The Book of Eph: Wealth and Success Edition

So, seeing as my last year of High School is coming up, I thought I'd start a journal to document everything I'm working on in regards to becoming wealthy and just being successful in life. I can't stand the thought of living like the majority. Full-time job making the average amount ($47k; if your lucky), thousands deep in debt, living day to day, etc. I just can't do it. So, here's my attempt at being better off than everyone else.

Life Goals:

• Driver's Permit and License
• Decent Car
• Job paying at least $9/hr
• Get own apartment
• Make at least $50k/yr by the time I'm 21
• Start own business
• Put older sister through College/University
• Fluency in Spanish and Japanese
• Learn to play guitar and piano
• Learn Java, Objective-C/Swift, C#, C++
• Travel to Spain, Japan, and other places

School Goals:

• Perfect score on YPFT
• Go to San Diego for National YPFT
• Get promoted to officer rank in MCJROTC
• Several (more) IT Certifications before Graduation

I'll probably attend University after I graduation - even though I consider it a waste of time and money - considering I have a full scholarship to any (public) school in my state. Also, I've already got a few college credits, and the more certifications I get, the better the chances one (or more) of them will get me out of another class.

I've been debating what I'll major in as well. If I go for Computer Science - which I don't really want to do since I'm already doing the parts of it that I like - my certifications and the credits I have will get me out of some classes. There's also the possibility of getting a high-paying job because of the CS degree while I work on starting my own business.

I could also go for a double major in Spanish and Japanese, which would help me accomplish two of my goals. I think I would enjoy double majoring in languages because of the huge overlap in required classes. I've actually been studying more intermediate-level Spanish on my own - since I won't have Spanish class anymore when school starts back up - and I think I prefer learning languages in a classroom environment.

So, Staples finally called me back after a month and a half. I've got an interview set up for tomorrow. First step to success is within arm's reach!

Didn't get the job at Staples since they don't want to deal with work permits. I don't blame them. So, I'll wait until I finish my last year of high school before actively looking for jobs again. On the bright side, I got my driver's permit.

So, lately I've been thinking about my goals, and more specifically, my goal of having so much money that I never have to worry about it again. It seems I've already been jaded. I've been planning to get a new phone this month, and so I've been looking at the best of the best smartphones. The thing is, as much as I want one, they just don't interest me.

I don't use my phone very often. I don't really play games that much, or text someone at every moment, or even use apps that often. There really is no value in me getting a new phone, although I likely will. I want a new computer, and have been planning to get one soon. But, the computer I'm using (as old and as many problems as it has) works just fine for what I use it for.

All of this got me thinking: what happens if I accomplish my main goal? What happens if in 10 years, I am one of the wealthiest men alive? If I can afford anything I want, and never have to worry about money? There's a lot of things that I want, but then I think about it and I have to ask myself why?

Everything materialistic that I want, honestly, bores me now. Even if I don't already have it. If I had a Ferrari sitting outside my house right now, it would be cool, but it's just a car. Obviously, being rich or owning a lot of nice things won't make me happy, I get that. I have hobbies and other, more intellectual, things that interest me. But, it makes me wonder if I should try to accomplish my other "main" (kind of backup/alternate) goal. Enlist and try to make it to the top. And I'm not talking being a General or something like that. I mean trying to make it into Special Operations Forces. Force Recon -> MARSOC -> Delta Force and maybe past that, if some secret "Tier 0" group exists.

I don't know what to do. I guess one way or another, I will have a very interesting life 10 years from now. I know I'm destined for greatness.

Though I have not bought it, I made a sale in the previous launch. I also read some nice reviews of customers. Nice work Eph keep it up!

Eph said:

[*]Make at least $50k/yr by the time I'm 21

[*]Start own business

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Doing what?

You've stated what route you want to go about making this kind of money, but WTF are you going to do? Be an underpants gnome?

Desdinova said:

Doing what?

You've stated what route you want to go about making this kind of money, but WTF are you going to do? Be an underpants gnome?

Click to expand...

