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Therein precisely is a HUGE problem. I was nearly homeless, then made more money than I could have ever imagined. I turned into a monster. 9 cars (yes, all f

Therein precisely is a HUGE problem. I was nearly homeless, then made more money than I could have ever imagined. I turned into a monster. 9 cars (yes, all for me) and other stupid crap that I'm ashamed even to recall now. Come to think of it, some of my buddies who made it out of the ghetto did the same thing, at first. It does take a while of being "secure" that the money isn't going to be taken away, before you start to think the way the author does. It's when you're surrounded by stuff and your life still feels empty. When you realize most the rappers were sellout pieces of garbage who, during the daytime socialize with the dentists they live next to if they can and rarely rap about how crappy a life surrounded with material wealth can also be. Fortunately, knowing a couple of billionaires helps. I sat down with one and expressed my frustration in how I felt and how I had slowly but surely become someone I never really aspired be. It was at this point in my life it suddenly hit me. I'd known this guy for a while and had never seen him flaunt his money like I did (and he had a lot more of it than me). Then he told me that money for him is a tool. If you start using it to become a "consumer", you become consumed by it. He is not just free to do whatever, because in some way that is selfish too. Rather he uses his money to help others and makes the most positive changes in the world that he can. I know that's true because it's not just his money but he actually devoted, the much more precious commodity, of time, to his philanthropic efforts. Efforts he started when he had money like me, except he decided early on to give his away rather than spend it on himself. It doesn't take a lot of money to be free. I live off less than a 1/3 of what I was before and have a few more in my family now (I was single before). I work with some amazing people and am trying to work on making things better for others on a daily basis. One non-profit I help out from time to time has been tackling the issue of homeless families (not substance abuse or psychiatric issue related, primarily economic issues), and not surprisingly, it's often about the parents' attitude towards money. It would be nice if they felt "secure" enough to understand that money won't buy happiness and were frugal by choice. It would really help if more people had the luxury to have the author's opinions, but thanks to culture/advertising or whatever, there's a large contingent of people who need to think about money differently but don't.

onedev 13y ago
I desperately want you to be Ghostface Killah. Fantastic story by the way. How did you acquire your wealth if you don't mind me asking?
- Killah911 13y ago
  Sorry to disappoint but I am another yet another programmer/techie who picked his handle based on early hip hop influences. Most of the money was thanks to entrepreneurial endeavors and code. I love building things. I still build, focus is just a bit different now.
  - downandout 13y ago
    Well hopefully your experience will be reflective of mine one day. My entrepreneurial ambitions and coding skills combined with multiple failed projects have taken me on the opposite journey - from relative wealth to relative poverty. I got screwed out of the one success I created - a company I was the technical co-founder of that was acquired for $64 million - by an unscrupulous partner who basically stole my $12.8 million stake and now fancies himself a televangelist. I am starting to lose hope that anything I create will be valuable ever again. Money definitely matters to me right now.
    - Killah911 13y ago
      Well, I'd love to say it was my sheer wit and coding genius. But truth of the matter is, there's a good bit of luck involved as well. The secret to success: get lucky. I got unlucky too. Found myself scrubbing toilets for $4/hr back in NYC at one point. It's nice to not have to do that anymore. If you can code, sure you might not be overrun with money, but at least you can still earn a decent living. At the end of the day, the most "successful" people I know do not measure their life in money stashed. The billionaire I mentioned, showed me that I didn't necessarily need to become a billionaire to be successful. He happened to be a billionaire and is successful because he's satisfied with who he is and what he is doing. Still wakes up at 4am to change the world for the better as he sees things, with what's in his capacity to do. When I was in NYC scrubbing toilets for a living, I shared my sandwich with someone else who needed it. That was positive impact I could make given my resources. When I got money, I just bought into the "good life" BS and became a consumer. I lived for nothing else but me. Turned into a certifiable asshole. It's hard to see it when you're in the midst of it. Once I began to see that I was lying to myself saying, "I'll start being me once I've made $x". I could be someone I'm happy to be, now. Six months of planning, get rid of crap, and learning to live with less and asking myself a many times a day, "am I living up to someone I can be happy with" seemed to remedy the problem. I've lost a good bit of $ to startups. Friends say maybe I'm afraid of making money, maybe they're right. But I sure as heck am happy being able to help. I hope I can get myself disciplined enough to the point when I get my next hit, I'll know whom beside me the money is going to. Wish you the best. Screw the losses, you know what you've built and nobody can take that away from you. Do the best with what you have, to me that's success. And if luck should shine upon you, hope you're still successful afterwards because that's where it's easy to slip up and take it easy. (Sorry if I'm too preachy, obviously I feel strongly about the subject)

onedev 13y ago

I desperately want you to be Ghostface Killah. Fantastic story by the way. How did you acquire your wealth if you don't mind me asking?

Killah911 13y ago
Sorry to disappoint but I am another yet another programmer/techie who picked his handle based on early hip hop influences. Most of the money was thanks to entrepreneurial endeavors and code. I love building things. I still build, focus is just a bit different now.
- downandout 13y ago
  Well hopefully your experience will be reflective of mine one day. My entrepreneurial ambitions and coding skills combined with multiple failed projects have taken me on the opposite journey - from relative wealth to relative poverty. I got screwed out of the one success I created - a company I was the technical co-founder of that was acquired for $64 million - by an unscrupulous partner who basically stole my $12.8 million stake and now fancies himself a televangelist. I am starting to lose hope that anything I create will be valuable ever again. Money definitely matters to me right now.
  - Killah911 13y ago
    Well, I'd love to say it was my sheer wit and coding genius. But truth of the matter is, there's a good bit of luck involved as well. The secret to success: get lucky. I got unlucky too. Found myself scrubbing toilets for $4/hr back in NYC at one point. It's nice to not have to do that anymore. If you can code, sure you might not be overrun with money, but at least you can still earn a decent living. At the end of the day, the most "successful" people I know do not measure their life in money stashed. The billionaire I mentioned, showed me that I didn't necessarily need to become a billionaire to be successful. He happened to be a billionaire and is successful because he's satisfied with who he is and what he is doing. Still wakes up at 4am to change the world for the better as he sees things, with what's in his capacity to do. When I was in NYC scrubbing toilets for a living, I shared my sandwich with someone else who needed it. That was positive impact I could make given my resources. When I got money, I just bought into the "good life" BS and became a consumer. I lived for nothing else but me. Turned into a certifiable asshole. It's hard to see it when you're in the midst of it. Once I began to see that I was lying to myself saying, "I'll start being me once I've made $x". I could be someone I'm happy to be, now. Six months of planning, get rid of crap, and learning to live with less and asking myself a many times a day, "am I living up to someone I can be happy with" seemed to remedy the problem. I've lost a good bit of $ to startups. Friends say maybe I'm afraid of making money, maybe they're right. But I sure as heck am happy being able to help. I hope I can get myself disciplined enough to the point when I get my next hit, I'll know whom beside me the money is going to. Wish you the best. Screw the losses, you know what you've built and nobody can take that away from you. Do the best with what you have, to me that's success. And if luck should shine upon you, hope you're still successful afterwards because that's where it's easy to slip up and take it easy. (Sorry if I'm too preachy, obviously I feel strongly about the subject)