The Adventures Of A Uncommon Man

Prologue

Excerpt from Common Sense, written in 1776 by Thomas Paine

I do not choose to be a common man.
It is my right to be uncommon ... if I can.
I seek opportunity ... not security.
I do not wish to be a kept citizen,
Humbled and dulled by having the State look after me.
I want to take the calculated risk,
To dream and to build. To fail and to succeed.
I refuse to barter incentive for a dole;
I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence;
The thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of Utopia.
I will not trade freedom for beneficence
Nor my dignity for a handout
I will never cower before any master
Nor bend to any threat.
It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid;
To think and act for myself,
To enjoy the benefit of my creations
And to face the world boldly and say:
This, with God's help, I have done.
All this is what it means to be an Entrepreneur.

Long ago, in another time, another life, in a place far away there lived a great warrior. His entire life revolved around fighting and he lived for the thrill of combat. He fought in many wars for many kings, he killed many warriors like himself. So dangerous was he at combat that his fighting prowess was unmatched. No other warrior in the land could defeat him, and none even came close. Everyone of his opponents met a bloody end.
His many victories brought him untold riches, a feared reputation and followers wanting to learn from him, for he was regarded as a master of combat.
And so the years dragged on and he travelled far and wide to distant lands where he challenged their best fighters and won. He offered his services to many kings and fought their wars, killing many other warriors and so the bloodshed continued and he kept winning, the years never slowing him down, his thirst for battle never quenched. And as he grew older he began to look back on his life, on all his great conquests, his many victories and he asked himself what they had given him, how they had changed his life. The trouble was, he could not answer his own question and so he kept thinking about it until one day he came across an old man in the mountains. This old man knew about the great warrior, of his many great victories for he was now a legend the world over. Some even regarded him as a god because he had never been beaten in battle, never killed. And so the old man, who looked wise beyond his years asked the great warrior another question that made the warrior think.
"When you beat all the great fighters in this lifetime, what will you do?"
The warrior was unable to answer this question because his entire life revolved around fighting, living for the thrill of battle, the joy and ectasy of conquering an opponent. He became so powerful that he never realised where is path was taking him. He walked with the old man to the very top of the mountain and there he looked at the magnificent view of the surrounding lands.
"This is the best view on the mountain," the old man told the great warrior. "I come here all the time and just sit here and contemplate".
The warrior saw the many lands that stretched into the horizon. He saw the many great mountains that stretched into the sky and it was only then that the answer to the old mans question came to him. It was the other mountains that he saw, for they were many. His quest to become the greatest and most feared warrior of all time was a success. He could no deny that. It was like climbing a great mountain and once he reached the very top, there was nowhere else to go. He had conquered his mountain, even though it had taken him over half his life to do so. But now he was ready to conquer other things, find new challenges, new adventures. Every mountain was different, each one had its own challenges, but the view was always the same. It was magnificent.
So he sat with the old man in silence for a good long while.
Finally, he lay down his sword and turned to the old man, a smile on his battle hardened face. "You know what old man, I think I might like to try my hand at playing music".

