I recently tried to piece together some memories of a long lost friend who was once near and dear to me. During my discovery, I remembered I had purchased a gift for my friend back in the day and so I headed to my Amazon account to see if there was any information I could glean from that order. I quickly found the order, sandwiched between a few other ones, as it was from the first year I had set up my account. I noticed that most of the orders were quite small, like $5 here, $10 there, a rare but occasional $20. And then there was the order I placed for the gift for my friend. I stared at the amount and stroked my chin for a bit. I thought to myself, “What on Earth was I thinking back then…? How was I able to afford this!? Was I crazy?”
I didn’t come from a wealthy background. I’d have to save up money from special occasions like Lunar New Year and small allowances to buy things. I don’t believe I had worked then as my parents wanted me to focus on my studies, and only during college did I start working. So, I really didn’t have much saved. While the amount spent might not be large to most people, for me back then it was a lot lol. I was hella po’ 😢
It was so funny looking back at the choice I had made, because with what I know now about financial management, it makes absolutely *zero sense* to spend such a significant portion of my life savings on a gift lol. The only reason I could come up with as to why I would’ve done such a silly thing is I must’ve been madly in love back then and clearly wasn’t thinking properly. Unga bunga. What a silly person I was lol. That said, as I reflect back on this gift purchase and what it had meant, I have zero regrets. Money well spent. The purchase was worth it. Wouldn’t change a thing.
I distinctly remember a particular conversation we had where my friend suddenly brought up something along the lines of, “You do know that having a 9 to 5 job isn’t the only way to make a living… right?” I remember feeling completely thrown off by that. “What do you mean?!” I inquired. My friend proceeded to share with me the ways that money and wealth can be generated through passive and alternative methods. My friend blew my mind wide open that day. I needed a cosmic Caterpillar excavator to scoop my mind back into my brain. I could *not* believe what I was hearing! I spent my life watching my parents work their butts off. My dad would work 7 days a week, really really hard, often completely and utterly exhausted as he returned home and I thought this is the normal way to make a living. But this convo with my friend *severely* challenged that belief and expanded my mind in a way I did not think was possible. What my friend shared with me that day had stuck with me in a profound way.
Though it took some time before I applied my friend’s wisdom, choosing to take that 9 to 5, after I had quit my job the idea of passive income had suddenly become front and center for me. Looking to explore interests outside my previous career, desiring a change of scenery, I was blessedly given the freedom and opportunity to rediscover my Self and anything that was of interest to me.
Due to an interest in automation, I taught myself how to code in Python and worked on some self guided projects. I even created a bot to help content creators manage comments of questionable nature, which was incredibly fun to do! I eventually had to wind down my bot as the platform was NOT a fan of my approach LMAO! Hey, it’s not my fault their cache was creating a bottleneck. It was an interesting technical challenge but at some point navigating the platform’s limitations got a bit old. I also created a script that manages the lights in my home, apparently I’m too lazy to turn lights on and off 🤣
I briefly explored 3D printing and modeling.
I learned about the financial markets and asset management, long and short term investing, and spent a lot of time researching valuable companies to invest into.
My ingenious investment strategy is to invest in CEOs who have crazy Einstein hair. Make of that what you will 😉 (Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. Past performance of wild-haired executives is not indicative of future results. Side effects may include sudden interest in philosophy, outdoor exercise habits, and unexpected tai chi breaks. My portfolio is currently 90% hairstyle-based decisions and 10% actual research.)
I learned how to raid (in an MMO). I delved deep into psychology, self help, spirituality, and did a lot of inner work and healing.
I’ve come to learn that money is just a resource for time and value. The more value we bring, if leveraged correctly, the more money that can potentially flow in. The more useful skills we have and the better we can apply our knowledge, the more opportunities there are to generate more money.
From time to time, I think back on that conversation with my friend regarding finances, and feel *super grateful* for having been exposed to such invaluable information. If we never had that conversation, would I have known what possibilities were out there? Perhaps, anything is possible. But that memory is lodged in my mind, and I hold a lot of gratitude and love for my friend for even bothering to bring that information up back then as it was life-changing information for me to learn.
Do you remember any conversations in your past that have fundamentally expanded your worldview and perspective? If so, how have those conversations changed your life?