[cadetanderson]

Hey guys,

Relatively new to the forum. Have been reading for a while but just joined a few weeks ago. Anyway, i'll be graduating in a year, starting senior year at my college in august and graduate in may. I'll be getting a double major in spanish and psychology but to be honest i don't want to do anything really with those majors. Due to the debt I have accumulated, probably around 80k when i graduate, and because i go to a military college, I've been cocnsidering joining the USMC as an officer, doing that for 3-4 years and perhaps getting language training through them (already speak portuguese and spanish pretty fluently), so I thought that would be like killing two birds with one stone.

Also, if i do the military route, i'll get the g.i. bill after i get out, and my dad has told me he would help pay off my debt after college. After the military if I do that route, I plan on getting my MBA due to practically free tuition in california state schools where I live because my father was in the military for 20 years. After the MBA, i could either do one of two things: typical 9-5 working at a good consulting firm like my dad and just get really good at that and be successful, or try and form my own start up.

Basically, my question is, if I'm primarily and almost solely interested in money rather than location-independence, is the start-up really all it's cracked up to be money wise? With a good consulting job at a tier one firm I just don't see how the start-up could compare in 99% of scenarios.

Anyone with insight into this matter who could help me figure out where I am better off please respond. I currently don't really have any skills except for the fact that I am bilingual, so i thought of being an interpreter after i graduate for a few years, but then it would probably be best to join the military and do that with them.

Right now I'm currently in the process of writing e-books (erotica) and selling them on amazon. I've made a few sales thus far with only two books, and believe I can get it to take off to make at least a couple hundred a month. Should I continue with this and try to get into affiliate marketing (I've heard amazon is relatively easy to make a few thousand a month) or just keep trying to grow my e books?



Again, my number one priority is money, and here are my goals, but even as far as the summer and in regard to everything that is preached on this site about spending most of your time on one goal, I'm confused where I should invest my time. Would i be better off increasing my fluency in spanish, or creating a website, youtube channel, blog, reading a bunch of books on business? I just have read a lot about the 10k rule and at this point in my life I really only want to focus and hone in one one maybe maximum two things and reach mastery in those skills so as to reap the most amount of reward from them monetarily, starting with my time home during the summer. Basically my question is at this point in my life in order to best use my time and in order to achieve the kind of goal i want, purely monetary income, where am I best investing all or nearly all of my time, and what one thing is this/could this be based on what I've said?

Most likely, given that my father worked at Mckinsey for a few years, and my fairly high cumulative gpa upon graduation, I am fairly confident with his connections and my grades I could get a job at a tier two consulting firm (Deloitte..etc.); although I doubt this is the best corporate job to leave me with time to work on generating passive income.

I too have been inspired by reading all the threads on Asia and have interest in living there (Japan).

Goals
List of All goals-Theodore R. Anderson (order impertinent)

increase Fluency in Spanish (self-improvement, fun , skill).
increase Fluency in Portuguese (self-improvement, fun , skill).
Update style/wardrobe (self-improvement)
Start business and make a million dollars(5, 10 million,25, 50 million,75, 100 million)? vs. consulting firm like bcg or mckinsey
Get an MBA at california school (working toward career)
Graduate from VMI Double Major (may 2015)
200 lbs, 12-13% body fat (self-improvement)
Dating abundance/getting girls I want (self-improvement)
USMC 3-4 Years? (potential job)
Interpreter? (potential job)
Read books (on business etc/fiction for relaxation/self-improvement)?
Write/blog/journal/website? (making money)
.Youtube channel? (starting a business)?
.Meditation (self-improvement)
Lucid Dreaming (fun)
Macroeconomics/Astronomy (summer classes) 10+ hours a week commitment )
Lifeguarding for summer (commitment) 40+ hours a week
Tutoring Spanish for summer (commitment) whenever
Surfing/hiking (fun)
Focus enhancing drugs (coffee, modafinil, etc.) (want to gain more focus, energy).
After MBA, consulting firm or start-up business (money, business)
Pay off college loans (getting rid of debt)
Live in a city of 1 million + people (social goal)
Get ebooks to take off or look into affiliate marketing (making passive income)
Travel the world (especially South America). (fun, cultural exploration)


