Burn The Ships!

99% of people are not willing to do what it takes to make their dreams come true. Choose to be the 1% who do.

“Greatness is not this wonderful, esoteric, elusive, god-like feature that only the special among us will ever taste, it’s something that truly exists in all of us.” ~Will Smith. 

Commit To Your Dream.

The phrase "Burn The Ships" is a metaphor that represents the act of fully committing to a new path without the possibility of retreat. The phrase is associated with the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and his conquest of the Aztec Empire in the 16th century. When Cortés and his men arrived in Mexico in 1519, they faced a formidable challenge and a hostile environment. To ensure the commitment and determination of his troops, Cortés reportedly ordered the burning of their ships, thereby eliminating any possibility of retreat. This act symbolized their unwavering resolve to succeed in their mission, leaving them with no choice but to move forward to conquer or perish. Burning the ships signifies a mindset shift that embraces change, confronts fears, and pushes beyond perceived limitations. For myself, the ships in my life are the things which make procrastinating easy: social media, junk food, TV, video games, etc. Uninstalling the time wasting apps and not buying the box of cookies is my modern day version of burning the ships. The only option left is to pursue my passion and focus on becoming a better version of myself. What ships in your life can you burn? What dreams are you procrastinating on? Well let me tell you the dream I choose to commit to.

Get rid of the distractions and pursue the life you’ve always wanted.

3 Things I Want in Life

1. Escape the corporate 9-5 grind by gaining financial independence via successful trading.

2. Build a community of like-minded individuals who desire financial freedom.

3. Give back to the community so that others may achieve their own dreams.

1. Who Am I?

Who am I? First & foremost, I am a husband and a father. I want to provide a wonderful life for my family without sacrificing potential time spent with them. The corporate 9-5 game is a fine path in life, but the older I get the more I realize I want to be in control of my own financial situation. I don’t want to spend the majority of my life with coworkers rather than my loved ones. I have a burning desire to become financially independent in order to provide for my family while gaining time back to create an abundance of memories with them. I want to cut through the bullshit that life throws at me and optimize my life. I want to spend more time connecting with others and creating memories rather than sitting at a desk working for others who don’t value my time.

How will I accomplish this? Well to be honest I’m not entirely sure, but I know the general direction to travel. My educational background is Quantitative Finance. I’m a Financial Risk Manager who handles the assets & liabilities for one of the largest real estate companies out there. I figured why not use my skill set for my own personal finances and at the same time see if I can help others along the way. I am going to research different trading strategies, build tools to track the data and document my successes and failures along the way. My hope, even if I fail, is to at least inspire others to pursue their own dreams. I may be an underdog trying to achieve wealth & freedom, but everyone loves an underdog story don’t they?

2. Collaborating With Others

“Your life will become better by making other lives better.” 

A community is where people with a shared passion, desire or mindset can come to together and collaborate on ideas. I am looking for a community of underdogs who want to be financially free. People who have a passion for trading. People who wish to optimize their life, burn the ships of distractions and become the best versions of themselves in order to help others. This community is for traders to share ideas, workers to share their journey toward financial independence and people to inspire others to pursue their dreams. If you’re reading this and think your dreams are a longshot, that the idea of having financial freedom is a fantasy, that there’s no way you of all people could truly achieve success outside of the corporate world then please follow along my journey. I don’t know if I’ll succeed, but watch this underdog try and perhaps you’ll be inspired to give your dreams a shot too.

3. CONTENT

All this sounds great, but what exactly will you be reading? Here’s what I plan on writing about:

• Explain wide variety of trading strategies in simplified concise manner.

• Be my own guinea pig by showing how a small trading account can put these ideas into action.

• Build tools to help track data in order to know which strategy to use and hopefully allow others in the community to use the same tools.

• Document my journey towards achieving financial freedom and escaping the corporate 9-5 grind.

4. Scoreboard

Progress is made where progress is measured.

Ultimately my success in life will come down to how many people have I helped along the way. I want to be transparent to not only those of you following me, but also to myself. Is the community growing and am I providing value to people’s lives? If we’re not helping others, then we should ask ourselves “What should we be doing differently?” So to keep myself honest, I will make my progress tracking transparent. With that said, here is our current Community size:

Community Stats:

Substack Posts: 1
Total Views: 1 (My Wife)
Subscribers: 22
Twitter Followers: 106
Ships Left: 0
Motivation: Unlimited

5. My Journey Is Yours

I am excited to develop my skillset as a trader and to see how I can serve others. I’m also maybe a little nauseous at the thought of putting myself out there. Soon I will take on a small trading account challenge, summarize numerous trading strategies in simplified concise ways, and explain the tools being created for the community. We’ll also have some fun highlighting others who successfully pursued their passion in life.

The one thing I’ve learned by following others, is that anyone can pursue their passion and build their dream. Everyone can create their own opportunity to achieve financial freedom. My hope is by documenting my journey in pursuing financial freedom you will be inspired to build out your own dreams. Go burn your ships and commit to the life you’ve always dreamed of!

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