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Hey everyone, I’m quite new to the forum, so I’ll start by introducing myself and somewhat sharing my story to explain where my head is currently at.
My name is Kristen and I am 28 years old.
My adult life has pretty much been directed towards the typical slow lane mindset that most of all fall prey to. The plan was always high school, college, possible grad school, and a lifelong career. Especially since neither of my parents went to college and ended up in jobs they hated, the college life path was fed to me as the opportunities that they never had.
I wish I could say I discovered a different outlook early on, but that wasn’t the case. Racked up $100k loans in an undergraduate degree and didn’t know what I wanted to do afterward. I found the field of school psychology after taking time off and decided to pursue my Master’s in it, which is where I’m at now. I love the value I am learning to provide to children who have learning disabilities or mental health conditions. Up until this past year, I was so happy with this path and felt super fortunate that I found a career I enjoyed, despite the costs. I still didn’t know anything else existed outside of the frame of college, career, hustling, and retirement.
Fast forward to this year and the months of quarantine. Most people hated this time frame, and rightfully so. However, despite the horrific circumstances, it was probably one of the most impactful and important times in my life. It because it forced me to slow down from my hectic life and acquire knowledge in other things that interested me.
Through a series of YouTube rabbit holes and amazing books, I found the possibilities within entrepreneurship and became obsessed. I turned to dropshipping as my first business model. Looking back at it now, this was an extremely selfish business avenue that I only went into because “ecom gurus” made it seem like it was a super simple way to make great money online. I quickly learned this was not the case, but the more I learned, researched, and improved, the more I wanted to continue to learn and get closer to success. I started putting more time towards growing an eccomerce store and learning marketing strategies than I did towards my coursework.
Although I did not achieve significant profitability, I definitely achieved small wins in not only that specific business model but in understanding the logistics of creating a business as well as improving my mindset. In addition to that, I have met so many amazing like-minded people that have really added value to my journey.
My shift in priorities started to become increasingly obvious. I went from putting 90% of my effort into coursework to maybe 30%. The remainder of my days outside of work were geared towards all things eccomerce and self-made business in general. I still managed to finish the semester with a perfect GPA, but I started to feel a significant dissonance between my current beliefs/attitudes of creating a profitable business & the life of a grad school student.
Now within the past month or so, I discovered MJ’s books through a Youtube video by James Jani (highly recommended and heavily based on the books) which changed any perspective I had towards wealth, financial freedom, and what it takes to be profitable within a self-made business, as well as deepening my passion for it.
While reading The Fastlane Millionaire specifically, I could not believe how incredibly true everything was, and how my whole life has felt like a trap. I have been listening to all these people telling me to live frugally, go to college & take out enormous loans, get a career, continue to live frugally, and hopefully retire when not one of them achieved wealth by following such courses.
It’s like everything suddenly clicked for me. I didn’t want my wealth to be time-bound. I didn’t want to depend on “working my way up” for years on end to possibly get loan forgiveness in 10 years. I didn’t want to have to always examine every dollar I spend with a magnifying glass. I DID want to create something that could truly make a difference. I did want to prove to myself and others that I wasn’t inadequate. I did want to continue towards that golden gumball of success no matter how many failures it took for me to get there. I could literally discuss this topic for days on end, but I’m assuming most of us have very similar feelings when first exposed to this new perspective.
Most importantly, I realized that
Not only that, but I am starting to feel a huge disconnect with the other students in my program since they are living in the slow lane bubble with minimal possibility of ever breaking free. While they are all discussing “relaxing & self-care” after this stressful semester, I am trying to build a skill with perceived value to increase my capital so I can invest in possible business ideas….and do as much as I can before the next semester starts. I know the entrepreneur life path is not for everyone, but it’s getting harder and harder for me to identify with their mindset.
I still have 1.5 years left of my school program, which is time that I cannot be putting 100% of my effort where I want it. I am constantly conflicted as to the best course in terms of sticking out my very costly commitment while doing what I can for my business ventures or letting that over $100k go to waste and jumping headfirst into the unknown. This situation presents quite a curveball for me because I’m passionate about this career’s services for children, but am also passionate about entrepreneurship, and am equally disgusted with the idea of trading time for money forever. My plan has become continuing on this path and using it as infiltration to problems in possible starving crowds, but the effects on my mindset are becoming more and more clear. Now, I can think of nothing worse than starting classes again in a month.
I am fully aware that this is something I have to work out on my own since I’m the only one that knows what’s right for me. I am just hoping by posting this, other’s with similar stories would be able to share their handlings in similar situations. I would love to hear from others who discovered MJ’s books while in college working towards a slow lane path. I am also hoping by typing this out, along with the matrix in The Fastlane Millionaire, I can gain a better understanding of where my head is at. If you have read this whole thing, I appreciate you and your time. Regardless, I'm excited to be a part of this community and learn with everyone here!
My name is Kristen and I am 28 years old.
