Early morning

It's 6:30am here. I've been up since 4:30. I only got about 45 minutes of sleep the night before so last night I went to bed at 9. Then I just woke up at 4:30. Which I am insanely happy about. I'll be tired again tonight by 10 or so. So hopefully this will jump start me onto a normal sleep schedule. I want to be getting up everyday by 5 or 6 am. I feel that's what it takes to be successful. Everyday when I wake up after 11am I feel like a loser. So that is holding me back. I think taking a step like getting up early everday will give me better results in life.

I have a job interview today at 9:45. I don't know anything about the place just called an ad from the Grand Rapids Press and they scheduled me for an interview. I am kinda suspicious about the place as the ad sounded like one of those too good to be true fraud things. But I figure I will at least go check it out and see if it's anything worthwhile.

Poker has progressed on. Haven't put up any results since the win sunday night which is fine. I truly believe karma is what caused me to win that tournament. I had done one little nice deed earlier in the day.

Once I secure a new job I have lots of plans on how to get rid of my money the fastest. I want to get a membership at a boxing gym and a personal trainer so that I can start learning to box. There are a lot of motivations behind me doing this. I also am gonna attempt to read some more books as I have a lot of free time. Basically I will just pick something that interests me and read the book on it. I will probably start with some books by successful business people.

I am working out a business plan. This plan will result in my life's work so it will take some time to finish. Basically any plan I formulate requires that I have a steady income to make it happen. So I really just need to find a way to make money now. Which is what I have been doing. I don't have tons of expenses. Pretty cheap rent, cable, groceries, gas. So if I can get a decent job soon I should be able to save some money and make all my dreams come true.

I am probably going to have a room mate soon I have been meeting different people who are interested. I am going to look for a church to attend. I will probably go to Mars Hill. I have heard lots of great things about it. I take so much for granted these days and never thank God like I should. I seem to only call on him regularly when things get really bad but I hope that that will change. I don't think I will ever be truly successful until I can have success in my relationship with the Lord.

Recently, one of my high school teachers sent me an email. We discussed different things like life goals and what's really important and he made a comment that really spoke to me. He said,

"Worshiping wealth is not the key to unlocking happiness. However, having enough wealth to permit us to travel and live out our dreams is certainly worth pursuing...as long as a balance is maintained. "

That statement couldn't ring more true to my life and what it's gonna take for me to be successful. I know that individual success can only truly be measured by one's self. That being said, I have set a very high standard for myself on a level of personal success. However, I think that all too often I think and act in a way that says if I want to be happy, I need to be super wealthy. That's the only way to real happiness. When in all reality that's not close to the truth. There are far more important things in this life than money. Notwithstanding, I feel that a realistic set of goals for maximum success in life should not neccessarily be to have millions and millions of dollars. But it should be to have enough money. How much is enough money? Enough money is the amount of money that you need to live the lifestyle that you want to live. For some people that's $50,000/year. for some that $500,000/year. Others it's more.

I think that this number is relatively simple to find out. Consider what you would do if money wasn't an issue. The life that you would lead. Find out how much it costs to lead that life. There is your number. People seem to think that you need 1 billion dollars in the bank to live a free lifestyle and do whatever you want. But that's not really the case. One big real estate guy I've heard speak said that between $40,000-$45,000/month is the amount you need in order to "check out". Meaning never having to worry about money again. But the lifestyle he described was a considerably lavish one.

It's up to each individual to say how much money they need to have enough. I just think that a lot of people are held back by thinking that in order to lead a happy life they need an amount of money that they can't ever attain. When that is far from the case.

One last thing. I think it's important to have clearly defined goals. But in order to achieve those goals it really helps if you are doing it for something bigger than yourself. You see, I have all of these high expectations for life. But I often ask myself. Why? For what reason do I want to be so successful. Mine is pretty straightforward.

#1. Family: I come from an extremely poor family. All through middle/high school I lived with my mother who was trying to raise 4 kids working for 8/hr. She has never been great with finances. But she's never had lots of money to be great with. I know how much she has sacrificed for my brother, sisters and I. I also know how difficult things are monetarily for her. I feel by attaining a high level of income I could do things for her that she wouldn't be able to do on her own. I don't want my mom to have to work anymore within 5 years from now. I just want to do better than my brothers and sisters really. :). My Dad and Stepmom support me a lot in the things I do. I don't know how much my drive for success is caused by them. But they definitely are helping me on my way.

#2. Wife: This adds on from family. I am 18 and single. But some day I will marry and have a family lord willing. I want to be successful so that I can provide a good life for my wife and children. I want my wife to be married to someone that she is proud to talk about. I want to go to career day at my kids school and have them be excited to have me there. I know this sounds so odd for an 18 year old to be considering. But that is the level I am thinking on.

#3. All the people who have done me good: I want to pay them back.

#4. Myself: Yeah me too.

What I have to stress is that when I talk about success I don't mean just making money. I want to lead a life that is worth mentioning. I plan on traveling in the next couple of years hopefully. I want to see the world. Have experiences to talk about. Not "Oh I went to high school, then college, then got married, I'll die soon too.". That's all for this post. Time for me to be getting on with the day.

Jordan Laubaugh