I am officially pissed off.

[lb]

Unfortunately for SoonToBeTaller, 5'1 is short even for being a girl at school. STBT pretty much has 2% chance of finding a girl suitable to his height, and even then, it's a wonder if the girl will feel comfortable with the possiblity that people are going to talk about her short boyfriend. ( a 5'1" boyfriend!).

Kidrobot, you have to realise that hormones are raging hell in teens, and being 5'1 is not something which can be easily looked over. Me on the other hand, at 5'4.5 , that's a different story. Sure I'm still short, but there are plenty 5'1, 5'2, 5'3 girls I can try. He on the other hand has almost no options.

By the way, what does your father say about your height? It's a real shame you didnt go to a doctor earlier man, you could have gotten some HGH.

Getting LL shouldn't be about getting girls,there is too much talk on this site about guys doing it to get girls.. do LL for yourself

[Blakamo]

I want to be taller so:

1. I have more confidence
2. I'm not looked down upon/I get more respect.
3. I want to be more attractive to the opposite sex.


Pretty much every reason you can think of , to why you should get LL.

[basoon]

Well theres really only 2 main reasons men initially want to be taller or get LL mainly because of 1)attracting the opposite sex and 2)because they want more respect  .  The confidence factor mainly goes with the respect/girls category.

Those are basically the only reasons.

[Blakamo]

As if now, all I can really do is save - save - and save.

My parents most likely are NOT willing to smack out 20 grand to pay for 2-3 inch height increase.

So it looks like I'll be doing many years of waiting at a restaurant to make my money, making 9 dollars an hour and having a sore neck after work...

It still confuses me as to why I am still sitting at 5'4 when my brother was 5'7 a year ago at my age. I will definitely ask my mother to take me to a doctor.

[teach]

Frustrating it is. Do what you have to do. I'm 5'6 and BOTH my parents are taller than me. I'm the only one in the immediate family who is short. Everyone else in my family is TALL or AVERAGE. Worse yet, I'm the most intelligent one in the family. Surely I got screwed. Just know that with LL, there is a chance for change for you around the corner. Good luck.

[Kidrobot]

As if now, all I can really do is save - save - and save.

My parents most likely are NOT willing to smack out 20 grand to pay for 2-3 inch height increase.

So it looks like I'll be doing many years of waiting at a restaurant to make my money, making 9 dollars an hour and having a sore neck after work...

It still confuses me as to why I am still sitting at 5'4 when my brother was 5'7 a year ago at my age. I will definitely ask my mother to take me to a doctor.

Okay, this will really be the last piece of advice, because I'm beginning to think your problem is not height: you know, I tried to be supportive, but you're demonstrating a serious lack of intelligence. Are you not in school? Here's an idea: instead of spending all your free time waiting tables --how about working so hard on your coursework that you get the highest average in your class, ace  your courses and then get into one of the top universities. You could even do summer school and speed the process up. If you graduated with an engineering or accounting/finance degree (or even excelled in something creative, excelled really in anything) from a top university you could be making twenty-thousdand dollars in one summer(I had a friend make that after three years of undergrad).

But I guess it's easier to whine and complain and do a job that only morons do because they've screwed up their lives than to actually do some real work that requires focus and concentration and persistence and sacrifice. You have to think of the long-term gain. Sure waiting pays some cra* money now. But forget about the small profits, work hard and sacrifice the short term gain now and you could be making 6 figures by your mid-twenties and will have saved up more than enough for LL just through real summer jobs during college.

You see blakamo, even if you get LL in like 8 years through waiting tables and neglecting developing a real career, you will still be a loser, in fact even a BIGGER loser because you'll be older and yeah a bit taller but will not have developed in any truly stunning way intellectually or with respect to your career. And guess what? Once you start doing well(i' mean the best) in school you will be filled with such an immense pride and confidence being smaller won't even consume your psyche like it is now. You'll be getting props from your teachers, your peers will envy and admire you and yes, eventually making a fair bit of money will be the off-shoot. As it is, you recognize that you'll need to save for a while, so don't be so damn stupid.

I'm going to stop now because I don't think you're actually really listening to a word I'm saying. This great hardship you think you're going through is easy, what I'm telling you to do actually requires courage and work.






 

[TallManComing]

You guys are young. Focus on making money. If you don't want to go the college route, then move up as a restaurant manager.

College is only a good investment if you are a math nerd. IT and engineering professions are in demand and pay well.

If you suck at math like I do, then college doesn't work. I spent a lot of money on college and it was a bad investment. I graduated with a major in kinesiology and history. I couldn't get a decent job, so I started several businesses. The last one was successful and I make far more money that I ever could with a job.

Had I put the money I saved for college into investments, I could have done LL back in 2003.

