Looking Back . . . I’ve Come a Long Way Part 2
Apr 23rd, 2008 by Carlos
On Monday I admitted to the world that I’m a really nostalgic person and began a brief (or maybe not so brief since this is part 2) look back at how far I’ve come over the past few years. I left off in October 2006 after having worked out every for a month and then discovering NaNoWriMo. So here is part two that brings us from then until today:
- November 2006: So I discover National Novel Writing Month and continue on my strict, wake-up-before-work-and-write routine. Halfway through the month I realize I am well on my way to writing 50,000 words. The experience is a revelation that reminds me of the time I lived in Paris with no TV (which I should really write about, actually). I feel great every day that I write and it feels like my mind is on a bed of Italian fresh linen all the time. Hard to explain but the creative juices feed off each other and I keep writing like crazy. Thanksgiving hits and we go visit M’s family, which throws off my schedule because I got lazy. I end up at around 40,000 words. Still, now I know two things I didn’t know before: what it’s like to write every day (a real writer!) and that I can write a novel if I want. It’s possible.
- Late 2006: I read Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad and after that I start consuming all kinds of investment and personal finance books. My financial awakening continues.
- December 2006 and on: I continue writing every day before work and on the rare day I don’t (a hangover, more often than not) I feel lazy and slow.
- Early 2007: Don’t remember when it hit me, but all of the sudden I decide I need to launch another blog besides my “personal” one that covers all kinds of random things that no one really reads about anyway. Only this one will be about what it’s like to be a foreigner in the US. I start it and am committed to it.
- A little later in 2007: I realize that the new blog is too vague and I’m not fully invested in it. So I start bouncing around ideas for a new blog—this one a serious one—that’s about writing and money management. I’m reading tons of of stuff online about how to get started and I’m excited to get started. I use my early-morning routine to work on the blog and ideas for the blog.
- April 2007: I propose to Mindy and she repeats over and over “Are you serious??” before finally saying yes. The official beginning of “us” is here. We agree to move in together in September and start looking for a place.
- September 2007: We move in together into a sweet place that overlooks Lake Michigan—we’re right on the lake and we have a gym in the building, a doorman, and all kinds of crazy things I never thought I’d have. I’m shocked.
- Late 2007: The new blog is underway and I find I can actually write about money and writing over and over and over and not only am I not bored, I find it helps me out with both my own finances and my writing. A win win if I ever heard of one.
- 2008: Lots happens. I interview for this new job that calls itself “financial blogging.” It would pay substantially more and part of me knows that this is something that needs to happen before we get married. A man always feels like he has to “provide,” no matter how progressive the world has gotten. Sorry, that’s just the way it is. The job sounds interesting and after the interview I’m jazzed—it has a money aspect to it and it also is out there to help new people learn to invest. So I can use what I know and my perspective as an “outsider” in the finance world to help new people like I was learn the basics to get started. They call me back and ask me for more and more samples. Thanks to the blog I have tons of samples and eventually I get the call: I got the job. I’m stoked to leave my old job and start a “serious” job in downtown Chicago. I now have to dress up and it makes me feel like a totally “financially ready to get married” person. Which is good, the wedding is in May.
Right now I’m sitting on M’s old couch, it’s sitting in our living room and I’m looking out the window at Lake Michigan. The view is awesome. There is a brand-new 40-inch TV that is freakin’ sweet straight in front of me. HD, all that good stuff. I’m writing (still) on my blog, getting more and more comments and readers (which feels awesome) and M and I are eager and happy to start our lives together.
I can’t help but look back to where I was when I first moved in to Chicago: poor, a student, single and lonely, and living in a crappy efficiency with no furniture.
I don’t like to jinx things but you know what? I’m happy. And that’s all you can ask, even if I don’t have all the money in the world.
It looks like you have come a long way…congratulations! Can you tell us more about the job? I remember when you first started you didn’t want to divulge too much here, but I am curious to learn more about blogging as a career (not just a side career). Any advice you can share is appreciated.
Unfortunately, I still can’t say too much about it, although as soon as we get closer and closer to launch I will be shouting about it from the rooftops.
It is my personal opinion that looking back, remembering, is one of the best, most healthy things one can do–for a lot of reasons. Mostly, I think it’s good for making you thankful for how far you’ve come and for the hard things that worked for good along the way, just as much as the good things that always seemed good.
Fun to read!
Hey WC! Great synopsis for how it all began
I just had to write something on Financial Samurai to comment on your post on whether you should buy a place with only 13% down. It’s an important topic that I thought was well worth addressing.
Blogs like yours help inspire me to write. So please keep up the good work! Hope you can come visit and share some common ground.
Best