[jake1720]

Hey Guys,

I'm currently almost 22 just coming out of a bunch of health issues and I was looking for some guidance for what to do from some of you older guys who have been through all of this already.

I'm actually just coming out of a rut. The past month was hell after trying a job at a floorhand. Didn't work out and I got some weird anxiety. Not a big deal, it still goes on the resume and I plan on going through the same connection later but at a higher level (we're really good friends and fraternity brothers). The money would have been nice but I can recover from that. I feel like the 2 months of relaxing and working on paid traffic would be much better in the long term. Getting my health back instead of continuing to run myself into the ground. I keep telling myself to go back but I know getting my body back in shape will be much better in the long run (I'm super type A and never want to quit, Lol).

I'm going to head to Denver for a month with my dad and spend my time learning paid traffic and working out/banging girls/relaxing. Get out of my rut and get some momentum for business.

I have two more years to finish my petroleum engineering degree (I'll be 23). Pretty high GPA and some pretty good connections in the oil industry. The industry is booming right now and I know from experience it can be a ton of fun.

I have around ~20k which is going to be used to pay for school and i'm using it to learn pay per click/media buying (I know you can bank hard here. It's my current business venture and hobby). I might be in debt coming out but my parents have promised they will help me pay for the rest of school so I will most likely avoid debt. My dad has been doing great in the market lately. My dad seems fine with tossing me several grand for school here and there.

My brother is going to join the navy to study nuclear propulsion so he's not going to need to help pay for his college.

Alternatively I work out a lot and hit the gym multiple times a week. I'm working on making more connections in the industry but I already have more than I need. I'm also looking at a ~3.7 GPA.

I have already partied a lot and gotten it a lot out of my system, though I wouldn't mind seeing quite a few more women. I hear it only gets easier as you get older. Additionally I have followed RSD the past several years and gotten fairly decent at cold approach pickup. I'm not amazing by any means but at the looks of it in 1-2 more years I will be a deadly beast.

I have already traveled all over the world (or so it seems). I may try to go abroad again in the spring. We'll see what happens.

Any advice (or where to go from here) would be greatly appreciated.

[ryanf]

What advice are you specifically looking for?

It sounds like you are already on the right path. You've found this place, which puts you ahead of 99% of other early 20s guys out there. The standard advice for new guys applies: hit the gym aggressively, eat right, learn martial arts, read books, research and apply game. Plenty of threads on here to do that.

The traveling is good, and your education is on point. I know several guys into the pay-per-click buying and analytics business, you will likely be able to find a job, although the starting pay will be average (depending on the area). The companies that hire for that particular work are usually pretty brutal, churn-and-burn kind of companies that hire young people at low pay and then work them hard hours (think start-up type mentality). They are also pretty harsh on GPA, so if you can bump that up closer to 4.0, I would suggest that highly.

I've known a few of these guys to go into consulting on paid click media, have their own business and can be pretty lucrative. The petroleum job sounds interesting.

Ruts are ephemeral, they come and go. The best advice I have ever received from a mentor is "Work your way out of a rut. Work as hard as you can, put in ridiculous hours, doesn't matter if it's at the gym, work, or just cleaning your house." His theory was that focusing hard on a task can redirect that bad feeling you get when you feel "stuck."

If you need a car, get a used one. Check the Internet for reliability factors, get one that is good on gas. Fuck getting a nice car for girls, that shit doesn't work anymore. Save as much money as possible.

And final advice (assuming I know what you are really asking), is if you can get your own place, do it. Get a decent place, but try not to spend too much. Don't get an apartment from one of those apartment "farm" companies. Find a privately owned condo or townhome, and rent it. You get more bang for your buck. If you can afford to purchase, that's a better investment.

Have fun.

[jake1720]

The petroleum engineering is the easy way into the big oil giants such as BP, exxon, etc. Also has the highest starting salary of any college major. With any luck I'll get an oil company to pay for my world travels while bringing home six figures a year. The paid traffic is a hobby I hope to make some decent money off of. It's also something I can do from anywhere in the world and be location independent. If I do end up moving to a different country I can hop on it and keep it going.