Thanks, guys. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

-Theo

[cadetanderson]

(07-10-2014 06:52 PM)cadetanderson Wrote:  

Hey guys,

Relatively new to the forum. Have been reading for a while but just joined a few weeks ago. Anyway, i'll be graduating in a year, starting senior year at my college in august and graduate in may. I'll be getting a double major in spanish and psychology but to be honest i don't want to do anything really with those majors. Due to the debt I have accumulated, probably around 80k when i graduate, and because i go to a military college, I've been cocnsidering joining the USMC as an officer, doing that for 3-4 years and perhaps getting language training through them (already speak portuguese and spanish pretty fluently), so I thought that would be like killing two birds with one stone.

Also, if i do the military route, i'll get the g.i. bill after i get out, and my dad has told me he would help pay off my debt after college. After the military if I do that route, I plan on getting my MBA due to practically free tuition in california state schools where I live because my father was in the military for 20 years. After the MBA, i could either do one of two things: typical 9-5 working at a good consulting firm like my dad and just get really good at that and be successful, or try and form my own start up.

Basically, my question is, if I'm primarily and almost solely interested in money rather than location-independence, is the start-up really all it's cracked up to be money wise? With a good consulting job at a tier one firm I just don't see how the start-up could compare in 99% of scenarios.

Anyone with insight into this matter who could help me figure out where I am better off please respond. I currently don't really have any skills except for the fact that I am bilingual, so i thought of being an interpreter after i graduate for a few years, but then it would probably be best to join the military and do that with them.

Right now I'm currently in the process of writing e-books (erotica) and selling them on amazon. I've made a few sales thus far with only two books, and believe I can get it to take off to make at least a couple hundred a month. Should I continue with this and try to get into affiliate marketing (I've heard amazon is relatively easy to make a few thousand a month) or just keep trying to grow my e books?



Again, my number one priority is money, and here are my goals, but even as far as the summer and in regard to everything that is preached on this site about spending most of your time on one goal, I'm confused where I should invest my time. Would i be better off increasing my fluency in spanish, or creating a website, youtube channel, blog, reading a bunch of books on business? I just have read a lot about the 10k rule and at this point in my life I really only want to focus and hone in one one maybe maximum two things and reach mastery in those skills so as to reap the most amount of reward from them monetarily, starting with my time home during the summer. Basically my question is at this point in my life in order to best use my time and in order to achieve the kind of goal i want, purely monetary income, where am I best investing all or nearly all of my time, and what one thing is this/could this be based on what I've said?

Most likely, given that my father worked at Mckinsey for a few years, and my fairly high cumulative gpa upon graduation, I am fairly confident with his connections and my grades I could get a job at a tier two consulting firm (Deloitte..etc.); although I doubt this is the best corporate job to leave me with time to work on generating passive income.

I too have been inspired by reading all the threads on Asia and have interest in living there (Japan).

Goals
List of All goals-Theodore R. Anderson (order impertinent)

increase Fluency in Spanish (self-improvement, fun , skill).
increase Fluency in Portuguese (self-improvement, fun , skill).
Update style/wardrobe (self-improvement)
Start business and make a million dollars(5, 10 million,25, 50 million,75, 100 million)? vs. consulting firm like bcg or mckinsey
Get an MBA at california school (working toward career)
Graduate from VMI Double Major (may 2015)
200 lbs, 12-13% body fat (self-improvement)
Dating abundance/getting girls I want (self-improvement)
USMC 3-4 Years? (potential job)
Interpreter? (potential job)
Read books (on business etc/fiction for relaxation/self-improvement)?
Write/blog/journal/website? (making money)
.Youtube channel? (starting a business)?
.Meditation (self-improvement)
Lucid Dreaming (fun)
Macroeconomics/Astronomy (summer classes) 10+ hours a week commitment )
Lifeguarding for summer (commitment) 40+ hours a week
Tutoring Spanish for summer (commitment) whenever
Surfing/hiking (fun)
Focus enhancing drugs (coffee, modafinil, etc.) (want to gain more focus, energy).
After MBA, consulting firm or start-up business (money, business)
Pay off college loans (getting rid of debt)
Live in a city of 1 million + people (social goal)
Get ebooks to take off or look into affiliate marketing (making passive income)
Travel the world (especially South America). (fun, cultural exploration)


Thanks, guys. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

-Theo

Anyone?

