Five years ago when I was 23 I bought a Tesla using a traditional auto loan. I had a great paying job, great prospects and I could afford the payments. After learning more about money, and how debt steals my future (thanks Ramsey Solutions), I realized what paying for a Tesla at 23 was doing: minimizing my opportunity. I had the Tesla for about 1.5 years until Covid hit and I was no longer driving to work and my insurance company had that audacity to raise my rates! I had no other reasonable insurance options because I was 24 at the time (wow that sucks!). I decided to take control back, sell it for some “profit” (Covid car prices were insane) and my Dad gave me his 2008 Chevy Impala (thanks Dad). I sold the Tesla to Carvana and they picked it up from my driveway, below is the picture I took as they were preparing to tow it away:

I used to show this picture to people as “the saddest picture I own”, but I think now it’s properly captioned with “the day I became an adult”. Personally, that is what that picture means to me now, it may not come across that way for everyone. Further while reflecting on it, I think about the idea of Opportunity Maximization. I think it’s my job to design my life where I’m trying to give myself the best number of opportunities in the future. I should never be in a position where one single insurance company can control my feelings because of some math equation they ran that said a 24 year old should pay $X in insurance cost. The last time I went to get my oil changed the guy who lifted my hood said he needed a tenacious shot, you do not get that type of banter with other cars (especially a oilless Tesla)! What I didn’t know at the time was that by selling the Tesla it gave me the opportunity 3 years later to start my own business since I was able to control my fixed monthly costs. I could have never predicted that 3 years after selling my Tesla I would be starting another business. I believe living through a deep value system, while constantly living those values, has allowed me to maximize my opportunities in ways I could have never dreamed of. I am the happiest I’ve ever been, and the opportunities before me feel endless, and I believe these two things are related.