My Road Trip to Freedom from my Fears !!!
Back in Dec-13 I wrote this blog article about my life’s defining moment:
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As you can read from the article I got hit over the head with a dream at a very early age and it stuck with me forever
The dream of easy money and becoming a professional gambler.
Here is another blog article I wrote Jan-14 outlining all the hard work and dedication it took to realize my dream:
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However, having a bizarre dream and having the cojones to pursue such a dream are two totally different things.
Before any dream can be accomplished, one has to come to terms with fear of failure and tackle it head on.
You can’t run from it, because if you do then you are already defeated.
The following is my crazy story that really helped transform my dream into reality.
Dozens and dozens of times in my life I have beat extremely long odds and was able to achieve amazing things, but none like in this story.
It was 1981 and I just finished my freshman year in college as did my best friend at the time.
I have always been highly impulsive and usually made split second decisions very easily.
Anyway, my friend called me early Monday morning and asked if I wanted to go on a road trip.
I immediately replied with a yes and asked about the destination.
I lived in Detroit at the time and my friend suggested Houston from the top of his head for no reason what so ever.
I don’t need to be asked twice about any adventure and immediately agreed and an hour later we were on I-75 interstate heading South.
My friend needed to be back in 3 weeks, since he had a summer internship that would start then.
We didn’t take much money (no credit cards) with us and were basically going to wing it.
We took sleeping bags and would sleep outside at various camping grounds along the way and in Houston.
Two weeks had passed, we had a great time, but our money was almost all gone.
Between two of us we had enough for gas to get back home and fast food meals along the way.
It was Monday morning and my friend would start his internship in a week.
We got on the interstate leaving Houston and I had a crazy thought.
“We are only 1000 miles from Vegas, let’s do a detour and check it out” I said, having never been there before.
My friend looked at me like I was insane and pointed out we had no money.
To which I replied “we will figure it out somehow”
And just like that we turned West and very late that night arrived in Vegas.
We couldn’t buy food, since we needed all the money for gas to get back.
So for each meal we would stop at some grocery store and pretend to shop for food, while eating stuff out of the grocery cart without paying for anything. LOL
Vegas strip was just awesome first time I saw it, we parked the car, walked around and went into the casino.
I read a blackjack book a year earlier and knew basic strategy, problem was we had zero money for gambling or anything else except for gas.
I remembered that I had a one dollar bill stashed in my wallet that I found couple years earlier and kept for luck.
I took it out, changed it into quarters and off we went to a blackjack slot machine with those 4 quarters.
The lucky dollar turned out to be quite lucky after all.
An hour later we turned that dollar into 16 dollars and we went to a $2 minimum blackjack table.
Hour later we now had $50 and 2 hours after that the original lucky $1 tuned into $360.
We were just thrilled and got a nice room for the next 2 nights and had a blast.
I remember laying out at the pool saying to myself “where there is a will, there is a way”
It was Thursday early afternoon and it was time to head home.
Problem was we hadn’t slept in 48 hours and driving would be tough, to say the least.
I took the first shift, while my friend slept.
7-8 hours later while someplace in Utah I fell asleep at the wheel.
The car was on cruise control at 80 mph (neither of us wearing seatbelts) and I woke up in terror when the car hit gravel.
The gravel was on the opposite side of the road and car was about to hit a mile market sign.
I swerved, avoided that marker, but lost control of the car as it flipped around 180 degrees and we were now going backwards at 80mps.
When the tires hit gravel on the other side of the road the car overturned and continued flipping.
I was thrown out the window and my friend went flying out through the sunroof.
After rolling on rocks and cactuses I finally came to a stop and a split second later the car landed about a foot from my face.
Somehow I was able to get up and found my friend bloody with a huge cut on his side.
He was semiconscious and finally regained full memory at the hospital while they were stitching him up.
I was on the bed next to him with a million scratches on me as he turned to me and I said:
“I told you that $1 bill was lucky !!!” LOL
Next day an insurance adjuster came from Salt Lake City to examine the car, which was completely flattened.
If we wore seat belts and didn’t get thrown out of the car, there was zero chance either of us could have survived.
Prior to this road trip, I wasn’t exactly fearful of anything, but afterwards I didn’t even know the meaning of the word.
I said to myself >>> “if I made it through this, nothing could ever touch me and I would never ever settle for anything less than my dreams”
And so the endless pursuit of the dream began.
There were incredible financial streaks in my 20s, up and down, dead broke numerous times but I never wavered.
I had zero fear of anything, except not living out my dream.
So I gambled non-stop, travelled, spent money left and right even if I didn’t have any, but above all I was having a blast.
In my late 20s there was another major incident that re-enforced all my beliefs.
I ran into a very cold streak for a few months and needed something to refocus and snap me out of it.
At the time I had a sports motorcycle Honda CBR600, which I loved to ride.
My girlfriend (future wife) was going on a business trip and I had to drive her to the airport using her car.
On our way to the airport, there was a van about a block in front of us and a motorcycles in front the van.
The motorcycle approached a railroad crossing and slowed down significantly.
The van didn’t stop at all and ran over the motorcycle and its rider and kept going. Brutal Hit and Run.
It was a scene from hell that we witnessed. We stopped and called 911.
The ambulance came very quickly as the driver was bleeding badly.
My girlfriend was late for her flight now and we took off after the ambulance arrived.
On the way back an hour later there was only a fire truck left at the scene and 2 firemen were washing away all the blood and there was tons of it.
That image stayed with me 24/7 for 2 weeks and I refused to get on my motorcycle during the time.
Finally I get on the bike and driving home 4am from a poker game doing 50mph.
A drunk girl on a red light turns into a one way street right into me and there was nothing I could do.
I hit her car head on at 50mph and miraculously on impact was thrown over her car and landed on my back and head, as the helmet cracked in half.
I laid there a few minutes and finally stumbled up and barely walked towards a stopped car.
I asked the driver for his phone and called my friend at the poker game telling him about the accident and where I was and then immediately passed out on the hood of the car.
When I came to I was on the grass naked, except for my underwear as the paramedics cut off all my clothes to check for possible injuries.
My friend was standing over me holding an IV bag while the paramedics were putting needles in both my arms.
On one arm the cap came off and I started squirting blood all over my friends shoes and my friend turned to the paramedic and said sarcastically:
“He doesn’t have a scratch on him and now is bleeding to death because of you”
The guys laughed, and asked me >>> “did you make a pact with the devil to survive this, especially without a scratch?”
A helicopter lifted me to the hospital for more tests and 2 hours later I walked out.
Just as I walked outside past the sliding doors I stopped, hesitated for a few seconds and then loudly screamed as if yelling at the grim reaper:
“Fuck You !!!, Is that all you got?”
And just like that, I was born again and the cold streak was over.
Few weeks later I went to Europe to play in 3 backgammon tournaments.
Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, Monte Carlo and St Tropez, France. I finished 1st, 4th and 1st.
The whole time I kept listening to a song by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers:
Running Down a Dream >>> youtube.com
Now 20+ years and many millions later , I continue living the dream every single day through stock trading now.
Fear of losses??? I laugh in your face.
I got fear of wins, they might not be big enough to satisfy my large appetite.
Show me something I can’t overcome, I dare you.
Overcome your fears and your success will be grand !!!
Dream the Dream, Live the Dream and Never Ever Settle for Anything LESS !!!
Happy Trading
Michail Shadkin
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