Countdown to Millions

It was Friedrich Nietzsche who said, “He who has a why to live, can bear almost any how.”  So, I thought I would explain a little about some of the whys you might have regarding my journey of mine before I explained exactly how I was planning on making my millions.

1. Why $1,000,000?  Can’t you be happy with less?  Or are you no better than those greedy corporate fat cats?

Well, one million dollars was chosen, not because it would mark my own personal expectations of success, but rather because it marks a nearly universal watermark of financial achievement.  If I said I was going to try to make $100,000, there are many who would simply say, “That’s all,” scoffing as only the snootiest of internet perusers can.

Had I said I was trying to make a billion, almost everyone would either think I was greedy, stupid, or (to borrow a phrase from the British) having a laugh.  And as high an amount as one million is, it is not unreasonable, nor is it impossible to achieve…it simply takes work (Hell, Regis Philbin used to hand out millions like they were Tic-Tacs).  And if I do succeed in my goal, it is a sufficiently high amount to satisfy most people wishing to determine whether I was a success or not.

2. Why such a short amount of time?  Surely you’re being unreasonable.

On the contrary, I feel that by giving myself a short amount of time, I am increasing my likelihood of success.  If I were to set my goal of making one million dollars 30 years from now, there would be a diffusion of drive towards that goal.  Think of it like a paper you have to write for school, it’s not as if your drive to write the paper is simply a constant, no, there is a finite amount of ‘want’ that you can have to write your paper and the more time you give yourself to do the paper, the less you will want to do it at any given moment.  However, if you give yourself just a few short hours to do the paper, you condense the totality of your drive into some sort of magical ambition singularity.

That singularity of drive is what I aim to create by giving myself such a short amount of time.

3. Why did you decide to blog about this mission of yours?

The desire to be rich and/or famous is a universal one, and I simply thought it would be interesting to allow people to follow my attempts at achieving that dream.

4. So if $1,000,000 isn’t your personal mark of success, then why are you doing this? “Why,” I ask you.

I’m doing this because above all else, I enjoy two things most of all: 1) Autonomy; and 2) A challenge.

Trying to achieve my goal of making one million dollars in such a short amount of time inherently means that I cannot take the road most traveled through the safe, secure world of upper-middle management ladder-climbing nonsense, hoping someday to be an executive with a nice parking space.  I’m going to have to make my own path, and that path will afford me with the autonomy that I seek (And I’m sure a million dollars wouldn’t hurt the autonomy department either).

Secondly, I’ve been told so many times that this dream is impossible, or that I should simply “settle,” but where is the fun in that.  Anyone can “settle,” and if it is something that anyone can do, then I’m not interested.  I want to do this for the very reasons that people think I can’t, because it seems so impossible.  That is why I’m doing this.

5. Why am I reading this?

You tell me, you clearly clicked a link somewhere and ended up in my own personal technicolor Oz.  I can only say, “I hope you enjoy your stay,” and ask that you wish me luck as I continue to Countdown to Millions.

-Nick