My Story
By Warren Wong
My story started in Queens, New York. Growing up, I was a scrawny kid, played a lot of video games, and had no direction in life. But, I did make a couple of good decisions in my life, and decided to stick with them.
I’m definitely not an expert, nor a super athlete. I wish I could say I’m naturally talented, but alas, I am not, I’m just a regular guy.
By no means is this written to brag, but to show you that if a regular guy like me can do it, there’s definitely hope for everyone else too.
There were no shortcuts, just a lot of work; there were some good days, and a lot of bad days.
But, I have accomplished a lot over the last couple of years and have learned a lot along the way. My story is a little unorthodox, so bare with me.
My story began when I started being more intentional with my life. Here’s a list of things I’ve done since May 2014:
May 2014. Decided to spend my junior year summer traveling around China with friends. Friends decided against it. I pushed ahead, and found myself living in China for 4 months on my own.
It was here that I finally had time (a little too much time) to reflect. During the trip, I made the decision to fulfill my childhood dream, to be a real life ninja warrior. I decided to join the Marines.
May 2015. Graduated university with my Bachelors in Accounting and my sanity intact. School never came naturally to me. I had to study like everyone else, and I dozed off a lot in class.
To be fair, I really did try to stay awake, and my “extracurricular” activities didn’t help either.
It was during university that I decided to broaden my horizons and learn new skills. I learned what I liked, didn’t like, and started forming who I was.
I participated in different school clubs, founded a fraternity with friends, attempted a startup, and many failed attempts with the opposite sex.
It was a time of trial and error, and a formative period in my young adult life. How I miss college so….
September 2015. Ended my video game addiction. After a decade of playing video games, I was able to stop.
I would be remiss to say that it was easy, but I had many failed attempts. I was only successful because I was preoccupied with physical fitness, with the goal of being in the best shape of my life. I was getting ready for the Marines.
By finding a metaphorical mountain to climb, I no longer needed video games to fill a void. It was the first major step in my personal development journey.
March 2016. Earned my commission in the U.S. Marine Corps. Here I learned to focus, drown out the background noise, and have a thick skin. Many that were stronger, smarter, and faster than I, that were with me on day 1, were not with me on graduation day; it’s not always the strongest who triumph, but those who want it the most. What I learned at Quantico, Virginia laid the foundation for my future successes.
Began to travel. I got out of my comfort zone through solo travel. I made new friends, exhilarating experiences, and created unforgettable moments while backpacking through Europe and Asia.
Began waking up early. At first I woke up early because my job required it, but when I began taking personal development seriously, I made it a point to win the morning.
I attribute it to building up my discipline and going to bed early. Little by little, I got in bed earlier, and learned good sleep habits. I remember hating waking up early, but now I enjoy it.
Exercise consistently. I found the grind of working out oddly satisfying. At first, I exercised to achieve emotional catharsis, but after a while, I couldn’t not do it. Life is weird sometimes.
Began eating healthy. At a certain point I was fed up with how I felt through the day. My energy levels were not consistent and I felt drained after a long day.
So, I started cutting out almost all sugar, eating way more veggies, and less meat. I also began meal prepping, was vegan for a short period of time, and drank a gallon of water a day (prepare for many bathroom breaks). I felt better than ever and haven’t looked back since.
Invested my first $100,000 by 25. I practiced strict financial discipline, made a few wise investments, and still enjoyed a healthy amount of online shopping and traveling.
Becoming financially educated and investing in my future is probably one of the smartest decisions I ever made.
Read consistently. I rekindled my childhood love for reading. I always loved a good story. I began consistently reading 30 minutes to an hour every day. The benefits of reading have been incredible and severely underrated. I attribute reading to a lot of my successes and that really helps me continue the habit.
April 2019. Started my blog. Started sharing my story and ideas on the world wide web. It was uncomfortable at first, but I’m proud of the progress I’ve made!
June 2019. Began practicing minimalism. I started to declutter my life, and carefully choose how to spend my time. I’ve become a lot more organized and also became more conscious of how I spend my money.
March 2020. Reached the rank of Captain, and transitioned from the U.S. Marine Corps. Giving up a meaningful career was not an easy decision. Started pursuing personal projects and continuing to write, all of which I really enjoy.
Oct 2021. Successfully transitioned to software engineering. Worked on cool projects like the Super Bowl and educational platforms for kids across America.
Apr 2024. Gave up my six figure cushy job to embark on a sabbatical to strike out on my own.
The process of telling my story was very strange, because normally I’m not one to celebrate the wins.
I tend to overanalyze the defeats which would probably be double this list. Looking back at these accomplishments, I’m proud of them, because along the way they have made me, uniquely me.
There are days that you can find me stuffing my face with chips, not feeling like writing, and binging on the latest shows on Netflix. But I don’t dwell on those days, I just try again tomorrow, and over time, I’ve made unbelievable progress.
My story is my own. I still have a lot of things that I still want to achieve, which is part of the journey. I don’t know where the destination is, or if there even is one, but I invite you to join me and together we can achieve great things.
