Chasing a dream, when you finally go for it.

[gamewarden]

 Updated finally! 2024) Alright so everyone has a dream right? I mean some of us want to be actors or space people. Some of us just want to open a restaurant or sell muffins made out of vegetable nightmares online. But how many of us actually take the shot? No one wants to put themselves out there and fail or be made the fool. Yet risk is the only way to achieve those goals. How do we know if or when to pull the trigger on a potentially life changing decision?

  Well I don't know either. What I do know is that it seems there is an expiration date. There is going to come a time. You could be 20 or worked for years. When what you are doing is way to comfortable to risk losing. By then you might have a family relying on you and it just seems insane to throw it all away and jeopardize their future along with yours to take a chance. Of course unless you built your living around what you love from the beginning. In that case kudos to you. Then there is the small percent of us who are going to take a crack at it.

   I have been with my wife for 13 years. for the last ten of those. My grandfather has lived with us. As time went on and his ability to function declined, he began to talk. He talked at great length about how he wished he would've done so many things differently. How he always intended to find a way to chase his dreams, but it never happened. He regretted it and it bothered him to no end.

  I took this to heart and when he left a year ago I decided to make a go of it. In my case I'm 35 so I'm at the age where it's kind of now or nap time. Meaning I'm in a comfortable rut. I've always wanted to own a retro game store. I also always wanted to have a youtube channel making funny gaming videos,as well as chronicling my collecting and starting my store. Both from practically nothing to hopefully something. If nothing else to archive the journey because it's already been fun.

  Well,, the research is done. The money is there, I have an amazing wife supporting me and we begin recording tomorrow to nail down the format and build up videos. I would love to hear your stories about your dreams. "Not the weird kind that require a phd to interpret". Whether or not you went for it, and how did it go? (update) Well for what it's worth these many years later if anyone reads this. As you all know covid blew up shortly after this post. At the time I was an EMT  my wife worked in the medical field and it kept me plenty busy. I did start that channel, I didn't go far but I did do it. I also opened that store. It's not a retro gaming store exclusively but it's still open! I wish I'd kept up on this site but life takes you funny places. Most importantly I continued collecting and I can't wait to get back in and start sharing because it has blossomed into a collection  ;)I'm quite proud of!

[bikingjahuty]

I've done a lot and been many things in my life, but the decision process for going into any of these things was roughly the same. Before I decided to try something out I thought about the pros and cons of doing it. Part of that is knowing the odds of it being a successful endeavor. For example, at one point around 2013 I was seriously considering opening up my own independent video game store. At that time you could still find tons of deals everywhere and I had built up half the inventory I'd need to start up a decent sized game store. I then looked into other aspects of the business before deciding that it wasn't going to work out, at least to have a physical store. However, I gave it a serious thought and looked into the logistics of actually doing this, and it didn't work out. Likewise, I have gone into stuff and it has worked out; I was a social worker for 5-years making barely anything and jumped into IT by obtaining some tech certs on my own time, and now I make over double what I did back then.


It's really just looking at what you want to do and deciding what your odds of success are, what is needed to do it, and how you'll go about doing it. Wanting to be an actor is fine, but going in expecting to become the next Brad Pitt is probably not best mentality to have. However, if you love acting, getting into theater, looking into acting gigs and roles, however small, is a great start.


As far as when to pursue a dream, there is no better time than the present. If you want something go for it. Just make sure you are smart about it and think out the pros and cons like I said before uprooting your whole life to pursue something.

[retromangia]

Hey man, I'm proud of you!

I'm just about the same age as you, so I know what you mean by it's now or nap.

look forward to seeing your adventures of a game store 

cheers!

[gamewarden]

Hey man, I'm proud of you!

I'm just about the same age as you, so I know what you mean by it's now or nap.

look forward to seeing your adventures of a game store 

cheers!

   Thanks I appreciate that. It's certainly moving forward. Everything I read suggested make a bunch of videos before starting to post. So it might be about a week or so. It's amazing how people lock up on camera, even myself. Went to look at a building for the store and the lady showing it agreed to be filmed. Instant deer in headlights  and just a bunch of awkward moments. Wet all laughed about it, it made for poor content but good times. Think no matter what happens the experience will be worth it. Thanks again for the kind words. 

