My friends laughed behind my back. Years later, after I was successful, one of my friends told me about their jokes. They never believed I would make a living online.
My wife had kicked me out. Family on both sides were calling me… imploring me to give it up! They very adamantly told me, I was NOT going to be able to make a living online. It was 1999.
“If you’re going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don’t even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery–isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you’ll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you’re going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It’s the only good fight there is.”
― What Matters Most is How Well You Walk Through the Fire
Finding this quote from Charles Bukowski, inspired me to write this post. It’s if… he’s talking about me.
I was working in a feed mill. It was the summer time. People were on vacation. I was working twelve hours a day, six days per week. In my one-bedroom apartment, I would work another four to five hours every day, and go to work the next day without enough sleep.
I was on a high! I was “this close” to making money online. People I networked with online were already doing it. They were coaching me.
“If I want to open a flying school, I wouldn’t let a little thing, like, I don’t know how to fly a plane, hold me back.”
― author unknown
Likewise, I wasn’t going to take advice from friends and family who had never operated an online business. I was taking advice from people who were actually making money online.
I ran a successful business as a web developer for over 25+ years. I didn’t get rich, but I made a good living for my family and I, and we didn’t lack for anything.
I setup a forum on stevemaclellan.net, If you want to share your experience.