Aaron Badowski
Birthday: September 5th, 1997 (25yo)
Height: 6ft 7inches Tall
Hometown: Brunswick Ohio
College: The Ohio State University
Degree: Electrical Engineering
Hobbies: Former Basketball Player, Weightlifting. Cooking, Listening to Podcasts, Reading
Family of 6: Mom, Dad, 3 Siblings: Twin Sister (Ally), Older Brother (Ryan), Younger Sister (Kirsten)
MY STORY
Childhood 1997-2016
“The way we do Anything, is the way we do Everything”
I grew up in Brunswick Ohio just south of Cleveland Ohio. I was blessed to be raised with three siblings to be raised by a mom and dad that gave us everything and did a phenomenal job keeping real problems distant from us. What we were doing was playing sports. My life revolved around Basketball for 18 years. It dictated every decision. My teammates were my friends and practice is where we hung out. Thanksgiving dinner was planned around practice. Puking at practice was normal. Playing in insane amounts of physical pain was normal. Training ridiculous hours never felt like a sacrifice. It was chaotic. It was challenging. It was exhausting. It was incredibly rewarding.
Paradigm Shift - Giving Up My First Love
My first real decisions in my life had to be made at 18. The decision most definitely was not if I was going to college. The decisions were what was I going to study and if I was going to play basketball. I was recruited by some big D3 schools to play basketball. As far as studies Engineering was the default choice. I was extremely strong at math. Everyone always told me I should be an engineer.“Sure i’ll be an engineer”
Decision Process: My body was in pain at this time. I knew I had to improve a lot as a player to scratch the hardwood at the next level. The recruiting phase did not sell well on me either. The small schools were not exciting to me. I loved the game, there were not doubts about that. There was just a lot pointing the other way. The other option was school. I had a great opportunity to go to The Ohio State University. A lot of my friends were going there. I was a smart kid and getting into this school felt like a real accomplishment. This still felt like I was challenging myself going into engineering. It felt like a cool new chapter and I still had my friends.
College 2016-2020
I am at The Ohio State University. No basketball practice anymore. What were my new priorities?:
Receiving my Engineering Degree in 4 years
Paying for my life
Bodybuilding
Everything else
Looking back now. my Engineering degree was nothing more than a goal. It was not something I really cared about learning, but it was incredibly challenging and I liked that. I felt an immense pressure to not fail. To not quit. So I just went day-by-day and solved it a problem at a time. It took a lot out of me. Additionally, I was now paying for some of my life. I ended up picking up a job at a bar on campus. First picking up beer bottles and eventually moving into a bartending/managing role. I worked 25-30hrs per week. A lot of late nights, then early mornings for classes. It needed to be done. On the side, my fitness became extremely important to me. This was my one sanity check. My new hobby.
After that, there wasn’t much time left. “Normal” college experiences really didn’t feel like an option. I didn’t drink that much because I couldn’t afford it from a time, energy or money perspective. Finding the ambition to study semiconductor physics is nearly impossible sober, let alone trying to do it hungover.
My social life was at work and I watched football games while I served other kids drinks.
Paradigm Shift - Death Waits For No Man
During College I had my next big Paradigm shift. It really started when I was in high school when two of my best friends and teammates were diagnosed with cancer when we were 15 years old. During High School, it was definitely scary. It was a thing. My friends were bald from chemo. They were in an out of school. They were clearly sick.
But, to their credit and and incredible strength.They never made a big deal about it. We were cracking jokes and having fun when they were around per normal. Then they both went into remission.
Then one of them got cancer again. No problem. He will beat it again. And he did. He ended up playing his senior year of baseball. Absolute warrior. Again, it was just a roadblock at the time. We were kids. We were still invincible.
We all went off to college and a year in the cancer returned. No big deal. he will beat it again. He did. Then it came back again…
One of my Best Friends passed on May 5th 2019 at 21 years old after 5 years battling cancer. The other is still in remission and is one of my best friends to this day.
Summer 2020
I did it.
I got my “impressive” degree from a Top 25 Engineering school. I did it in good fashion 4 years. 3.6 GPA. I got a job lined up with one of “Fortunes Top Places to Work”. I have zero debt. I got a good salary offer.
Except this is also when covid started so now I do not start until August and have a whole summer. I was invited to manage at a restaurant that a former boss of mine had recently bought. Waterfront on Buckeye Lake. So, I managed a bar on a lake during Covid.
It was an absolute blast.
Coming off school staring at a computer for 10 hours a day in deep equations and transitioning to being on my feet in the sun everyday with kids my age. I worked nearly 60 hrs a week while the bar had its most profitable year to date. Another 24 year old kid and me (22 years old) were running around managing a million dollar business. I would wake up, workout, then drive out to the bar and work all day. I was making great money. Having a blast. It was chaotic, it was challenging, it was exhausting, it was rewarding.
Paradigm Shift - “Real Job”
Then I started my “Real Job”
What I imagined: All the hard work and sacrifice is supposed to come back around. That 4 years of sacrifice was for this. Im going to have respect from my peers. They are going to push me. They are going to reward me. Im going to have the opportunity to grow a career and make a lot of money. “Engineers make a lot of money” This is it. Ready to put a stamp on the world!
Reality: I am working from home. My manager didn’t talk to me until 7 months after my start date. Sitting at a computer all day. Never talking to anyone, Not using any technical skills I learned in my degree. Sitting on 5 meetings a day. My job to be a computer monkey all day at the lowest level in the company. Asking for approval on everything and anything.
My thoughts: These 10 hours a day are miserable. I am building up some savings. When the hell does this bar open back up?
Double Life 2020-2022
My New Summer Schedule:
Monday - Friday: Individual contributor in the slow corporate world doing highly technical work in a suit and tie with 45+ year old males in a chair staring at a computer with artificial light.
Friday - Sunday: Manager in a chaotic small business world mastering communication in a t-shirt and shorts with kids and customers of all ages on my feet in the sun staring at a lake.
In the summers, I would be working up to 90 hrs a week between the two jobs. I saved up a lot of money.
Paradigm Shift - Reflection
Something is off. I have two jobs. I hate the job that I worked so fucking hard to get. The one everyone is proud of me for. Not only do I hate it, I am not learning as much. I am not being asked to do as much. I am not being pushed. I am not as invested. Every day working it is dreadful.
I did everything I was supposed to. I got the degree. I got the job. Im making the money.
What the Fuck? Where did I go wrong?
Everything in my life now had a microscope over it. I questioned everything. All the paradigm shifts that steered my life became clear: Giving up basketball, My best friend dying, Saying “Sure, Ill be an Engineer”, The Bar.
Research
Im a problem solver. So I went to work. I read 100+ books. I listened to 100,000+ hours of podcasts. I had serious conversations with people I respected. I started looking for answers. Meanwhile was searching for jobs in a very strategic way. Patiently, I would just ask people I cold called on linkedin for coffee or lunch and just try to get to know them. I went into full reflection mode. I evaluated my life. I dove headfirst into my past.
Paradigm Shift - The Golden Question
What I realized is I never once took the time and asked myself “What do I want out of this life?” I was listening to other people and what they said was important. What they said I should do. What they decided for me.
Unlike any other time in my life, now I was feeling ultimate freedom. Having money. Being independent. It was my world now. I got to drive. There was no wall behind me saying “you have to be an engineer to pay your bills”
Its all those corny questions that everyone always glosses over. What are your dreams? If you had all the money in the world what would you do? “When you’re on your death bed…”
Truth is they are not easy questions. With all that in mind I share my thoughts in MY BLUEPRINT