Unfortunately, this forum did not exist back then, so had I known LL was a real possibility, then things would have been very different.

Be grateful that this forum exists. I'll be 31 and wish it was available to me when I was 21.

[chlor]

Kidrobot,

I think it's wonderful you're giving someone over the internet all this heartfelt advice.  Just want to add a few more points.

First to the OP, let's imagine that you went thru a successful LL journey.  You'll be, what, 5'8 - 5'9 at most?  Just think, if you came across a 5'8-5'9 guy waiting tables for a living, you won't give him a second thought.  Why? Because you're average in every way, not even average in terms of career (no offense to all the waiters out there).  In the eyes of a decently attractive woman, this is a man that's clearly not worth her time.  Now let's imagine you forget LL and go with Kidrobot's advice.  You study so hard that you become the top of your class in school.  You will be popular in school.  You will get into a top uni and then graduate to work at a high paying job.  By this point even if you're 5'4, you will get a lot of attention just for your abilities.  You will get way more confidence than you ever could from gaining 2-3 inches in height as a waiter.  Only at that point do I think LL becomes a valid option for you.  Not just financially, but what you will have to gain from LL is exponentially higher.

I think the people who receive the most ROI from LL are people like MMT.  Already successful in almost every other area in life (you can read about it from his book), with height the only thing that held him back.  Until you've reached that point in life, I just don't see LL being worth it.  

However, not to misguide you, just want to point out that when you DO reach that point in life, you'll have to face a few new issues as well.  I'll speak from personal experience- went to a top 5 school, got a great job, already made more than enough for LL in less than a year.  But I'm just starting to realize that going for LL right now means giving up a whole much more than if I were, say, a waiter.  I'm talking about career advancement, income for a year, and most likely I'll have to quit the high paying job in order to be gone for so long.  Giving up all these things in someone's early or mid-twenties has enormous financial impact later on in life (obviously, because of time value of money).  Despite all this, yes, height is still a crippling weakness I struggle with on a daily basis.  Anyway, that's my own dilemma.  OP, you'll have to overcome your problems first before you worry about this.  Taking Kidrobot's advice is a great way to start.  Good luck.

[Blakamo]

Kidrobot you are of course right that PROPER work is much better than near-useless work such as waiting.

The difference is, my life-long dream is to own and run a succesful restaurant, and I have absolutely no experience in that area. So when I looked for work, I decided to apply for waiting. I want to get a general feel of how the business works.

And I actually plan on saving 99% of all earnings and putting it in stock, defeating the terrible minimum wage.

I'm only waiting part-time. So at the same time, I'll be working hard on my studies as well. So... yes kidrobot is right! work hard on something you enjoy... but it seems the only thing I enjoy is owning a business... this is tricky isn't it? Unfortunately for me, math is one of my weakest subjects as well. I've found this makes later education extremely difficult.

Your advice is absolutely correct, but I don't see the harm in waiting part time for a few years to have LL when i'm young. If I do a proper job after my 20's, doesn't that require taking a year off work? isn't this extremely risky?

Blakamo

[Kidrobot]

this is a blog from someone I know who is a post-grad at MIT --I'm not saying that you should definitely do a math related job --though some math skills WILL help in any profession. Read all of the intro posts about doing well and read and follow this blog religiously, it helped me in my graduate studies even. The idea that people are either good or bad at math is a huge pile of BS.
Here's the site:
http://calnewport.com/blog/  read all the posts.

You get good at what you work hard towards --do just 1.5 hours of focussed math homework and practice EVERY single day, just even from your textbook, get extra help from your teacher at every turn, ask questions in class everytime you don't understand something. Sacrifice time on leisure to get your math practice in religiously (even if it means sleeping one hour less) ESPECIALLY IMP: WITH NO DISTRACTIONS --cell phone off, tv, music all off. Do not get up from the chair and struggle with each problem till you get it. Do this for 2 months(that means about 100 hours of hardfocus math practice in addition to whatever measly homework they assign at your age) and if you honestly do it, I GUARANTEE you will be the top math student in your class. You can actually become good at anything this way.

When you give people stupid excuses you're only lying to yourself. If you have your eyes set on the restaurant business though, 15 is not too young to start learning to be a chef. Read some of the books by Anthony Bourdain and THE MAKING OF A CHEF by Michael Ruhlman --it discusses a lot of stuff not just about becoming a top chef but about the restaurant business as well. Most top chefs begin working in ktichens around 15. Waiting is a BS job. Read, read, read. If you actually do any of this stuff, you will definitely be too busy to even worry about your height for the next few years.

[Blakamo]

1.5 hours of math every day.....

I will do it.

