I'm in Birmingham, AL, major turning point in my life, need HELP!

[Matthew Jones]

Hey everyone, haven't posted here in a while, but I seriously could use some advice, encouragement, and perspective at the moment.  Please excuse this long post, but it would mean a lot if you read it and are able to provide some advice perspective, ideas, or answers.

I am at a major turning point in life right now, and I have no clue where to start, I will tell a little about my situation and try to make a list of some thoughts or ideas, and really hope to connect with someone or just hear what you might do in my situation.

My situation and about me:  I turned 29 about a week ago, and this year my birthday meant more than just another trip around the sun, this is because earlier this year I almost passed away 6 different times and spent the majority of 2016 in the hospital.  I won't go into details or specifics unless asked...   All of this has resulted in me now living in Birmingham, AL so that I can be closer to family, and seriously taking a look at my life, where I've been and where I am going.  Prior to this year I have spent a lot of time banging my head against the wall trying to figure out what to do with my life, and continuously chased a career in something that was primarily influenced by my desire to follow my dads footsteps to make him happy, proud, or impressed with me.  But here is what I know about myself and my desires (this is not "fluff" or cliche characteristics, this is honest and raw truth!)

1.  I am an entrepreneur at heart. (This can be seen from as early as kindergarten, where I took all of the cokes from my parents refrigerator and went door to door in the apartment complex selling them, 1st grade when I sold all of my school supplies in class so that I could buy a toy that I wanted, and even in high school when, due to the fact that I couldn't afford a paintball gun that I really wanted, I build a paintball club signup notebook complete with maps and rank structure and handed it to one of the most popular kids in school to get people to sign up for a small fee, would have worked if my mom hadn't found the notebook at home and got a little suspicious to say the least.)  As typical, somewhere along the way "life" knocked me on my butt and told me to be realistic.

2.  I am driven, very driven.  (This is almost detrimental to me, I have such a desire to succeed that I actually believe that I could literally achieve anything that I wanted so I haven't even made a decision about what to pursue because I am too afraid of becoming successful in the wrong industry for myself.  Probably a little too ridiculous and over-confident)

3.  I have an insane work ethic.  (I cannot tell you how many times at previous jobs I have had managers and others tell me to slow down because otherwise I'm just going to quickly burn out, yet I never seem to burn out.  I love to work, I don't mind working often and long hours.  I once worked almost 40 hours in 2 days, no joke, and no sleep either.)

4.  I have vision.  (Seems cliche, I know, but I am serious.  It is almost like a God given talent or ability to see what could be or to see things that are not currently in existence.  I've thought that maybe I should study engineering or something to that tune before so that I can create things.  I truly would love to do something that involves this ability!)

5.  Because of this year, I have realized that life is too short to waste it on anything other than the things that make you "yourself" and that the importance of developing yourself personally cannot be measured, period.  As weird as it may seem, there is no greater gift to your clarity then to wake up in ICU and have a doctor hovering above you and tell you "You shouldn't be here right now..."  Imagine going through that 6 different times in less than half a year, yes it is very painful, but it is also something that I am grateful for and wouldn't change if I could.  

So here is my dilemma, hopefully given in a brief "to the point" manner. 

-I am broke/bankrupt, in a new area, unemployed, with no degree, and my industry experience is in an unrelated industry to real estate and there are no businesses here related to my previous industry.  

Here are some of my ultimate dreams in life and passions:

Big dream 1:  I would love to one day be a commercial and residential real estate developer and investor with my own business.

Big dream 2:  I have a non real estate, technology/innovation/manufacturing product idea I would like to one day create, the barrier to entry is high though.

Ideas to get there:  

1.  I have thought about getting my real estate license locally, maybe I could see if there are any resources for veterans to obtain this at no cost through sponsorship or scholarship.  I can literally work all hours and every day of the week at being successful as an agent and possibly become a broker once I have met the requirements.

2. I have thought about looking into REO cleaning and services, though I honestly have to clue where to realistically start.

3.  One thing that I know that I would love doing is managing rental properties as well, doing everything from getting them ready to be put on the market to showing potential renters and getting them rented to quality people.  Again, I don't really know where to start with this.

4.  Go back to school, but honestly I have no idea for what.  

-A weakness that I have is that I am not very confident when it comes to networking within industries that I have little experience in.  Some of my confidence honestly has been knocked out of me from landing on my butt so many times from making the effort.  While I am grateful for what I made it through this year, life really has knocked the air out of me a little if I am honest.  At times I get so discouraged that I just figure why bother trying anything since it never seems to work out.  

So that brings me here, I am sincerely and vulnerably reaching out to this community to ask for advice and help.  

Knowing what you know now, what would you do if you were in my shoes?  What steps would you take and what would you honestly and bluntly tell me if I were your younger self or one of your best friends, or I was one of your kids? 

And to go out on another limb here, if there is anyone in the Birmingham or Alabama area that would like to meetup for lunch sometime please let me know, I will buy, and I promise to listen and ask good questions.

Thanks so much everyone!