I am a human being. I am not a rat.
You are not a rat. You are a human being.
We are not meant to chase cheese in a maze.
Society is a maze.
It’s a trap.
In order to escape the maze, we need a map.
A map and a compass.
The compass is more important than the map. The compass is your spirit.
It’s your intuition.
The map is made along the way to record your unique journey and share it with others.
The goal is for you to remember how to tap into your spirit and use your compass.
The goal is for you to create your own unique map with your own unique adventures and paths.
You can use my map to help guide you but not forever, eventually you will need to develop the skills to guide yourself.
As your skills develop and you become a master of your own path you can help guide others on their path.
We all have skills we have developed along our journey, and we can borrow and give these skills to and from each other.
We have to.
Along my journey of life, I’ve acquired a particular set of unique skills and knowledge.
My skills and expertise are in:
Soccer- (including, field, freestyle and street soccer.) Fitness- (weightlifting/calisthenics) Nutrition/herbology Horticulture/agriculture/gardening- Spirituality-(philosophy/mindset/psychology) Business/marketing/ personal branding Parenting/co-parenting Relationships Writing/reading/ communication
These are all skill-sets that can help people in this maze we call life.
Without the knowledge and skills to navigate through, over and around life’s challenges we cannot escape the maze.
Most of this type of knowledge is not taught in schools or is outdated.
Or the knowledge is manipulated to keep us trapped in the maze.
Much of “education” is actually indoctrination.
Real education is liberating.
Knowledge is meant to free us not keep us enslaved.
Self-education is crucial because it is unique to who we are.
We are all different and have our own interests and needs as individuals.
Self-education is curated and customized to our interests and needs.
Traditional school can’t keep up with the constantly changing world.
Nor can it cater to the individual.
It just can’t.
It’s your responsibility to take your education into your own hands and learn what is needed for yourself according to where you are in your life and where you want to go.
Learning needs to be meaningful to really have value.
If you just learn something to chase the cheese at the end of the maze you will just get caught in the rat race and never escape the maze.
Money is not the only goal.
Living an authentic life true to who you are and the freedom to follow your interests is the goal.
Money allows this freedom.
So yes, one of the goals is money.
Money is the key to escape the maze.
It is a means to an end. To break the chains of the matrix.
The problem is making money itself does not bring fulfillment.
People find fulfillment in their work when they feel like they’re fulfilling their purpose.
When they are doing work that is meaningful to them.
This is part of escaping the rat race.
Because we all need money. There’s no way around that but when all we’re doing is chasing the cheddar then that’s when it becomes a trap.
You’re spending your two most valuable resources on something that doesn’t align with who you are at your core.
Your time and energy.
Your time and energy are the most valuable resources ever. You can never get time and energy back.
What’s spent it spent, however you spend it.
Spending your time and energy to gain money so you can spend the money on stupid shit is the trap.
This is the trap that most people spend their lives running around in.
Their job they work never allows for personal growth.
Your job usually caps your personal development.
You don’t have time and energy to self-actualize.
You can’t develop yourself beyond the job that consumes 8 hours (or 1/3) of your life or more.
You’re stuck at where you’re at.
You’re what Seth Godin calls “Sheep Walkers”.
You’re stuck on autopilot.
Being stuck in the rat race is not your fault.
You were ushered into it and told that it’s just the way things are.
It’s the system we were born into.
It’s not your fault but it is your problem and your choice. It’s your responsibility to get out of it.
Nobody is going to get you out of it but you.
Nobody is coming to save you.
You have to save yourself.
The good thing is you’re not bound by chains.
It is not a physical maze your stuck in.
It’s a mental maze.
And there is a way out.
The first thing you have to do is zoom out.
Pull your mind out of the maze.
Breathe.
You got this.
There is so much opportunity in today’s world.
The internet has broke open the gates to freedom.
The internet has eliminated the gatekeepers of knowledge.
Remember, knowledge and skills are what will free you.
Be grateful for this.
You literally have the keys to escape the maze in your hands right this second.
Change your mind and you will change your circumstances.
If you don’t change your mind, then nothing will change.
It’s all mental.
Your job or school isn’t all bad.
Wherever you are at in life use it as leverage to acquire skills and knowledge and build a network.
Use where you’re at as a stepping stone.
Working on yourself should always be your main job.
You are your life’s work.
Not your job or school.
You need to use any extra time on personal development.
Jim Rohn on Personal Development:
Right now, we will focus on skill acquisition and knowledge acquisition.
You need to diligently plan your escape like Andy Dufrane in the movie “Shawshank Redemption”.
I outlined and bullet-pointed most of this newsletter while on the job working in the rat race.
