How did you become successful

[VikingKing]

At what point did you turn things around. How did you do it? Give us stories and examples. What are the most important things to focus on when turning your life around?

 

[SeymourCake]

I am thankful this sub forum was created. I feel like I'm in a deep hole right now and I need an idea on how to get out of it.

 

[VikingKing]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Danger again.

I'm 10k in debt to student loans. But fvck them.

 

[XRCBWilliams15]

I had a lame job. I met a dude who makes approx 2 million/year. I proceeded to call him literally once a week for an entire year to bug him about hiring me. Some people may say this is annoying, I could tell this guy needed to know I was hungry and that I wanted it more than the next 1000 guys.

Eventually something opened up 1 year later. Got interviewed, nailed the interviews. They interviewed 40-50 other people for same job. I interviewed with 8 people, they all unanimously chose me. They offered me a sh!t amount of money to take the job. I declined told them I was worth more than that and that since they unanimously chose me, that they should know that. They loved it, thought I was a badass from day 1. Talked them up 40% from initial offer. Worked my ass off.

Now am VP (highest regional rank) in my office. Two steps down from the Managing Director who hired me (although I am @ a different and more respected firm now). Have been promoted 4 times in 3 years. I dominate at work. My job is all about being alpha and confident, which is awesome, because it generally carries through into my game with chicks. Although sometimes I fvck it up with chicks, and that's why I come here to get my head right.

Find a mentor with a career, and learn from them. Apply that knowledge, and then crush it on your own. Don't suck their d!ck hoping you can feed off of them. That sh!t is pathetic. I know too many weasel losers that do that sh!t. Hate kiss-asses...ugh.

When you make it... Never forget what it was like to be poor. Help out the people that deserve it. Don't help out losers who don't try to help themselves. I worked so hard to get where I am, and am endlessly thankful for the turns of fate that helped to get me here. But I wasn't lucky, I took what I wanted with hard work and out performing everyone else I work with. They are all my competition. If I am not beating everyone in the room, I am losing.

I won't post my profession on this forum. Sorry.

 

[SoSuave666]

I look forward to moderating this forum and hearing the stories of the successful DJs at SoSuave. The greatest motivator I ever heard: never be satisfied.



Never.

 

[samspade]

Great idea, this forum!

 

[Atom Smasher]

Konada approached me via PM asking about a forum like this. It has been discussed at length before, but it wasn't time yet.

I took it to the mods' corner and we and Allen agreed that the time is right.

I believe this forum is going to make a positive, tangible difference in our lives.

 

[Konada]

Great to see this forum come to fruition.

As I'm 21 I don't have much to share but I'm pretty sure I'm on the path to success.

A little about myself:
Grew up in a relatively well-off family and had everything I wanted. Played video games my entire life until recently. Had a realization that even though I could live off my inheritance in the future, it would have been a meaningless life for me and partiularly disappointing/wasted for my parents to have put so much resources into bringing me up.

What I've done/doing right now:

1. Borrowed 5k from my dad and dabbled in silver, doubled my capital and returned the loan.

2. I got into a network marketing firm (part-time) a year ago and begun working on it this June and planning to continue while I'm in college. I have accredited a total income of 10k so far. My goal is to earn a total income of 50k (for my college fees) and accumulate 500k liquidity in welath by the time I graduate.

3. Studying stock trading/bitcoin trading right now to supplement my daily expenditures in college, hopefully it won't take too long before I can consitently make a profit trading.

One thing I have learnt that is very valuable - Associate with Greatness.
Associate yourself with successful people and you'll eventually pick up things that you can't get from a college education.

Soar with the eagles or be forever scratching with the chickens.

 

[Kailex]

At age 28, I recognized that my IT job for a bank in Puerto Rico was absolute crap. Not only that, but the bank was going to go under soon. I had seen the signs, the writing was on the wall. The rumors started that the newest people into every department/branch were going to get laid off first.

Lucky me, I had FINALLY broken into the IT segment after having graduated with a Bachelor's and 5 months later, I might get laid off? Well, apparently the word on the street was that they were going to try to get those people fired instead so they wouldn't have to pay out unemployment.

I caught my boss writing up a memo on some BS charges of misuse of the bank resources (AKA: Using the internet to look up companies we were seeking to lend money to). That was on a Thursday. I spoke to a friend of mine and he said: QUIT. Quit right now, quit before you get a black mark on your record. Quit before it affects the rest of your life.

You have to understand, for a 28 year old who finally breaks into his field, quitting this quickly goes against everything he's worked his life off for. But, during that weekend, I took time to consult friends & families. They said now was the time to do anything rash, anything completely crazy and they'd support me.

I quit that Monday and decided I should move elsewhere to gain success. I bought a one way plane ticket to New Jersey, and armed with one suitcase, a laptop, and a small bit of funds, moved here. I was lucky that I found a job at a bank as a teller within the first week and was able to find a crappy, cheap apartment. I bought a beat up Toyota for $1K and had about $300 left. But as far as I was concerned, I was set. NO IT job would take me because they considered me obsolete or my time with the company in Puerto Rico as a red flag and pretty alarming. I eventually moved up in the bank in New Jersey and then got a job with another bank (Which I would work at for overall - 4 years).

