At one point in Tim McGraw’s life, he had a very important decision to make. Long before he was a country star with hits like “Don’t Take The Girl” and “I Like It, I Love It,” McGraw was a college kid just trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. He was starting to figure things out while he attended Northeast Louisiana University (now University of Louisiana at Monroe), and was exploring music as a career path. That was mainly because his fraternity brothers and friends were encouraging him to do so as they heard him play and sing more and more. Those in Tim’s circle continually told him he was good enough to chase a career in music, so started playing clubs to see if they were telling the truth. When he kept getting invited back to play… he knew it was a real option. But there was another path that was tugging at him thanks to a class he was taking, as he told Tim Ferriss on The Time Ferriss Show: “I took a military science class, and I got to know the instructor. Captain Whitehead was his name. He was an army guy and head of the ROTC there. All of the guys in the class were ROTC. We took the class and it was tactics and out in the field tracking and repelling, all kinds of stuff. At the end of the course, everyone was asked to vote (for) who was our platoon leader. Well I got voted by all of the ROTC guys at the platoon leader of the class for the year. I was the top student in the class. So Captain Whitehead took a big interest in me, but he thought I should be a Marine.” McGraw seriously considered being a Marine as an option. He knew it would take a ton of dedication and commitment, but Captain Whitehead evidently thought Tim would be able to handle it. That led McGraw to visit the Marine recruiting office again and again (and again), and all of the sudden, he knew he had to choose between two futures: music or the Marines. So, he gave up everything else in his life and went to bed one night ready to go with either, as he explained: “I visited the Marine recruiting office quite a bit, filled out all of my paper work, and one night I decided… I had everything packed, I sold everything that I had. Sold my car, water skis, shotguns, sold everything I had. I think I ended up with about $3,000. I had my guitar, one suitcase and my Marine paper work sitting on my dresser. I said ‘When I wake up in the morning, I’ll decide whether I’m going to move to Nashville or join the Marines.'” Woah… I’ve heard of people sleeping on a decision, but that’s taking it to a whole other level. It’s wild to think that McGraw laid his head down on the pillow that night and legitimately had no idea what tomorrow would bring. Sure enough, when he opened his eyes the next day and stood up… he knew exactly what he had to do: “I woke up the next morning, got up, picked up the Marine paper, tore it up, threw it in the garbage and went and bought a greyhound bus ticket. I ended up in Nashville.” Though I’m sure either decision would have been the right one… you’ve got to think that Tim McGraw went with the right option, considering how everything has played out for the country star. You can hear him talk more about it in the interview below: The post “Sold Everything I Had”: Tim McGraw Details The Moment He Chose Between Joining The Marines Or Moving To Nashville first appeared on Whiskey Riff.