[gamewarden]

I've done a lot and been many things in my life, but the decision process for going into any of these things was roughly the same. Before I decided to try something out I thought about the pros and cons of doing it. Part of that is knowing the odds of it being a successful endeavor. For example, at one point around 2013 I was seriously considering opening up my own independent video game store. At that time you could still find tons of deals everywhere and I had built up half the inventory I'd need to start up a decent sized game store. I then looked into other aspects of the business before deciding that it wasn't going to work out, at least to have a physical store. However, I gave it a serious thought and looked into the logistics of actually doing this, and it didn't work out. Likewise, I have gone into stuff and it has worked out; I was a social worker for 5-years making barely anything and jumped into IT by obtaining some tech certs on my own time, and now I make over double what I did back then.


It's really just looking at what you want to do and deciding what your odds of success are, what is needed to do it, and how you'll go about doing it. Wanting to be an actor is fine, but going in expecting to become the next Brad Pitt is probably not best mentality to have. However, if you love acting, getting into theater, looking into acting gigs and roles, however small, is a great start.


As far as when to pursue a dream, there is no better time than the present. If you want something go for it. Just make sure you are smart about it and think out the pros and cons like I said before uprooting your whole life to pursue something.

 

   We are dealing with that same dilemma. The town that I'm looking at opening in isn't the biggest place. It is growing but I'm not sure about the traffic for retro gaming. It's a big interstate town so that makes it a little easier if people were to travel. Fortunately I've had a little experience. I used to own a couple of tattoo shops in the area in the earlier 2000's. I had for forseen the impending collapse of that business and was able to get out before I lost it all. As for gaming there are a lot of people my age working in the coal and oil industry. Which means there is money around and from what I've seen a solid interest in retro. Now with that being said. I'm no dummy either, the store will have to be small and I'll have to have good online options to sell. I see this as just a way to reach out into the gaming community locally make some contacts and hopefully spread out. I've taken as many steps as possible to insure that if I fail. The damage is minimal. I'm a building contractor and EMT by trade so I do have supplemental income options. Thanks for sharing.

[oldgamerz]

I've done a lot and been many things in my life, but the decision process for going into any of these things was roughly the same. Before I decided to try something out I thought about the pros and cons of doing it. Part of that is knowing the odds of it being a successful endeavor. For example, at one point around 2013 I was seriously considering opening up my own independent video game store. At that time you could still find tons of deals everywhere and I had built up half the inventory I'd need to start up a decent sized game store. I then looked into other aspects of the business before deciding that it wasn't going to work out, at least to have a physical store. However, I gave it a serious thought and looked into the logistics of actually doing this, and it didn't work out. Likewise, I have gone into stuff and it has worked out; I was a social worker for 5-years making barely anything and jumped into IT by obtaining some tech certs on my own time, and now I make over double what I did back then.


It's really just looking at what you want to do and deciding what your odds of success are, what is needed to do it, and how you'll go about doing it. Wanting to be an actor is fine, but going in expecting to become the next Brad Pitt is probably not best mentality to have. However, if you love acting, getting into theater, looking into acting gigs and roles, however small, is a great start.


As far as when to pursue a dream, there is no better time than the present. If you want something go for it. Just make sure you are smart about it and think out the pros and cons like I said before uprooting your whole life to pursue something.

 

   We are dealing with that same dilemma. The town that I'm looking at opening in isn't the biggest place. It is growing but I'm not sure about the traffic for retro gaming. It's a big interstate town so that makes it a little easier if people were to travel. Fortunately I've had a little experience. I used to own a couple of tattoo shops in the area in the earlier 2000's. I had for forseen the impending collapse of that business and was able to get out before I lost it all. As for gaming there are a lot of people my age working in the coal and oil industry. Which means there is money around and from what I've seen a solid interest in retro. Now with that being said. I'm no dummy either, the store will have to be small and I'll have to have good online options to sell. I see this as just a way to reach out into the gaming community locally make some contacts and hopefully spread out. I've taken as many steps as possible to insure that if I fail. The damage is minimal. I'm a building contractor and EMT by trade so I do have supplemental income options. Thanks for sharing.

Not to go off topic but I may suggest opening up a a Facebook page, @gamewarden? it's free to do still I think. and it's one way people can find you on the internet,

As long as you have a Facebook account, you can start your own personal page for free, and if you want to put a little money into it then I can give you a tip

ads for reach are cheaper than for likes and get better results.

You don't need money to have a Facebook group or page, but if you are willing to pay to have your page advertised it's not expensive to do so.

but it takes a little attention to detail and if you do you may need to tweak your settings on Facebook to make your account more secure

the only problem with Facebook I find annoying is that the page status is not exactly accurate and more people actually see your page than what Facebook tells you who saw it.