[Cobra]

Wow dude. You have a HUGE list of goals but your mind has not organized them into true priorities.

I think you need to pick a path and these smaller goals (e.g. travel) will follow.

Your potential paths seem to be military-mba-startup, military-mba-consulting or selling e-books (not sure why the fact that this is erotica is relevant). Then you also talk about location independence which only fits into your last path.

That's what I read but I also got confused in how you organized your post which is why I started off with what I did.

Scan the military posts and threads in the forum. I actually remember writing a post about what to consider when joining the military that may help you.

Startups are tough. If you have a mentor and/or solid connections, great but if not, you need to get ready for a few years of losses.

Selling e-books is also tough to make a living off of, again you need connections. I'm not familiar with the area so I won't comment much further.

Location independence is great but you're giving up a lot. With consulting you can make some solid dough and then maybe think about the e-books or pursue it part time.

Overall, what motivates you? What are your passions? What do you really want out of life? Tell us this and it'll become easier to put your options in context.

[cadetanderson]

(07-11-2014 03:14 PM)Cobra Wrote:  

Wow dude. You have a HUGE list of goals but your mind has not organized them into true priorities.

I think you need to pick a path and these smaller goals (e.g. travel) will follow.

Your potential paths seem to be military-mba-startup, military-mba-consulting or selling e-books (not sure why the fact that this is erotica is relevant). Then you also talk about location independence which only fits into your last path.

That's what I read but I also got confused in how you organized your post which is why I started off with what I did.

Scan the military posts and threads in the forum. I actually remember writing a post about what to consider when joining the military that may help you.

Startups are tough. If you have a mentor and/or solid connections, great but if not, you need to get ready for a few years of losses.

Selling e-books is also tough to make a living off of, again you need connections. I'm not familiar with the area so I won't comment much further.

Location independence is great but you're giving up a lot. With consulting you can make some solid dough and then maybe think about the e-books or pursue it part time.

Overall, what motivates you? What are your passions? What do you really want out of life? Tell us this and it'll become easier to put your options in context.

Honestly I am at a loss here in terms of motivation other than wanting to be able to travel without having to worry about how much it costs. I like learning languages and yeah I'd like a nice house, car, etc...but there's not one real thing other than just a materialistic hedonistic sort of vision that most people seem to have (albeit mine being perhaps a bit more than most people are willing to admit.)

I'll probably be best off getting a coporate job at least for a few years but I'd like to get out of at as quickly as possible and actually get into a lucrative non 9-5 business..

My main issue is even with writing the ebooks like erotica is it doesn't fully hold my attention, like I'm not passionate about it. Do i just need to wake up and realize that the job i'm kind of describing (passionate and lucrative) is non-existent and there are trade-offs? Should I look into something else?

I'm being serious when I say I haven't really found anything that holds my interest..everything just seems to wane.

Things i really like/ interests would be : getting girls, languages, writing, reading, traveling, lifting..(nothing too specific or capable of making a lot of money).

[Peregrine]

Stop thinking, start doing. Your questions will be answered through action, not thought.

[GyopoPlayboy]

Yes, I agree with Peregrine.

It sounds to me like whats really going on is you dont want to make a decision because you fear it will be the "wrong" choice.

When the reality of the situation is that everybody who is happy and successful got to where they are by just doing things without a 100% guarantee that its the right track.

You will make mistakes this way like we all do. But it will give you a clearer idea of who you are and what really motivates you.

[Goodtimez]

There's a lot going on here, I'll see if I can help.

First, your post summarized:

Do you choose a "typical 9-5 working at a good consulting firm" or working at a start-up?