I’ve been planning and constructing my escape for some time now.
One of my jobs is working in the cannabis industry at different operations in California.
At a certain time in my life, it was a fulfilling job.
I get paid well, I love cannabis and the cannabis culture, I’m a freelancer which comes with a good amount of freedom, and I work with people I enjoy working with.
At some point I realized I could sell my services (energy), but I don’t have to sell my time necessarily.
I encourage you too, to see this in your life if it applies to you.
What I mean is that I realized I was wasting valuable time.
I realized I could do the work that needed to be done but learn while I was on the job.
The job allowed me to get paid for my services while learning and reprogramming my mind.
I had the opportunity to educate myself in business, money, mindset/philosophy/ and other knowledge that will allow me to escape the rat race.
I immersed myself in audio-books and podcasts that are conducive to my escape.
You should too.
Whether it be on the way to work, at work, on breaks or whenever possible you should be obsessed with planning your escape.
You should be obsessed as if you’re life depends on it.
Your life does depend on it.
Build on the job.
You should not be a mindless rat running around the maze chasing cheese.
You shouldn’t be scrolling on social media to numb and dumb your mind.
You should stimulate your mind with useful knowledge.
The best place to start is with mindset.
You literally need to brainwash yourself to see the world and yourself differently.
The matrix has you programmed to operate in the matrix.
You have to reprogram your mind to grow beyond this trap.
Eliminate all distractions and anything that isn’t conducive to your escape.
When you cut out distractions it will make room for the things you need to focus on.
Like Aristotle said..”Horror vacui” or “nature abhors vacuums”
This will take time and effort.
In order to take control of your life you have to cut out distractions and fill the void with productive learning and productive work.
It’s like a muscle that will grow because of repetition, and it will become easier as time passes.
Don’t take this process lightly, it is critical to the trajectory of your life.
So first and foremost is the development of your mindset and worldview.
This is not a phase of growth this is a lifelong learning and practicing endeavor.
Next on the list is knowledge and skill acquisition.
What knowledge and skills can you learn what will allow you to escape rat race?
Remember, money is essential. So how can you monetize your interests?
Meditate on this. It may take some time and experimentation to figure it out, or you might already know what it is. This could take months or even years to figure out.
We’re in this for the long game.
This isn’t for the short sighted or weak minded.
This is survival of the fittest where only the strong survive.
You will feel like quitting at some point but what’s the alternative?
The unsatisfactory unfulfilling life you already live.
So, re-frame your thinking to the long view and be strong.
The whole point is to build yourself beyond your current mindset and skill-set.
It doesn’t happen overnight.
You might experience imposter syndrome but that’s because you’re stepping into a new identity.
A new you.
You should be excited for this.
You don’t want to stay stuck and keep living the same way.
Tell people what you’re doing and let them know you’re becoming a new person.
Own your new journey and your new identity!
Don’t shy away from it or you will never get to where you need to go.
Be bold and be courageous.
Your new journey requires this of you.
You have to break your old identity to mold your new one.
You have to break free from your own self-imposed limitations.
Once you’ve developed yourself to where you feel confident in your chosen field it’s time to get your hands dirty.
You need to put yourself out there.
Whether it be products or a service you provide, you need to get it out to the market and get feedback.
This can take months or even years too but it’s necessary in order to escape.
You have to put in the reps and learn everything you need to learn aside from the theory of it.
You need skin in the game.
For me I started with growing microgreens.
I literally started with the least amount of investment.
I learned about the ins and outs of growing the crops.
Then I scaled up.
I got out into the market and got feedback.
I learned what the people wanted.
All while learning about the business side of things like marketing, advertising and sales.
I learned about the regulations within the market.
I continued to scale, and I keep continuing to scale.
I’m also getting into the education side of the business because I learned that’s what the market wants.
My goal in the next 3 months is to be at the point where I can rely on this to completely provide myself with this endeavor and also hire some help.
I can sell my knowledge and create another stream of income from this one single interest of mine.
I plan to do this by doing workshops and also selling online courses.
Once I get to the point where I hire help, I can put the business on cruise control and focus on my other fields of expertise. Fitness/nutrition and soccer.
Within this year I don’t plan on working a job for someone else.
I only plan on working on my own business.
It’ been a long time coming. I’ve been planning and saving money for this escape for years now.
I finally feel confident in my skills and in myself as a man that can achieve the goals I set out for.
Like I said in my last newsletter “The Million Dollar Man” is more important than anything. The man that is capable of pulling it all off is the ultimate goal.
The business itself is the challenge that will fortify and make that man.
When I escape the rat race, I plan to help others escape as well.
Remember, we are humans.
We are not rats in a maze.