What I Want For You After Reading Crushing It!

When I was a kid making straight Ds and I got caught reading baseball card catalogs in class so I’d know how much to charge for trades, everyone said, “You’re going to be a loser.” Today they’d say, “You’re going to be the next Mark Zucker­berg.” When it comes to professional opportunities, this is the best time to be alive in the history of humankind and I don’t want anyone to waste it.

And so, if you take away anything valuable or helpful from this book, I hope you will give a copy to someone you care about who might not be happy with his or her current situation but that you know has it in them to make a change. If you are a parent, please give it to your children as they start to imagine what and who they want to be. There’s teachings in this book that no classroom will provide. And I say this not because I want to sell more books. Get it from the library for all I care. I say this because I want everyone to know that these opportunities exist, so that if someone is struggling or miserable or scared, they can absolutely do something to change that.

Life is short; its brevity and unpredictability is the one thing that scares me. It is also long; a fifty ­year-­old could still look forward to another thirty, forty, or even fifty productive years. We owe it to ourselves and our loved ones to be as fulfilled and thrilled as possible so we are able to share our best selves with each other. There is so much in life that is uncontrollable, but our happiness doesn’t have to be, nor do our careers. We can have all the control. Every damn bit of it. The sooner we realize that, the better off everyone will be.

So if you’re earning what you need to live the life you want and loving every day of it, you’re crushing it. And that’s all I want for you. I think of the friends I grew up with who loved video games but whose parents forced them to stop playing because the games distracted them from their studies. Those kids may have grown up to make a decent enough living but only by getting by with something they tol­erate, or even hate. If only their parents could have seen how the world would evolve. Maybe the child who became a lawyer to please his or her parents could be earning the same amount now as an eSports (competitive gaming) promoter—or even earning millions as a professional e-­gamer. Either way, it’s very likely that lawyer would be infinitely happier.

Parents are trying to get their children off Pokémon Go when augmented ­reality gaming is going to be huge for generations. They think their daughters should make less slime and do more algebra instead. And sure, slime may be a fad but it could also serve as the conduit through which a girl learns the dynamics of supply and demand on the Internet and builds a million ­dollar personal brand and company.

The crazy thing is that she wouldn’t be the first. Karina Garcia did it. She used to be a waitress; now she’s a successful YouTube star famous for making, you guessed it, slime. How successful? With six­ figure earnings every month, she was able to retire her parents.

In August 2017 she took a seven ­week, fourteen ­city tour to meet her fans. People paid $40.00 to $99.99 for VIP passes. Stories like that are no longer uncommon, and they illustrate why we need to give our children as much freedom as possible to gravitate toward what they love doing. Because in their world, nothing will be off­ limits when it comes to how you can make a living.

Are you going to be part of the revolution?

My hope is that Crushing It! will be the inspiration and strategy for you to understand how it’s not only possible, but practical to do the same.

Thanks for reading ❤️

Crushing It! is also available on Barnes & Noble 

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