Thanks for the advice on coming out of the rut. Sadly I signed a contract with one of the bigger housing "farms". Mostly due to the incredible amount of sorority girls that frequent through it (It's also a party hotspot). Otherwise I would stay far away. I have a shitty used car, but my dad might go to Thailand and give me his. We'll see what happens.

All in all it seems great. Should be great.

[The Reactionary Tree]

Pay off debts from school asap one you graduate. Don't go off the deep end buying dumb shit with your newfound wealth. Keep learning and practicing game to get chicks. Once your health issue clears up, hit the gym to remain in top physical condition. I would avoid any serious long term relationships at this point.

Something to consider would be to live a very minimalist lifestyle in your twenties and just invest like a mad man to set yourself up nicely for an early retirement.

Maybe do some more traveling if that's your thing.

Read lots of good books once you graduate. Maybe learn some skills like cars or self defense.

[From Vegas to Tokyo]

I cannot advocate enough for having a minimalist lifestyle, with some money in the bank.

There's nothing like knowing that if you needed to, you could walk away from wherever you are tomorrow and fly halfway across the world. Liquidity is also huge, so while it's fine to be tied up in things like stocks and bonds, things get a lot more complicated when you have hard, less liquid assets (real estate, semi-valuable car, etc).

You can live a perfectly fine lifestyle on most starting salaries, especially in your industry, in the locations you will work in. If your bankroll growth consistently outpaces your lifestyle, you're going to be doing fantastic in a few years.

I'd recommend keeping things simple. Avoid impulse and big-ticket purchases, decide what really makes you happy and spend money there. The only 'big ticket' items I own are a laptop computer, a TV, and a bed. I've got some nice clothes, sure, but you'd be suprised on how little you need to survive. Then, when you finally do want something, you can buy it without having to leverage to the hilt like 99% of your peers do.

Personal finance and lifestyle enhancement are actually pretty straightforward, especially when you're young. If you can live like a spartan, don't buy more than you can afford, and have your income outpace your spending, you'll be set, and have built up a comfortable cushion in case shit hits the fan.

Good job creating alternative income streams, you never know when you will need it.

[jake1720]

Thanks,

I like the "fly halfway around the world" part the most lol.

I actually snapped this past month because of life events and I am sort of re-evaluating my life. I think I will stick with petroleum engineering whist aggressively pursuing paid traffic. I felt severely out of control of my life. I don't mind living frugally but too much bad shit happened.

I'm working on the paid traffic aspect so that I can keep working on it throughout graduating and traveling the world. Nothing like being in any country in the world and making decent $$. Knowing I could always ditch the job and move far far away would be very nice.

[The Reactionary Tree]

Minimalism is definitely the way to go. What good does flashing your money around do? I make a six figure salary and I can tell you that wearing nice clothes or driving a really nice car isnt going to make women want to sleep with you. If anything, it will just attract the wrong types of women towards you. Game will always beat money.

Besides, if you make a very nice salary and live like a minimalist, you could end up like this guy: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

He's retired in his 30s. Working until your 60s is overrated. I dont know about you, but I'd like to retire as soon as possible.

Besides, all the cool shit you want to buy, you'd probably only use it a few times and it will sit in a closet unused. Only buy stuff if you need it.

[apoclater]

Hope I'm not hijacking this thread - but just had a question for all those who are suggesting minimalism. I'm all for quelling the desire to buy new gadgets, big purchases, etc - but my biggest expensive besides rent and food right now are dates. I spend at minimum $25-30 on 4 drinks per date, and when you're doing 2-3 per week that really adds up, even on a $70k/year salary.

Anyone have any success or tips in living minimalist while gaming?

