Let me introduce myself: I'm a mechanical engineer, 32 years, working 38 hours a week spread over 4 days, dedicating 1 full day to being with my 7 month old daughter. I spent 5 years studying, 2 years on the sideline, and the past 7 years in the slowlane. Despite working full-time for 9 years as an engineer, I've only managed to save €28k. This required long days of work and counting my money every single week, and I don’t want to live like this anymore. I've tried investing in stocks, but with no significant results. In the back of my mind, I knew I had to change my approach and actions. When my daughter was only 3 weeks old and I was holding her in my arms, I promised myself I would make a change and do everything I can to fix it. To be with her more, to enjoy my life more. I have been on this mission since then.
The biggest problem I had for the last few years was my mindset. I tried different things to improve it and achieve more, but nothing worked. But finally, I found a fix. Since this year, I decided to listen to Earl Nightingale or Bob Proctor every day during my lunch break. EVERY DAY. The same audio repeated over and over. After months, I noticed some changes in my thinking. It worked—my mindset is finally getting on the right track. I am still doing this daily, it works like magic.
For the first 4 months, next to being a fresh rookie dad, I focused on consistency for the project. I started designing my own products. I began small, dedicating just 2 minutes a day to my project. Now, I spend at least 29 minutes daily. It may not seem like much, but it's the minimum, and I track my progress. On good days, I can work for 2 hours, on bad days, I never drop below 29 minutes. If I miss a day, I lose all my accumulated minutes, which I track in a chart. This keeps me disciplined.
Within those first months, I designed a product that solved a problem for someone, but it was difficult to scale and technically too complex. It was diffucult to stop the project, which I worked on for months. But two months ago, I decided to work on a new, more scalable, and simpler product. It's funny to know now that I made a fastlane decision without even knowing it at the time!
This week, I completed the design of my new product, which I now need to adapt for specific situations. The product, costing around €120, can be sold for around €200 (according to competitors). Production needs to be in batches of 100 to 200 units. My biggest problem is that the product needs to be adjusted to specific situations at each home. So, I plan to develop a standard version that fits general needs. For now, I am going to create 3 prototypes to gather feedback and make improvements. I already have the customers/suppliers, and the designs are almost ready for production.
My 14 years of experience gives me confidence in the technical design side. My weaker spots are… all the rest . I have no business experience, so I will do my best to step out of my comfort zone, act, and fail like my beautiful daughter does daily with a smile. She learns a lot this way.
On this forum, I hope to find a business coach. Let me know if you are or know someone who is a good fit for me. I look forward to connecting and meeting with new people, learning from other stories, and sharing my knowledge with those who need it.
I am currently reading the Fastlane book (30%) and working through the gold threads. I plan to read all of MJ's books. If my product doesn't succeed, I'll be better equipped for the next challenge. I have plenty of technical ideas, though I'm still learning to distinguish between good and bad business concepts.
For now, everything is going at a good pace, but I think I will need your support very soon. Wish you all the best!
The biggest problem I had for the last few years was my mindset. I tried different things to improve it and achieve more, but nothing worked. But finally, I found a fix. Since this year, I decided to listen to Earl Nightingale or Bob Proctor every day during my lunch break. EVERY DAY. The same audio repeated over and over. After months, I noticed some changes in my thinking. It worked—my mindset is finally getting on the right track. I am still doing this daily, it works like magic.
For the first 4 months, next to being a fresh rookie dad, I focused on consistency for the project. I started designing my own products. I began small, dedicating just 2 minutes a day to my project. Now, I spend at least 29 minutes daily. It may not seem like much, but it's the minimum, and I track my progress. On good days, I can work for 2 hours, on bad days, I never drop below 29 minutes. If I miss a day, I lose all my accumulated minutes, which I track in a chart. This keeps me disciplined.
Within those first months, I designed a product that solved a problem for someone, but it was difficult to scale and technically too complex. It was diffucult to stop the project, which I worked on for months. But two months ago, I decided to work on a new, more scalable, and simpler product. It's funny to know now that I made a fastlane decision without even knowing it at the time!
This week, I completed the design of my new product, which I now need to adapt for specific situations. The product, costing around €120, can be sold for around €200 (according to competitors). Production needs to be in batches of 100 to 200 units. My biggest problem is that the product needs to be adjusted to specific situations at each home. So, I plan to develop a standard version that fits general needs. For now, I am going to create 3 prototypes to gather feedback and make improvements. I already have the customers/suppliers, and the designs are almost ready for production.
My 14 years of experience gives me confidence in the technical design side. My weaker spots are… all the rest . I have no business experience, so I will do my best to step out of my comfort zone, act, and fail like my beautiful daughter does daily with a smile. She learns a lot this way.
On this forum, I hope to find a business coach. Let me know if you are or know someone who is a good fit for me. I look forward to connecting and meeting with new people, learning from other stories, and sharing my knowledge with those who need it.
I am currently reading the Fastlane book (30%) and working through the gold threads. I plan to read all of MJ's books. If my product doesn't succeed, I'll be better equipped for the next challenge. I have plenty of technical ideas, though I'm still learning to distinguish between good and bad business concepts.
For now, everything is going at a good pace, but I think I will need your support very soon. Wish you all the best!
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