Nathan Miller quit the 9-to-5 path at 22 by skipping college and building an e-commerce business starting at 18. He argues success comes from dedicated thinking time, mastering transferable skills, committing to one vertical, and sacrificing leisure for progress. Young people have an advantage: fewer obligations to risk calculated moves.
I am not sitting on that chair. Screw that. But what's going on guys? My name is Nathan Miller and this is how I escaped the rat race at the ripe age of 22 years old. And it started when I was 18. And I'm just going to go over like a couple of like the fundamentals, maybe just the main thing that changed, I guess, in how my life was and how my life is now. And it's been four years since I've been 18 years old. But when I graduated high school, I always knew I didn't really want to go to college. And so I always wanted, had these high ambitions and saw myself starting some sort of business, starting a business idea, doing something maybe online, maybe some real estate, something like that. And I never quite knew what it was. But basically what the vertical is or what the business is doesn't really matter. There's so many good opportunities out there basically. And I feel like it's the underlying principles and the underlying habits that really, really matter and make you into a successful person. And that is something that happens. You don't become successful at one thing, you become a successful person where all these different aspects of your life, you start to like just bear this fruit. And it's really sick to see actually. But basically before I was 18, right, I spent time, most of my time playing video games, if I wasn't at school, playing video games, maybe hanging out with friends, some, you know, a lot of scrolling TV shows, movies, binge eating and like I worked out or I think I started working at 18 actually. But I like, I like doing stuff outside and stuff too. But basically I didn't give myself any time to figure things out. And I feel like that is the biggest thing that I can give to you guys is like you guys need to give yourself time to figure things out. And what the whole premise of the rat race is. It's like a cycle because you're working eight hours a day, 40 hours a week or more because of the high living expenses now. And so you can't really afford to spend time or after work you're like just exhausted. So you just want to like chill outside or maybe like watch TV and relax. But if you're trying to make it to extraordinary places and you're trying to upgrade your life and do something that you know, no one does, not no one does, but that most people don't do. You have to think differently and you have to behave differently than the average person. And what that is, is basically in your free time you need to be Using that to learn some sort of skill. And it doesn't have to be what I do. It doesn't have to be E commerce, doesn't have to be drop shipping. It can be. There's a multitude of different skills and you need to figure out, you know, what you have right now. What skills do you currently have? What skills do you have from your past? We all have different skills that we've just grown up with and been environments that have influenced us to learning these different skills. For example, I was thinking about F1 drivers because I went to Vegas the other week. And to be an F1 driver, one, you kind of have to have rich parents, and two, you have to start at a very early age. And so there's a very select amount of people who could even like, be an F1 driver. Because most of those people at the start, there are some people who, like, they figure it out and they actually go for it. I think there's one driver right now. But for the majority of them, you have to be in a very specific scenario to succeed in that and to even have the opportunity. So you want to figure out what gifts have you been given, what interest have you been given, what are you like, what's in your heart, what do you enjoy doing? And figure out what the best vertical is for that. Then spend your free time. You're going to be still working probably like most of us, I was still working when I was pursuing E. Comm on the side, and now I'm blessed enough to do it full time. But you have to figure out what makes the most sense and then don't. Once you have an answer, don't switch it up. This is something that I did, and I probably lost a year to this because I wanted to do something else. And then I switched and I went back. You want to just stick to it, and then you stick to it and you do it on the side and you're still making your money. But you're going to have to sacrifice some things. You're going to have to sacrifice some free time, hanging out with friends, doing your normal activities. I see a lot of people who reach out to me who, they want what I have, they want to be successful, they want to change their lives, but they don't want to make the sacrifice that it takes to like, actually change. Because, you know, the word change in itself, like, implies that something has to change. And like, they want change, but they're not willing to change is basically what I'm saying. So you have to be willing to change. You have to be willing. You have to want it bad enough to where you're willing to do pretty much anything to make it into reality. And if you do that, it will pay off. And it's definitely paid off for me. And I'm super, super blessed to be in the position I am. But just wanted to make this quick video to you guys who are out there grinding and don't know how to even start. Just start simple. Start with some free time, start with giving yourself space to think, and then understand and take some calculated risks. Like, calculated risks are some of the best things in life and have the most upside. So I definitely recommend, like, taking some risks, especially if you're younger and you don't have a family yet. So that is my advice. And thank you guys for watching the video. Peace.
