Best way to lose weight - I lost 73 pounds

I lost 73 pounds in about 6 months.  In the first 2 months I lost 27 pounds.   Growing up and into my 30s I was skinny in fact when I was 39 years old I was still around 150-160 pounds.  Over the next few years I ballooned up to a whopping 240 pounds.   I am 5' 10"... So how did I do it?  The answer may surprise you....so if you have any questions please fill free to blog me here and I will chat with ya about it.   It now has been 2 years and I am about 180 pounds and feel great!   I am 53 years old and my health is a concern to me.

10X - Earning 10 times your current rate of pay

The other night I went to a daddy daughter date with my lovely 13 year old.  Our local religious group sponsored the night.  We decided to pick an isolated table so we could talk.  The person in charge said:  Hey, you guys need to move to a table so you can mingle”.   I didn’t want to mingle, but we moved any way.  Since this was a function involving men, straight away someone started asking the famous question that most men can’t help but asking: “Hey, what are you doing now for a living?”  Its not that I am anti-social or anything, its just that the reason I wanted to sit alone was to avoid the male dominated conversation about business.  The girls at the table looked at each other like “here we go, dad’s going to do it again…completely ignore me and talk about work.” 

Instead of having an evening with our daughters the men resorted to “business talk”.  I have often felt a little weird about the kind of thing that goes on between men.  When we are children we are “Age Graded”. Meaning that as soon as you meet someone new or when ever you see someone that you haven’t been around for a while, the other person asks the question, “What GRADE are you in?”  It’s the person’s way of sizing you up and judging you based on your age.  When we grow up, this exercise is shifted away from being AGE Graded to “Status Graded” and it can be ridiculous.  When there are no wives around…the BS begins to fly…men tend to paint a picture about what they do for a living to cover up the fact they are not really where they would like to be…Yet.  I usually try to avoid these types of conversations because it reminds me of two dogs meeting for the first time…you know… sniffing each other’s tail and putting their nose where it doesn’t belong.  Whether we like it or not, we tend to judge each other primarily based on our achievements financially.

The night turned out as you would expect…the girls were bored and the men were into it deep.  To my left was an executive at a large airbag company,  to my right was a lawyer for a large trucking firm, and straight ahead of me on the other side of the round table was a local insurance and financial advisor.  When we sat down the question arose…”Doug, what are you doing for a living?”  I said “just more of the same - building widgets.”  The insurance professional said “ come on Doug, I know you have something cooking- you always do”.  After I briefly explained what they wanted to know, an interesting comment was made and the other men all agreed:

I WISH I HAD THE GUTS AND THE CREATVITY TO GO OUT ON MY OWN AND START MY OWN BUSINESS. 

Wow… a profound and honest statement was made. Most men want to improve their financial position but find it impossible to do while working for someone else.  They also realize that there is a ceiling placed upon them by their employer – But what is to be done?   

The purpose of this blog is to explore self-employment with someone who has done it from the ground up…to learn what it takes to make it on your own. The title of this BLOG,  10X was chosen because I feel that the first objective when considering self-employment is to earn at least 10 times your current salary.  This blog will discuss ways to do it.