Many of you know my story for those of you who don't it's... interesting.
If you feel down lately... or if you're battling anxiety, depression or other difficulties - I encourage you to please read this and know that if I can accomplish what I have done thus far... that is PROOF that it can be done!
Please understand... I'm not saying "If I can do it, you can too!!" (I HATE THAT)...
What I am saying is...
"If I did it... that means it CAN be done... and THAT... should give you HOPE."
So... for those of you just joining us, for those of you who don't know what my past 4+ years have been like... the synopsis is:
- I chased my dreams, started my own business from scratch in 2015... and failed spectacularly... oof 😐
- Divorced in 2018
- Restaurant failed late 2018 and my business partners offered to "buy out" my portion of the restaurant by taking over the "business debt"...
- Rug pull - unknowingly, their lawyer had reviewed accounts prior to writing the agreement and after I signed it, I got a letter in the mail stating: "hey, we noticed you personally guaranteed all this stuff years ago when you started the business... so technically that's all your debt, thanks for the business!"
- They LEGALLY took everything I had worked for, put my heart and soul into and a LARGE sum of my own money into for the previous three years and left me with roughly 250k in debt...
Jan 2019... The grind began...
(I created Mt Debt using StarryAi btw)
From basecamp, I wearily case my gaze upon the seemingly insurmountable slopes of Mount Debt... I wish to reach the summit of Freedom but I know the trek up the desolate slope is fraught with peril and pitfalls... Perilous Pitfalls even... kek.
Please enjoy the following life update and may your struggles reach a positive resolution as well :)
"I am about to type something that I am still having a hard time believing...
Dec 2018 was when I signed over FPS...
Jan 2019, I started the hardest journey of my life.
Recently divorced, I "sold" my business but ended up getting stuck with the debt due to some legal shenanigans and basically had to start my life over with a plummeting Credit Score and what seemed like an insurmountable amount of debt...
I started selling cars at Duncan Acura in Sept 2018 and was juggling two jobs to try and save my business but failed.
I entered a deep depression and struggled financially, emotionally, spiritually and more...
Since Jan 2019, I have worked two jobs, 80ish hours a week for what is now 4+ years.
I lost friendships, contact with family and I was so focused that when Covid happened, I barely noticed...
I was progressing on all fronts but at what cost? I had SACRIFICED four YEARS of my life in this struggle...
Things seemed to be getting better but after Splinterfest, my Oct 2022 - Dec 2022 was a brutal 3 months for me:
- Terrible sales month (Oct - 0 cars sold)
- I was T-boned while driving and lost my 2nd income (Uber)
- Personal drama after Thanksgiving (I broke up with gf of 3 years)
- No power for 4.5 days over Christmas (homeless and crashed on friends couches)
- Water pipes busted right as power fixed after Christmas
- I tried to de-escalate a fight, took a blindside beer bottle to the face and got a SWEET head wound for NYE... I spent the rest of NYE in the ER getting a couple stiches and it's still not fully healed 🙄
However...
HOW... EVER.
I persevered... I didn't quit. I took every fucking shot that life gave me and was kicked in the head while I was down (literally)...
I stood up, dusted myself off and said "Thank you life, may I have another"...
I guess 2022 did it's best to ruin me but I'm just not having that. I simply REFUSE to let things keep me down 🤷🏻♂️
Life happens but how I choose to respond determines the outcome - read that again... that's a JT original 😉
So here we are in 2023... grinding away... inching closer... pushing harder than ever... but still seeming stuck...
ARGGHHHHHHH IT WAS INFURIATING!!
But then... 3 weeks ago... I had saved up enough money and I paid off my Business Line of Credit...
The last of my business debt was GONE!! I wrote the final check for $11,247 and said HALLELUJAH LORD!! THANK YOU FOR BLESSING ME, AMEN!!
I thought I'd be happy, elated, ecstatic, overjoyed!!!
Wrong.
I was hollow. Empty. Devoid of emotion save for the pang of recognizing how much further I had to go... $11,247 down... but still... ughhhhh.
For weeks... I couldn't shake this emptiness... I crossed a MAJOR goal off my list that I'd worked towards for FOUR YEARS.
Yet... Instead of feeling accomplishment... I kept feeling overwhelmed with how much more I had to go...
So after weeks of consideration, I borrowed a small amount from my father, pushed a LARGE portion of my savings into the pot and BAM...
