On February 12, 2014, I quit my job as an attorney to become a self-employed “creator” on the internet.
At the time, everyone I knew thought I had lost my mind.
Heck, I even questioned my own sanity.
They would say things like —
What about that degree you worked so hard for (and spent so much on?) What a waste!
And my personal favorite —
You’re throwing away your future.
I wasn’t throwing away my future, I was throwing away a future I no longer wanted.
Outgrowing Childhood Dreams
I made the decision to go to law school when I was 10 years old.
That was in 1992.
The internet wasn’t even a thing yet.
All I knew was that I wanted to escape poverty.
So I started telling myself and everyone around me —
When I grow up, I’m going to be a lawyer.
Despite my mom regularly reminding me —
Kid, you’ll be lucky if you get to go to community college.
No shade to community college.
But this is the kind of message that can make or break an impressionable child.
Luckily, I was so stubborn that these not-so-subtle attempts to “manage my expectations” for the future actually fueled the fire that helped me achieve my goals.