An excerpt from my upcoming book “From ‘Producer’ to Producer”.
Section: How you can use college to change your life.
One of the hardest things for an individual to do is to find a way to transition from one career to another.
You spend a good portion of your life working on something that doesn’t motivate you to get up every morning, yet you make just enough that quitting would devastate you financially.
The answer to anyone making less than minimum wage regardless of where they live is to go back to school. With financial aid and work study programs an individual can make the same amount of money, while simultaneously earning a college degree and building a network.
Most companies will not work around an individual’s schedule. The answer is to find a group of people passionate about the same things that you are passionate about and committing to work together for 5 years.
Five years of working together will give you time to pool your resources together and afford cheap housing with people you know, shared investment in the outcome of the business and accountability as you all live together, a degree as you all will have the ability to finish college in four years and build individual networks with your side business being your own company.
College is the best way to find diverse, uniquely talented individuals. Everyone does not go to college, so the ones that do that you find interesting should be added to your network.
Major in something that you are passionate about, not something that will make you money. Nothing in life is guaranteed so enjoy the highs and lows doing what you love to do.
College isn’t for making money, College is for learning how to do your chosen profession better. You can leverage your college to ask for more money/value, but college in and of itself is not about money, it’s about the pursuit of knowledge.
There is a hierarchy to everything in life. In every field and in every category we all fall some where on a spectrum. To move up the spectrum you must constantly be learning and/or creating.
Things in motion stay in motion unless stopped by external forces. These external forces are our family, friends and outside stresses that do not matter in the long arc of your life.
Time management is important as time is the only thing you have control of in this world, and once it’s gone you can’t get it back.
Spend your time wisely and not on the distractions of life that will make you wonder where all the time went when you look into a mirror one day.
There is no point in going to college if you do not have the time to learn, college is about the pursuit of knowledge.
You must structure your life around school first and your business second. Family and friends must come third until your business can run itself.
Use school to build a network of like minded, hard working individuals. You know how hard it was for you to get into the school, they had to work equally as hard.
Nothing learned is a waste of time. Experience is valuable and the older and wiser you become the more time slows down. This is because you learn what is important and what is a waste of time.
When in school, be in school. Stay in school after class and ask follow ups, join study groups to make new friends, go for a walk or to the gym.
Work on campus and live near campus if possible, commutes can destroy motivation, make your life as simple as possible to achieve the best results.
Do not spend money on unnecessary items like a home or a car until you have started to become the person you want to be. In college live like a minimalist.
Living like a minimalist and using your financial aid and scholarship money to help fund yourself while building your business is a sure way of giving yourself time to become successful.
The hardest thing to do is to become successful while stressed out about money, going to school is investing time in yourself for financial aid and scholarships.
If you have to spend time doing something anyway for minimum wage it might as well be getting an education that you can capitalize on later.