Goodbye Calvin

Deathly News

I am writing this draft weary-eyed after meditating on the news I had just received from an urgent phone call that startled me at the crack of dawn. A mutual acquaintance was asking me for the exact home address of a friend of ours because she had just received news that that particular friend had passed away.

Apparently he had suddenly passed away in the middle of the night when he put himself in the hospital due to constant coughing and shortness of breath. I had just spoken with him two days ago about preparing to develop several projects. We were supposed to meet in a few days at a coffee shop because he wanted to introduce me to a software developer who built his own DAW. Except for a bit on the obese side, his death was abrupt.

In the absence of any long-term illnesses, it is unnatural for a 40 year old to die under any circumstance. Even more rare for someone to die in a hospital in arm’s reach of professional medical care and assistance. I say this with the utmost respect for the medical industry, but the only logical explanation for his death is on the err of the hospital. Whether that be medical negligence, malpractice, misdiagnosis, or a simple mistake, that is the only natural conclusion after all is said and done. Calvin was buried and cremated the same day his death was officially announced. And no autopsy was reported nor taken into consideration.

We were supposed to do so many things together. We were supposed to work together and grow together. He was supposed to show me his German daughter. I was supposed to show him around Korea. We were supposed to go to Thailand together.
I still feel like he’s going to call me in the middle of the night telling me of his recent exploits in some Steam game, or bouncing ideas off me for a new project. I can’t make myself delete his contact on my phone.

After my initial instinct to be angry passed, the thoughts that came to mind was ‘Calvin, you did well. You fought well. I hope you’re in a better place. I hope you can take a well-deserved break before you begin your next journey.’ My biggest regret with Calvin is not having had any deep conversations exchanging ideas and our approaches to spirituality and the afterlife.

Calvin’s death is such a waste. He knew how to speak five different languages(Chinese, English, German, French, Russian). He was preparing to learn web development and Spanish. At the ripe age of 40, he had dreams and the skills to realize them. Given time, he definitely would have become successful and leave behind a legacy. He still did, helping those around him like myself to get into the SEO/SEM marketing industry having amassed quite a number of pupils and students that he never once charged for or asked for in return for his teachings.

Life and Death

In front of death, everything becomes meaningless. Nothing matters in front of death. At the same time, everything becomes meaningful. Because it begs the question ‘have you lived a meaningful life?’

Calvin’s sudden death has rattled me to the core. I have been jarred and have woken up with sudden clarity. His out of the blue death is a stark reminder of how fragile life is and everything was not meant to last. Some things in life are uncontrollable.
But there is still hope. We may not be able to control, but we definitely have the power to choose.
King Solomon had a ring and the inner side of it was etched with the words ‘And even this shall pass.’ so that only he would be able to see it. I will definitely do the same to remind myself whether sun or rain come, even this shall pass one day.
“Constant vigilance!” – Professor “Mad-eye” Moody, Harry Potter

What do we live for?
What do we stand for?
What is the meaning of life?
Why do we live the way we live?
How can I make my life meaningful?
Why do we compromise with ourselves?
What are the things that are actually important?
What do I need to do such that my life is not a waste?
Why do we allow ourselves to be forced to live a certain way?
→We live to live for a better life.

Wake Up!

We need to wake up and live. The majority of people go through their entire lives not living, and barely surviving. They live paycheck to paycheck. They live with a debt hanging above their heads like a French guillotine. And when they finally pay off their student loans after decades, they still have debt ranging from house mortgages, car loans, children’s education, and personal debts (asking an 18 year old to make a $50,000, long term loan financial decision for a piece of paper with little value in the real market is beyond my comprehension, if you ask me). They live in their workplace for decades and in return, for retirement they can get bare minimum medical care(if you’re lucky) living in a retirement home(if you’re lucky) living off measly pension funds. No wonder so many seniors continue working well into their 60s and 70s. What kind of life is that? But the truth is, a vast majority live out their lives like this. This kind of life is no different from chickens and cattle. Cows provide labor, sustenance, and offspring only to be slaughtered for their meat when they offer no other value. A full-time employee seems no different.

