17/04/2026
I’m 78 years old.
And if you’re in your 20s or 30s, here’s what I wish someone had told me sooner.
Success didn’t come from being smart.
"I wasn’t"
I cut school.
I surfed.
I hung out with the wrong people.
What saved me wasn’t intelligence.
It was discipline.
That’s why I joined the military.
I needed structure.
I needed pressure.
I needed consequences.
And I got them.
I was court-martialed twice in the Marine Corps.
Best thing that ever happened to me.
Because the Marines taught me something schools never do:
"No excuses. No lies. No shortcuts."
One of the biggest turning points in my life came when I finally told the truth.
Not part of it.
Not the convenient version.
All of it.
I admitted everything I’d done wrong.
And something incredible happened.
The truth set me free.
I learned this lesson the hard way:
Lying costs you energy.
Truth gives it back.
You can make mistakes.
Big ones.
But if you own them, you grow.
If you hide them, they own you.
Another lesson I learned too late:
Never stop studying.
The older I got, the more I realized how little I knew.
- That’s why I still take notes.
- That’s why I still listen.
- That’s why I still learn.
Most people stop learning the moment they leave school.
That’s when life starts teaching the hardest lessons.
Choose your teachers carefully.
Learn from people who do, not people who preach.
I’d rather learn real estate from a real investor than from someone who’s never owned property.
I’d rather learn business from someone who’s made payroll than from someone with a theory.
And here’s something most people don’t want to hear:
School punishes mistakes.
Life rewards learning from them.
How does a baby learn to walk?
By falling.
But adults are taught to fear failure.
That fear keeps them broke.
Financial education matters more now than ever.
Pensions are gone.
Inflation is rising.
Markets will crash again.
You’re responsible for your own future.
No government.
No employer.
No system is coming to save you.
The most important skill you can develop isn’t making money.
It’s developing yourself.
Your mind.
Your discipline.
Your ability to tell the truth.
Your willingness to keep learning.
That’s what carried me this far.
And that’s what will carry you forward.