I hated life

My life reset at 4:30am every morning.

Alarm, off.

Eyes, open.

The warm blankets felt like a 50 pound hug begging me to stay.

I wanted to oblige, but the alternative wasn’t worth it.

Clothes, on.

Teeth, brushed.

My cubicle dorm was one of thousands in what seemed to be…well…the middle of fucking nowhere.

By 5am, I made my way down to the camp’s cafeteria for the 1 of 2 things I looked forward to every day.

Breakfast, served.

Eat, alone.

Dinner was the 2nd thing I looked forward to, and it was 13 hours away.

All the time in between was life I couldn’t wait to slip by.

At 19, I never expected to be working 84-hour weeks in the freezing Canadian abyss.

But not knowing what to do out of high school, I followed my brother’s footsteps and became an electrician working on industrial gas plants.

Making more than minimum wage while I figured my life out seemed like a decent idea.

However, the money was the only thing appealing to me about construction work.

Days were filled with:

• Hard work

• Freezing winds

• Dangerous conditions

For 3 weeks out of the month, I would be 100s of kilometers away from my friends and family.

And being the youngest worker on the project, I was on the receiving end of a lot of crap work (and jokes).

I felt like the loser player on the team nobody wanted.

For months, I lived life on repeat like this…

• Wake up.

• Eat.

• Travel to the gas plant.

• Work 12-14 hours.

• Travel back to camp.

• Eat.

• Sleep.

I hated my life so much that I resorted to journaling as an outlet.

And looking back at those old journal entries?

I can honestly say…

Working in that shitty industry was one of the best things to ever happen to me.

It made me realize my biggest value in life is freedom.

Freedom to live where I want, work when I want, and do what I want.

And if I hadn’t experienced such discomfort, my drive to succeed in entrepreneurship wouldn’t have been as strong.

I knew what was waiting for me on the other side if I failed.

Now, fast forward to today…

• Instead of having to wake up, I get to wake up when I want

• Instead of having to work, I get to work for myself

• Instead of having to make a living, I get to make a life

In fact, right now, after a month hanging out in Europe, I just landed in Vegas.

My friends and I wanted to hit up a music festival, so we booked the tickets and came from across the world (if you’re going to EDC, hit me up).

Yes, the music festival will be fun… but I’m more grateful I live a life where I don’t need permission to do what I want.

Life is now something I’m excited for, not dreading.

Now, I don’t know where you’re at in life, but I wanted to use this email to remind y’all…

If it’s hard times, it’ll pass, so be hopeful.

If it’s good times, it’ll pass, so be grateful.

Alright, that’s my cheesy motivational quote for today.

Have a kickass day.

Your Canadian friend,

Dakota “Fortune Cookie Quotes” Robertson