My life is drugery. Each day is always the same. I get up in the morning, I go to work, I come home, have my tea, watch TV, go to bed and so again the same process is repeated. Nothing ever happens in my life and my job...well that is just about the most boring thing any human being can do. It is one of those jobs that doesnt require you to think. It's just reptition. Doing the same process day in and day out and the pay is peanuts as well.
My life never use to be like this. It was fun once, but that was a long time ago when I was no more than five foot and life was like an adventure, the thrill of discovering things for the first time.
Growing up is about the worst thing that can ever happen as the world becomes a habit and you have to go out into society to earn a living. Like there is no other way to live life but work.
I never did too well at school. Most of my grades were quite average, C's and D's in my GCSE'S. I got better grades at college studying computers and business for five years. From this I earned two diploma's in computers and business. I could have gone on to uni and got meself a degree, but my finances were in dire straits at that time which meant I did not have the cash to continue with my education. So I went out to find myself a job.
I could have settled for a decent office job sat in front of a computer screen, typing in endless reams of data. But there was a recession back then and most of my applications were unsuccessful. Disollusioned by my failures and desparate for work, I was prepared to settle for anything going, and this is how I got my job working as a packaging operative for Syntech Solutions.
I dont know what I was thinking at the time, going for a job that didnt require any skills or thinking. I was lucky to get it because if they had seen my resume, they would have thought that I was way overqualified. I actually went through an agency. I can remember the lady at the time who was dealing with my application asked me if I was absolutely sure I wanted to go for this position, knowing that it was not my line of work. But I needed the money and this job looked like easy money, even though it did not seem to have any future prospects whatsoever.
I've been working at Syntech Solutions Ltd for almost ten long years. It is a long time for anyone to be working in a job, but when I first started I thought it was great. There was no challenge, no great amount of responsibility to be taken and even though the pay was crap, I was still able to fund a lifestyle where I could spoil myself with luxaries like the latest designer clothes, gadgets and drink. Now years later, I find myself feeling really bored and dissolusioned. I am married now to a woman I met two years ago. We met online and she lived in Stoke-On-Trent, in Burslem which is one of the five towns that makes up the big city. I now live with her in Burslem. I use to live in Nantwich, a small and quiet market town, and I liked it there, though I gave up the peace and quiet to be with her in the big wide city. I would say this is the only good thing that has happened in my life as all the other decisions I made, I regret. I hate my job, I hate where I live and yearn for a better standard of living.
Everything in my life just feels boring, mundane and repetitive. Nothing exciting happens, and even my relationship with my wife, Natalya has gone downhill. We spend most of our time in separate rooms barely speaking to each other and we very rarely have sex. The only thing that keeps me sane and happy is my writing. I love writing and I write a lot of stories. I always had an active imagination ever since I was small and never knew how to turn so many of my idea's into stories since my early teens. Since the age of eighteen I have written many stories and have even gone as far as writing at least four novels to date.
Now you might think what the hell am I doing working in a crappy job when I got so much material that I can use to publish?
Surely this guy must be sitting on a gold mine?
Problem is, all my work is first drafts. I love writing the stories. What I don't enjoy is re-writing them. They say all good published novels and short stories are never written, they are constantly re-written, polished up and edited so they are suitable for publication. I did once try my hand at getting some of my work published but was so easily put off when I leanred about the demands publishers want from submitted manuscripts. How grammer has to be perfect, everything has to be double spaced and then there is the quality of the story. You might have perfect spelling and grammer but if the story is pants, it wont sell.
You could say that I am trapped in blissful ignorance. That I am happy just writing for my own pleasure. Thats true to some extent. It's selfish, I know, but there is a part of me that wants to share my work to the world. I have always believed that we all have something to give in life. We did not just show up from our mothers womb to work our asses off in dull, dead end jobs till we grow old and wrinkly and then they wheel us off to some old folks home. Life was never meant to be dull, routine and repetitive. It was supposed to be an exciting adventure and deep down I yearn for that.
The novelty in my job wore off years ago and now each and every day, as I commute to my job, I feel like I am just going through the motions. What makes each day unbearable, apart from the routine repetitiveness, the boredom and the lousy and arrogant management is the constant whining of my inner voice which keeps telling me to get myself off my ass and to go chase my dreams. Normally our self talk is negative and it would usually tell us that what we are doing in our boring little jobs is all we are good for, but my little voice keeps reminding me that I am better than what I am doing. That I can be much more.
I blame all these positive, self help paperback and audio books that I have read for this. Yep, I've studied them all. Just about every motivational speaker from Les Brown, Bob Proctor, Anthony Robbins, Dr Wayne W Dyer, Brian Tracy, Jack Canfield and the list goes on. I studied all the laws of the universe, even the law of attraction which is based on the theory that our own thoughts shape our reality. Yes, I saw that film by Rhonda Byrne, The Secret and even read all her books. Basically, in order to get what you want out of life, you have to imagine and convince yourself that you already have it. I guess this is where I've been going wrong when it comes to manifesting the kind of life I want. I just can't seem to get my head round the fact that I have to indulge in this make-believe thing. I can think about all the good things a million pounds can bring, but to actually feel that I have it. Thats a challenge and I know a great many people feel the same way.
Somehow, I know that there are better things out there for me, that there is life beyond the drugery. I can read all the motivational books I want, self educate myself in the mechanics of success. But, at the end of the day, it is up to me to change my life. Nobody else is going to do that for me.
I know that I am ready to move on from my job, from my current circumstances. I've mastered all that I need to and to evolve, I must move on. Easy said than done. Greatest challenge is changing ones thinking. Everything else is a doddle after that. There was a wise man that told me that.
So this is my story, my journey from being an ordinary comman man to an uncommon man...

Note From Doug

I would like to thank David Bachmann@Bachmann40 for lending me his expertise and experience in assisting me in writing this story. This is only a first draft so apologies for any grammar and spelling mistakes. I am a avid reader but this book represents my first attempt at writing. Please feel free to comment or even vote if you think its good.