We all are animals, but we are not livestock. We have the potential to break the noose around our necks. It’s never easy, but breaking ties never is. The first step involves recognizing all the strands that force us to move like puppets. It also begs the question, ‘then who is the puppeteer?’ The next step involves mechanically cutting those strings and achieving total control of your life.
There seems to be 2 major ways to achieve a true living state:

1. The typical ‘follow your heart‘

• In the end, this is where we all should end up at. It takes great courage and grit(link to Grit book notes) like no other, almost to the point of foolishness to dive head first into your passion and heart’s desire. In the end, the world takes care of us, and the problems will solve themselves, but many passions are not directly related to becoming financially free. Usually it takes a creative twist(derivative) to reach comfortability.
• Becoming a father, snowboarding, surfing, fishing, cooking, traveling, eating or any physical domain is extremely difficult to become a professional and sustainable. As you spend more time and energy into the endeavor, inevitably, you will become a notable figure in the field as your passion would entice you to invest more time than others who have less passion for it.
• For those who want to know where to begin going down this path, I strongly suggest to take a look at this book that teaches you how to listen to your heart and ultimately live your heart’s desire.(link to Reality Transurfing book notes)

2. The realistic ‘get your money first‘

• This can be a lobster trap or ‘crabs in a bucket’ for most people. Your immediate network will mostly consist of employees like yourself and will try to drag you down and shoot down any ideas that could potentially have you leave them behind in the system. Many get stuck here and never go beyond this stage. Many just give up and accept the fact that a job is to keep the hungry wolves at bay and outside their work they can enjoy their well-deserved weekends and holidays only to dread for what’s to come on Monday.
• There is nothing wrong with getting a J-O-B, as long as it is considered as a temporary phase in life. Whether that be paying the bills or learning skills there should be a clear reason for this detour. The problem arises when the individual becomes complacent and addicted to conformity and a monthly salary; slave to the system.
• Starting a side-hustle is something you need to do after you get a job. You can either choose something related to your heart’s passion or focus on endeavors that can replace your current job’s salary.

Financial Freedom First

For those looking to go headfirst pursuing their passion, I can’t help you. I am taking a more pragmatic approach of ‘get your money first’ so if this doesn’t relate to you, you can stop reading from here.

Once you’ve come to realize you’ll need to create something. In order to escape the matrix, you will need to make a mental note of all the resources within your grasp. These resources are quite synonymous to the different types of power that my father endowed upon me since my youth so it’s worth mentioning here.

The 5 types of power:

1. Knowledge
2. Friends
3. Authority
4. Wisdom
5. Money

Resource searching questions:

1. What information do you or your network have that other people don’t have in a specific area? (Knowledge)
2. Who in your network can you ask to help you in any of the steps required to build your project? (Friends)
3. What expertise might you or your network have(or authoritative figure in the industry) that can speed up the process, make it smoother, or allow you to skip some steps altogether? (Authority)
4. What experience(combined with knowledge = wisdom) do you or your network have the other people do not have access to? (Wisdom)
5. How much capital do you or your network have that can be used for your project? (Money)
   According to what is immediately available to you, you will be able to determine the range of options that are currently open to you to make your first money-making machine. (For some strange reason, I always visualize a washing machine when I say this.)

Another important thing to consider is what your income goal is. Certain projects will have clear income generating limitations while others will have much higher upscale potential.

• What kind of lifestyle do you want to live?
• How much money would you need to make to support that kind of lifestyle?
  Reverse engineer what that would look like on a yearly, monthly, weekly, daily, time period. Then you can start considering what project options are left that could help you sustain that level of lifestyle.

To be more realistic, it is also best to determine the lowest level of acceptable comfortability.

• What is the bare minimum lifestyle that you willing to accept and still be satisfied?
• How much money would you need to make on a YMWD time period?
  This should be your initial income goal you should be pursuing for your side project. Once this level is met, you can start to allow your mind to wander and prepare for the inevitability of leaving the perpetual matrix hamster wheel. Although most would say at least wait till you’re making more than your monthly salary to actually consider quitting your job.

