The magic word, the American Dream, strongly attracted me. It did sound great back 20 years ago, and still at present. A little thing about me, I wanted to get out of the small country, Japan badly when I was young. I wanted to see the world and I wanted to feel and prove that I have value in myself not like everybody else. I was one of the immigrants who came to the United States in 2008 and started from zero. I was excited though when I found myself with nothing but a big duffle bag with a bunch of clothes at LAX at the age of 23. However, that was the beginning of my miserable life. I was trying to learn a new language, how to use different currencies, struggling to enroll in classes at a school, and even making friends.
Please don’t get me wrong, I love my own country. Japan is a great country. There is abundant nature, water, fresh air, and beautiful scenery to enjoy the atmosphere. If you never visited the country, you will find yourself in a very exotic world. People are nice and they treat you with respect and provide great hospitality no matter where you visit to welcome you. This is something you can not find in the U.S. often. Believe me!
I lived in Japan for over 22 years and learned many things, sometimes I was forced to learn discipline and manners at school and home. I was raised this way since when I was young. Japan is still a seniority society. People respect the elderly and treat them with care often. However, a part of its culture I never liked that is something you wouldn’t see or realize until you live in the country for a long time. Countless traditional manners and behaviors are expected to be performed in public, and many biases are planted in the roots of the country over throughout the generations. One of the biases, which can be universal, is that money is the root of evil, and becoming rich won’t make you happy. This idea has prevailed and spread all over the country to the point that it really discourages people from becoming rich.
On the other hand, Americans are more tolerant and tend to accept the differences in behaviors and thinking. The traditional way of Japanese thinking is getting good grades at school, having a secured job that provides a decent salary and benefits, and keeping the job until retirement, which is defined as a good life. So, going back to school after 22 years old was not a common thing to be seen in Japan, even now. This is how Japanese society is designed and structured, however, It is one of the proven reasons to keep the economy robust and stable. Japan is a capital society, however, you don’t see many millionaires and billionaires as many as China and the United States.
Since when I was young, I had a rebellious and independent way of thinking, I rather want to say "REALISTIC" so tons of advice I got from friends or family to become successful or happy didn’t click well. I have accomplished tremendous achievements by 22 as participating Jr. Olympics for running at junior high school and becoming a professional motorcycle racer, even getting a Bachelor’s degree in finances at Kobe University. However, I also made a big mistake which caused me to be drawn into debt as I became emotionally unstable around 22. I guess it was a struggling phase of my life.
I was a racer and practiced on a track every day to pursue my dream back then. Money wasn’t a problem at all at the time. I received lumpsum cash of approximately $100,000 from an insurance company when I got hit by a car. I was able to do what I wanted to do. However, one day, when I was running 230km/hr on the street on the way back from racing, the line of the course I had in my mind at the corner slightly changed because of the strong wind, and hit the wall, and being thrown out of the motorcycle(YZF R-1) and tumbled over 500 ft. and became unconscious for a week. When I woke up, I was wrapped around with a white balloon-like bandage on my left hand and was not able to move at all. I was told that my left hand was smashed totally and ripped off my left thumb finger, not only that the accident crushed all over my body, my kneecap, and my right hand, and found myself sitting in a wheelchair for six months.
The worst nightmare didn’t end there. Getting fights because of the human relationships after I left the hospital and stagnation in my life through me off. Eventually, I found myself getting involved with legal issues and arrested. Then I was sharing a small room with a bunch of thugs behind bars. That was the bottom of my life. The room was small, the wall was white all around, and the tall ceiling was designed not to hang yourself. You get to see sunlight only half an hour early in the morning from the small window and are given tasteless cold food with 24-hour surveillance even during toileting. As a result, $150,000 in debt was something I had to start carrying when I finished the university. Of course, I lost my girlfriend who dated for 6 years, moreover, there was no way I was able to get a decent job in Japan. This was the turnaround of my life.
I left the country for good, then started with zero in the United States. 8 years later after a long struggle, I graduated from grad school with a Master’s Degree in Environmental Science and serving people, especially rich people like Tom Cruise, Maharaj Ji, Van Halen, Eccleston, Markus Persson (Minecraft), Usher, Sean Combs, Eric Smiths(Harbor Freight Tools), Lynda Resnik, Tom Hanks, John McEnroe, Diana Jenkin, etc. at a private water company. I also worked for Santa Barbara County to regulate water and wastewater treatment systems and solid waste projects for a long time. I was strongly impressed by how these wealthy people worked and lived in their classy lifestyles owning over 100 acres of property near the coast and living in a beautiful nice house and acres of vineyard in the back yard.
That was the moment I realized working hard won't take me anywhere not even close to the wealthy lifestyle for the rest of my life if I kept doing what I was doing. I compared myself with them and asked myself what is the difference. What do I have to do to have a great lifestyle like this? Then I started a business, I learned tremendous lessons and the importance of a success mindset. After a while, the business I was in expanded. Now I got to the point where I can work for myself in the backyard and write my knowledge to share with you as I have spare time.
The knowledge and experience shared on my blogs are not for everybody. People may already know what I share but they never understand. Discipline I can train here will make you uncomfortable. I learned to put my ego aside to change myself and keep learning until I become it. Stand up and keep running no matter how much criticism you get. Friends and family may tell you that money won't make you happy. I tell you something that is the most important thing and you have to remember, which is " happiness is a status of mind". I would like to share how I make myself happy by becoming and improving myself daily and my performance in my business. All the things I share here with you are the absolute truth and still working progress to get to where I want to go. Happiness can be found in the progress of becoming better. My knowledge becomes very valuable for people who understand the value per se and act on it.
As you see, even if you throw pearls before swine, probably it means nothing, correct? There you go!! This knowledge and info were shared by mentors and helped me to create my own wealth. If you want success, you have to study to become successful. If you want to get freedom, financial freedom is necessary. Good luck!! (Well I don’t believe in luck much because I believe that luck is a by-product of hard work and it comes from someone who prepares and is ready to receive)
Yosuke Foley Yamada
Achieve-hitting a million dollars was the biggest hurdle. Aim for that !
