Here’s what I figured out after, and why I’m building this community. I had always grown up knowing how to approach work the right way — working hard for every minute I was on the clock, taking care of the company’s resources as if they were my own, aligning to and embodying the mission and vision of the organization. That was just how I was wired, and for a long time I believed that if you did those things consistently, the financial rewards would follow naturally. The reality I ran into was different. I was making just under $50,000 a year, and as our family grew and costs kept rising, we reached a point where the math genuinely didn’t work anymore. Between 25 and 30% of my income was going toward health insurance and out-of-pocket medical expenses alone. We had sat down together and reviewed our budget meticulously, cutting every additional expense we could find. There wasn’t much left to cut. The final straw was when we had to go on state-assisted medical insurance, which I believe serves a real purpose and I’m glad it existed — but I also knew I was capable of more and didn’t want to accept that as our permanent situation. # The Five-Year Plan So I did what felt natural to me. I built a plan. I put together an aggressive five-year roadmap with specific goals and targets — not just for my own growth but for what I could deliver for the company — and I brought it to my VP. I asked him directly: if I hit these goals aggressively, what would it take to get to $70,000? He was genuinely a good person who cared about me, and he also had the interests of the company in mind, as he rightfully should. His answer was a walkthrough of the standard progression — slow, incremental raises over a much longer timeline than I had in mind. I understood why that was his answer. That’s how the system was designed to work. But I was feeling the financial squeeze in that moment, not years down the road, and I knew I needed to make a change more immediately than that process would allow.

This is the single post we'll use to keeping our introductions organized. Simply reply with a quick intro, and say hi to other members by replying directly to their intros. Basic structure: 1. Your name, where you're from, and anything you're comfortable sharing about your family. 2. What you do for a living. 3. What's driving you to increase your income. 4. How you'd like life to be different 12 months from today.

The is the category to chat about the skills you currently have and would be willing to teach or coach others in to help give them a hand up. Also a great place to ask for help if you feel you're lacking a certain skill and need some input, encouragement, or recommendations from other guys.