[Kidrobot]

cool, remember a lot of textbooks provide the basic lessons so just read them through carefully and try to understand them, if you don't ask your teacher for extra help (that's what they are there for). My hunch is that just seeing greater interest from you, your teacher will help. And definitely read the posts on the blog I recommended. On the right hand corner you'll find all "read this first" posts that will introduce you to the proper way of studying and working. I still use many of these techniques. Frankly I would definitely order his book "how to be a high-school superstar" or it might be at your local library or ask them to order it. I still use many of his techniques on getting hard work done now.

If you put the work in, you will get better --it may be VERY hard to concentrate this long if you haven't before. But remember the mind requires practice, it's like a muscle in that sense, overcoming a little resistance each day, if you push through it, the next day it will become easier. Recently I took up the guitar and I have NO musical bone in my body, I actually thought I might be tone deaf and it was terribly hard, but I just vowed to put in the 1 hour of practice daily, it took a month of daily excruciating practice just to get my fingers in position. But it was like magic, after struggling for an hour the next day things would be like 1 percent easier. It is as if my brain accommodated to the new stimulus subconsciously while I as at rest and at sleep and the next day, boom, it was easier. It's the same thing for getting good at anything.
I realize all this has nothing to do with LL but this is an "off-topic" thread so I thought I'd help the kid out.

From your writing you actually sound reasonably intelligent for someone your age, so you should have no problem, the problem will be the self discipline. But remember, everytime it's like late friday night and you're at home studying instead of doing the stupid things a lot of your peers may be doing, just remember "I'm getting better at something that will make me outstanding and they're just screwing themselves up."
You keep banking those hours and you will be incredible. If you ever need advice on school stuff(I ended up getting a PhD eventually from an Ivy League university so I know a fair bit about excelling academically) I'll totally advise you. I'll check in on this thread from time to time.
And of course treat your other subjects this way as well. If you get to the point where you're doing a few hours of homework everyday (including weekends) on all your classes, you'll easily be the top of your class.

It's summer so you're probably not taking classes right now. Fine do your summer job, there's nothing wrong with that. But in addition just to keep sharp do the following: read one book a week(and not a comic book, like a work of literature, look up online like "top 50 books of english literature of the 20th century) and read a book a week come rain or shine. Every time you encounter a work you do not understand, look it up and then write it down and the definition. Review this lest once a week and as a game try and use the work in a sentence with your peers or parents or the guy serving coffee at starbucks. Also, reading fiction is very important because it will develop you emotionally and there's a lot of evidence in the fields of cognitive science that indicates regular fiction readers can handle more complex mental challenges.
Also, try reading one journal/magazine every week --like something simple like TIME magazine --this is a different style of writing but will be beneficial. And if you have your math textbook from the previous year work on redoing a chapter ever week or two weeks so you go into the next year with a total mastery of the material and then use this approach for your next year(grade 10 or whatever).

here's a good list but don't read ulysses it's too difficult for even many adults, read it last --but a lot of the other books should be fine --if you read the entire list by the time you finish high-school, trust me, you'll be more well read than 99 percent of most adults AND you'll be a lot smarter and it will all be AMAZING fun.
http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/100-best-novels/

So here's your task for the summer, read 12 books(one a week, this won't be easy, but not that hard, it will require you to actually read for about an hour a day) from the above list(at least 12 should be available at your local library). Put in 1.5 hours of math a day. And read time magazine every week(it's comes out weekly and is available at ALL libraries --even articles you may not be interested in such as politics or medicine etc. they will become more interesting the more you learn about them)). And keep your word list --you should be coming up against a lot of difficult words so your list should be massive by the end of the summer. You can even publish it for us here in september ! I'm sure there will be tons that even LL readers don't know the exact meaning of.

Finally, make sure to keep up yourself physically. I know many shorter people who are actually quite good athletes. If you're really interested in doing LL in the future, doing a serious yoga regimen will help build muscles AND flexibility. Serious yoga is VERY, VERY hard. Look up an Ashtanga yoga dvd, there are several ashtanga yoga for beginners dvds out there. Yoga is a form of physically active meditation so this will also help your concentration and focus as it prepares you for LL in the future.

Okay, this is actually quite exciting for you, it's going to be a VERY busy summer.
So
1) book a week
2) time magazine weekly
3) word list
4)1.5 hours of math a day.
5) read cal newport's blog (all the intro pieces).

God, I wish someone had told me to do all this stuff when I was 15. But the hard part will be doing it even when you don't want to or it'd be easier to be having "fun" with friends or dicking around or procrastinating. I mean this shi* will make you a jedi and it will be fun and the discipline required will become second nature. Also, it will make you more popular eventually(once you get really good) and a lot more wise. Good luck!

