I was sitting up thinking about my life, specifically my career and I couldn’t help but think about how easy things were on my last job. I didn’t make a lot of money, but I made enough to live a regular/average life.

Choosing to stay on that job until retirement would have made sense for most logical-thinking people. I had good insurance, I got regular vacations and my co-workers were really cool… some of the best guys in the world.

But there was something pulling me away from that comfy position I was in. I felt compelled to do something different with my life. About once a month I would sit up and wonder things like:

• How can people afford to live in those expensive homes?
• What does the guy driving that Porsche 911 do for a living?
• Where are those people going with the fancy clothes on?
• Is it possible for me to live like those people?

These are just some of the questions that popped in my head on a regular basis. I didn’t have any jealousy towards the people that I saw living an above average life, in fact, everything about their lives was extremely interesting to me. I just wondered how they were able to do it.

So, I started paying closer attention to what they were doing, where they hung out, what they were reading, etc. What I discovered is that they weren’t much different than me or the guys I worked with. Many came from similar backgrounds and had similar interests.

I know what you are thinking, many of them were born with a silver spoon in their mouth. But I was shocked to find out that most millionaires weren’t born into wealth. According to www.cato.org roughly 80 percent of millionaires in America are the first generation.

What Did They Do Differently?

I was watching something not too long ago and the interviewer was going around asking elderly people what they would have done differently if they could go back in time. The majority of them gave the generic answer “I wouldn’t change a thing”.

Then there was this one gentleman that paused, thought about his answer for a second, and said, “I would not have chosen the easy route”. After he said that, he sat there motionless, and then a single tear rolled down the side of his face.

At that moment I knew that the key to me maximizing my happiness was conquering my fears. If I wanted to reach my highest potential, I couldn’t stay on a job because it was easy and I a retirement was waiting on me 30 years down the line. I had to challenge myself and do things that made me uncomfortable because my breakthrough was on the other side of comfort.