i think someone might be trying to scam me

[brinstar]

i go to work every day in jeans and a casual button down shirt, nike sneakers, hair uncombed, a week's stubble

so does my boss :D

[Tikker]

jeans, steel toe boots, and some random vendor's free golf shirt usually here

[Gaazy]

I start in a decent looking pair of wranglers usually with regular wolverine work boots, a shop shirt, and a hat. Half the time I end up in full reflective coveralls, knee high rubber steel toed mine boots, and a hard hat. Too many boots to choose from~ Sometimes I end up changing 3 or 4 times a day haha, if ive gotta meet with a customer ill throw on a collared shirt, but thats about as high end as it gets.

[Narrock]

I get up everyday at 6am, work out till 7, shower, shave, breakfast, get dressed, check WoW mail and am out the door by 8:30. I usually prep whatever I'm gonna wear the next day the night before to save time. I'm asian so I only have to shave once every other day or once every 3 days if I use my mach 3, Breakfast is usually just a shake or some fruit.

lol I'm up at 3:30, out the door by 4am, and rolling by 4:45am heading to Richmond or Benicia to load up with propane and bring it up to Nevada City.

[Tossica]

I get up at 7ish, shower, maybe shave, get to work by 8:30. I wear work shirt with logo, work jacket with logo and I have about 5 pair of each brown or blue polyester work pants and converse tennis shoes or lace up boots in winter. That's my M-F uniform. I don't have to think about what I'm going to wear.

[Naethyn]

I know all about the reverse age discrimination Jay is dealing with. It is very hard for a company to take a low 20 something seriously. Everything has to be very professional without a sign of any weakness. And even then, it can fail.

[Eziekial]

I get up whenever I wake up and wear whatever I feel like wearing. Usually slacks and a long sleeve shirt or jeans and a polo. If I have to meet a client (depends on the client) anything from nice slacks and a shirt and tie to a suit. Jay is absolutely right about appearance. The days when I wear a suit it feels like everyone pays a bit more attention when I speak. My watch was a gift. My car is my only "extravagance" but my dick grew the second I drove it off the lot so I think it's worth it.

[Gaazy]

I think one reason they dont take a low 20 something serious is because like 90+% of us are complete idiots. Most of my buddies and people I know are really worthless, no matter how much they think they have everything planned. "Im gonna start a business doin blah blah blah and itll all work out its gonna be so easy". Most ar elike 25 and have never had a real job because theyre still fucking around in college, and they have noooooo idea how harsh the real world is gonna be out from under the college umbrella. They also have NO idea how hard it is to start a real company. Theres not a thing easy about it lol. My Dad and I are 5 years in this March, and we are just now startin to make some good headway


Oh bye, be back next week~

[Tikker]

yeah

lots of the early 20's guys are all like "I just decided I'd like to sell something and make some money, so I'll ask on a gaming message board about some random patent stuff"

[brinstar]

rofl that's exactly what i was thinking

[Jay]

I dunno about you all, but in my honest opinion I think making money is very difficult. If it were as easy as so many people think it is, everyone would have an abundance of it. Self proclaimed geniuses like Harrison would be sitting on millions etc etc. I busted my ass for everything I have and in fact there was a long long period of struggling before I got comfortable. I think making money begins with paying dues, not wacky inventions. Most of the millionaire inventors stumbled upon their idea, tried to make a few bucks off of it and ended up with millions not knowing it would be that big. You don't really go into it with the intent of millions and decide to market your brand new solar powered pancake flipper and wait for the piles of money to appear. That's just stupid.

Kaiine, if you want to make some serious cash, first sit down by yourself and ask yourself what you are willing to do for the money. Don't give yourself the bullshit "whatever it takes" answer either because if you seriously think that, here's 5k if you wanna come suck me off. No seriously, think about what you're willing to do, what family you're willing to turn your back on, what friends you're willing to cut off and what sacrifices you are willing to make to get what you want. Take a couple of economics courses, go to the bank and learn about trusts, money markets, IRA's, etc etc. Find a small company to work for that is in a lucrative industry and start busting your fucking ass. Take the little money you will earn working your job and INVEST. Maybe one day, you can take over the company you work for or build your own modeled after what you've learned assuming you put your money away and didn't spend it on whatever stupid 17 year old you're into at the time. Sounds easy no? The key is demeanor. Try doing the same motherfucking thing for 3 years without bending once on your beliefs and goals. A lot harder than it sounds. You don't get to take a break. You don't get to be tired of it. You don't get to take a breather. You get to do plenty of sacrifice and miss out on plenty of life and what other people your age will be enjoying.

