I have been self employed for over 30 years. However I tried doing shit the normal way when I was young. Worked at a restaurant when I was young from 15-19yrs old. Showed up everyday, never called out, worked as hard as I could. You know the normal stuff. Then I got fired because my annual cost of living raises added up to the point where I was the highest paid person there. Only because of outlasting everybody else. it was very eye opening, It proved to me that Working hard for someone else means nothing to them. Just a number. There has never been anyone that got wealthy from working for another person.

🧠 Learned the Hard Way This is where the scars live. Post here when: - something cost you money - something broke - a customer burned you - you trusted the wrong person - you learned a lesson the expensive way What belongs: - mistakes you won’t repeat - jobs that went sideways - equipment failures - bad assumptions - hard-earned clarity What doesn’t: - blaming everyone else - rewriting history to look good - “I knew better” after the fact - advice with no experience behind it This category isn’t about being right.It’s about being honest. If it hurt a little to learn, it probably belongs here. Say what happened. Say what you missed. Say what you’d do differently. These posts save other people money.