When your life is a mess and barely holding it together

A lot of the time I write a lot about “how to” invest or have deeper relationships. For the longest time, I thought in order to blog, I needed to have a solution for everything.

But honestly it’s okay to just talk about a problem everyone faces without a solution. Because I’m not perfect. No one is.

For a long time, my identity was being the fun pharmacist who knew how to invest. My YouTube name is KevinYeeThePharmD after all.

But what happens when you take all that away? When your financial stability is potentially stripped away?

It leaves you feeling like a nobody. And that’s how I feel right now. I got too comfortable with a stable paycheck.

For the longest time, I thought I’m going to hit it big and do whatever I want. But in truth, I was too scared and insecure about my abilities to ever leave my job.

And when you don’t make a decision, life makes it for you.

When bad luck hits, it’s easy to ignore the good and obsess over the negative.

I obsessed over not having enough time in a day, the negative people in my life, and on what I didn’t have. But I ignored all the people, who loved me for me. The people who supported me and showed up during the worst times.

Today my friend Chi sent me $100. Yesterday my roommate treated me out to pho and halal guys. 

Joe Jo, Nova Patra, and Charlie Lee all gave me words of confidence.

Nelyn, the girl I’ve been secretly dating, has supported me since day one and gives me unconditional love.

But most of all my dad, someone who didn’t support me as a kid, supports and provides me with words of encouragement from his hospital bed.

These people believe in me with my flaws and all. And there’s more people, but chances are there’s people in your life too.

You know, I’ve spent a lot of time working.

Editing and creating content for my YouTube channel. Giving to my patients at the pharmacy. Working on Refugee Hustle. Investing and building a legacy.

Don’t get me wrong. All these things are important. Money is important. But all this time… it wasn’t money and stability that gave me a rich life.

It was my friends and family. And that’s where I’ve been fucking up.

Instead of catching up, I choose to work on my business and not set boundaries for myself to enjoy life. And my friends are still there for me.

Money is great. It allows you to break bread with people, travel, invest, and buy cool toys. But you know what money can’t buy you?

Unconditional love. That is what a rich life is.

The truth is we never have to do things alone

Why? Because we’re never are alone.

There’s this idea out there for entrepreneurs… I became an overnight billionaire by myself without any help.

And I subconsciously held on to this dream too. I don’t show the human on the other side of the screen who…

  • Wakes up at 4:30 AM to workout and make his dreams happen
  • Sits in his car after a pharmacy shift trying to remember… why am I doing this
  • Thinks he’s all alone chasing his dream

But this isn’t true.

The truth is sometimes we tell ourselves these stories. Maybe it’s that people don’t care about us. Or maybe that we’re not good enough to quit our job.

It might take a little effort and initiative. There’s times we might need to check our ego at the door. But inevitably we can decide to change.

We can rewrite the stories we tell ourselves.

I think about my grandma, who made the journey from China to America.

The one who ran for her life during WWII with her two kids, hustled selling rice just for the opportunity in America, and made it barely speaking English.

She rewrote her story. From a poor farmer to a loving grandma who gave her grandson the chance to rewrite his life.

And I think about my journey and the obstacles I have to come.

The Refugee Hustle isn’t about getting rich overnight. It’s about staying optimistic when life gives you a shit hand. When life gets tough, it’s about the hope of tomorrow being closer to the dream. 

Right now, it’s a dark time. But through the love of my family, friends, and the support of you guys, I know I can make it.

What do you guys think?

If you like these heart to heart, vulnerable articles, shoot me a comment and subscribe.

Love you guys and happy holidays,

Kevin the Refugee