Q2:"What was the biggest, most difficult challenge..."

December 17, 2014 marked my first anniversary as an entrepreneur and college drop-out. I invited friends to ask me about my journey. Here is the second of the series of questions and my response:

Q2: "What was the biggest, most difficult challenge you had to overcome within the year? How did you address the challenge and what was your mental attitude like before and after said challenge?"

One of the most difficult challenges I had was convincing people that I wasn't crazy. This blog post, in fact, is a sign of my victory. 12 months ago, I was afraid of people asking me, "So, what are you up to these days?" My, how the tables have turned! I was actually doing a mock-interview with a friend yesterday. He asked me whether I thought the minimum wage increase that will be implemented in Guam in January 2015 was good or bad, and I said that I couldn't really answer that question because I'm always telling people to stop working for the minimum wage and start working for what they're worth. He tried pinning me down with some other pointed questions, but it wasn't possible because of my "If you want more, get more" attitude.

(Me and my talented friend Amber Word hanging out at a networking event.)

When I finally made the decision to leave school in spring 2013, after facing the fact that I'd been hiding from my desire to leave school for a very long time, I had an extensive sit-down talk with one of my teachers. He did his best to convince me not to leave. If you think about it, I spoke with him at a very critical time. The semester was still going on, and it had been the best semester I'd ever experienced. Productive, drama-less, and educationally stimulating. In spite of all that goodness, I sat across from him for two hours and, in spite of his good intentions (which I really appreciated), I stuck to my guns, and said, "Don't worry. I'll check you in six months." 

(Me and the Brandi Hawthorne Co. brainstorming at Startup Weekend, November 2014)

I had come to see that the same time, money and energy I was using to get good grades in class could all be put toward achieving my dreams. Either I could start building my businesses right away and feel right about myself, or I could keep wasting time while I went crazy on the inside.

(Me and my fellow winners meeting one of our business role-models, Jeff Yager, at a conference in Michigan, October 2014.)

I've had several encounters with other people I respect, and it was honestly very hard to think of what to say to them. The "most people aren't even able to use their majors anyway" answer didn't work with everybody, and I began to realize that wasn't really one of my reasons for leaving school. I used to feel a little lost for words when someone would say, "But having a degree helps; even if you don't use your major, you can still get a good job." I don't know how long it took, but after a while, what I felt inside of me finally found it's way out of my mouth one day: "But I don't want to have a job."

(Me and 10,000 other people who don't want jobs, either, at a conference in Michigan, November 2014.)

Crazy, right? But that was the truth, and I've stuck to it.

Practical tips:

• Be honest with yourself and stick to your values. The rest will follow.
• Know what your time is worth and spend it on the things that align with your goals and dreams (don't waste time trying to please others when it comes to how you make your living).
• Allow yourself to begin to know what you want your life to be like, and use your time, money and energy to get there.