more importantly, without believing in the program, you are simply wasting your time. The comfort of a steady job is exactly what keeps you from testing your limit.
Whatever you are doing, whether you want to be a stock broker, a musician, or even a professional poker player. Take my advice, don't talk to your parents about it, don't ask your friends about it, true power comes from solitude, comes from the heart within. If you think you can make a million dollars doing something, don't ask for second opinions, just do it.
1 comment:
great article..the power of believing in ourselves,put our heart and soul into it,enjoy the hard work and it will pay us handsomely :)
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