azanon said:
So, in other words, you're still searching to decide what you really want to be when you grow up?
Or was this the actual game plan; to completely change fields and investment styles over and over? That's consistent with how I'm seeing you describe your personal life.
I know exactly what I want to be when I grow up; the same thing I have been since I was 25 years old....an entrepreneur.
I'm not an "investor", I am a businessman, so I don't change "investment styles". I don't have a 9-5 and I don't read the investment publications to try to pick the next winning stock. I go out and find opportunities and capitalize on them, and I have learned a SH!TLOAD of different skills along the way.
When you have a head for business and especially marketing, it doesn't matter if you are selling snowcones or mega-yachts.....it isn't about the product, it's about the message. My business dealings have taken me full circle through the triad, and I can proudly say that I have made and lost money in all three, and have gotten to the point where my skills are honed and I'm primed with resources that I am beginning to channel in a couple of different directions.
Plain and simple, I don't and wouldn't much hang out with 19-21 year olds because I have slightly more than nothing in common with them. I occasionally beat a kid (aka a 19-21 year old) in tennis because guys my age usually get too fat to give me any competition. But that's about it.
Since I turned 30 I have actually only dated a couple of 20-21 yr olds, and messed around with a few more. Most of the girls I'm around tend to be in the 23-27 range, with a few 30 somethings here and there.
Well, want the cliff notes on me? 40hrs/week as a professional, I workout/play sports at least 10 hrs/week, manage finances, have wife and kid, go on trips on weekend with the family, maybe go to a college football game with guys/gals my age, social events with, you guessed it, people my age, etc., sip coffee watching CNN, etc.
That explains why you have YOUR version of what a 30 something should live like, because you live like a typical 30 something in most ways.
MY version of a 30 something lifestyle is a little different.
I work 30 some hours in my retail business (since the economy sucks....it will be much less when things turn around). I am starting another business creating and wholesaling/retailing a certain type of products. I am also producing an informational video to go along with it. So right now I put in another 10-15 or so hours a week into the new venture.
That leaves me with a little time to work out, hit the town (sometimes once a week, sometime three times a week, sometimes not at all) with my male and female friends of various ages. I go to parties from time to time. I travel whenever possible, for business and pleasure.
Sometimes I end up in crazy situations, but I wouldn't trade my life for anything.
Exactly my point! At least you're agreeing with my essential premise; that you're identifying more with folks younger than you. Again I ask, is this a good thing or not? I'm not answering that question. I'm asking everyone.
I do agree that I identify better with younger people, because I chose not to travel the path society tried to lay out for me.
Is it a good thing? Do you think Hef is complaining about his life these days? He looks like a happy SOB to me. Do I want HIS lifestyle when I turn 80? That remains to be seen. Probably not, but more power to anyone who does!
What about the successful ones with pretty wives? I've friends with at least 10 men like this?!?
My comment was of course a generalization, however, I am still a firm believer that the overwhelming majority of marriages are held together by a very thin thread, whether it be kids, insecurity, fear, societal pressure, etc.
Oh I understand the dymanic alright. I've already identified it. You're 36, and you're living a social life similar to a 19 year old - or at least that how it reads to me. Might as well be proud and happy as you claim to be. Because that is the reality of it.
No, you don't understand the dynamic. You are still stuck with the notion that you move from one stage of life to the next, with certain things that define each transition. That isn't how it works these days.
I dictate the terms of my life. Society might still try to pressure me, and women certainly try to shame me into compliance, but the fact of the matter is things are different today than they were when our parents were our age.
If i had the impression the average age of your friends was early-mid 30s, I wouldn't be on your case.
Meaning you wouldn't be trying to shame me. Continue...
That's the average age of my friends. Don't go subtly switching on me here. Again, if you have friends that you mingle with outside of work thoughout that age range, then I don't really have any issue here.
Yes, I have a couple of outlier friends who are early 20s myself. "A Couple" is literal.
Lets see.....a quick browse through my top Myspace friends.....ages 22 to 37, average I would say about 31. Factor in a couple of other good friends who are in their late 30's-mid 40's and it probably brings my actual FRIENDS average age up to around 33-34. The other 40 some acquaintances on there....23-44, average about 28 i would say.
Conclusion.....yes, I hang tend to hang out with younger, single people who compliment my lifestyle better than older, married people.