[marvelvscapcom2]

My dream fell in my lap this year and i'm gonna go for it .    I met the girl of my dreams and am going to start a new life in california 3000 miles away.   And if it all goes bad at least I tried.   But I can't not attempt to chase it.   It's part of the never ending story of destiny.


 

[gamewarden]

I've done a lot and been many things in my life, but the decision process for going into any of these things was roughly the same. Before I decided to try something out I thought about the pros and cons of doing it. Part of that is knowing the odds of it being a successful endeavor. For example, at one point around 2013 I was seriously considering opening up my own independent video game store. At that time you could still find tons of deals everywhere and I had built up half the inventory I'd need to start up a decent sized game store. I then looked into other aspects of the business before deciding that it wasn't going to work out, at least to have a physical store. However, I gave it a serious thought and looked into the logistics of actually doing this, and it didn't work out. Likewise, I have gone into stuff and it has worked out; I was a social worker for 5-years making barely anything and jumped into IT by obtaining some tech certs on my own time, and now I make over double what I did back then.


It's really just looking at what you want to do and deciding what your odds of success are, what is needed to do it, and how you'll go about doing it. Wanting to be an actor is fine, but going in expecting to become the next Brad Pitt is probably not best mentality to have. However, if you love acting, getting into theater, looking into acting gigs and roles, however small, is a great start.


As far as when to pursue a dream, there is no better time than the present. If you want something go for it. Just make sure you are smart about it and think out the pros and cons like I said before uprooting your whole life to pursue something.

 

   We are dealing with that same dilemma. The town that I'm looking at opening in isn't the biggest place. It is growing but I'm not sure about the traffic for retro gaming. It's a big interstate town so that makes it a little easier if people were to travel. Fortunately I've had a little experience. I used to own a couple of tattoo shops in the area in the earlier 2000's. I had for forseen the impending collapse of that business and was able to get out before I lost it all. As for gaming there are a lot of people my age working in the coal and oil industry. Which means there is money around and from what I've seen a solid interest in retro. Now with that being said. I'm no dummy either, the store will have to be small and I'll have to have good online options to sell. I see this as just a way to reach out into the gaming community locally make some contacts and hopefully spread out. I've taken as many steps as possible to insure that if I fail. The damage is minimal. I'm a building contractor and EMT by trade so I do have supplemental income options. Thanks for sharing.

Not to go off topic but I may suggest opening up a a Facebook page, @gamewarden? it's free to do still I think. and it's one way people can find you on the internet,

As long as you have a Facebook account, you can start your own personal page for free, and if you want to put a little money into it then I can give you a tip

ads for reach are cheaper than for likes and get better results.

You don't need money to have a Facebook group or page, but if you are willing to pay to have your page advertised it's not expensive to do so.

but it takes a little attention to detail and if you do you may need to tweak your settings on Facebook to make your account more secure

the only problem with Facebook I find annoying is that the page status is not exactly accurate and more people actually see your page than what Facebook tells you who saw it.

  Thanks I appreciate the advice! Unfortunately there was a hitch with trying to get the store going. After some carefully considering our options. We decided to push it back a few months and make sure that the money we put into this thing isn't just going to sit. Which isn't a big deal I've waited this long. Waiting a little longer to make sure I've made what I think is the best possible move. Makes me feel like I've given everything the best chance.

  Location, location, location lol. In the meantime, learning how to edit video and putting a few things out there for practice. As well as hunting down collections at decent prices. Is time I'd say is well spent. You're right though nothing is more important than advertising. I myself have always been the type who would start a lemonade stand next to a Lemonade factory. If it meant making contacts in that world and meeting the community. I tend to forget that social media is a powerful tool and it's not just handshakes and hang outs that get you connected. I tried my best to stay out of that world, but these are the things that people rely on for information and introduction. Gotta keep up to make it....geez the more I type the more I give away about the rock I've been living under.

[gamewarden]

My dream fell in my lap this year and i'm gonna go for it .    I met the girl of my dreams and am going to start a new life in california 3000 miles away.   And if it all goes bad at least I tried.   But I can't not attempt to chase it.   It's part of the never ending story of destiny.


 

  13 years ago I took that chance. I didn't move 3000 miles away. I instead stayed in a place that offered little to no opportunity. When I was supposed to leave 3 months from that time to a for sure job making great money while traveling. Instead I stayed in a tiny farming community with a woman who was tightly bonded to her family and home. I do not regret a single moment of it. It Is by far the best decision I have ever made. I wish you the best of luck and hope you have found what I did. In my opinion nothing is more important in a persons life than who they spend it with..