It’s a Wednesday afternoon here in Los Angeles and I’m sitting on my rooftop wondering how I got here. Literally, what were the culmination of events that led up to me deciding to leave everything and pack my bags for the west coast. For those of you who watch my life on YouTube, you know some of it was financially motivated. To be around like minded individuals who all share the strong distaste for living a mediocre existence was a significant reason to move to California. Most of the problems we face as lower league professionals here in the states are income related.
I have personally made less in my career than I now make monthly from my other business ventures. After college we are faced with 2 options: #1. Take the blue pill and accept you will be an employee for the rest of your life (depending on your major and motivation level to build something outside of your 9-5). And #2, pursue football as a full-time profession. What nobody talks about is the breakeven strategy which is what I like to call option #3. Take both pills. Build a business while playing the game you love.
The majority of American footballers will make less than $30,000 a year during their professional career. The reward after 10,000 hours of blood, sweat and tears is utterly pathetic. Yet we continue to play this game for the love of it, sure, but also because we still have hope that one day we’ll make 6-7 figures in a calendar year from kicking a ball around on a grass field.
I hope that comes for some of you. I hope you find the monetary satisfaction this game can give you in the not so distant future. Let me ask you a question though, what happens if you don’t? What happens if you’re only left with a few thousands dollars by the time your career comes to an end?
I’ve seen the large part of my career slip past me before I made my first $100 playing professionally. I never saw things clearly until I needed to take drastic measures in order to stay financially afloat. We as footballers are comfortable being uncomfortable. We are content with making subpar money to hold on to a sliver of hope that we’ll someday make a decent living from this game.
Let me tell you something from someone who wasted years of his life waiting for “someday”. Someday will never come. You will only achieve what you want in football by accepting the fact that sacrificing now for what you want is the only viable course of action. As soon as I embraced I was alone and the only person who was going to rescue me from my pathetic situation was me, everything switched. I went from making $2k/m to over $9k/m in less than 100 days and I was immediately able to continue pursuing the sport I love.
Don’t give yourself an excuse to hang up the boots. Nobody should have to quit because they can’t afford the costs of trying to make it as a professional. Build your business while chasing the dream and monetize your name once you sign.. There doesn’t have to be a red blue/blue pill situation if you’re willing to sacrifice for what you want in life right now.
Make the right decision today for a career tomorrow that few will possess.
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