The Mindset Read online

  REVIEWS

  “This debut memoir presents a modern-day, rags-to-riches story that articulates the concepts employed by the author to overcome his personal demons.

  Bowers, “a boy born into blue-collar beginnings,” progressed “from a secondhand start” and a “lackluster adulthood” to being a millionaire by the age of 28. His early years were fraught with anxiety over his parents’ constant fights and poverty: “Our lives consisted of hand-me- downs, handouts, and empty pockets; we lived a paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle.” In elementary school, as he saw how his friends’ families lived (he was raised in upscale communities), he began building “walls” to protect himself “from ridicule and embarrassment.” Adding to the family’s tribulations was his older brother, Billy, who was constantly in jail for a variety of crimes. High school provided the author with a period of stability: “I was one of the popular kids, liked by almost everyone.” He had a girlfriend, played on the school’s baseball team, and worked as a bus boy at night for some much-needed money. But with his friends off to college and no clear goals, Bowers crashed after high school. While working as a janitor in a motel, he met Yuka and fell in love. A curveball—an unexpected baby—became the motivation the 22-year-old needed to set himself on the road to success. While the author recalls that “nothing was ever given to me for free” and he remains critical of his mother and father (“My parents never knew how to budget money”), he seems to overlook the value of his childhood milieu, which raised his aspirations. Still, the captivating book’s simple, straightforward prose effectively communicates the turmoil of young Bowers’ life, the valuable steps he took to shed his glass-half-empty mindset, and the worthy lessons he learned along the way. Initially crafting this memoir to “vent” and “fan the flames of frustration” he felt toward his parents, the author skillfully expanded his mission:

  “Now I know I am writing it to release everything I’ve pent up within me, and to hopefully help others in the process.”

  An intriguing account that shows readers how to use life’s difficulties to turn a negative self-image into a positive, goal-oriented one.”

  - Kirkus Reviews

  “This book is a touching story that shows how one overcame his struggles. We all can relate to Ace in one way or another and while reading this book you’ll find yourself analyzing your own experiences and habits that might need changing.”

  “I must admit I was originally curious to read this book to see how a Janitor got to Silicon Valley millionaire in five years...Surprisingly, this is not that kinda book, and in a good way. It takes you through a journey about the American family and the trials that they all went through and experienced. It was a very personal and deep book, and it helps to give you a better perspective on the struggles people go through and how you can never judge a book by its cover. I highly recommend this book and once I started I couldn’t put it down.”

  “The Mindset...This is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it. Reading this book really inspires me to work hard and it shows how to keep the right mindset to succeed even when you are at your lowest times. I went on an emotional roller coaster reading this book. Every chapter contains a great message. No matter what you are facing in life, this book teaches you how to not lose hope. It is very powerful.”

  “This is the story of a boy lost, who found himself through love and family, and a belief in God, that became a very successful Man. It’s told honestly and fervently with a very happy ending. A refreshing read in a world where so many boys in his shoes never find the right path.”

  “I enjoyed reading this book. The author depicts many vulnerable childhood memories. His childhood poverty gave him the drive to overcome and want a better life for himself. The book was very interesting and I read it from cover to cover within a couple of hours. This book would be a good resource for underprivileged students to read, to encourage them to rise above their environmental circumstances, and give them initiative and hope for a better life.”

  “Wow! This book resonates with my life so much. From personal issues at home to personal struggles. I came up from nothing myself and I own 2 restaurants now. I love this book. Quick read but not so quick to digest. I recommend this book to anyone who struggles to get by,

  for hope and encouragement. Classic story from rags to riches with all of life’s struggles. Thank you for this read!”

  “The Mindset is a book written for, and notably by, The Everyman. Ace Bowers shares his all-too-familiar back story of a young man from a working class background, teetering on the edge of a financial and ultimately emotional abyss. He hides nothing from us, laying bare his internal monologue: the non-stop anxiety he felt as a child in a dysfunctional home, his constant feeling of worthlessness as a

  21 year-old down-and-outer and his ensuing battle with depression. Wonderfully, Ace lifts himself and his family out of the abyss, chronicling the journey. But rather than focusing on the material trappings of success, he details his internal transformation-- this is where so many

  struggle and fail, and so many can learn from his example. Ultimately, The Mindset is a story of redemption, not just for Ace, but for his parents and brother as well. The author never gives up on himself, nor on them.”

  “The Mindset is a heartfelt, autobiographical story of a blue-collar kid from a blue-collar family growing up through a different kind of adversity; trying to make it in Silicon Valley and growing up in a dysfunctional family. Ace opens up and shares some very personal stories from his life that helped shape him into a man he is today. The main theme that runs throughout the book is that of overcoming; Overcoming abuse, depression, anxiety, and so much more. This is a story that makes you want to say “if this guy can make it with the hand his life dealt him... what’s my excuse?” This story is so much more than a story of rising from rags to riches. This is a story where all of us can find something we can relate to. Ace and his story are undeniable proof that it is possible to rise above our circumstances with the tools we all have at our disposal. A great read.”

