Over the last few weeks, major events have unfolded in my life that is reshaping the way I look at life and my personal goals. I would like to share some of the items that are going on and how it will ultimately affect Murlu, my online businesses, services and my own future.
I’m going back to school
That’s correct. I recently went through a mutual breakup with my girlfriend of two years. I don’t want to get into all of the details but I respect the decision and loved every minute that I got to spend with her.
It hit me that I had started to become stagnant. I felt this prior to the breakup because I felt dissatisfaction with my freelance work and the fact that I was putting more time toward business than my friends, family and personal development.
The breakup did a lot of things for me but mainly, it rekindled the passion for growth which is why I have decided to return to college for a degree in Computer Science.
Computer science and programming have always been an interest of mine because I am a geek to the core; I built my first computer before ten and have been active on the web since the late 1990’s – it’s hard to say that this decision wasn’t always in the back of my head.
I am going to be investing anywhere between 3 – 4 years of my life toward this new goal which I believe is the next step for me; it will give me a lot of great opportunities in life that I’m extremely excited to explore.
If things go right, I will be going back in Spring 2012 which gives me a few months to prepare and get things sorted.
Update: I’ve added a donation option to the right sidebar of Murlu using WePay (a fundraising platform). I know you guys are my readers and I don’t ask for much but I would be eternally grateful if you would consider donating to my college funds.
I’m moving to Orlando, FL
The school I’ll be attending is Valencia Community College to get the general studies out of the way. A long time ago, I had taken courses at a different school but ended up going into the work force as a webmaster so I lost interest in the degree.
Valencia is located in Orlando which I have visited dozens of times every year and also happens to be next to UCF which is the large university I’ll be attending for my BA.
This means that I’m now eye-balling apartments in the Orlando area which I think will be a great transition. Tampa has been a blast but the vast majority of my friends are still located around the Orlando area which will be excellent for getting social again after spending most of my time working from home.
A focus on Murlu (and business) projects
To be honest, the day of the breakup, I felt like quitting the Murlu project but I held off from making a brash decision and knew it was for the best to keep the brand going.
I had been kicking around ideas for quite some time now and I think with this new stress and focus I’ll be putting toward school – I see which projects need to be completed because I need to be able to step back further from the daily activities so I can devote that time to school.
This means that within the coming months (or whenever), I’ll most likely be doing a big overhaul on Murlu. I have plans of doing a micro membership program that will give inside access to things I work on, highly detailed tutorials, videos, ebooks and podcasts.
Another note: I am now accepting guest posts because I’ve realized I’ve left Murlu too closed even though there are many great bloggers out there that could definitely share great content on here; take a look toward the top of the page and find the ‘write for Murlu’ section if you’d like to contribute.
Burning away the gut
I’ve been very active in exercising. I recently bought a bike and changed my diet. After a week of constant cycling and working out, I’ve already burned off 8 pounds. I’m currently 203 but I’d like to reach a healthy goal of 170 which should be a good size for my age, height and build.
Nothing much to report on this other than I thought it would be good to include since many of us are so active on our online projects that we forget about our physical health.
Becoming more personal
I’d like to add more personality into Murlu so I think I’ll be changing my writing style to inject more personal experiences and casual chat rather than having a rigid tutorial-style structure I seem to have hit over these last few months.
I feel that my writing voice shifted once I started to do more freelancing since I can’t be all that personal but Murlu is my blog which means that I want to talk one-to-one with you and not worry about the little nuances, ya know?
Yeah, I think that’s about it
I think that’s about it, overall.
I’m going to be focusing heavily on getting back into school and pushing as much of myself on learning the topics which may mean that I won’t be updating the blog side of things as often as I had planned.
However, I believe if I get the projects for Murlu up and running, I’ll definitely be focusing on that end since, in essence, earnings would be going toward my future career – think of it like supporting a struggling artist heh!
If you want to submit a guest post, feel free to check it out.
