I am a dreamer. I was strongly attracted by the magic word, American Dream. It sounds great, doesn’t it? I wanted to get out of the small country, Japan badly, see the world and prove that there is value in myself. I was one of the immigrants who came to the United States and started from zero, learning a new language, struggling to enroll in classes at school, and making friends. I literally found myself nothing but having a big duffle bag with a bunch of clothes in at LAX at the age of 23.

Please don’t give me wrong, Japan is a great country. There is abundant nature, water, and fresh air to enjoy the atmosphere. Once you step out of a plane and look around, you would see the exotic world waiting for you. People are nice and they always treat you with respect and great hospitality to welcome you. Believe me, I was there for over 20 years and was forced to learn tremendous discipline and manners at school and at home since when I was little. Japan is still a seniority society. There is a part of its culture in which you wouldn’t realize by just sticking your nose in. There are countless traditional manners and correct behaviors expected to perform in public and also many biases like money are the root of evil and becoming rich won’t make you happy. I found this to be universal, however, Americans are more tolerated and tend to accept the differences in behaviors and thinking. The traditional way of Japanese thinking is to get good grades at school, and having a secured job that provides a decent salary and benefits, and keep the job until retirement. Thus, going back to school after 22 years old was not a common thing to be seen in Japan, even now. This is how Japanese society has been designed and structured, however, it is one of the reasons to keep the economy robust and stable. Unfortunately, you don’t see as many millionaires and billionaires in Japan as in China and the United States.

Since when I was young, I had a rebellious and independent way of thinking, I rather want to say “REALISTIC” so tons of advice I got from friends or family to become successful or become happy didn’t click well. Although I have accomplished tremendous achievements by 22 as participating Jr. Olympics for running at Jr.high school and becoming a professional motorcycle racer, even getting a Bachelor’s degree in finances at Kobe University. However, I also made a big mistake which caused me to be drawn into debt as I became emotionally unstable…I guess it was a struggling phase of my life.

At 20, I was a racer and practiced on the track every day to pursue my dream. Money wasn’t a problem at all at the time. I received lumpsum cash of approximately $100,000 from an insurance company and was able to do what I wanted to do. However, one day, when I was running 230km/hr on the street, the line of the course I had in my mind at the corner changed due to the strong current of wind, and hit the wall, thrown out of the motorcycle(YZF R-1) and tumbled over 500ft. and resulted to be unconscious for a week. When I woke up with a white balloon-like bandage on my left hand, it explained what happened to me very well. I was told that my left hand was smashed totally and ripped off my left thumb finger, not only that the accident crushed all over my body, my knee cap, my right hand, and found myself sitting in a wheelchair for six months.

The worst nightmare wasn’t ended there. Getting fights because of the poor human relationships after I left the hospital and tasteless lifestyle, eventually, I was getting involved with legal issues and found myself in jail. Then I was sharing a small room behind bars with thugs. That was the bottom of my life. The room was small, the wall was white all around and the ceiling was very tall that you can’t even hang yourself. You get to see sunlight only half an hour early in the morning from the small window and are given tasteless cold food with 24 hr surveillance even during toileting. As a result, having $150,000 in debt, and leaving a girlfriend who I dated for 6 years, moreover, there was no way I was able to get a decent job in Japan. This was the turnaround of my life.

I left the country for good, then started with zero in the United States.
8 years later after a long struggle, I graduated with a Master’s degree in Environmental Science and found myself working for many rich people, Tom Cruise, Maharaj Ji, Van Halen, Eccleston, Markus Persson (Minecraft), Usher, Sean Combs, Eric Smiths(Harbor Freight Tools), Lynda Resnik, Tom Hanks, John McEnroe, Diana Jenkin, etc, and also working for the U.S. Government on water and wastewater treatment projects in Santa Barbra in California. I was strongly impressed by how they live, their classy lifestyles, the environment, and the various tools available to pursue the American dream. Owning over 100 acres of property near the coast and living in a beautiful nice dwelling is a normal thing to do. You can choose how you live, lifestyle.

That was the moment I realize working hard won’t take me even near it for the rest of my life if I keep doing what I am doing. I did compare myself with them and asked myself what is the difference? What do I have to do to have a great lifestyle like this? Then I started a business, I learned tremendous lessons and the importance of a success mindset that is common among successful people. Afterwhile, the business I was in expanded. Now I got to the point where I can work for myself in the backyard and write my knowledge to share with you as I have spare time. However, those knowledge and info are not for everyone. All the info and knowledge provided here won’t make everyone comfortable or happy, it is for people who whats to put their ego aside and change themselves, willing to sacrifice their ego for success. Stand up and keep running no matter how much criticism you get. Friends and family will definitely tell you that money won’t make you happy. Money won’t make you happy but helps you to become happy because happiness is “a status of mind”. I would like to share how I make myself happy by becoming and improving myself daily on my blog. All the things I share here with you are absolute truth and still the working progress of getting better every day. Happiness can be found in the progress of becoming better. My knowledge becomes very valuable for people who understand the value per se and act on it.

As you see, even if you throw pearls before swine, probably it means nothing, correct? There you go!! This knowledge and info were shared by mentors and helped me to create my own wealth. If you want success, you have to study to become successful. If you want to get freedom, financial freedom is a necessary element. Good luck!! (Well I don’t believe in luck much because I believe that luck is a by-product of hard work and it comes for someone who prepares and is ready to receive)

Yosuke Foley Yamada

Achieve hitting the first a million-dollar was the biggest hurdle.  Aim for that !