Evaluation Criteria:
Your main goal: Money
Your secondary goals: A bunch of random sh*t

Personally, I'd stay away from the start-up for now. Your odds of success at a start-up straight out of school, when you have no idea what exactly you want to do, are likely pretty low. You are right when you say that 99% of the time the start up won't compare.

Now, let's talk about your approach:
USMC -> MBA at California State School -> "9-5 consulting job"

Alright. Where to start? I'll just rattle of some stuff:

* USMC is a fine career choice. That said, if you have a 4.0 from Harvard, it's not the best choice. You say you have a good GPA, but I've never heard of VMI, and I don't know what their reputation is, and I don't know what the implications of being a military college are. That said, if you're smart and hard working, you can likely make more money, faster, than going into the marines

* MBA at California School. I went to a top 5 MBA program, and I racked up about $150k of debt. I also paid of this debt within 2.5 years because the prestige allowed me to get a high-paying job. The point is, getting a "free" degree is great, but with an MBA, the prestige of the degree is really important. If you can get into Berkeley-- cool. Otherwise, I'd care more about Harvard/Standford/Wharton/Etc. than getting the degree paid for

* Consulting jobs aren't 9-5. I currently work at McKinsey, and I spent a couple of years at another firm. M-Th I work 14-15 hours per day (Fridays lighter). I often sleep on a plane Sunday night while traveling to a client site, rather than in a bed. Consulting at McKinsey/Bain/BCG is tough. It's not a 9-5.

* If you're going to do a tough career, consider finance. I have friends that are investment bankers that make more money, and the hours during the week are similar. They also work weekends, which sucks. However, they don't have to travel

* It's great that your dad worked at McK, but you may still struggle to get into MBB depending on his influence. That said, if he can get you in you should do this instead of USMC.

* Consulting/banking are good for making money, but the worst choice possible for your all of your other goals (e.g., meditation, 200 lbs and low bodyfat, read books, learn languages). While at these jobs your life is pretty focused on your job work -- there's not a lot of personal time, especially during the week. That said, if you are frugal, you can save up and "retire" at a pretty young age

* What about other career choices? Something between climbing the ladder as fast as possible (e.g., Consulting/Banking) and a military job.

Summary:
Start-ups can be tough, and I'd wait a bit to get other skills under your belt first. To get these skills, the USMC is a fine option. However, if you can leverage connections for MBB that would be better for your career, although worse for your lifestyle. I don't know what the USMC path looks like, but other corporate jobs might be an option, too.

[Cobra]

Yes ACTION is important but motivation and a DRIVE are necessary for a startup.

No offense but I don't see the drive in you (going just by the post) required for starting a company from scratch. Even if you have the best mentor there are a LOT of factors affecting success that need to be DRIVEN by you, period.

USMC will develop that drive and likely so will a top MBA and a top consulting gig.

Just my take.

[cadetanderson]

Thanks for all the advice. I see where everyone is coming from, and I think that's my problem, not being able to ensure certainty, but that's inevitable.

Cobra, why did you say you don't see the drive in me?

[Cobra]

^ Reasons I saw an issue with drive highlighted below in bold. Not individually, but I saw a pattern. I think you need to figure out how to add some priority to the intangible value to your career before deciding that the tangible money part is your number one priority. That's just my opinion.

(07-10-2014 06:52 PM)cadetanderson Wrote:  

Also, if i do the military route, i'll get the g.i. bill after i get out, and my dad has told me he would help pay off my debt after college. After the military if I do that route, I plan on getting my MBA due to practically free tuition in california state schools where I live because my father was in the military for 20 years. wn start up.

(07-10-2014 06:52 PM)cadetanderson Wrote:  

Basically, my question is, if I'm primarily and almost solely interested in money rather than location-independence, is the start-up really all it's cracked up to be money wise? With a good consulting job at a tier one firm I just don't see how the start-up could compare in 99% of scenarios.

(07-10-2014 06:52 PM)cadetanderson Wrote:  

Again, my number one priority is money, and here are my goals, but even as far as the summer and in regard to everything that is preached on this site about spending most of your time on one goal, I'm confused where I should invest my time.