About Me

I'm sixteen. I don't have my future figured out. But I don't want to drift through life while letting circumstances decide my path. The idea of waking up in my twenties or thirties, realizing I have no purpose, passion, or plan, makes me uneasy. I want responsibility and control over my life—not excuses for why things don’t work out.

This mindset began to form in seventh grade, when I read Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. At the time, I didn’t have money to invest or much financial knowledge, but the book changed how I thought. It introduced ideas no one had ever really explained to me: how assets and liabilities work, why most people trade time for money, and how financial freedom is built intentionally, not accidentally.

What stood out most was the realization that school teaches us a lot of foundational knowledge but not everything. I didn't want to wind up feeling like I had a job "just to earn a paycheck." But school wasn't teaching me money smarts or how to own a different future.

Reading that book made me start asking better questions. Why do some people struggle financially even when they work hard? Why do others seem to build wealth steadily over time? I began to understand that investing, ownership, leverage, and long-term thinking were skills that could be learned early—if someone was willing to seek them out.

Not long after, I read The 5 AM Club by Robin Sharma, which taught me something just as important. Before you can build external success, you first have to build your internal self. Discipline, habits, focus, and self-awareness come before money, status, or opportunity. That idea stuck with me. I realized that no amount of external success can fix a lack of purpose or personal leadership. Real progress starts with mastering yourself.

Since then, I’ve stayed consistent with learning and self-improvement. I read regularly, work intentionally on my habits, and seek out conversations with people in business to understand how they think—and what they wish they had learned earlier.

Along the way, I started sharing what I was learning with a small group of friends. One of them came from a very traditional mindset where the expected path was to eventually land a conventional job after doing well in school—the same process as his older siblings. What I introduced offered a different way of thinking, one focused on forging your future through self-awareness, personal responsibility, and long-term planning.

He didn’t want to feel like he was simply repeating a script that had already been written for him. Our conversations helped him realize that alternatives existed.

That response showed me how powerful early exposure to new ideas can be—especially for people who feel stuck in a predetermined path. A lot of teenagers want this kind of knowledge, but they don’t know where to find it, or they assume it’s something you’re supposed to figure out much later in life. There’s a gap between what young people are taught and what they actually need to build confidence, direction, and independence. 

I created FutureEdge Wealth Builders because starting early matters. I don’t have everything figured out, but I believe learning intentionally at a young age gives us an advantage most people never develop. This space is about thinking long-term, building personal leadership, and sharing what I’m learning honestly as I go.

If you’re a teenager who feels like there has to be more than just successfully getting through school and hoping life works out, you’re not alone. I’m building the foundation for my own path alongside you.

Here's to building your own future.

—Grant MacColl