4 Powerful Life Questions That Motivated My Writing Journey

So I’ve lived 50% of my expected lifetime…

I was mulling over this after cooking my ass off for two days straight.

The first Thanksgiving I’d had with my family since my second child was born.

It had been an exhausting few days, but very fulfilling…

As this was also my birthday, I was reflecting on my life as well.

So I asked myself 4 questions…

I had achieved a good bit up to this point:

• Racked up 7 degrees across different disciplines

• Lived with my family in 2 different countries, both in terms of language and culture

• Successfully paid off both mine and my wife’s student loans with my money from my career as an engineer

• Been among the youngest tenure-track professors in my State

• Worked for several high-tech companies in the computer hardware space

and yet, I felt like I personally was disconnected from the world.

These accomplishments were based on what I knew…

not who I was…

I had spent the vast majority of my life subscribed to the standard model of living that every immigrant household hammers into their children:

• get married

• raise a family

• get good grades

• listen to your elders

• practice a martial art

• get a high-paying job

• don’t forget your roots

• play one musical instrument

• become a lawyer/engineer/doctor

• get an advanced degree for that career

• do extracurricular activities for college applications

And the most frightening part of it all:

pass this system on to the next generation

…and make them do it all better than you!

Somewhere along the way, I started to color outside the lines…like

• become Prom King

• play computer games

• pick up a second musical instrument

• be part of a college dance team for 8 years

• become proficient in two styles of martial arts

• sing and act in theater productions in both inside and outside venues

• travel up and down the East Coast of the US to learn and compete in swing dance

• made a viral music video that melted university servers and spread around the world to other institutions before YouTube existed

None of these things helped me in my career…

but I was more proud of these accomplishments than the previous list!

Yet it wouldn’t matter professionally…

I was a test-engineer and a family man.

This is what I have to show for 40 years of my life.

I wasn’t satisfied.

Zzzzzzzz…

Too late.

I fell asleep.

The answer came a few days later.

I found Dan Koe on YouTube talking about the solopreneur economy.

It was a gateway to a path that enabled me to have my cake and eat it, too.

Over the next few weeks, I consumed his content.

As my 2023 New Year’s Resolution, I decided to dedicate my year to giving writing in public a shot…

It’s May.

This is the result of 5 months of effort.

I didn’t feel like enough because I wasn’t writing enough.

If you feel this way, you’re not alone.

It doesn’t matter how much you’ve done.

If your life is missing something right now, you’re not alone.

If it’s not enough, it’s probably not the whole picture for what you wished for.

I’m writing this in hopes to inspire and show you how I’m figuring all this out…

one word at a time.

Next week, I’ll tell you why I think journaling and writing are the foundations to self-mastery in everything you can do in life.

Until then,

Vince

P.S. Thanks for joining me on this crazy endeavor! If you don’t mind, I’d love to know why you decided to “stay awhile and listen”…

P.P.S. If you caught that reference, this is definitely the newsletter for you…I’m a huge nerd!