Consider the many options and paths you can take to achieve both your high and low number. Rank them in terms of your personal interest, feasibility, and difficulty. Spend time learning and reading and most importantly, doing. Start and complete a few side projects in those fields. You won’t know the actual difficulty or your own willingness to stick it out unless you are actually doing it. And we all know you learn most when you’re in the field.
Slowly you will narrow your list down to a small number of projects. Prioritize them and find team members if you can. Business is impossible to do by yourself.

I challenge you to review your current life. Listen to what your heart is saying. Explore what your heart truly desires. If you do know, find ways to include activities that support it in your weekly lifestyle. Either gaining expertise in its derivatives or considering the various methods to financially support that lifestyle. Either way, some side project related to your passion that can help you start earning a side income. Try to make it social and digital as much as you can. This is so that the project’s growth and revenue are not dependent on you. It doesn’t make any sense to quit your day job because you made yourself your own job.
To give you an idea, my own current projects range from things like trading bot, mobile apps, and ecommerce. Essentially, your machine must be online. Also, you’ll need to identify how many projects you can juggle at the same time.

Walk the Talk

People don’t really want to make money. They just like to say it.
If you really wanted to make money, you would spend the majority of your time actually studying and researching and experimenting on the topic. How many people do you know that consciously does this? Be that person.

No human was born to live and work for someone else’s dream. Going to a 9 to 5, you’re just helping your boss get richer. In history class we learned that that is the definition of slavery. It literally feels like torture to those who have the self-awareness and self-discipline that are aiming for greener pastures.

Wouldn’t it be better if you could do what you want to do any time any day any where with any one? But what is really stopping you from living that life? Nothing. If you really think about it, those mental barriers that you’ve created for yourself, is just that, a mental barrier. We put shackles on ourselves and brainwash ourselves to accept ‘reality’ and be ‘responsible’.

“get your money first” is the path that I am currently on as well. The bills don’t pay themselves. The difference is I am aware enough that this is merely a stepping stone; a quick detour. It also means I’m openminded to partake in any project as long as it can make money(of course, in the realm of morality and legality). I don’t mind selling toothpicks if I knew it was profitable. Basically keeping my day job and burning the midnight candle.
This is the core essence of FFF. We are prepared to temporarily put our own personal interests and passions aside until we have the financial freedom to explore them after achieving a state of abundance.

Thankfully, what I am currently doing is exactly what I want to be doing if money wasn’t an issue. I love building projects. I love the rush of intellectual stimulations, the ironing out details, and the process of product development and personal growth development. Maybe I’m just addicted to saying ‘I told you so, my idea worked!’, who knows?
What may seem like a good idea turns out to be bad once research is done, but nevertheless, I definitely learned something. And a seemingly bad idea can turn out to be decent one after fermenting it and after some tweaks.

I also know where I want to base. I’ve been looking into this for years and have made the conclusion that Chiang Mai, Thailand is the ideal place for me. It has one of the largest digital nomad populations in the world and we all know if you want to learn something, you go learn from the best. If you hadn’t realized by now, becoming a digital nomad is the goal. Chiang Mai also has one of the best cost-effective lifestyles. Year-round warm/hot temperatures also means a simple white t-shirt and pants all day everyday. And a hoodie when it’s raining. A true nerd through and through.

I am a very lucky person. I know what I want to do, I know how to do it, I know where I want to live, and I’m working with an amazing team who are all on the same page as I am. At the same time I know some of that luck was made. I am lucky that I have developed the habit of growing. I love to read and learn and that has helped me make my own luck. If you asked me what is the ONE THING you can do to become successful, that would be: read.
Never stop growing. Never stop experimenting. Never stop trying.

Calvin, your death will not be in vain. You live on among all your students; all the people you have touched. I once heard you die twice in life. One time is your last breath. And the second time is the last time someone says your name. You’ll live on through us. I still can’t believe you’re no longer here. But I still hope to see you again someday in some form or another. Goodbye for now.