I decided I needed to do something with my life other than this path. So I used my company's tuition reimbursement to get an Associate's in Accounting. Within 10 months, I had completed all of the courses and I emailed my bank's accounting department every week asking for a job. It finally happened, and I had my in. I worked my ass off for a year, and plopped my resume on Indeed. A local food manufacturing company called me up and wanted to offer me a job in their Accounting department. In less than 8 months, I turned that company's whole accounting system around, but the signs I saw from that company were troubling. Discouraged, I started looking again and found a nice job, nearby me. I fit all of their qualifications in EVERYTHING they were looking for. They didn't waste anytime in hiring me and throwing buckets of money at my face, as well as other perks/benefits.

Right now, I am set to be making double what I was making in June 2013. It's been a long road, and a lot of sacrifice. But I start today at my new job and after typing all of this, it's all been worth it. I still have that suitcase, even though I don't use it anymore. I still have that laptop, even though I've long since turned it on. And I still have a separate savings account with $300, just to remind me every once in a while where I was at.

 

[SteR]

Danger: Investing is something I've always wanted to get into but I also want to buy property. I've always held off investing in shares since I know you should really be holding for ~5 years before selling.. yet I'll probably want the money to put down on a deposit for a house first.

How did you get around that? Or do you still rent?

 

[In2theGame]

I have always been an Entrepreneur at heart even when i was a Teenager, I wasn't one for being told what to do. I believe I am a good example of not following what everyone thinks should be done to be successful because i made it even when everything i did, according to society, was wrong.

In High School... I did great in all my classes except the ones i had no interest in. Was it because i wasn smart enough? No, If i wasnt interested in that topic, i wouldnt care for it so I had all my credits to graduate but failed math state exams, I couldnt graduate without it... I said f*ck this... I left High School, Went and got a GED. Everyone looked down on me and said i was going to end up at a dead end job. I got into I.T... I took a few courses in it and did side projects at home. Got certificates in networking and systems. I landed an I.T job at a local small company. I quickly rose in that job and before i knew it i was working I.T at some of the most top banks in the world in the Wall st area. I quickly rose there too and got promoted few times.

Did i get lucky? No, I put my mind into what i want to do and not let some Bullsh!t piece of paper decide my future. I have a GED and no college degree by choice. After a while i started working along side Traders on the trading floors... and began to wonder.. What the fvck am i doing in I.T when i should be learning how to trade and make money like them. When i asked around about what it takes to become a trader, a successful one at that,... I was told you have to go to school and get this degree, that degree, this GPA, This certificate and that certificate. I was like WTF, fvck this.... I went home and every day and night i did my own research and analysis for hours upon hours, hardly slept but i didnt fvcking care because i knew the money that can be made. After a while i started making connections with some traders around the world and saw they were making up to $50,000 in two weeks time. I learned from them day and night. When i got laid off because of so many companies downsizing and how fvcked the economy is, I didnt bother looking for another job. I dedicated every hour to learning the markets. fast forward few years and here i am. I trade currency markets through my brokerage account making way more than a paycheck ever paid me, Also i dont feel miserable doing it, i absolutely love what i do and wouldnt have it any other way even though it takes up a lot of hours because of Europe and United States markets overlapping.

The point of all this is, If you dedicate yourself and decide you really want to go for something you want to achieve, No matter what anyone else says, if you feel you can do it... Go do it!. Remember that no one can or should tell you what or what you cannot achieve, regardless of your "credentials".

 

[Konada]

I have always been an Entrepreneur at heart even when i was a Teenager, I wasn't one for being told what to do. I believe I am a good example of not following what everyone thinks should be done to be successful because i made it even when everything i did, according to society, was wrong.

In High School... I did great in all my classes except the ones i had no interest in. Was it because i wasn smart enough? No, If i wasnt interested in that topic, i wouldnt care for it so I had all my credits to graduate but failed math state exams, I couldnt graduate without it... I said f*ck this... I left High School, Went and got a GED. Everyone looked down on me and said i was going to end up at a dead end job. I got into I.T... I took a few courses in it and did side projects at home. Got certificates in networking and systems. I landed an I.T job at a local small company. I quickly rose in that job and before i knew it i was working I.T at some of the most top banks in the world in the Wall st area. I quickly rose there too and got promoted few times.

Did i get lucky? No, I put my mind into what i want to do and not let some Bullsh!t piece of paper decide my future. I have a GED and no college degree by choice. After a while i started working along side Traders on the trading floors... and began to wonder.. What the fvck am i doing in I.T when i should be learning how to trade and make money like them. When i asked around about what it takes to become a trader, a successful one at that,... I was told you have to go to school and get this degree, that degree, this GPA, This certificate and that certificate. I was like WTF, fvck this.... I went home and every day and night i did my own research and analysis for hours upon hours, hardly slept but i didnt fvcking care because i knew the money that can be made. After a while i started making connections with some traders around the world and saw they were making up to $50,000 in two weeks time. I learned from them day and night. When i got laid off because of so many companies downsizing and how fvcked the economy is, I didnt bother looking for another job. I dedicated every hour to learning the markets. fast forward few years and here i am. I trade currency markets through my brokerage account making way more than a paycheck ever paid me, Also i dont feel miserable doing it, i absolutely love what i do and wouldnt have it any other way even though it takes up a lot of hours because of Europe and United States markets overlapping.

