Tough Questions from Unexpected Sources

About 6 years ago I was in a very different place that I am today.

I was overweight. I had low energy. I was checked out at work.

I was looking outside of myself for gratification.

Food. Drink. YouTube.

On one particular day, I was watching a music video when something struck me.

It was one of those simple music videos where is shows the band playing in front of the live audience.

But when they hit the bridge…

They were so…

Joyful.

It’s the best way I can think to describe it.

The look on their faces radiated a passion and a thrill that I hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

In fact, it had been so long that even seeing it on my laptop screen caught me completely off guard.

Which led to the insanely uncomfortable question…

Why?

Why were these men able to find such deep joy in what they did for a living, while I was… not.

The hard truth is that they were pursuing their passion.

I wasn’t.

Now, since life isn’t a movie, working through that realization, and figuring out what to do about it, took a long time. Much longer than I would have liked, but a lot of important lessons were learned along the way.

And, truthfully, it’s a large part of why I started Ask A DSO.

It was a dream of mine since I was a teenager to own my own business.

But something always held me back.

Some of it was practical- what would my business be? How do I register the company? Do I do an LLC, a corporation, a non-profit?

But honestly the biggest thing that held me back was fear. Plain & simple.

I didn’t want to fail. I didn’t want to lose all my money. I didn’t want the shame of everyone around me knowing that I wasn’t able to accomplish my dream.

So I took the ‘safe’ route.

And found myself in a life I didn’t even like.

So I started doing some research.

And getting some help.

And I started.

Today, I am beyond blessed by my full life.

I get to help students from all over the world, and I get to do it with joy in my heart.

It all started with making the decision to take control over my life and actually pursue the things that I wanted.

Many of you signed up for this newsletter, at some point, because you have an interest in coming to the United States.

If that’s still the case, I encourage you to do it.

Take that leap.

There are people here to help. Obviously I’m one of them, and I have several services based on what your needs may be.

Any college or university that accepts international students will also have a dedicated team to helping through the admissions and onboarding process.

Depending on where you live, there may be agents or education consultants that have partnerships with U.S. universities.

The point I’m making here is that I don’t care if you use me or not. I care that you take that step to chase your dream.

To chase the American Dream.

To live YOUR American Dream.

Don’t be like me and be watching a video 6 years from now watching other people be happy and wondering why you’re not.

You can do it.

It will be challenging.

But it will be worth it.

I’m rooting for you.

Until next time,

Josh