The Hardest Lesson I've Learned So Far

“I know it’s hard, but you must do this…”

I stared at the screen.

My heart raced.

My head spun.

I completely froze.

He was asking for more…again.

After over a year of repeated pleas, something in me snapped.

• I deleted his message.

• I blocked him from every social media platform I saw him on.

• I shut him out of my presence for good.

But it was too late. The damage had been done.

My mental health was in ruins.

My finances were strained.

I had learned a terrible lesson about money, my open heart, and just how truly vulnerable I was to manipulation from others.

We all have our limits.

Money is not the answer

I am in a position in my life where I don’t make enough of it to support my family.

It’s been a few years now, and it’s something that I’m deeply ashamed of.

Despite all the abilities and advantages that I was provided, nothing that I’ve accomplished has translated to financial stability.

It has partly to do with my own tendencies to provide the best that I can to everyone around me.

That includes people I’ve met on the internet.

You would think that scammers and fraudsters and manipulators would only target a certain demographic, but that’s far from the truth.

We all have our vulnerabilities.

We all have our price, and the things we are willing to do would shock us in our worst nightmares.

History has demonstrated repeatedly that people are capable of committing some of the worst atrocities in the name of love, money, and power.

I’m still human.

But I learned my lesson.

One that I should have caught on to much, much earlier because there were so many red flags that I chose to ignore in the name of helping him.

Don’t ignore this feeling. It’s a warning.

One thing to keep in mind…

For over a year, I supported him through his troubles and challenges.

There was no doubt that he was a master manipulator because every time we spoke, he closed me on more money.

He swore up and down that he would repay me, but that he just needed a little more.

There was always another crisis, another excuse, another friend who fallen through on supporting him.

“Only you are helping me.” he would say.

For a person who supposedly had built a network and was earning money from the internet, it became increasingly obvious that it wasn’t what it seemed to be when I first met him.

It revealed the ugly reality of the façade of success that gurus use.

“Fake it ‘til you make it.”

That saying is taken to the extreme here in the digital world.

It’s not one that I’m comfortable with, both for myself and those that I allow into my community.

For the sake of my mental health and my finances, I had to cut him off.

One thing I want to do in the long-term is to cultivate a group of people who hold me accountable for my actions and what I share here.

I have proof for my growing digital footprint, and the processes I’ve built are a testament to that result.

My intent is to help you figure out yours for your own.

That’s why I’m here.

I know I have a long way to go, but I now know myself better as a result of this journey.

As a result, I will not repeat this mistake in the future.

All things considered, I got off easy.

What’s a hard lesson that you’ve had to learn?

Let me know if you’re willing to share it.