I want to start a software development business. As for the $50k/year thing, I plan on getting there through some network engineer/admin and/or computer technician jobs. Maybe a few freelance programmer jobs.

I want to start a software development business.

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In software development you can make 50K / year, even before graduation.
but to be really good you need to gain experience .
try to contribute to some open source projects to learn how professional programmers design application . if you can do like them then your 50K will be very possible .

evan12 said:

In software development you can make 50K / year, even before graduation.
but to be really good you need to gain experience .
try to contribute to some open source projects to learn how professional programmers design application . if you can do like them then your 50K will be very possible .

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I know. 50K is just what I plan on making by the time I'm 21, since it is the national average, and because I'm probably not going to start on my own business for a few years after graduation. By the time I'm about 25, I plan on having much more than a measly 50K/year. As for the experience, I've been programming since I was 11. I know several languages already, not that I think I'll be doing much programming (unfortunately) once my business gets going.

Just passed my Network+ certification today. Next on the agenda is the Security+

So, after months of not programming anything, I finally have a new project to work on. Programming is truly my passion, so, it feels great to have something new to work on. Also, I've been trying to find ways to improve my Spanish until I either decide to go to college or until I can get a job and hire a personal tutor/teacher. Learning new languages is one of the few things I love as much as programming. I also saw a video on making rings out of quarters yesterday, and got excited seeing the metal being heated and formed. Seems I really love metal-working too. I guess, what it comes down to is, I love building and creating things.

So, haven't updated this in a while. On winter break from school currently for another week. While I was in school, I managed to pass my Security+, MTA: Network Fundamentals, and MTA: Security Fundamentals certifications before we left. That was a busy week.

Since we left, I've been practicing guitar and working on my Spanish. I've been talking with a native speaker on WhatsApp and he's the second native speaker to compliment my Spanish. Of course, we've really haven't spoke nearly as much as we've texted, but I'd had another native speaker compliment my pronunciation. So, that feels good being a perfectionist and all.

I've also come to the decision of enlisting in the Marine Corps some time next year. It'll give me some great opportunities as well as simply being something I want to do. I'll also be able to save up some money to start my business when I get out.

Dude awesome journal so far! So nice to see that people younger than myself are doing the things that I did not take the time to do myself, which would have put me in a better position than i am now!

Awesome! keep up with this journal!

If you fail, or make a mistake, do not be discouraged! Get back up brush your shoulders off, learn from it, and keep going!

If you continue this path you'll be successful in your endeavours!

If you want to learn Spanish and Japanese, I suggest going to duolingo.com

The best way to learn a language is by being around people who speak it exclusively imo.

SeymourCake said:

If you want to learn Spanish and Japanese, I suggest going to duolingo.com

The best way to learn a language is by being around people who speak it exclusively imo.

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I use duolingo every now and again. Doesn't have Japanese (or any Asian languages for that matter) though. Most polyglots don't recommend learning languages by studying vocab anyway. I've been following the advice of "learning new words by context". So, it's been a lot of reading, and honestly, it does help seeing how words (old and new) are used. I'm no polyglot (yet), but I can see the value in recommending people to learn vocab this way instead of learning words on their own.

Unfortunately, I don't get a lot of practice speaking Spanish. But, a couple plates are native speakers so every now and again I (try to) start a conversation with them in Spanish. Anyway, thanks for the feedback and Happy New Year!

narcissist said:

Dude awesome journal so far! So nice to see that people younger than myself are doing the things that I did not take the time to do myself, which would have put me in a better position than i am now!

Awesome! keep up with this journal!

If you fail, or make a mistake, do not be discouraged! Get back up brush your shoulders off, learn from it, and keep going!

If you continue this path you'll be successful in your endeavours!

Click to expand...

I'm not that much younger than you But, thanks, I think I mentioned it somewhere on SS, but the older I get, the more I realize I can't stand the thought of ending up like everyone around me. People are too content living beneath their means, when they could be doing something to improve their situation. The only thing I care about is being able to look back in 20 or 30 years and being able to say, "I've done everything I ever wanted. My life has been very successful." Happy New Year!

