What decision would you do in my current state.

I'm 18 years old, finishing 4th year of high school and deciding for a college. I live in Croatia, I have passed all grades with the best mark 5, (4.5) exactly. I'm good in most of subjects but what I'm after is mostly, like most people are, to make some good money but with doing something that I like and without going through torture of slavor work from 9 to 5.

Any suggestion or ideas?

This might be useful:

http://boldanddetermined.com/2013/11/07/...ould-know/

You want freedom and a good amount of money (most people):

1) Find your passion - hopefully it makes money on it's own if it doesn't you need to make a blog, sell e-books, videos etc... about this passion you do day in and day out.

2) Find the most lucrative work you can be interested in (not love) that allows remote/international possibilities and be a badass in it. (Software / The Trades)

3) Run an e-commerce website.

4) Make a product and sell it.

5) Become a bartender at really high end venue in a city that tips well and call it a life.

Quote: (01-29-2015 05:23 PM)harveyspecter Wrote:  

What decision would you do in my current state.

I'm 18 years old, finishing 4th year of high school and deciding for a college. I live in Croatia, I have passed all grades with the best mark 5, (4.5) exactly. I'm good in most of subjects but what I'm after is mostly, like most people are, to make some good money but with doing something that I like and without going through torture of slavor work from 9 to 5.

Any suggestion or ideas?

Do you want to be a lover, a fighter, or a bookworm?

If I was 18 I would be planning my spring break in Panama City Florida right now. The last thing on my mind would be working. You have your whole life to work. Go make some mistakes man.

- Luisaceo

Thanks.

- Travesty444

I like going out and talking with women but I'm not in a near good level to be writing a blog about it.

I'm currently working as a soccer referee at weekends so I can earn pocket money.

Making a product?

Bartender isn't attractive job to me.

- Aliblahba

Elaborate?

- LINUX

Yeah, beacuse I have money to waste easily like that.

   


Get in shape in the next year and join the military. Get tough and learn leadership. Get as much cross training with other militaries as possible. Take some online classes if time permits.

Exit military and go to engineering school. Now your a beast and fuck every split tail roaming campus. Graduate. Go forth and make money.


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Quote: (01-29-2015 05:23 PM)harveyspecter Wrote:  

What decision would you do in my current state.

I'm 18 years old, finishing 4th year of high school and deciding for a college. I live in Croatia, I have passed all grades with the best mark 5, (4.5) exactly. I'm good in most of subjects but what I'm after is mostly, like most people are, to make some good money but with doing something that I like and without going through torture of slavor work from 9 to 5.

Any suggestion or ideas?

Apart from supposedly chasing tail and maybe drinking beer, what are your interests? This might be a good start to get an idea of what kind of work to look at.

- Aliblahba

This is too brutal for me.

Also, I know this could be called as whining but I have back problems and scoliosis. In spite of that I'm trying to get fit and have start excersing to get stronger and bigger but without the exercises that can hurt my back.

- Cheetah

I like to play chess in my free time even though I'm not a type of person like most of chess players and I'm not on some professional level.

In addition, I enjoy playing poker and have earn some money in that field.

I think I'm good in being creative and looking outside of the box.

I can't really think of something else than that.

Quote: (01-29-2015 05:23 PM)harveyspecter Wrote:  

What decision would you do in my current state.

I'm 18 years old, finishing 4th year of high school and deciding for a college. I live in Croatia, I have passed all grades with the best mark 5, (4.5) exactly. I'm good in most of subjects but what I'm after is mostly, like most people are, to make some good money but with doing something that I like and without going through torture of slavor work from 9 to 5.

Any suggestion or ideas?

awesome to see a fellow 18 year old with my exact predicament, except for the fact that i am home schooled and work for my father. E-fistbump to ya

(edit) thought not to say this predicament is very fun and or that i am glad you are in it.

Quote: (01-29-2015 06:30 PM)harveyspecter Wrote:  

- Aliblahba

This is too brutal for me.

Also, I know this could be called as whining but I have back problems and scoliosis. In spite of that I'm trying to get fit and have start excersing to get stronger and bigger but without the exercises that can hurt my back.

- Cheetah

I like to play chess in my free time even though I'm not a type of person like most of chess players and I'm not on some professional level.

In addition, I enjoy playing poker and have earn some money in that field.

I think I'm good in being creative and looking outside of the box.

I can't really think of something else than that.

Air traffic controller?

There are tests online asking you several questions and then come up with some suggestions of professions. If the test is good the professions should be reasonably relevant.

You are young. Many employers don't want applicants anyway who haven't done something else but studying. Do something for a year, travel, work or something that you want to do. Get some life experience which would probably also help you when choosing career path.