[The Reactionary Tree]

(06-17-2014 10:30 PM)apoclater Wrote:  

Hope I'm not hijacking this thread - but just had a question for all those who are suggesting minimalism. I'm all for quelling the desire to buy new gadgets, big purchases, etc - but my biggest expensive besides rent and food right now are dates. I spend at minimum $25-30 on 4 drinks per date, and when you're doing 2-3 per week that really adds up, even on a $70k/year salary.

Anyone have any success or tips in living minimalist while gaming?

Have you read Bang or Day Bang?

[travolta]

(06-15-2014 06:16 PM)jake1720 Wrote:  

I have around ~20k which is going to be used to pay for school and i'm using it to learn pay per click/media buying (I know you can bank hard here. It's my current business venture and hobby).

The first piece of advice I'd offer is to not listen to ANYBODY who is not in a position that you'd like to be in. If you wouldn't be happy to trade positions with somebody then you should flat out ignore their opinion on the subject.

The second piece of advice I'd offer is to put school and partying on hold and invest all of that 20k into learning paid traffic. Go ALL IN on learning paid traffic. If you put $3k/month into it then you'll have over 6.5 months to make something happen. The barrier to entry is getting higher as the days pass, so it's better to start learning paid traffic ASAP rather than putting it off. Going to school will never make you rich. Investing $20k into paid traffic is a WAY better use of time and education than school.

[From Vegas to Tokyo]

(06-17-2014 10:30 PM)apoclater Wrote:  

Hope I'm not hijacking this thread - but just had a question for all those who are suggesting minimalism. I'm all for quelling the desire to buy new gadgets, big purchases, etc - but my biggest expensive besides rent and food right now are dates. I spend at minimum $25-30 on 4 drinks per date, and when you're doing 2-3 per week that really adds up, even on a $70k/year salary.

Anyone have any success or tips in living minimalist while gaming?

If you're not making a ton of money, you don't need to spend a lot on dates.

If you're with a younger chick, (18-23) she won't care. a $3 frozen pizza and an $8 netflix subscription will get you laid more than spending $100+ on her at bars.

If you're with an older chick, go out to a real dive, where drinks are cheap. There are some cool dive bars in just about every city, where drinks can be had for ~$2 typically. NYC will be a little more, but there will always be cheap bars. You don't need more than 1 or 2, and you don't need to buy her hers if you play it right.

Young girls, 4 dates a week for a month will cost you 20x$3 for frozen pizza and $8 for netflix. $68 a month should be totally doable, especially on '70k'.

Old girls, 4 dates a week for a month will cost you 20x2x$2 = $80, that's not as much as most peoples' cell phone bills.

No need to drop $500+ a month if you don't want to or don't have the cash.

[jake1720]

Alright. I'm re-evaluating the paid traffic route. I've been talking to people and I understand there is a LOT of competition in that area - I honestly don't want to drop out of school with a blind dream. I know there's a pot of gold at the top but there's probably also several thousand guys in their parents basement trying the exact same thing.

I've been launching campaigns and nothing seems to stick. It seems dumb to go that route when the competition is intense and I don't have 14 hours a day to sit in front of a computer and launch campaigns.

Although a big part of me is still VERY entrepreneurial - the world seems a bit scarier now (that I'm almost out of college). Working on finding mentors and such. I'm going to start brainstorming business Ideas and go from there.

[2014]

petroleum engineering degree is a good choice. People can make bank in that field

[jake1720]

(06-20-2014 01:05 AM)2014 Wrote:  

petroleum engineering degree is a good choice. People can make bank in that field

Definitely is. Most of my friends are pulling near 100k out of college.

[Blackmagic]

Jake, or anyone else, if you want to learn PPC/Media Buying, I can help ease your learning curve on that. I've been working for an ad network for about a year and a half and have been looking to get back into the affiliate game but just haven't had the cash to make a go at it. Drop me a PM if you're interested.

[jake1720]

Definitely am. I was trying to find a mentor but I couldn't find anyone after asking all of my connections. Seems like their all busy making too much cash lol. I'll send you a PM.