  “The Mindset is a phenomenal book that brings you back to the basics of what is truly important in life. Bowers effectively makes his reader feel like a fly on the wall, privy to the shame and embarrassment he felt through his entire childhood, and how that shaped the young adult he had become.

  Growing up in Silicon Valley is truly a double-sided sword. There are endless jobs and growth potential, yes... but there is also a false sense of accomplishment and success that children feel they must possess through their parents. Like every child, Bowers takes his parents’ hardships and addictions as a personal failure that leads to his own self-demise and depression.

  In the current times of social media, and the feeling of presenting a false sense of happiness to belong, Bowers reminds us that the power to become successful lies within each of us and our own sheer determination. More so than his success financially, is the success he finds with his personal relationships and family. Bowers makes you realize how important it is to know that the only barrier preventing someone from becoming what they want to be, is not trying.

  The Mindset is an uplifting story of overcoming hardship to become a happy, successful & satisfied adult through letting go of the pain of your childhood, forgiving your family, and making an effort to be present and an active participant in your own life. I’d highly recommend!”

  THE MINDSET

  My Journey from Janitor to Silicon Valley Millionaire in Five Years

  Ace Bowers

  Genre: Nonfiction Memoir Author: Ace Bowers

  Publisher: Amazon KDP

  ISBN Soft Cover: 978-1-7329481-0-5

  ISBN Ebook: 978-1-7329481-2-9

  ISBN Audio Book: 978-1-7329481-2-9

  Price: Paperback $11.99 / Ebook $6
.99 / Audio Book $8.99 Date of Publication: March 16, 2019

  Acknowledgements

  Yuka - You saved me from rock bottom.

  Noah - You were my new beginning.

  Ariel - You are my lion of God.

  CONTENTS

  REVIEWS

  THE MINDSET

  Ace Bowers

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Blue-Collar Beginnings

  Chapter 2

  Rock Bottom and a Mop Bucket

  Chapter 3

  The Noah Effect

  Chapter 4

  Footsteps into Fatherhood

  Chapter 5

  Millionaire Moves

  Chapter 6

  My Rock

  Chapter 7

  Band of Brothers

  Chapter 8

  Reckless Abandon

  Chapter 9

  Talking it Out: Conversations with my family

  Chapter 10

  Overcoming and Self-Reflection

  Introduction

  One of my mom’s favorite songs has always been “Simple Man,” by Lynyrd Skynyrd, because it encompassed her greatest aspirations for me. “All I want for you, my son, is to be satisfied.” Try as I might, and in spite of her best hopes for me, it would take me many long years to find this happiness…

  It always starts the same: flashbacks roll like movie clips, triggered by just about anything. A whiff of a cigarette. The sound of people yelling. My children’s laughter… Instantly I’m transported to a time in my life when I felt helpless, worthless, and ashamed.

  I think of the room where my sister and I would take refuge from the brutal storm created by my parents’ fighting. I think of the empty bedroom where my brother should have been, but instead all I see is the painful memory of him handcuffed, over and over again.

  I ducked and dodged the never-ending curiosity of teenage life, knowing how at any moment, I could be the next rumor floating around school if anyone knew how we lived. The feeling of a mop bucket in one hand and a cigarette in another, I would look at my reflection in cloudy water and wonder, was this all my future held?

  This book focuses on my early life and journey into adulthood. In some ways it encompasses the American Dream, and in other ways, a nightmare far too real to escape. I will walk you through a five-year turning point in my life, starting as a janitor who couldn’t afford the cigarettes he was smoking and earning $6.00 per hour with no end in sight, to finishing as a young man with the conscientious determination to get his life together. Fast forward some more, and I am now a man with a great job, a father married to the woman he loves, and a millionaire living in one of the most expensive cities in the country.

  Chapter 1

  Blue-Collar Beginnings

  My name is Ace and I am going to tell you the complete story of my journey. I was a boy born into blue-collar beginnings. I progressed from a secondhand start, to a lackluster adulthood, and somehow ended up rubbing elbows with white-collar millionaires. In a few short years, I finally became a millionaire myself. No, I didn't attend an Ivy League school, I didn't invent anything, and I didn’t inherit wealth. Nothing was ever given to me for free. Everything I have today I earned by working hard.

  I may not have been born into money or have things come easy for me, but what I did possess was motivation. This motivation would fuel my determination to break my cycle of poverty, and to create a strong mindset within myself. I now refer to it as an overcomer’s mindset. I didn’t know it then, but this mindset would change my life. It would allow me to develop my own system of learning; through it, I experienced a mature mental growth that would serve me well in my years to come. An unrelenting motivation and steady mindset would carry me further than anything else in my life would. It was through this unwavering state of mind that I could become a millionaire at 28 years old.