To give you an idea of what I mean, I worked 7 days a week 11 hours a day for 2 years straight. Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter were my days off. I stopped drinking because I was too afraid of it affecting my decisions. Haven't had a sip of liquor in 2 and a half years. I stopped smoking because I didn't want my clients to smell me. I lost weight because the automatic assumption is that fat people are lazy. I stopped gaming for 4 to 5 years to focus on my work because I knew that after my day was done I needed 8 hours of sleep to have a clear head for the next work day. That was a total of 5 years of commitment to my ultimate goal. I'm now starting to take 1 day off a week. I've ended plenty of relationships because they got in the way of my work. I dress like a flaming fag because CA people love it (I've grown comfortable to it myself actually). I stopped talking to all of my family because they told me I was crazy for doing what I thought was necessary to succeed. I cut out everything that remotely tried to detour me from what I needed to get done. That's what it takes. Good luck.

[araby]

Jay that post was great I enjoyed reading that. It's difficult when family members aren't supportive. I don't know why the theme for parenting isn't, "You can be anything you want."

It's a power struggle. It's never easy to walk away from family and friends but if they aren't supporting you, it's not going to get you anywhere. I have made these sacrifices and still question myself. Stay strong though, that's all you can do. You're obviously happy doing what you're doing.

I've really been enjoying things. I have always lived for the day. My ideal day is spent in the sunshine writing and drinking coffee, texting, laughing, thinking about new things and amusing myself and others. I know what makes people happy and I try to bring it to them. I'm not lazy, I like to work, but I could be doing something else, something better. I've been dating a dental student and it's been killing me, my brain is yelling at me, "go to school". I'm also dating a college graduate/waiter and while he's incredibly smart, he's simple and I'm smarter than he is. My other side yells at me, "Work, learn to cook and iron and take care of a home and have some babies" and the creative side just does what it wants and that is to write. (I'm also dating a musician.) Sometimes, I think the best decision for myself would be to be the best at what I do now, learn to do what I don't know and am interested in, and to stop editing myself. The things that are becoming important to me are changing, with my age. It's a lot to consider later in life, when in my twenties, I lived for the day. Always have, I spend my money like there's no tomorrow. I'm not unhappy but I can always be happier.

It's all about decisions, sacrifices and intentions.

[Naethyn]

There is such a thing as the haves and the have nots. The difference between the two is not what kind of luck they have but what drives them. Rather it is by honest productive means, or unethical illegal behavior, the rich are rich because they have made wealth one of their biggest drives and purposes in life. The poor are poor because they have not. The only true way to become wealthy is to understand how money works and use the principals and laws of money to your advantage.

A poor person wants to spend, spend, spend, and be a consumer. A rich person likes to be a consumer and spend money even more, but they refuse to do so until they have built a large amount of wealth. A rich person understands you will never get rich from your job (except celebrities), but you will use your job to get rich. This means that simply by working for someone else you will never build up wealth through your wages, but you can use those earned wages to invest, and those investments will make you rich.

Poor people live check to check and tell themselves they don't have any extra money. Wealth minded people will deny themselves of many everyday things so they can put more money in their investments. Poor people make it a game of seeing how big and flashy they can live on their modest income. Wealth minded people make it a game to see how little they can scrape by on and enjoy putting all the rest into investments they know will make them rich in the future. Poor people make other people rich by paying rent and thus paying off other peoples' houses. Wealth minded people buy homes and rent them out to people who like to rent. Poor people play the victim. Wealth minded people know life has not been fair but they make things happen through persistence.

Poor people dislike work because they have no goals or plans for the future. Wealth minded people enjoy working because they know it's bringing them closer and closer to their wealth. Poor people try to get by just doing the minimum amount of tasks they can get away with because they don't have a reason to do otherwise. Wealth minded people try to be the best employees just so they can earn more money for their investments. Poor minded people love gambling because they think it's the only likely chance they will ever have a large sum of money. Wealth minded people hate gambling because they know true wealth is only made by investing. Poor people become selfish because they never experience abundance and extra resources. Wealth minded people help others and make friends because they know they need others to succeed in their endeavors.