Um, yeah, that’s what’s up lately. Please, no need for pity on the breakup; we both discussed why things fell apart and both agree that the relationship was totally worth it. Now I’m moving forward with my personal items that I should have been working on; exciting times!
Sounds like you have a good grasp on things to come for you Murray. As you know I grew up in O Town, and I am sure you will love it there! Best of luck! I will let you know when I am visiting again…
Thanks buddy, really looking forward to being in the area instead of just visiting it on weekends. Got a lot going on now so it’ll definitely be fun to be right in the thick of it all.
Hey Murray, congratulations on the big decision to go back to school and the forward progress you’re making on all fronts; it’s really motivating to read. Best of luck!
Thanks Matthew,
I kind of saw my life as this ’3 pillar’ type thing in terms of success (at this age). I had already traveled half way around the world (goal 1), I built an online business (goal 2) but I was lacking in that third piece – school.
I think this will make me a great, well-rounded individual. Can’t wait to work on huge projects because of the opportunities it brings up. Exciting times
Hey Murray,
I’m glad you didn’t stop Murlu.com! I love it when life seems to change all at once and you end up ending somethings and starting many more. It sounds like you’re got it all worked out.
Thanks Nathan, I’m glad too because I really did put a lot of work into Murlu to get it to where it’s at today and getting rid of it because of a sudden rush of emotions isn’t very logical of me. I may not be able to give it 100% of my attention at this time but I’m gonna keep up the good fight and continue to bring the best I can to you guys
Best of luck with life, school, Murlu, and burning away the gut, Murray! I have no doubt you will succeed with all your goals, you’re a determined guy.
Peggy
Thanks Peggy,
I think this is a step into a great direction. I’m going to keep up with my online things but this last year or so made me realize that I really need to be in group environments because that’s where a lot of my creativity kicks up. When I think about it, most of the online projects I kicked up have been while hanging out at a friends house but then I’d take them back home and work on them from there which can become lonely at times and you don’t get the same boost in inspiration compared to working in a competitive group – I think school will be a great place to really take things to the next level in my career and life because it’s going to focus me on the bigger picture. It’s going to be great to have my online stuff helping to pay for tuition and career items so I still want to build them up and hit that $3k mark I was aiming for.
Blimey O’Reilly!! Talk about changes on the horizon! Best of luck with the next chapter of your life sir.
Thank you Andrew,
I think this a good step in a new direction because it will let me grow well beyond what I know now + I’ll be continually working on my freelance stuff so that will help me get through college which is a really unique story that I hope to bring to interviews one day
yeah ya fat bastard – I was going to say you were looking a little tubby round the middle – but then I just figured what with all the kick ass content you were creating it was fair enough (cant jog and compose now can we)
Seriously though – awesome stuff man, takes a lot of courage to take the necessary steps backwards in order to then move forward in leaps and bounds. (IM sure there’s a Confucius in there somewhere!)
Respect
Thanks buddy,
I’m already shedding off the pounds and it feels great. I’m waking up at a great time, doing some biking, working, biking, working, biking, school stuff and then relaxing. It feels good to have variety in the schedule because it’s forcing me to get a lot of big items finished – hell, just rolled out a new shopping cart on the PLR site and thinking about doing an affiliate program too!
I’m going to be investing anywhere between 3 – 4 years into this so it’s going to be a huuuuge, dramatic shift in my life but I’m not getting any younger and I want access to bigger projects that are out of the reach and budget of what I have now. Combine the income of doing programming with what I do now and that’s going to be rockin’!
Orlando is awesome and you will love Valencia. I actually went to Central Florida and, in my opinion, it is one of the finest schools in the nation….not that I am biased or anything.
There are a ton of cool bike paths, trails, national parks, etc in the greater Orlando area which makes working out that much easier. I have never met anyone that did not absolutely love college life in Orlando!
Good luck man!
Awesome!
I’ve been to Orlando back and forth over the years but really haven’t been able to explore it in terms of biking; I was a bit worried that it would be too congested but this sounds like it’s going to be an excellent place to keep with it and burn that love handle down