Stephen Sadler here. Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog. So, you want to know about me. First, I am a husband and father of two awesome children. I am not flashy, fancy Guru driving a $100k car. I do not live in a mansion or make a million dollars a year (yet). But ,I have found a way to live the life I want, on my terms.
My story is not a Cinderella story. I didn’t live out of a van or on the streets. I didn’t use drugs or alcohol. No one in my family was an alcoholic. My father passed away when I was six, and my mother was expecting my brother at the same time. I guess I could use the lack of a father as an excuse, but the fact is, that probably added more opportunities to my life that I wouldn’t have otherwise had.
I was raised on the lower end of middle class, if there is such a thing. But we always had the things we needed and often much more. Because of the circumstances, my mother was forced to work 2 or 3 jobs most of the time to provide a good life for my brother and me. We were blessed to be raised, in part, by my grandparents. My grandfather, my hero and still my idol in spirit, was able to work at the same place for 40+ years. That is the way I was raised. I was taught to finish school (which I hated and had to spend a couple of summer breaks getting caught up), find a good job, work hard, and all would be good. I quickly found out that the ideals of my grandparents’ generation were no longer applicable in the work force, or any area of life for that matter. So, I went to work in the restaurant business. It took me 16 years to get the courage to step away. You see, the money was great, but the lifestyle wasn’t. From the physical restaurant, I stepped into the corporate side dealing with IT, support and programming. Though the quality of life was better and had more time for my family, I realized that to keep the income where we needed it to be, I had to work overtime, nights, weekends, and take business trips that still took me away from my family. When my first child was born, I knew something had to change, and I stepped way outside of my comfort zone and went to work for myself.
My wife and I started in the real estate business in 2005. It was a great time to start in the field: it didn’t take much to earn a decent income and still have the quality of life we wanted. But, as everyone around the world knows, when the bubble burst, the income went with it. Don’t get me wrong, money could still be made, and we were doing it, but it came with an expense. We had to work three times as hard for half the money, and we still didn’t know if we were going to be paid at the end of the month. I knew I had to find something else, but I didn’t want to go back to work for someone else making their dream come true.
As you may well know, using the world wide web was becoming a great second source of income. There were lots of Gurus and overnight millionaires out there doing it with the push of a button. I know they were gurus and millionaires because they said they were, and they had fake income statements to prove it. After wasting thousands of dollars and a year and a half of my time following the wrong people, I was ready to quit and let it all go. At the same time, I came across this group of industry leaders that caught my attention. They weren’t trying to sell me on the ritzy, overnight success lifestyle with pictures of fast cars and big homes. In fact, they portrayed pretty simple lives, exciting, but down-to-earth lifestyles. If I wanted the help, they were willing to show me how to be the master of my journey and take back control of my life in every area.
In these last few months, I have gained much knowledge and have been able to regain connections with my family. I reduced the stress that was killing me and began to live the life that I had been longing to live. No, I am no millionaire by most people’s standards, but I do get to pick up my kids from school everyday and have lunch with them and my wife whenever I want without having to ask permission from someone else. I also know, without worry, that they will be taken care of at the end of this month and every month.
You asked, “Who Is Stephen Sadler?” This is the real me, warts and all laid out in front of you. The only thing left to add, if you are interested, would be, “Who is the real you?” I’d like to share with you how you can Be the Master of Your Journey and create the lifestyle you and your family were meant to have.