My drive, and my reason to invest

[Vance Corich]

My name is Vance Corich, a 28 year old from Colorado, where I have lived all my life. I am one of the two children of divorced parents. In my family, my brother is the only person who has gotten a college degree, I went and got a trade instead- I love precision machining! I work a lot with titanium and steel making custom knives. But that's not all I am- Most of my life I have fought depression and self image issues, which over the past few years, I have gotten much more in control of. I think in the bigger pockets podcast #200, they talk about getting control of your life, and follow through, which they used the example of losing 10 pounds- you need to show dedication and make a real change in order to do so. Well, I lost 55 pounds! I was 255 pounds, and worked hard to get down to 200!  But since then, I have changed my focus to financial awareness. I now feel like I have control over my life, my emotions, and have grown my confidence!

 All of the books, podcasts, etc. about investing put a big emphasis on having a reason or passion. I have a solid understanding of what that means for me. At the beginning of the year (March 9) I married the love of my life. That same day, while we were leaving the courthouse, I was offered a job doing the other thing that I love- precision machining. I was the happiest guy in town! But there is a downside. Although my new career is full of interesting gadgets and tons of learning experiences, it is mandatory that I work six days a week. That cuts deeply into the time I have with my wife, and my other company (more of a hobby, but has potential!) My drive is to see my wife! I will work hard to make passive income for us to have financial freedom to explore our passions outside of work. I don't want to stop machining, but I would like to start doing it for myself, rather than working for someone else.  

My wife is from Vietnam, which is where her parents still live, so we will need to make trips out to visit with them, which is another reason I need to be available to travel for periods of time without the fear of losing my job, my only steady income stream. 

My #1 reason for financial freedom:

My #2 reason- (my hobby) I design and make cutlery from scratch!

Thank you for letting me join this forum! I am excited to learn all about real estate investing from everyone! I'm incredibly excited to start my new passion and my new life!

[Larry Turowski]

Hey @Vance Corich, congratulations on losing weight, getting married, and your new job!  There have been papers written about the ABC's of well-being, positing that we need to have autonomy, belonging, and competence in order to have a sense of well-being.  And it seems like you have hit the jackpot in the past year.  Losing weight show autonomy--you are controlling your life, not allowing food or weight to control you.  Getting married means you have belonging.  And being a precision machinist mean you are competent--you not only have the skills to do what you want, but skills that your employer and society really value.

That is awesome!

And working toward financial freedom can improve all three of those things.

People having food, shelter, and relative health, can mask a lack in one or more of these areas.  As a Christian, understanding the ABC's of well-being is helpful in realizing how I can help meet the needs of others.

Anyway, it is really cool that you've made these big strides in all three.  Kudos to you, my man!