This is a guest submission by Benny from GetBusyLivingBlog.com

Thanks to Steve for giving me the chance to share my story.

If you didn’t know me and I told you what I owned what would you think?

  • I live in a 1900 sq ft home two story home
  • I drive a 2002 BMW M3
  • I just got back from a two month paid vacation in Taipei, Taiwan visiting my fiance.
  • I have a black American Express Business Centurion card. It’s made of titanium.

How do I have all these things? I work in the family business, which is a successful Japanese restaurant. I help manage the place and work the bar on the weekends. It’s not very hard. In fact, you’d probably think I had it easy if you saw me at work.

It’s a job that I certainly didn’t expect to do after graduating with a sports management degree. I just started helping out while figuring out what I wanted to do.

That was ten years ago.

I’m not there because I love. No, I absolutely hate my job.

Yes that’s right. It’s meaningless to me. I feel brain dead working there. I don’t like thinking about work or being there. It’s just not for me and I’ve known that for at least 5 years.

I work nights and weekends. I work every holiday except for Thanksgiving, including Christmas!

I’ve lost my patience for “the customer is always right” philosophy. Trust me, they aren’t. Is a customer right when they finish all their food and then they didn’t like it?

I don’t like getting the “what do you do?” question because I’m ashamed. The worst is when people ask me if I’m taking over the family business. I usually make a joke about it instead of saying “@$%# no!!”

I feel like my life is better used than running a restaurant. The money would be great, however, the agony, stress, and depression wouldn’t be worth it. I would gladly trade all the things I listed earlier (minus the finace’) for a job I truly loved.

The reason I’m still there is that I bought a house before I realized that I needed out! My mortgage has kept me from quitting.

Needing An Escape

hands-on-prison-bars

From 2007-09 I took a leave from my dreadful job because I needed to get away. Work was killing me.

I went halfway around the world to Taipei, Taiwan to study Chinese. I thought the time while I was away I would figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Great! I thought I’d come back and start brand new. Instead I came back and went back to the same job because I had no other options. I only blame myself.

The experience wasn’t a total loss however. It was great in that I didn’t have to think about my job for two whole years! I also met my fiancé there and I’m so thankful for that. We even lived together for three months in beautiful Sydney, Australia while she was taking teaching classes. How amazing is that?

The happiness ended when I came back in February 2009 and thought I’d go back to only a few days each week. Of course that didn’t work out and it turned into 6 days. My life had come full circle and I was back in the same old grind.

It’s Time For A Change!

I’ve always been interested in the web. My first website was back in 1995 when I created a page about watching a taping of “The Late Show with David Letterman”. I wrote about how I got tickets, lined up, and what to expect. It became one of the go to sites in the niche. This was back when stat counters were cool.

I’ve always spent a lot of time on the computer. Maybe too much sometimes. So I figured I enjoy being on the computer and the Internet, why not find a way to make it my living?

I’ve kept the idea of full time blogging in my head for as long as I can remember. I used to run a sports blog for 2 years and have started countless blogs only to lose interest quickly. I’ve even owned Get Busy Living for more than two years but didn’t do anything to make it successful.

So much for taking my own blog’s advice, huh?

Then one day in October 2010 I had another stressful night at work. I felt frustrated and depressed at my situation. I’ve had countless nights like that but this time I had enough! I came home, typed a manifesto to myself to stop this life of unhappiness and wasting my time doing nothing.

I’ve taped it to the wall behind my computer and on the bathroom mirror. I see it everyday.

Not The Only Change I Needed

I’ve always been one to exercise and try to not eat too much junk food. In 2010, both slowly faded away.  My stress led me to laziness and overeating. My pants were getting tight.

I stepped on the scale and I was 189 pounds! Shocking for me because I’ve always been around 165-175 since college. I was disappointed in myself. If I didn’t stop this unhealthy lifestyle, I knew I would continue to gain weight.

I thought to myself, “What goal could I set to push me to lose weight?” I made a crazy goal of a half marathon cause I knew with all that running I would lose weight. I signed up for one three months away. I trained and changed my diet. That helped tremendously with my energy level and motivation.

Three months later, I ran my first half marathon finishing in 2:04, lost 15 pounds and felt great! This past February I ran my second half marathon in 1:58.

It was during this time I started finding blogs again about people talking about making money online, working anywhere with an internet connection, and living life on your own terms. Without running, I may not have begun to take action.

The Journey Begins With A Single Step

steps

I started my blog, Get Busy Living, three months ago. I wish i had started three years ago. It’s amazing what three months of dedicated work will do. It consumes me all day but I love it. So far on this journey I’ve met great people doing great things so far online. It’s those kind of people I want to surround myself with, learn from, and help in anyway.

We just want to leave our boring meaningless jobs, work on projects that we love, and wake up feeling excited to live. It sounds very simple and it’s possible cause there are so many doing that right now. If they can do it why can’t we?

The goal for my blog is to empower others to stop feeling sorry for your life and embrace it like it’s the only life you’ve got. We’re all amazing individuals but need to take away the years of self-doubt to truly live.

I know a blog alone isn’t a business but I have to treat it that way if I want out of my job. So I will look for ways to create products and promote others.

I’m working on other income streams and starting with an iPhone photo app. It’s something I’ve wanted to do since last year but finally took action. I’m excited and nervous about it. I’ve spent more time and money than I anticipated but I’ve enjoyed the process. Expect it before the end of June.

Slow And Steady Wins The Race

After years of inaction, I’m taking action. I’m still figuring out what excites me every day but I know when I create, I find it exciting. When I’m helping people be remarkable, it’s exciting.

Am I on the right path? I believe so. I don’t have a laid out plan cause in life plans change. I’m moving forward and that’s the only direction to go.

For me, the only option is this. I had my breaking point. I will leave my job. I only wish I had started preparing sooner.

Benny is a 33 year old living in Jacksonville, FL. He feels 2011 will be his best year so far. He’s not going to passively live life anymore but show life how he wants it. He hopes to show you’re meant for an exciting life at GetBusyLivingblog.com. Feel free to follow him through Twitter or Facebook and say hi.

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