My adult life has pretty much been directed towards the typical slow lane mindset that most of all fall prey to. The plan was always high school, college, possible grad school, and a lifelong career. Especially since neither of my parents went to college and ended up in jobs they hated, the college life path was fed to me as the opportunities that they never had.
I wish I could say I discovered a different outlook early on, but that wasn’t the case. Racked up $100k loans in an undergraduate degree and didn’t know what I wanted to do afterward. I found the field of school psychology after taking time off and decided to pursue my Master’s in it, which is where I’m at now. I love the value I am learning to provide to children who have learning disabilities or mental health conditions. Up until this past year, I was so happy with this path and felt super fortunate that I found a career I enjoyed, despite the costs. I still didn’t know anything else existed outside of the frame of college, career, hustling, and retirement.
Fast forward to this year and the months of quarantine. Most people hated this time frame, and rightfully so. However, despite the horrific circumstances, it was probably one of the most impactful and important times in my life. It because it forced me to slow down from my hectic life and acquire knowledge in other things that interested me.
Through a series of YouTube rabbit holes and amazing books, I found the possibilities within entrepreneurship and became obsessed. I turned to dropshipping as my first business model. Looking back at it now, this was an extremely selfish business avenue that I only went into because “ecom gurus” made it seem like it was a super simple way to make great money online. I quickly learned this was not the case, but the more I learned, researched, and improved, the more I wanted to continue to learn and get closer to success. I started putting more time towards growing an eccomerce store and learning marketing strategies than I did towards my coursework.
Although I did not achieve significant profitability, I definitely achieved small wins in not only that specific business model but in understanding the logistics of creating a business as well as improving my mindset. In addition to that, I have met so many amazing like-minded people that have really added value to my journey.
My shift in priorities started to become increasingly obvious. I went from putting 90% of my effort into coursework to maybe 30%. The remainder of my days outside of work were geared towards all things eccomerce and self-made business in general. I still managed to finish the semester with a perfect GPA, but I started to feel a significant dissonance between my current beliefs/attitudes of creating a profitable business & the life of a grad school student.
Now within the past month or so, I discovered MJ’s books through a Youtube video by James Jani (highly recommended and heavily based on the books) which changed any perspective I had towards wealth, financial freedom, and what it takes to be profitable within a self-made business, as well as deepening my passion for it.
While reading The Fastlane Millionaire specifically, I could not believe how incredibly true everything was, and how my whole life has felt like a trap. I have been listening to all these people telling me to live frugally, go to college & take out enormous loans, get a career, continue to live frugally, and hopefully retire when not one of them achieved wealth by following such courses.
It’s like everything suddenly clicked for me. I didn’t want my wealth to be time-bound. I didn’t want to depend on “working my way up” for years on end to possibly get loan forgiveness in 10 years. I didn’t want to have to always examine every dollar I spend with a magnifying glass. I DID want to create something that could truly make a difference. I did want to prove to myself and others that I wasn’t inadequate. I did want to continue towards that golden gumball of success no matter how many failures it took for me to get there. I could literally discuss this topic for days on end, but I’m assuming most of us have very similar feelings when first exposed to this new perspective.
Most importantly, I realized that
- When I was doing ecommerce, I only thought of it as a way to make additional passive income while working towards my career. Now, I was seeing a Fastlane business and solving a problem within the market as my lifelong outlook and working towards it my #1 priority.
- The cognitive dissonance and discrepancy between my beliefs and my projected life course became higher than ever.
Not only that, but I am starting to feel a huge disconnect with the other students in my program since they are living in the slow lane bubble with minimal possibility of ever breaking free. While they are all discussing “relaxing & self-care” after this stressful semester, I am trying to build a skill with perceived value to increase my capital so I can invest in possible business ideas….and do as much as I can before the next semester starts. I know the entrepreneur life path is not for everyone, but it’s getting harder and harder for me to identify with their mindset.
I still have 1.5 years left of my school program, which is time that I cannot be putting 100% of my effort where I want it. I am constantly conflicted as to the best course in terms of sticking out my very costly commitment while doing what I can for my business ventures or letting that over $100k go to waste and jumping headfirst into the unknown. This situation presents quite a curveball for me because I’m passionate about this career’s services for children, but am also passionate about entrepreneurship, and am equally disgusted with the idea of trading time for money forever. My plan has become continuing on this path and using it as infiltration to problems in possible starving crowds, but the effects on my mindset are becoming more and more clear. Now, I can think of nothing worse than starting classes again in a month.
I am fully aware that this is something I have to work out on my own since I’m the only one that knows what’s right for me. I am just hoping by posting this, other’s with similar stories would be able to share their handlings in similar situations. I would love to hear from others who discovered MJ’s books while in college working towards a slow lane path. I am also hoping by typing this out, along with the matrix in The Fastlane Millionaire, I can gain a better understanding of where my head is at. If you have read this whole thing, I appreciate you and your time. Regardless, I'm excited to be a part of this community and learn with everyone here!
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