I would've joined the Marines and asked for a non-desk job. Maybe armor?

There was even a war.


If you join the US Marines you can use that to get your US citizenship (America haters go away).

In all honesty the 9 - 5 lifestyle isn't all too bad. You get stability/routine, health etc benefits, pension plans, advancement after so many years and a moderate to good paycheque.

guys here just don't like it because you have to conform to corporate life and deal with tons of bureaucracy/bitchy old childless women. Plus there aren't too many lifestyle benefits or transferable skills (to real life)

you could work a commission/or tips based job. you can strike it gold one day and get nothing the next. good social skill builder but a huge time suck and stress causer.

you could work a trade or construction but work is cyclical. some months there is tons of work and others there is not much. I'm working in this right now. come summer time I might be making up to 10 grand a month but I'll be working around the clock. even right now I'm pulling 16 hour days getting a couple hours of sleep then going to another job for another few hours

each type of job has its own pros and cons

my advice to you would be to take a year off. take the first job you can get, fuck the first girl you can, travel whenever you have free time.

At your age you have next to no experience/perspective as to what life is actually like. A few years later where I am I still don't have that much of a clue but I'm starting to understand it bit by bit.

The one truth I know for sure is that there is no quick fix, there is no perfect decision, and there are no right answers.

don't smoke crack, don't get into debt and don't get a girl pregnant. If you can do those three things you'll be fine as long as you keep moving forward and analyzing what you're actually doing

Quote: (01-29-2015 06:30 PM)harveyspecter Wrote:  

I think I'm good in being creative and looking outside of the box.

If you are not a liar you can use that to come up with a product people want to use and sell it.

Coming up with a product that sells itself is the fastest ticket to freedom ($ and passive income), but also the one that takes the most work upfront and perseverance. It is a gigantic test in delayed gratification.

Man, hindsight is 20/20 but it's hard to say.

As I see it, there should be a few general topics kicking around in your head.

You should be thinking of a craft, idea, product, or profession that will provide a comfortable life for you. When I say comfortable, I mean being able to pay rent on time. Don't worry about anything more ambitious than that at the moment.

You should be thinking of your physical fitness. Do NOT underestimate this. I had chronic back pain at your age too and only in the last couple years have I practically cured myself through exercise and proper chiropractic care.

You should be thinking of fucking girls. Duh.

You should be thinking of finding a place to spend your late teens/early 20s. I would not recommend big expensive cities.

You should be thinking of being extremely present and living a carefree, slightly decadent lifestyle. Youth is a fleeting treasure that you will never have ever again.

I'll use myself as an example. I didn't do too bad between 18-22, but there's definitely things I would have done differently. If I could do it all over again:

I'd skip culinary school and start working in restaurants asap. I'd spend a year with my girlfriend from 18-19 and then ditch her (I didn't break up with her until 23 and passed up god knows how many opportunities) I'd spend a year or two working in decent restaurants in L.A. and then I'd look into cooking overseas, probably France, and learn French. I'd live in a shithole studio working for a French asshole and becoming a badass chef while screwing as many French girls as possible. After a year or two of that I'd do the exact same thing in another country, maybe Italy. In my free time I'd be hiking, skiing, going to the gym, and reading. I'd meet local college kids, smoke weed, take psychedelics, take a 2 day trip to Corsica, stay up until sunrise, all that good shit.

I easily could have done this. I was on the right course. What fucked me up? Poor physical health, having a girlfriend, wasting time in cooking school, and not having any father figure or peers that kicked my ass in the right direction.

So in your case, whatever you're interested in doing, just do it. Learn from books and online. You may need to go through some formal training; just do the bare minimum that's required before you can go out in the real world and do it. Beyond that, focus on optimizing your health and becoming highly mobile. What you do after that is up to you.

I'm 19 and I recommend a few things.

- SAVE as much money as possible (retire well before 35)
- Read as much as you can about business, mindframes of success (4HWW, Millionaire Fast lane, 48 Laws of Power, Art of War.)

- Travel and learn another language. I would recommend to start: Spanish, French, Mandarin or Arabic. With a combination of 1-3 of these languages you'll pretty much be able to communicate anywhere in the world. Pick a 3rd world country and learn a language like Cambodian and start a business there.

These are DEVELOPING countries. IE: Opportunities to start a business. Businesses and services that were set in place 5-30 years ago in the first world are starting to take form in these Economies. Replicate past successes.

- Start a business. When working for someone else you are limited by the amount of hours you can work in a day. When you start a business (especially in the digital age, you can scale rapidly) you are only limited by your vision and scalability.

