Letters to the 40-Year-Old Me

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Intro

Greetings, and welcome to the next article on my website.

This letter-like article is dedicated to the 40-year-old version of me. There are things I gotta do before I turn 40, so it is important to remind myself 20 years in advance, before that moment arrives. I want to look at my life from the future and ask myself a simple question: Did I become the man I wanted to become?

There are no guarantees in life. Plans change, circumstances change, and sometimes life takes you somewhere you never expected to go. But there should still be certain principles, goals, and ambitions that remain in front of me no matter what happens.

So, let’s go. Let’s see what I want to achieve by the time I turn 40.

Offspring

A 40-year-old man named Eraj shall have an offspring for the greater purpose of humanity. Eraj knows that for humanity to survive and prosper, each individual decision matters more than ever. Every generation inherits something from the previous one, and every generation has a responsibility to leave something behind for the next.

Having children is not only about continuing a family name. It is about raising human beings who can contribute something meaningful to the world. The minimum is 2 children. The maximum is 10 or more. The number itself is not the only point. The real goal is to build a strong family and raise children properly.

I want my children to have knowledge, discipline, freedom, and opportunities. I want them to understand where they came from, know the value of family, and have the courage to build something of their own. If I can raise even one generation that becomes stronger, wiser, and more useful to society, then a significant part of my purpose will have been fulfilled.

Wife

Eraj knows that there is a moment in life when you can no longer go back to the younger version of yourself, when you know you are handsome, young, and you have chances everywhere. Eraj knows that the purpose of a man is to have a woman beside him until the end of his time. Eraj knows that marriage is a cornerstone of a man's life. Eraj follows tradition.

A wife is not simply someone to share a house with. She is supposed to become your family, your closest person, your partner through difficult periods and good ones. Life becomes a completely different journey when you have someone who genuinely stands beside you.

By 40, I want to look at my wife and know that we built something together. A family, a home, memories, perhaps businesses, perhaps gardens, perhaps something much bigger than both of us. I do not want a temporary relationship. I want something that survives the changes of life, something that becomes stronger with time.

House

Eraj knows that in this economy, investing in immovables, property, and real estate is important. Eraj knows he does not want to live rent by rent. He knows he has to own houses, ideally in many countries.

A house is more than four walls and a roof. It is security, independence, and something that can be passed from one generation to another. I want to reach a point where I am not constantly thinking about where I will live next year or how much rent I have to pay.

Ideally, Eraj will own properties in different parts of the world. Some could be homes for the family, some could be investments, and some could simply be places where we can go and stay without asking anyone for permission. The goal is not to collect buildings just for the sake of collecting them. The goal is to build a foundation that gives my family freedom and stability.

Garden

A man's purpose is to plant a tree, ideally many. For Eraj, it is not just one tree. It is about vast lands that bring fruits and benefits not only to him, but to his family, neighbors, country, and the world.

I want land. I want gardens. I want trees that continue growing long after I have planted them. I want to see something that I created become useful to people I may never even meet. There is something beautiful about planting a tree because you know that you may not be the person who enjoys its full potential.

Someone else will. Your children will. Their children may. That is the kind of thinking I want to have. Build things that outlive me. If one day I own large pieces of land filled with fruit trees, gardens, water, animals, and people working together, I will consider that one of the greatest achievements of my life.

Magnate

Eraj cannot turn 40 and still be influenced by the boss who keeps reminding him to be in time for the 8-hour office work. It is about him. Eraj needs to be a magnate of many businesses, not influenced by unnecessary people or unnecessary trash. Eraj shall be able to say no freely, since saying no is a sign of power and certainty.

By 40, I want my time to belong to me. That does not mean I want to stop working. Quite the opposite. I want to work harder, but I want to work on things that belong to me, things that I believe in, things that can grow beyond my personal effort.

I want to build businesses that employ people, create value, generate wealth, and continue operating without me having to personally control every small detail. Money itself is not the final objective. Independence is. I want to have the financial and professional strength to walk away from anything that does not align with my principles.

Message for the Future
Beware, Here’s My Message
Influence

Eraj's words, actions, and wealth shall influence people around him. A man without influence is a man who is a slave to many.

Influence is not necessarily about being famous. It is about having enough credibility, resources, knowledge, and character that when you speak, people listen. I want to build influence through results, through businesses, through writing, through ideas, through philanthropy, through relationships, and through the people I help.

By 40, I want my name to mean something. Not because I demand respect, but because I have built enough to deserve it. If I say something, people should know that there is experience behind the words. If I support something, I should have the resources to actually support it.

Influence without substance is noise. I want substance. I want my actions to speak louder than my words, and I want the people around me to be able to point to something real and say, "He built that."

Charity

Eraj, who has turned 40, cannot live just for himself with his money. He will help as many people as he can until he dies.

There is a point where accumulating wealth only for yourself becomes meaningless. If you have more than you need, then eventually the question becomes what you are going to do with the rest. I want charity to become part of my life, not something I do once a year for publicity.

I want to support people who need education, healthcare, food, housing, and opportunities. I want to help talented people who simply lack the resources to move forward. I want to build things that continue helping people even when I am no longer personally involved.

The greatest use of wealth is not showing people that you have it. It is using it to make someone's life better. If I have the ability to change someone's situation for the better and choose not to, then what is the point of having that ability in the first place?

Legacy

When I turn 40, I want to have a legacy for generations to come that will stand still even after my death. It requires a lot of dedication, but I will make it happen.

Legacy is not about having your name written on a building. It is about what remains when you are gone. Maybe it will be businesses. Maybe it will be land, houses, gardens, institutions, writings, ideas, or a family that continues building after me. Ideally, it will be all of these things.

I want to create something that does not disappear when Eraj disappears. If my children inherit not only my assets but also my principles, if people benefit from the businesses I built, if trees I planted are still growing, if people I helped are helping others, and if my ideas continue to influence people I will never meet, then I will know that my life produced something beyond myself.

That, to me, is legacy. Not simply being remembered, but leaving behind something that continues to exist, grow, and create value without needing me to be there.

Conclusion

So, dear 40-year-old Eraj, here is the list. You have a family. You have a wife. You have children. You own houses. You have land and gardens. You have built businesses. You have influence. You help people. You have created something that can survive without you.

But remember, none of these things are the final destination. The real test is what kind of man you became while achieving them. Do not become wealthy and forget your family. Do not become influential and lose your principles. Do not build businesses and forget the people working for you. Do not accumulate property and forget to enjoy the life you worked for.

You have 20 years from the moment this article is written. Twenty years to build, fail, learn, love, lose, recover, create, and try again. Twenty years is a long time, but it can disappear faster than you think.

And when you finally read this at 40, I hope you can smile and say one thing: I did it. And if you did not achieve everything on this list, that is fine too. Just make sure you did not stop trying.

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