Lawrence Gonzalez had a choice to make: should he continue falling deeper into debt or get serious and make a plan? With 6 figures of debt, Lawrence decided it was time to make a decision: to be in control of his finances.  He made the decision to not finish graduate school, get a job, and ultimately, live the life he wanted.  Lawrence is a proud Haitian-American and decorated veteran Sergeant of the United States Marine Corps. He grew up in Haiti until the age of nine and witnessed that his grandmother with six kids was able to make it work with a very low income.   For Lawrence it all came down to having a strategy. One of the many strategies and skills that Lawrence was able to hone was the language of resumes.  He began working on mastering his resume and went from his first job in 2012 of making $23,000 to getting a new job a year later bringing home $32,000. He saw how much a resume mattered, so 6 months later he did it again but this time managed to secure a government position and doubled his income to $64,000. Now in 2020, he is still in the same government position as an Auditor but has since been promoted and is now bringing in $109,000.  Even though Lawrence did not finish school, what helped him excel was that he knew his strengths, his passion and wanted to give back to his community.  His story also shows us that you can still have debt and reach your financial goals. Debt is something that he chooses to live with and is manageable for him because he has a strategy. Focusing on building assets and investing has allowed him to own a home, a rental property, and start a small business, which would have been impossible if he focused on paying off his debt first.  Now he is on the journey to achieving his goals of reaching a million dollar net worth in 5 years and retiring in 15 years. Lawrence acknowledges that reaching Financial Freedom gives him and his financé the opportunity to do even more in the community and help people around them live their best lives. He believes there is a powerful synergy when we help each other out and show others what is possible.  The main message here is to just start and put one foot in front of the other. We can all do extraordinary things when we just decide to put our foot on the gas.  In this episode you’ll learn: How to increase your income   How to calculate your magic number to reach financial freedom The importance of having and owning your story  How to have debt and reach your financial goals and much more... Other related blog posts/links mentioned in this episode: Check out Lawrence’s Instagram post of him and his finacé saving/ investing almost 50% of their income. Elizabeth White was on Episode 59 of the podcast and she shared how she was faking normal until she owned her story. Learn more about the 5 Journeyer Stages in this podcast episode here. If you missed enrollment join the waitlist for my FI course. Check out the other tools that help me with my finances and business here. Check out the Journey To Launch Podcast index here which categorizes all of the Journey To Launch podcast episodes by subject. Now you can binge on your favorite topics or type of episode. Join The Weekly Newsletter List Leave me a voicemail– Leave me a question on the Journey To Launch voicemail and have it answered on the podcast! Watch me on News12  Watch my latest segments on News12 YNAB –  Start managing your money and budgeting so that you can reach your financial dreams. Sign up for a free 34 days trial of YNAB, my go-to budgeting app by using my referral link. Connect with Lawrence: Website Twitter:@GQ_Accountant Instagram:@TheNeighborhoodFinanceGuy Facebook:@TheNeighborhoodFinanceGuy Connect with me: Instagram: @Journeytolaunch Twitter: @JourneyToLaunch Facebook: Journey To Launch Join the private Facebook Group Join The Money Launch Club Waitlist  Join the waitlist for my FI Course Jumpstart Guide