10 years ago, I was 25 and convinced I’d be a millionaire by 30. I consumed all the “hustle” content Gary V, Grant Cardone, you name it. My diet was coffee, podcasts, and self-loathing. I started a small e-commerce store with literally $1,200 scraped from my savings. The first year was brutal: 80+ hour weeks, no vacations, constant stress. But it worked. By year 3, revenue hit $1.2M. On paper, I was “living the dream”. Here’s the catch: I didn’t see my friends for months. I was 40 pounds overweight. I once missed my mom’s birthday dinner because I was negotiating a $3,000 wholesale deal (that later fell through). My relationship ended because I was married to Shopify, not her. Financial breakdown (for the curious): Year 1: $36k revenue / $12k profit Year 2: $400k revenue / $85k profit Year 3: $1.2M revenue / $210k profit Year 4: $850k revenue / $120k profit (market shift + burnout = decline) What’s wild is that when I finally “made it” (six figures profit), I felt worse than when I was broke. I had money, but no life. The turning point was honestly embarrassing: I ended up in the ER at 29 with heart palpitations from stress + caffeine. The doctor literally said: “Your business is killing you faster than poverty would.” So I pulled back. Hired a real team instead of trying to be Superman. Sold off part of the company. Built slower, but more sustainably. Now I’m 35. Net worth is \~$2.4M (mix of business equity, real estate, and cash), but the real win is that I sleep 8 hours a night, spend time with my kid, and don’t check Slack at 3am anymore. Lessons I wish someone had drilled into me earlier: Revenue ≠ happiness. Profit ≠ freedom (if you’re chained to the business). “Grinding” works, but it also grinds you. Hire sooner than you think. Family and health compound faster than money. I’m sharing this because I see a lot of people here asking for the “magic pill” or obsessing over hitting $1M. I was that guy. The million is great, but if you don’t design your life first, you’ll hate the life you sacrificed everything for. Question to the sub: For those of you who “made it” (whatever that means for you) did it actually feel like you expected? Or did you have to re-define success too?