Millionaire status came to me at age 40. I didn't realize it until I was 43 - right around the time I calculated that, on February 9th, 2010, I was simply going to run out of money. (You can imagine my wife's feelings of ambiguity.)
I have held so many positions in so many industries that I shake my head and wonder how it all happened.
"Chip, haven't you settled down yet?"
No.
And I doubt I ever will. I have found that my here-a-little-there-a-little background has given me breadth and depth of experience that are simply unavailable in a "career track." I may be doomed to a life of professional obscurity - maybe even ridicule. So be it. I wouldn't exchange my experiences for anything. Life's happier riding the horse the way it's going. I am willing to run the risk of ruin for the chance of increasing my freedom. I have found that "failure" and "success" are sets of circumstances that simply follow one another and are, in hindsight, often difficult to differentiate. So, like every good business man, I've decided to make it up in volume: the more success, the more failure and the more failure, the more success.
I have chosen to focus on marketing (and it's sidekick sales) because, best I can tell, it is the key to the well-being of business. The patent office is full of good ideas that aren't making a difference. Getting them to market is what counts. If an idea cannot positively impact the lives of real people - it has no real value.
I have a goal of starting 12 businesses in my life. I'm currently at 6 - including my junior high paper route. I hope to work in as many industries as I am able. Too bad I have so little time.
What I become through my experiences is what matters most to me - not the dollars or the acclaim I may gain. Human development is all that counts. What I am and hope to become, expressed through the investment of my time, are my greatest assets - both to me and to those I seek to serve.
I hope to be better - today.
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