Poor people think rich people make them poor. Wealth minded people know that while there are corrupt dishonest rich people, most rich people make their money by hard work and making a society a much better place. Poor people always think "what can I get?" because they don't enjoy being productive. Wealth minded think "what can I give?" knowing that by giving they will likely be setting themselves up to get even more. (what goes around comes around.) Poor people believe in luck. Wealth minded people take luck out of the game knowing what can go wrong will go wrong(Murphy's Law), but make things work regardless.

Poor minded people are bitter about their life circumstances. Wealth minded people go through many hard times but they try to be thankful because they know they can still succeed. Poor people tend to plan for the best but are pessimistic for the worst. Wealth minded people plan for the worst but are optimistic for the best. Poor people watch things happen. Wealth minded people make things happen. Poor minded people hate challenge, learning and discipline because it hurts to grow. Wealth minded people love challenge, learning and discipline because they know there is no gain without pain, and the more they stretch, the wealthier they will become.

Poor minded people dwell on mistakes and become depressed. Wealth minded people learn from mistakes and become all the smarter from them. Poor minded people never let go of past failure. Wealth minded people only live in the present and think about the future. Poor minded people excuse themselves because of their problems. Wealth minded people look past their problems and see the opportunities that exist beyond them. Poor minded people are afraid to do anything. Wealth minded people take action despite their fear, even if they have to begin with small steps.

If you have a poor person mentality you will read this and think it doesn't apply to you. If you're a wealth minded person you will read this, remember that you are destined to be a winner, and do what it takes to accomplish it.

[Harrison]

I love when people try to legitimize their way of life and defame another in the same sweeping generalization, when all that matters is if the person functions, happily, or not.

You want to sacrifice your friends, family, etc. for fucking paper, do so. Don't expect everyone to be the epitome of greed and materialistic obsession as you are however.

When I had an apartment with my sister I was poor as fuck, but I wasn't unhappy. Supporting three kids and my sister wasn't exactly easy, but at least someone was willing to do it. Their father certainly was not...

If I went the route you did, I'd feel like a pathetic shell of a man who sacrificed integrity for fucking money. That quite frankly sickens me and explains a lot.

[Jay]

I love when people try to legitimize their way of life and defame another in the same sweeping generalization, when all that matters is if the person functions, happily, or not.

You want to sacrifice your friends, family, etc. for fucking paper, do so. Don't expect everyone to be the epitome of greed and materialistic obsession as you are however.

When I had an apartment with my sister I was poor as fuck, but I wasn't unhappy. Supporting three kids and my sister wasn't exactly easy, but at least someone was willing to do it. Their father certainly was not...

If I went the route you did, I'd feel like a pathetic shell of a man who sacrificed integrity for fucking money. That quite frankly sickens me and explains a lot.

Well Harri, actually what you're doing right now is what you're accusing me of doing, which is being a pretentious twat. You live your life the way you choose. I choose to use my talents to build an empire. That's what I do, it's in my blood. I don't want my kids and my grandkids to ever worry about bills debt or anything like that and at the same time, I've been in a position which was considered hopeless and wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

I turned my back on my family because the only acceptable thing that I could do in my professional life is to be a doctor, lawyer, judge, pharmicist, own a salon, or a chain of salons, or a supermarket or do real estate. Asians have these stereotypes that are cute and whatnot, try living it. If you deviate from the above listed professions you're an idiot and failure. Not to mention some other private stuff that involved lawsuits and inheritances but hey.

My friends are not too different from yours Harri. Maybe not as hardcore but what they are are potheads who still live with their parents and strive for nothing more than the amount of money it costs to buy their next 8th for the week. Yeah, I love em, they were my guys, but the fact remains they aren't on the same level as I am. I am hungry. I want things out of life.

