299: Trading Up: From $8.65 an Hour to Retired at 25, Plus the Next 10 Years

<p dir="ltr">Remember the Red Paperclip Guy from a few years ago? In 2005, an out-of-work Kyle MacDonald started with a single red paperclip and <a href="http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">traded his way up to a house in Kipling, Saskatchewan</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Remarkably, this barter adventure took only 14 trades and was completed in less than a year. Kyle started out small, each time seeking something “bigger and better” in exchange.</p> <p dir="ltr">For example, his first trade was the red paperclip for a pen shaped like a fish. Then he traded the fish pen for a doorknob, and on and on up the ladder.</p> <p dir="ltr">The story certainly has some feel-good elements to it, and after a while the media attention definitely helped speed the process along, but I think it’s worthwhile to revisit because we’re all trying to “trade up.”</p> <p dir="ltr">By “trading up”, it’s important to note I’m not necessarily talking about acquiring a bigger house or a better car, but more along the lines of <strong>making bigger impacts</strong> and <strong>living better stories</strong>.</p> <p dir="ltr">I was reminded of the red paperclip story by <a href= "https://www.sidehustlenation.com/298">last week's episode with Rob "The Flea Market Flipper" Stephenson</a>. He talked about a challenge inside his community to start with something small and keep flipping the profits into bigger deals to see how much you could trade up over the course of a year.</p> <p dir="ltr">I think <strong>we all have a red paperclip story</strong>. Like Kyle, even starting with almost nothing, you can make big things happen with a little initiative and a little help from others along the way.</p> <p dir="ltr">This episode is about <strong>connecting the events that got you to where you are today, and thinking about where you want to go tomorrow.</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">What’s the next trade you’d like to make?</p> <p dir="ltr">In the spirit of the red paperclip story, I’m going to use my own entrepreneurial journey