  Climbing from minimum wage to millions was not the product of some lucky stars, nor was it easy. Some people say you make your own luck and others think that believing in luck is foolish, but my journey came through trial and error, full of ups and downs. From this journey, I discovered something paramount: nothing is ever a waste of time if you learn something from it. Even today, I continue to grow and develop from my successes and my failures. That bumpy road taught me how to become motivated, and this motivation would make great things happen for me. A great deal of willpower, persistence, and fortitude was involved—and of course, a helping hand from the man upstairs.

  My journey would require change—lots of it. I had to change my thinking, my attitude, my outlook and my habits. I had to transform myself, especially the way I saw myself, and the preconceived notion that I would live the same life my parents had.

  I’ve learned that motivation is powerful and you should never ignore the fire it can spark within. But let’s back up. When I initially sat down to write this book, I soon came to the realization that I had buried many of my childhood memories. I was carrying them around like baggage, the weight of which took its toll. They left me suffocated and would result in bad decisions, a lack of drive, and an overall poor outlook on life. I am only now allowing myself to feel those memories and experiences again. This book marks my first venture into being openly frank about my life.

  Many of the things I am going to tell you in this book, I have spent my entire life trying to forget. I wanted to hide these secrets from the world and I certainly never thought I’d be in a place where I could share the shame I felt with the world. No one knows the things you are about to read...

  For a while growing up, I didn’t understand the actual chaos of my environment and I didn’t know what to think. I had no clue about success, because failure and instability were all around me. Unfortunately, I had no plans on doing anything noteworthy any time in the near future. We will talk more about that later but for now, back to the start of things.

  There I was, growing up in Mountain View, California, just an average kid in a blue-collar family trying to scrape by. I was the son of two high school sweethearts who had never gone to college. My dad is a blue-eyed, patriotic, family-first man who loves baseball and working with his hands. His philosophy has always been God, family, and America. Dad grew up as a clean-cut, all-American star athlete from a middle-class family. My mother on the other hand, is his polar opposite. She grew up on the wrong side of the tracks: a free-spirited, non-judgmental, stereotypical 60’s hippie with olive skin and an aversion to shoes. She never wore shoes, and to this day still loves to be barefoot. She doesn’t share the same core values or political ideologies as my dad. Mom was, and still is, very liberal.

  I was the youngest of three kids. The oldest was my brother and in the middle was my sister, who also happened to be my biggest advocate growing up. She protected and shielded me from some of the regularly-occurring madness happening at our house. Our lives consisted of hand-me-downs, handouts, and empty pockets; we lived a paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle. That said, I do not remember elementary school being so bad in spite of our situation. I was aware from a young age that I was the poorest kid in school, but I did not dwell on materialistic possessions. Society would commonly refer to people of our status as white trash, but at that point I didn’t concern myself with hiding my home life.

  At that age, I didn’t need to worry about hiding my real life from others. I’ve always made friends easily, and it wasn’t until going to my friends’ houses and meeting their families, that I started noticing how my home life and family were very different from theirs. And so, bit by bit, I began building my walls and hiding my true life from the world. As early as elementary school, I relied on my walls as a defense mechanism in order to protect myself from ridicule and embarrassment.

  What I learned as a kid forced me to mature quickly and to let go of my childhood sooner than I should have. I realized that we were poor, lower class and always struggling. This was drastically different from what I’d seen at my other friends’ houses. I found that my brother would grow increasingl
y absent from my life. He was constantly in and out of jail, and his rebellious ways would become a cloud that followed my family forever. I witnessed my parents abuse alcohol and tobacco and came to the realization that they couldn't manage money: their lack of financial discipline was the main reason we were poor.

  Speaking of managing money, I could always tell how far away from payday we were by what we ate for dinner. The month would start out with normal family meals, but these would gradually taper off. If we were less than a week away from payday, our dinners would consist of dishes like creamed egg on toast, or “shit on a shingle,” as my dad liked to call it. The term was from his Navy days—he always looked for a way to incorporate military slang into our lives. Hot dogs were also a recurring menu item, except our family couldn’t afford buns: since we couldn't afford buns, we usually ate them on white bread. A child shouldn't have to notice these kinds of things, but I should give my mom credit. She always made the best with what she had.

  As I mentioned before, my parents fought. My sister and I had front row seats and the privilege to witness the main event: their attempts at working out their issues. A lot of the things I experienced in my childhood stuck with me and not in a good way—especially their fights. Those experiences molded my personality, shaped my view of the world, and derailed my path into adulthood.

  As I remember it, our housing was pretty stable until around 1992, when, at the age of eight, we moved from the house I was born in. We ended up quickly moving a few more times thereafter. I think my parents had fallen into the “interest only” home loan trap. When the rates skyrocketed, they could no longer afford their mortgage payments. To make things worse, when I was around ten years old, my dad was laid off from his job as a machinist at Stanford University, where he had worked for over a decade. This marked the first time I witnessed my family fall on hard times.