And you think you're better than me because you supported your sister and her 3 kids. Cong dude. I applaud that. I'm sure you didn't do it for my approval though, you did it because that's what you felt you had to do. Since you want to put it on the table, I'll raise you a little bit. In pursuit of my own personal "greed" or goals as I'd like to put it, I've found careers for about 20-30 different people, I've organized about 500,000 in scholarship money for underpriviledged students and I've raised about 1.5 million for cancer research and treatment, 600,000 for aids awareness and research, 300,000 in programs that increase drug awareness and prevention etc etc. I've singlehandedly raised the standard of living for a small town of Walnut Creek, CA by having upscale events and festivals that raise money and attract affluent people to come and start businesses and homes there. I've probably helped more people than you'll ever help in your life Harrison, and I did it all to get paid and to have a successful career.

Call me an empty shell of a man all you want, but appearance and image enable the growth of the substance behind it. End of the day I'm only really in this for myself, but does that matter to the kid from the tenderloin part of San Francisco who got his chemotherapy because of the money we raised? I doubt it. How about the poor kid from West Oakland who gets to go to UC Davis next fall because I raised the money to pay his way through it? Don't think he cares either. You can say you have substance all you want and how you're a great human being and aren't shallow and uncaring like us greedy yuppies over here but at the end of the day, I have results and you have an extra 400-800 to blow on beer and buffalo wings per month because mommy owns the house.

[KaiineTN]

Kaiine, if you want to make some serious cash, first sit down by yourself and ask yourself what you are willing to do for the money. Don't give yourself the bullshit "whatever it takes" answer either because if you seriously think that, here's 5k if you wanna come suck me off. No seriously, think about what you're willing to do, what family you're willing to turn your back on, what friends you're willing to cut off and what sacrifices you are willing to make to get what you want. Take a couple of economics courses, go to the bank and learn about trusts, money markets, IRA's, etc etc. Find a small company to work for that is in a lucrative industry and start busting your fucking ass. Take the little money you will earn working your job and INVEST. Maybe one day, you can take over the company you work for or build your own modeled after what you've learned assuming you put your money away and didn't spend it on whatever stupid 17 year old you're into at the time. Sounds easy no? The key is demeanor. Try doing the same motherfucking thing for 3 years without bending once on your beliefs and goals. A lot harder than it sounds. You don't get to take a break. You don't get to be tired of it. You don't get to take a breather. You get to do plenty of sacrifice and miss out on plenty of life and what other people your age will be enjoying.

To give you an idea of what I mean, I worked 7 days a week 11 hours a day for 2 years straight. Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter were my days off. I stopped drinking because I was too afraid of it affecting my decisions. Haven't had a sip of liquor in 2 and a half years. I stopped smoking because I didn't want my clients to smell me. I lost weight because the automatic assumption is that fat people are lazy. I stopped gaming for 4 to 5 years to focus on my work because I knew that after my day was done I needed 8 hours of sleep to have a clear head for the next work day. That was a total of 5 years of commitment to my ultimate goal. I'm now starting to take 1 day off a week. I've ended plenty of relationships because they got in the way of my work. I dress like a flaming fag because CA people love it (I've grown comfortable to it myself actually). I stopped talking to all of my family because they told me I was crazy for doing what I thought was necessary to succeed. I cut out everything that remotely tried to detour me from what I needed to get done. That's what it takes. Good luck.

I don't think my goal will ever be to make a lot of cash. My goal is to have free time. I would consider myself a richer man if I could make 25,000 a year with 10 hours a week than 150,000 a year with 60 hours a week, for example. Sure, it would be nice to be able to afford some fancy toys, but I'm not the type to get caught up in the always-chasing-something-bigger-and-better mentality. I'm content with my life as it is, I'd be content if it got worse, and I'd be content if it got better. My motivation seems a bit different than that of most people.

I'm far too lazy to work as you do Jay. I know it, and everyone who knows me knows it. I enjoy being lazy so much that I am currently working hard to build a system that will allow me to live a lazy lifestyle. I don't want to work hard for 35-40 years so I can be lazy in retirement. I want to be lazy while I'm young. I don't care much for status symbols and the like, don't need a big house, fancy car, designer clothes, etc. If things go well with what I'm working on I could very well afford it, and then I will consider those things, but they are not and never will be the goal (with the possible exception of a Tesla Roadster! ;p).

[Jay]

Then what you need is a sales job. Sell a lot of whatever it is, cash in the commission, load your bowl when you get home after your 5 hour work day. Invention = work. Patent, marketing manufacturing and selling = work.

