Despite the negative mainstream media attention surrounding my city re: crime, I have found Chicago to be an ideal location to build wealth. Growing up within the city limits as well as in the outskirts of town, I have had the unique opportunity to experience, and truly appreciate, the entire Chicagoland area.
Chicago boasts the big city environment without the New York/Los Angeles cost of living and population density, a robust public transportation system and a rapidly-growing ride-sharing community, an exploding economy, and the tranquil lakefront.
The only thing missing from my city is a robust fitness culture, like that of Los Angeles, New York, and Miami. Although we do hold multiple marathons throughout the year, we do not yet have the culture that truly embraces the overall lifestyle—it’s not yet cool to live ‘dat meditative life, ‘dat ‘daire shred life, ‘dat overall wealth life doe. In the Midwest, the aforementioned life is still a very niche, misconstrued, unappreciated subculture—it’s shameful to be so “vain” and to want to strive for more for yourself.
On the contrary, “chillin’, partyin’, drinking beers, and watching sports” (while completely enjoyable for a short period of time, notice these activities are all related to consuming and remaining stagnant as opposed to enjoying your natural surroundings and striving for more) is the lifestyle that is embraced and perpetuated. After all, we “suffer” enough through our harsh winters and “stressful” jobs.
But that’s part of my mission—to initiate a paradigm shift within my immediate vicinity and bring the Chicago fitness culture to the forefront of mainstream popularity. When you think Chicago, you either think 1 of 2 things—crime or…well, crime. But contrary to what mainstream media wants you to believe, Chicago is more than just that.
In my eyes, it is the perfect place to build wealth while taking advantage of the extensive cultural and intellectual benefits of a world-class city, and the perfect place to enjoy complete serenity and nature either on the lakefront or within the open, grassy areas that our plethora of Chicago parks have to offer. Chicago provides all the tools and resources to live an abundant life to improve your mind and body—true wealth. There simply are no excuses not to be optimistic in this environment of endless opportunity, and I’m lucky to experience the abundance that my city has to offer every day.