The day I thought my life was over
I became a father at twenty four with no degree and a pile of debt. It was the best thing that ever happened to me.
For a long time I believed I had peaked early. People told me I was clever, so I leaned on it and never built the muscle that matters more, which is the willingness to push when it gets boring.
Then I became a father at twenty four, in the middle of quitting university for the third time. I remember the exact feeling. Not joy first, but dread. No degree, no money, no plan. I thought the door had closed.
It had not. A different one had opened, and it would take me years to walk through it.
The loop
Waiting tables. Debt. Borrowing from my mum at the start of every month and paying her back at the end, only to borrow again. If you have ever been in that loop, you know it does not feel like a problem you can solve. It feels like weather.
What changed was not luck. It was a one hour commute and a pair of headphones.
The shift
I started listening to audiobooks on the drive. Atomic Habits. The Subtle Art. The Power of Habit. Ego Is the Enemy. They became the inner circle I did not have. Slowly the story in my head changed from this is happening to me into this is mine to fix.
That is the whole letter, really. The moment you take ownership of everything, even the parts that are not your fault, is the moment you get your power back.
I am not going to pretend the rest was fast. It was not. But it was mine.
Keep building,
Ricardo Prosperi