Go work in the oil patch, or start a landscaping crew, or work and do side jobs... Whatever it takes to get 10-15k in the bank. Skip higher education because it's bullshit. Go learn some life lessons.

Well...I'd be on an entirely different path altogether. With my ego issues resolved I would have said "fuck the military", dropped my West Point application, and put in applications for Wharton, Boothe, and Columbia. I would then have double majored in finance and a foreign language of my choice.....put in the time at an IB firm in New York, and then transferred to an office in Singapore, Zurich, Tokyo, or Hong Kong and stayed there permanently.

^ Careful what you wish for I know IB guys many are alcoholics and from so much work their family and friend relationships suffer greatly.

I still think if you want $ and freedom putting 70 hour weeks into creating a product and having it sold would be a nicer ticket than being an IBanker.

Those guys and their lifestyles and keeping up with the Joneses is on a whole other level.

I know one very close to me earns $1M a year personally would not trade places with him ever... his relationship with his wife and daughter is in shambles, he is a functioning alcoholic, he is addicted to high end luxuries, he is always working. Completley grey in his early 40s.

Quote: (01-29-2015 05:23 PM)harveyspecter Wrote:  

What would you do if you were 18 years old now?

Steal someone's Mercedes-Benz, drive across the country, stop at some roadhouses, do some shots of whiskey, get into a fight with some truckers, bang some hookers,....keep driving on down into Mexico, go to a bar, each some enchiladas, go dancing, punch somebody in the face, have sex with a hot Mexican hooker. Develop fluency in Spanish, find some teenage friends, start trolling college parties for girls. Bang girls.

***A more realistic path at 18 is to get into a university, then get into a long-term (at least a full semester, preferably a whole year) study abroad program, make friends at Mexican university, break into social circles/social proof, then comb university parties for campus tail. Not as cool sounding as the first way, but still would have lead to the same conclusion.***

I'd go to Arizona State and join the Frat that gets the most tail with plans to study abroad. And draw up ways to make passive income.

delete

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The first thing I'd suggest, if you can afford it, is to go to university outside of your home country. If not, the next best option is to spend a semester studying abroad.

Do internships abroad.

Learn how to code and start building some small hustles and business projects to see if any of them will take off - sort of like this guy: https://levels.io/

If I were 18 again I'd see the entire period of my twenties as a period to try to build interesting businesses and projects and try to become a wealthy man with a tech acquisition before 30.

Meet as many people as you can outside of your home country. Go spend some time in important world capitals like NYC, London, Singapore, Shanghai, Sao Paulo, and see if you can find local business opportunities of some sort.

If you are interested in Asia definitely spend some time in China and perhaps pick up some Mandarin.

You're going to get a lot of different suggestions in this thread.

Above all, I think most people would agree that you should TRAVEL.

Go see the world and learn how to get the most out of your dollar/euro/pound.

Try different lifestyles:

-Learn Mandarin and teach English in China.

-Do muay thai in Thailand while teaching English.

-Study abroad in Brazil

-Do an internship with a tech company in London or San Francisco

"Finding yourself" is a stupid cliche but it's also quite true in the context of traveling. By constantly forcing yourself to adapt to new surroundings and people, you will have a keener understanding of who you are and your strengths and weaknesses.

Then you will be able to answer the question of what you should do with your life.

-

^ All very good suggestions. I also recommend teaching English. However don't fall into the trap of drinking and chasing girls. If constant pussy is something you feel you need, go to a country like the Philippines to work and don't spend so much time gaming.

Teaching English in other countries:

-Experience new culture, travel solo
- Good money, earn enough to live on basically part time hours
- Take all the free time you have and start a business, online or offline. In developing countries it could be really expensive or really cheap and easy to work... Just depends, Colombia for example is hard for doing business from what I hear.

If I was to go back in time, I'd want to remember only one thing.

"If you are going to pursue post-secondary studies, do your travelling/studying abroad/language learning in other countries, before you acquire student debt and have loan payment obligations kick in any time you take a break from 'formal, payment deferring study.'"

Quote: (01-29-2015 10:37 PM)TravellingSoldier Wrote:  

I'm 19 and I recommend a few things.

- SAVE as much money as possible (retire well before 35)
- Read as much as you can about business, mindframes of success (4HWW, Millionaire Fast lane, 48 Laws of Power, Art of War.)

- Start a business. When working for someone else you are limited by the amount of hours you can work in a day. When you start a business (especially in the digital age, you can scale rapidly) you are only limited by your vision and scalability.

Skip higher education because it's bullshit. Go learn some life lessons.

Mate, at 19 you're definitely ahead of the curve.. I'm 25 and it's taken me a lot of travel, messing about and been broke a couple of times to realise the above, but i suppose it's better late then never.