I preferred the previous version.
Here are my suggestions (take with a grain of salt):
1.) I would add links into the white bar - Bio/About, Apparel, Blog, etc. When I visit the site, it looks incomplete.
2.) The large blank spot on the website when you open it is...off to my eye. If you add links, as suggested above, you might not need to do this. But, I might play around with centering the book in the page and/or adding text to the side to avoid the completely stark look (and I like a minimalist look!).
3.) The photo for the bio is unnecessarily over-sized. I would correct this.
4.) You are a writer and I am not. I do not want to offend you, but in reading the bio, it was clunky to me. I made suggested edits below. Keep in mind, this is just one random NON-WRITER'S opinion.
For nearly 2 decades I did not have the ability to cover basic emergencies. I was living paycheck to paycheck and taking on even greater debts, growing poorer in body, mind, and spirit. I had a host of great education (on paper), a big beautiful home, a new car every 4 years, 2 dogs, anything I wanted to eat, and many toys.
Like most Americans, I obtained The Dream by leveraging against any future happiness allotted to me. At the deepest, my cesspit sunk to $25K of credit card debt, $13K in personal loans, $25K in auto loans, $106K of student debt on degrees, and a $240K mortgage on an asset that dropped by $55K in the first year. This was all obtained from a measly base salary of roughly $50K.
Upon the arrival of my firstborn in 2012, my steadfast beliefs in the societal propaganda began to lift. I had chosen to think my way out, culturing a mindset that questioned the impact of every choice and shed those which caused despair and desperation or conflicted with a free future.
After 3 years of research, number crunching, and planning, action was taken upon my body and my use of the almighty dollar. Between 2015 and 2019 each plan was tracked, tweaked, and reevaluated monthly.
• Body: I’ve gone from 250 pounds with chronic back pain and severe depression to a 170-pound lean frame with no ongoing pain and a grateful outlook on life.
• Mind: Shedding the cable subscription has increased my book consumption from a few fantasy novels in any given year to having at least 4 streams of advancement. Each day I make time to read at least 1 fiction, 1 personal growth, and 1 financial growth book in addition to listening to various podcasts and audiobooks.
• Wallet: The plan has worked. I currently have 3 years of freedom, a positive net worth, and a now vetted plan to obtaining $1 million in personal assets prior to my eldest graduating high-school (and this is not the end).
Our future is bleak. In the course of shaking off the dazzling American brainwash, certain truths have been revealed. The big house, the flashy car, the inflated education – these all provide joy upon initial grasp but that blip of happiness is soon goon. The American Dream is more akin to a nightmare – for those seeking its advertised glories it creates enslavement to a system with little chance of respite.
This pain is easily preventable if given a financial education, an education not afforded to our children by our fine intuitions. Perhaps the most taboo topic in our culture, and a cycle I strive to break, is understanding how monies work. Out of this frustration was born a set of guidelines which have evolved into books drafted as a gift to my daughters.
It is here that our story begins. It is here that I share that gift with you. Welcome to my Ride.
Timeline:
2005 – Dual BS Degrees in Aviation are granted – in a post Sept 11 world
2006 – Marriage to my SO, along with the big wedding and international trip
2008 – First full year in Career
2009 – House is purchased along with 2 dogs to grace the carpet with their blessings; a software degree and a post-grad business degree also are stuffed onto my shelf.
2012 – Weapon of mass disruption falls in the guise of my firstborn. Planning and research to break the cycle begins.
2015 – Plan Put into Action