So, I'm not sure if I want to go to college or not since it's not relevant for my plans (military, starting own business, and the fact that the IT industry cares more about certifications than degrees), but I do still have a scholarship that will pay 100% of tuition for any public school in the current state I'm in. This would help keep me from leaving with insane amounts of student loan debt (or debt, period), which is one of the reasons I hate the idea of college. I also started looking into CLEP and DSST exams. These are exams that cost about $80 that you can take and colleges award credit for them. Combine these with the certifications and credit I already have and I could potentially get out of my first and maybe second year classes. The mandatory general ed classes are really the only other reason I don't like the execution of "higher education".

I was planning to take a year off as soon as I graduate before enlisting to enjoy myself a bit, but given that I have a year from graduation to enroll in a college before I lose the scholarship, I don't know if I want to take a couple years to play around in college first anymore. If I don't go, I waste a scholarship and lose the bragging rights I'd get from getting a Bachelors in 2 or 3 years while everyone else takes the full 4 (or more) years to do so.

On the other hand, Active Duty in the military would also pay for my tuition and of course, I'd still be able to take the CLEP/DSST exams. I'd need 24 months of completed service before they would do this, but in that time I could be taking some CLEP/DSST exams which are also free for military. And assuming I got time off to go to school immediately at 24 months, I'd still have a year before 3 of my certifications expired, so I'd still potentially be able to use those to get out of some classes. And on top of that, I might be able to get credit just for doing my job there.

Wow, haven't posted here since January. So, a few updates. Graduated from school last month in June. Really didn't feel special, and I'm still surprised that I graduated with a 3.4 or 3.5 GPA doing the minimum amount of work (well, to be fair, my minimum is generally higher than everyone else's) while some people dropped out. Anyway, not important.

I don't know if I posted about these already but since making this thread, I've learned to play guitar - wouldn't call myself great yet, but I'm not the worst - I've gotten much better at Spanish, though I still have trouble understanding it when spoken and I'm definitely not fluent yet, and I got a job (and I've had my permit for a while now; don't know if I posted about that already either).

So, new goals?

• Get into and complete driver's ed class
• Finish and launch website (hopefully tonight )
• Buy a car
• Improve appearance (get to target weight, stay in shape, dress better, etc)

I'm hoping to have most, if not all, of these done by my next birthday in November.

Feeling a need to update, so here goes. I leave in two weeks. Where to? Marine Corps boot camp in San Diego, California. So, what have I accomplished since the last update in July? Not as much as I would have liked. I'm calling up a driver's ed place tomorrow and I'm gonna pay for some private lessons over the few days and at the end of hopefully go get my license. If that goes well, I'll be renting a car (or borrowing my sister's, if I'm lucky) and taking some friends out to have some fun before I leave.

The website I mentioned in the last post is done, but I never got around to launching it. I may or may not launch it after boot camp. I'd say my appearance improved a bit though. I dress better, weigh a bit more, and did something with my hair that I like. I'm not at my target weight yet, unfortunately, but hopefully boot camp helps me put on at least another 10 pounds. That would get me within about 5 pounds of my goal. At my height though (6'0ft), my target weight won't make too big a difference in appearance, but I'll worry about moving the goal posts once I get to the goal.

Hmm. What else? Well, I still play guitar and of course have gotten better since last time. Still working on my Spanish. I'm a bit more fluent than last time. I actually noticed something today though. I reached a new milestone in my Spanish studies. Comprehending spoken Spanish has always been a problem for me, but I was using Duolingo earlier and could understand the listening exercises far better than I could in the past. A couple of them I still had to repeat to catch the odd word here and there, but overall, my listening skills have definitely improved some. I'm one step closer to becoming fluent!

you best be making 100k per year, real soon, or you're in trouble. Get a vasectomy, man. It will let you retire in 10 years, if you pay attention. then you'll have the time and money needed to PROPERLY raise an adopted kid.

Well, quick update. First: Happy Birthday to me! Second: I ship out Monday, but leave tomorrow (Sunday) early morning. So, I won't be back here for at least three months.