On Monday, I will sign final papers to close escrow on a home I bought about 30 days ago from the seller, a multi-millionaire CEO of Vegas Fasteners Manufacturers who supply General Electric and the United States Navy with customized nuts and bolts for turbines, submarines, and aircraft carriers. Pop the cherry---this is my first real estate investment purchase in Vegas since moving here in June. Here's to many more!...I digress.
My point is: six months ago I was managing [and more importantly leading] an elementary school through the rigors of testing, accountability, curriculum, fiscal, evaluations, parent involvement, and so on..you name it. Today I am starting a sister company (Hope PCA, LLC) to the already existing home health company (Hope Home Health, LLC) in which I serve as its chief operating officer. In addition I have created a real estate investment company called MLK Homes, with a vision of buying, selling, rehabbing, and renting residential and commercial property in Las Vegas. But when it's all said and done, my true passion gravitates toward creating and performing music on the piano. This is a simplified summary, as the aforementioned was a process that took time and effort. Any way you look at it, I took a risk and stepped out of my comfort zone...a nice career in education with a handsome salary...in order to invest for me and my family's future. But it didn't come without naysayers questioning my decisions...and some of these people were my close friends and family.
Although these people were passively discouraging my decisions, I tended to give them the benefit of doubt probably because I knew they were looking out for my best interests...doing it for my own good. You know what, though? The average teacher or accountant probably does have more financial security than the average jazz pianist or artist, but I firmly believe that to feel truly accomplished should mean that you are doing something that matters to you.
Playing it safe, collecting a paycheck, or taking the path of least resistance is safe and irresistible. It is staying inside the box. So I had to ask myself, "Is doing something 'for my own good' really 'for my own good' if it causes me to be less than who I really am?"
I am right there with you: firmly and happily outside the box. Although after reading this post I admit my current professional life seems far less sexy than yours.
ReplyDeleteLol, Daniel...I know too many people, not including yourself, who have prematurely resigned to what their currently reality tells them and behave as if their lives are nothing more than a dull routine, eating chicken wings and drinking Monster twice a day, and trying to combat the dullness with frequent excursions to the ball game or the outlet on the weekends.
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