A short motivational YouTube talk by Ryan Daniel Moran (uploaded Jan 22, 2018) in which he recounts a dark period in his 20s—breakup, business failure, loss of savings, loss of faith, taking a humbling job and living in a friend’s basement—and argues that that pain was essential to his later success (he says he effectively retired at 30). He encourages viewers currently struggling to see present hardship as the start of a path toward growth and gratitude.
Questions this video answers
Ryan Daniel Moran.
January 22, 2018.
He says he has essentially retired at age 30.
Breakup with girlfriend; business failure (went under) and loss of most savings; loss of religion/faith; took a job and moved into his best friend's basement.
Yes — he says there were times he considered suicide.
Chapters
This video is for those of you who are going through a shitty time right now, or if you know somebody who's going through a shitty time, send them this video. Because five years ago, I was going through a really dark time. The girl that I thought I was going to marry broke up with me. The business that I thought was going to make me rich went under, and I lost most of my savings. And at the same time, I lost my religion, quite literally, as I unraveled doubts about my faith and what I believed. It was like a country song gone bad. I lost my girl, I lost my money. And even I felt like I had lost my faith in that time. I even took a job, which was humbling for me as an aspiring entrepreneur. And I moved into my best friend's basement, who let me crash with him for a year while I figured out my life. That was just five years ago. And today my life is a little bit different. I have essentially retired at age 30. I have made more money than I ever dreamed. I freaking love my life. I feel so connected to my purpose and my place in the world. I have accomplished more and done more in the last few years than I ever thought possible. And I am telling you this because someone asked me this week what the secret to my success was. And I paused and said I was fortunate enough to experience a lot of pain in my early and mid-20s. And that pain gave me superpowers. Because today I soak the life. I soak up every moment of my life. And I never could have gotten to where I was today if I had not experienced that dark time. It was dark. It was hard. There were times that I considered suicide, and I am so thankful for that time. I know zero successful people who say that they learned the most when things were really freaking great. But every successful person that I know looks back on a really hard time where they had to practice courage, where they were uncomfortable, and they say, that is the reason that I am successful. So if you're going through a shitty time right now, I'm here to tell you that you might just look back on this moment, on this time in your life and say, I am so thankful. Thankful for that time. Now, that sounded like sacrilege to me a few years ago. That sounded impossible to me. But I can promise you that today I look back on the nights when I didn't want to live anymore, when I looked at the pictures of my ex, when I looked at my bank account that had shrunk. And I look back on those days, and I am so thankful for every moment of that hard time because it made me who I am today. So if you are going through a shitty time, get excited, because this might be the chance you have at the success and the greatness that you envision. And this is the first day of that journey.