[Arlos]

I'm not as driven as Jay either, actually. Tech, though, will provide me with a quite reasonable salary, and if I can pick the right startup to get involved in, that can lead to real wealth. Just look at all the millionaires made at places like Google, etc. I had one shot at that once upon a time, but didn't realize it til far too late. Even going to an established company, if you're smart enough about options & employee investment matching, etc. you can make quite a bit off of it.

Sales certainly is a way to make big money, but I'm just not the right personality type to be happy doing sales. Just isn't my thing.

-Arlos

[KaiineTN]

I'm actually involved in something entirely different right now, but I'm not ready to disclose it yet. No patents, sales, or marketing to worry about. For now, let's just say I took a lesson from the Jews.

I have actually considered a sales job, though. I think I could learn a lot from one, but I'd have to be selling the right product for me. Since I'm a very introverted person, I tend to not be comfortable approaching people. It makes me feel intrusive, and as I wouldn't want someone to intrude in my space, I don't want to intrude on someone else's.

If I had a sales job in an electronics store or something similar, I don't think I'd have any problems approaching people looking at fancy gadgets and asking if I could be of any help, though. It's the whole concept of pushing the sale that tends to bother me, and that is what I would not do. I figure, the product should do the selling, not someone with charisma to spare and a fake smile. I actually have pretty strong feelings about this due to my negative experience with the military that was almost entirely caused by my recruiter's desire to meet his quota. He seemed like he would do and say anything to keep me in, but really all I was to him was a number that helped ensure he would get his paycheck. I certainly do not ever want to be that kind of salesman.

[brinstar]

deal drugs

[Jay]

Sales is a different animal man. There's certain things that it takes to be successful at it and you either have it or you don't. Like, any schmuck can wear a fake smile and sell a car, electronics, carpet, whatever it may be but the real successful sales people are the ones that wear the real smile. When I did sales I put my faith behind my product so I couldn't work for someone who made an inferior product. With the right product though, the idea becomes to basically train people on what you believe, that what you have is solid and worth the money. You don't have to be a scheister to be a good salesman but there are certainly those who are and make good money from it. I'm not good at the hustler type sales, what I am is good at overall presentation. A friend of mine works for San Francisco Toyota and pulls in between 7-10k a month. He's not a scheister either but he is extremely knowledgeable on his product, his competitor's product and can present you a Toyota like it's the greatest car ever created because he really believes that.

[Tossica]

I always thought I could sell things I was passionate about. AV stuff, music, etc. I've never really tried it but I could be very persuasive in an honest, sincere way if I am passionate about what I am talking about/selling.

[araby]

I figure you just do everything with everything you've got and you've made things simpler and better already.

[Tossica]

I figure you just do everything with everything you've got and you've made things simpler and better already.

Yep, pretty much.

You reap what you sew.

Surround yourself with positive people, set and achieve goals regularly even if small and become really good at something that you can take pride in. Those are a few key ingredients to a happy life. I don't think you necessarily need to obtain monetary wealth to lead a happy, successful life, you just need to make sure you are putting enough effort in to positive things to leave a positive, lasting impression on those around you. If you achieve that through money, that's cool but there are all kinds of other wealth that you can use as well. Art, music, religion, teaching, just caring about your fellow human being in general, etc.

[10sun]

Don't be a salesman.
Be a confidence man & not the negative sort.
Have the client build confidence in you, your expertise, and your honesty.
Don't be afraid to say: I don't know the answer, but if you give me a few and I will get that answer to you.
Ask them what they need, don't just pressure towards the big sale.
Treat everybody the same, the low payout commission one day could lead to huge rewards in the future.

I helped out an 18 year old guy who was looking at buying a house, explained to him that he won't have established credit for the next two years which means he would have to go subprime etc etc etc, pretty much: "just wait to buy". He told his fiancee's father about me, the father applauded what I did, and got in touch with me. He was a serial rehabber, that is what he did for a living. He used me as his realtor 6 times in just over a year. During that time, I always did my research & found out the exact situations that families were in so that he could offer the bare minimum that they would accept. I knocked off, on average, 15% of the listing prices for him. I made our continued relationship worth his while.

-Adam