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O P I N I O N
I ’m soon to be 63 and have been working in the A/E business for 41 years now. I got right into it after finishing my MBA degree that I pursued immediately after getting my BS at age 21. I had a grad assistantship for the MBA. It didn’t cost me a cent, plus they paid me $400 a month ($358.95 after tax). Look in the mirror and ask yourself if you are still doing what you want to do every day. Maybe now is the time to get really serious about your transition. Just when you figure things out, game over!
Mark Zweig
At the time (1979), I could live on about $250 a month, although I had a variety of other jobs and ventures that made me much more than that every month. My overhead was super low. My 1964, two-bedroom “New Moon” mobile home in what was called a “married (trailer) court” was paid for, and the lot rent, including water and sewer, was $50 a month. I had a ‘72 Chevy van with a bed in back and a ‘75 Honda CB550 Super Sport. Life was pretty good. Of course, after I graduated, I started my long climb up the aspirational ladder, culminating in a large number of houses, apartment projects, commercial centers, and more. I had as many as 20 cars and 10 motorcycles at once, two ex-wives to support, and four daughters and one stepdaughter who is now a freshman in college. On top of it, I was an owner in two companies I founded and
working as a 3/4-time college professor. And I spent way too much time on social media. My attention span was about 10 seconds. A little more than a couple years ago, I started the process of winding down everything. I shed most of my properties, vehicles, business interests, and commitments. The result has been I actually have time to spend doing things I want to do and am much happier. One could say it’s a rationalization for my life situation. The truth is I was burned out and becoming less effective at everything. While I think I may have been able to carry on like that for a few more years before getting crushed by a real estate recession or having a heart attack, thankfully, for a wide variety of reasons I came to
See MARK ZWEIG, page 10
THE ZWEIG LETTER FEBRUARY 1, 2021, ISSUE 1377
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