My story is not unlike that of so many others. I did well in school, got a degree, and got the great job. Set for life right? I got the house, the car, and the white picket fence (Well, at least a privacy fence). Living the American dream now! Woohoo!!! Through it all and the pressures of those around me telling me that I’d arrived, I still knew something was missing. Perhaps I should say I know there is something more in store for my life.
“Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.” –Andy Grove
While I have found a moderate level of success in my young career, I know there is something greater I am to achieve. I know that my path to this is entrepreneurship. The ideas of being my own boss and controlling my financial and professional destiny have always been both provocative and addicting for me. I started my first enterprise at 10. My dad fronted the money ($20 USD) for me to start a lawn service. I went door to door with some neighborhood friends making $5-10 a yard. It wasn’t much, but it was mine. The feeling was intoxicating. This infatuation followed me all throughout my pre college years (I maintained this business through college), into college, and continues now.
Some of my peers may remember me DJing some of the functions they attended throughout Fayetteville and the surrounding areas. This is something I did while pursuing my engineering degree and holding down various jobs and internships. I also started producing music during college and do so now. All of these experiences led to my affirmation in the belief that a man must be versatile, willing to take risk, and willing to put in the work if he is to ever reach the pinnacles of financial success in today’s America.
Today, I operate a real estate investment company with my spouse and various business associates, I still maintain my 9-5, and I invest in the stock market. A mentor once told me that the key to success all lies in control. Control of one’s career, finances, and access to opportunity are the key to living an abundant and less stressful life. By creating multiple streams of income, I am able to continually increase the amount of control I have over the before mentioned and most importantly my time. Having the foresight to define where you are headed in life and the drive to get there, it is utterly impossible to miss the target.
At the end of the day, all we have is time. It is important to decide what you want out of life and how you will invest that time to achieve your goals. It is important to me that I provide for my family and am able to truly enjoy and experience life with the people that I care about most. In order to do this, it is important that I choose activities that drive me toward that end. Understanding my finances and where I am driving my investment of time and resources are some of the most critical things I do each day. Wake up each and every day and decide who you want to be and how bad you want that.
David A. Jones II
Class of 2011, University of Arkansas
Senior Managing Partner, Community Relations Investment Group (www.crigusa.com)
Lean Manufacturing Engineer, Chatsworth Products
