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Failed entrepreneur, broke, unemployed, now taking care of aging parents. Help.

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Re: Failed entrepreneur, broke, unemployed, now taking care of aging parents. Help.

#11
A few observations:

- Your post is a little judgmental of the people living this area. 9-5 jobs are nothing to be ashamed of and wanting to watch TV after a hard day isn't necessarily a fault. If I were a business leader in this area I'm not sure I'd be interested in working to fix this if such a thing is even possible or desirable.

- What is your skillset? Are you a programmer? If so then you should be able to find work anywhere, you could work remotely, or start a business.

Doing something out of guilt is nothing I'd ever recommend. If you were doing this out of love then maybe this might make sense.

Re: Failed entrepreneur, broke, unemployed, now taking care of aging parents. Help.

#12
You need to get a fresh start. I think regardless of the situation (although yours may be more extended), we all have a sense of guilt for "abandoning" people, but you have to realize that you can't help anyone unless you help yourself first. I do have my own story, but it's not something I want to publicly share, though I'd be happy to tell you over skype if you really want to know.

Bottom line is... you can stay around and try to fix things, but your chances for success are low. I have a philosophy in life: Never stay in a place where you're too happy or unhappy. Happiness brews complacency, and unhappiness breeds distrust and hopelessness. I don't know your skill set, but I'd suggest moving somewhere, working to save up, and then restarting your life. The hard part is getting past the loss of time.

Re: Failed entrepreneur, broke, unemployed, now taking care of aging parents. Help.

#13
Yeah your situation right now sounds awful. Its tough to be under-appreciated by people whom you're trying to help. Here are a few things to try.

0. Put your email in your profile so people can email you suggestions/work/jobs privately.

1. Get ANY locally available job just to get out of the house regularly and interact with people and start earning some $. Then start looking for something you like or enjoy etc. Do you have any skills people buy on ODesk or other places?

2. Start exercising daily. Don't need a gym membership to be effective. Google "body weight exercises."

3. Spend some time (an hour-ish doesn't have to be continuous) outside every day. It can be anything but you could walk dogs for a nearby humane shelter or whatever.

4. What area? I assume USA. How close to an "active" area? Or at least a not-dead-area? The local guys probably aren't against it but more likely have no idea how to start/be successful and don't want to look foolish or fail.

5. If you don't have on spend $5 and get an account on ask.metafilter.com and ask specific questions about your parents anonymously to a wider audience than HN.

6. Maybe this can give you some concrete ideas the local guys can understand: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2566026

Re: Failed entrepreneur, broke, unemployed, now taking care of aging parents. Help.

#18
Sounds like it's time to start from 0.

Location: You need to move far enough away from your parents that you don't struggle with their every decision, but close enough to react to an emergency.

Parents: Do NOT attempt to rule their lives. They don't want it and you won't convince them. They have to figure it out for themselves.

Job: You need to settle down and find a 9-5 job. You have nothing with which to start another risky venture, so you need to find a way to pay the bills while you recoup.

Innovation: Feel free to innovate on the side, but pay the bills first.

Re: Failed entrepreneur, broke, unemployed, now taking care of aging parents. Help.

#19
You are a very strong person - give yourself a huge amount of respect for having the courage to write this.

Reading this has brought back a whole lot of painful memories - I have been almost exactly where you are. Though exact circumstances were different, I know how it feels to be trapped between two unmovable forces.

When I was there, I started giving myself homework assignments. Basically, I turned self care into an entrepreneurial endeavour. For example, I literally forced myself to:

- start training for a marathon (Kanamekun gave you some amazing advice - physical exercise increases both dopamine and serotonin levels)

- start lifting weights three times a week (strength training is a great tool as you see small improvements constantly. For me, it was also a great opportunity to let out a lot of anger)

- keep a (private) journal and write a minimum of 500 words a day. Sometimes, my 500 words consisted of, "I hate my life and I want to die" repeated over and over again until I hit 500.

- start working on one small project that I always dreamed of doing but never had the time

Needless to say, I was in a really bad place and, if you want brutal honesty, I can say that I am a little surprised that I came out the other side. I found that these four pieces of homework built momentum and eventually I had enough momentum to get out of the pit.

Best of luck, I will be thinking about you, and if you need someone to talk to, just ask and I will put up some contact information.

You're strong and you're not alone.

Re: Failed entrepreneur, broke, unemployed, now taking care of aging parents. Help.

#20
"no tech scene, no innovators, no night life, no forward-thinking, no excitement."

Sounds to me like a blank canvas and opportunity to be a big fish in a small pond. Your town not being cool enough isn't a good excuse. It's like blaming a chair for making you sit in it.

If you are a true entrepreneur and have the ambition, you'll hustle up make things happen. In the meantime, lower your standards and take the next job that's offered to you.

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