[Kidrobot]

oh one more thing I missed, keep a daily journal of you do everyday (not like dear diary here are my feelings...though that is fine). Just a simple notebook where you write down what of your scheduled activities you actually did in a list. Example, July 11th
1) read for one hour THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO
2) did one hour of math
3) did half an hour of yoga

Keep the list and right in it every day even if you do not do the activity you planned or should have. Review it regularly, that way you'll be able to see every week if you were effective and what decisions prevented you from not doing what you should have, maybe you decided to watch TV instead of reading, this will help you address your behaviour and change it. Trust me, this stuff sounds common sensical but it works LIKE F'N MAGIC. Its the power of compound interest(look up warren buffet and read about him). Essentially for you, compound interest means little value added every day will lead to MASSIVE WEALTH in the long-term.

[Kidrobot]

and sorry for all the horrible typos and spelling mistakes --I wrote it all at breakneck speed as I myself have tons of work to do, even now late monday night!

[Blakamo]

Wow, you really took your time writing all that just to help out a kid on the other side of the world. What makes you think that I will 100% do what you recommend? (although I DO plan to do what you said... it is a large task...). I'm just curious, you seem to have a lot of faith.

Wow! what a mammoth task..


By the way... yeah I know who Warren Buffet is... isn't he like one of the richest people in the world right now? I think he was a pro at the stock market and property or something. I hear a lot of investors talk about him. I'm interested in shares.

[Blakamo]

So far I do about 15 minutes of stretching every night... so that's a start ..

Looks like I'd better cherish this 2 week holiday that I have right now. For next semester is going to be a big one...

[Blakamo]

I've been reading the Study Hacks page. I really like the "4 pillars method"

[chlor]

Kidrobot, pretty interesting the first book you recommended to the kid is the Count of Monte Cristo.  To me, that book is as close to describing a post LL-like experience as there can be.  Yes, Monte Cristo's "LL" experience was not getting a few inches of extra height, but actually coming across loads of money.  But I think LLers can relate. 

In fact, I would say put off that book for now, and save it to read while doing LL!  It'd be great motivation. 

[craig49]

I agree with tallman on this one.  College can be a bad investment.  I thought for many years that college was a waste of my money.  In fact, a lot of times college really is just that, a waste of time and money.  

I understand what you are saying kidrobot, but I don't think going to a top university is the answer.  I worked with a guy last year who graduated from Brown, and he was not only in debt, but had trouble finding work in the USA.  Getting into a top university is very difficult but the tuition can also be so high.  I know tons of people who have finished from better universities than me and still in debt with student loans.  

I went to a very average university, majored in philosophy/religion cause I thought it was interesting.  Only after I finished did I realize that getting a good job was going to be difficult.  Realizing that even if I could be a doctor/lawyer/businessman, I wouldn't want to put in the time and sacrifice.  I don't care what anyone says, most top salary jobs require a lot of sacrifice.  I want to work but also have time for the things I like to do too.  One of my best friends here moved into management and he has no time for himself despite taking a high salary.  A few of my relatives in Seoul, Korea have given the better part of their lives to Samsung.  While they make 6 figures, they literally work over 60 hours a week.  Even my brother who is a CPA and his wife is a nurse, together make over 100K but still aren't able to save that much.

Honestly, starting a small business can be a great if it works.  Specialized jobs like commercial diving, weapons design, ect can pay a lot.  I work in air defense and one of my friends here is a missile technician.  He works only 4 hours/day.  He makes around 150K$ a year with outrageous perks and holidays.  If you want to make some serious cash, you can in the USA, but in the Middle East, your TAKE HOME amount can be so high because everything is cheap (subsidized), housing and transportation is paid for and there is NO TAX.  Yeah, think about United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, these places have lots of oil money and lots of jobs.  I SAVE 6$K a month and still have money left over to eat out all the time and buy what I want.  I can fill my Honda accord with 5$, even gas is paid for though and eat a feast for around 3$ here.  I make 85K/year including bonuses, but there are jobs here that range all the way up to 250K/year.  Most importantly though, I finish at 2pm, I have plenty of time to relax, watch football, do therapy, eat, ect.  

Bottom line, don't even think about lengthening till you are 20, but when you are ready to lengthen, make sure you set yourself up to be in a good position to get lengthening cause lengthening does take some serious $$.  Study smart and have a plan, but as seen by the USA economy, even college grads may or may not be able to find a job.  Height is only half the battle in terms of attracting women, you need some cash as well.  Think about what kind of life you want to live.  Personally, I think a lot of the working professionals I see in Boston and other big cities are under too much pressure from work and as a result don't feel well. 

[Blakamo]

One thing I have seriously noticed amongst most LLers, you are all very intelligent. A lot of you guys run businesses and make above-average salaries. It's all a shame that the smart ones are left with the sh!t height.

As for me, I'm not sure what I want to pursue. But i'm really interested in owning and running my own restaurant when I'm older. Problem is that requires hundreds of thousands to even think about...