Last Monday, I paid off one of credit cards that got me through the mess I called "life"... I paid it off (95% for Credit Score purposes... That was another $10k of debt that was GONE... it felt good but still wasn't quite what I thought I'd be feeling or SHOULD be feeling...
Intellectually, I knew paying these two debts off was a HUGE move and would save me HUNDREDS of dollars each month...
Felt great, right?
Nope.
Still meh 🤷🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
However... despite feeling uneasy about using my savings like that (which wasn't earning anything, interest wise)... I decided to send it and pulled the trigger on paying off the debt...
So Monday night I thought and budgeted... Budgeted and though... I decided since I was mopey I would go to bed early and tackle it tomorrow.
I went to bed and prayed that I could sell my Prius or figure out how to use it for positive cash flow... It had been for sale over a month and not much action :(
Well... I woke up to a message on FB Marketplace and less than 12 hours later... my prayer was answered 😳😳😳
I had a buyer for my Prius. They picked it up Thursday. Cut me a check for the difference...
On Thursday night, after a whirlwind day on Thursday (sold 5 cars PLUS my Prius!)...
I went home exhausted from working a 10 hour non stop day, on my day off I might add...
When I got home I did some more calculations and RE-rebudgeting... and that's when it hit me like a Mack Truck...
Suddenly, upon reviewing the numbers... I realized:
- I paid off my line of credit 3 weeks ago
- CC on Monday
- Prius Thursday
Which meant... In just THREE WEEKS... I paid off FORTY FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS OF DEBT 😳😳😳🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
Yup... you read that right... $45k... Three weeks.
This was my face ^
I mean... I can still hardly believe it and I'm still reeling from that drastic shift!
Let me tell you... the feelings of accomplishment and elation that I was missing... Well they have been FOUND!! 😅😅😅
I am now going to be LASER FOCUSED on the remaining debt and let's just say - I believe I can be debt free by my birthday in September!!
The journey up the mountain has been long, hard, fraught with pitfalls and setbacks... but the summit is near my friends... the summit is near.
Whatever journey you may be facing, let me be the first to encourage you to keep going!!
Push a little harder for a little longer...
If you get knocked down... plant a foot, steady yourself, stand back up and keep moving!!
You CAN do this. You WILL achieve your SUCCESS but ONLY if you PERSEVERE...
People often say "it takes pressure to make Diamonds"... But I don't like that analogy because most coal just gets crushed to dust and only the smallest amount becomes a Diamond...
However... I believe our trials and tribulations in this life are more akin to forging Steel...
Like Diamonds the process is hard... where it differs is
many of us start strong, like Iron...
It is only after you take the Iron, apply intense heat and BEAT THE EVER LOVING SHIT OUT OF IT...
Only AFTER that... do you get a MUCH STRONGER substance... Steel... and unlike Coal... the success rate is EXTREMELY high for forging Steel.
To this end, I will stray from the pack... I deviate from the norm and I will LOUDLY PROCLAIM:
Do not shy from your adversities!! Be grateful for them... for only adversity will allow YOU the opportunity to GROW!!
Now join me, my friends... JOIN ME today and let us GO FORTH AND FACE OUR DIFFICULTIES HEAD ON AND WITH RENEWED VIGOR!!
LET US NOT FALTER BENEATH THE AGONIZING FEELINGS OF DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY - FOR THEY ARE BUT DEMONS OF OUR OWN CREATION...
DEMONS WHO WHISPER LIES OF DEFEAT AND SOW DOUBT INTO OUR EARS... FROM INSIDE OUR OWN MINDS...
THESE ARE DEMONS WHO MUST BE PURGED BY THE FIRES OF OUR RESOLVE!!!
THEY MAY HAVE TRICKED YOU INTO BELIEVING THEM...
BUT I WOULD HAVE YOU REMEMBER - THEY. ARE. LIARS
So.
With that being said...
After reading that... If the embers of passion are not stoked in your heart...
If your soul doesn't long to drive your body to action - NO MATTER YOUR GOALS...
If you're not ready to take on an army of Ninjas armed solely with a butterknife!!!
I must ask you - have you given up already?
Being pushed back is ok
Being knocked down is OK...
But one who falls into a river does NOT drown... unless they CHOOSE to stay beneath the water.
Rise. Feel the swell of motivation within you. Be EXCITED for your challenges - for without them... you will never be better than you are, at this very moment.
You read my story - now go write your own!!
#motivation #pumped #excited #blessed #grateful #TheSummitIsNear #YOUcandothis