The point of all this is, If you dedicate yourself and decide you really want to go for something you want to achieve, No matter what anyone else says, if you feel you can do it... Go do it!. Remember that no one can or should tell you what or what you cannot achieve, regardless of your "credentials".

Great post! If anything, it proves that success can be achieved even without a formal education. A great role model. Repped.

 

[carrot]

Do you make more profits than losses over a year
if you teach your trading style or coach who want to work with you ?

not to change thread
Traders who make living ?
http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?p=2174250

I trade currency markets through my brokerage account making way more

 

[Huffman]

I'm a German engineer. My education was practically for free. Being talented, I got myself a MSc without much effort. Worked a bit on the side, and burnt that money traveling around the world. Today I'm not super wealthy, but I make 6 figures (USD though, not EUR), work 40 comfortable hours, doing what I love.

I didn't have to fight hard. Education and work just came to me. This is why I don't define my success through wealth. Other things to me are more important.

 

[speed dawg]

My story is rather boring, but here goes. I had two great parents, who saw to it that I did well in school. I had straight As all the way through high school. My parents also made me work to pay for my college, but helped me with about half of it. So I got an engineering degree with minimal effort, or at least it felt that way. Now I have a comfortable job that some may call boring. And the higher I get, the more stressful it becomes, which makes it less comfortable.

My constant struggle is with effort and just overall indifference. I often wonder if it's the fact that I haven't found something I cared about, or if I am just cynical and lazy. I haven't gotten my 'break' yet and made my millions or anything like that. I'm still just really trying to piece my life together and find out the things I'm truly passionate about.

So, my advice for anyone like me: Until you find your passions, at least be smart enough to invest in things that pay the bills for you.

 

[Warrior74]

Here's a cautionary tale.

I wanted to go to film school, but the folks couldn't afford it. So I went to a small college in the next state. I worked part time in the computer department and found out they had some amazing 3D software nobody even knew they had. (typical college wasteful spending). So me and my best friend started a 3D animation business. Flying logos, basic 3D characters, etc. It was still such a young market that nobody here had 3D work in their video productions. At 21 I was making about 3-5k a month for about a year straight. I quit college and perused it full time. The problem was my best friend was greedy and lazy and the market was changing. So between the two problems I had to fight off two lawsuits, have our rep damaged by poor craftsmanship, had constant fights about money and struggled withdelivery times and watched our market dry up. I ended up in a ton of debt and having to take a day job. Still the experience opened up a lot of doors for me and made me a big fish in my small pond.

If I had it to do over again, I would have hired my best friend instead of started a partnership. He came back years later and admitted that he killed the business with his laziness and greed. I also would have kept an eye on the trends so as not to be blindsided by new technology and market changes.

It took me two more times to learn the lesson of partnerships, that is to say, don't have them. They don't work (at least not for me). Get investors, supporters, cheerleaders, fans, advisers, employees and joint venture partners. But never have a partner who has an equal or controlling interest in your company unless you are absolutely forced into it. I am a fan of the joint venture, where two companies agree to work together on a particular product/service for a limited time. It's just easier that way.

 

[CrimsonPanther]

here's my story in case someone gives a fck :crazy:

it all begun when i was in high school and started to like the magic of HTML. first i was playing around in Microsoft FrontPage and marveled at what some code can look like on the web. then i went to college (journalism/tv), where i started to learn php as a hobby in my spare time.
while i was a total nub in programming, i wasn't shy of accepting freelance projects for people i knew to build their websites. first i learned joomla, then when i got my first real job in IT, i moved up to Drupal and WordPress (and perfecting php, jquery and css3 in the process). i wasn't really satisfied with the money i was making, so i started my own firm and had made some mistake projects which luckily didn't make me broke.

then i made a website where i sell WordPress themes, clip art and stock photos, while i am partner in another firm also software related.

the site still has way to evolve and there's a lot of promoting to be done, but with all these (site + photography + freelance websites + partner in another firm) i make a good 6 figure yearly personal profit (this year it is already close to 1 mil), so i consider it a simple success story all in all.

what i saw in europe is that nowadays if you are a good programmer or you are a medical doctor, you cannot go wrong. these jobs are very sought after.

 

[randell]

Rental real estate here. By that, I mean weekly rooms, many of them in each big old house. VA loans make this possible, but you have to know a lot of vets and find the ones who can be trusted. It really is a matter of location, and being really hard-nosed with this sort of tenant. Certain states make doing this very unsatifactory. You need a state with "sober-living' contracts.

 

[randell]

Money's only "less important" when you've got plenty of it, and make more easily.