Go educate yourself (college/Uni)

[DreamLund]

Hi

This is something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately.

Why wouldn’t you go to college or university? If you have the possibility to do it?

This isn’t my fixed opinion but rather a questioning of my OWN belief that:
”going to college is a complete waste of time + the missed ”potential earning” of a job/ business.”

Here’s my current situation to give an example:

Age 21, $22k saved up, quit full-time job, no business registered and some scattered ideas that won’t get me far. Example: dropshipping a ”special” sleep mask in Sweden.

Instead of winging some random business ideas that have a minimal potential of being a specialized unit. Wouldn’t a degree set yourself up for life? In other words, make sure that you can go on forever and. not lose?

Of course I’m not talking about a kindergarden/Mozart History education.
But something of STEM/general.

Btw. University in Sweden is free and you can for sure avoid a student loan to cover living cost. Interest:0.59% (swedish university=american college)

This thread was inspired by @fastlane_dad and @NeoDialectic tips on how to set yourself up and achieve your dreams.

This next part is copied from fastlane_dads thread! (Link below for whole thread)

Work towards a degree / slowlane / high income skill

Everything is about chances and risk - and I wanted to make sure I am setup with a high earning skill no matter what. I was not delusional about starting a business that would be an instant success or bring me millions of dollars when I was 18 years old - so I enrolled in a university that was more or less guaranteed to pay me a middle/upper class earning wage for the rest of my life.

There is a lot of gurus and naysayers calling this a waste of time, or many other negative connotations associated with going to college. To me it was an enjoyable time, and an insurance policy that would feed me for the rest of my life. Your 'slowlane' beginnings also will provide you a future paycheck to experiment and try and fail at your other entrepreneurial or fastlane ventures. If you are struggling to put food on the table or cover your mortgage / rent - you will not have the privilege to devote yourself freely to think of and startup businesses - majority of which will be a drain on your wallet and time. This should not be the end goal for you, rather a stepping stone in guaranteeing consistent cash flow and employability.

The time to do this is when you are young! You will have time for it all - part time jobs, gf, side-hustle, partying and learning additional skills. I clamor for those days as I had little to no 'real' responsibility during that time (no wife, no house, no kids, no aging parents, etc). THIS is the time to invest all you can in yourself, and a high-income skill through college is a good first plan! Remember to choose your major carefully though!

Copied from:

GOLD! - MINDSET - Actionable Steps and Mindset from a Fastlane Millionaire!

OK this isn't a fully thought out post but just some random actionable mindset tidbits that sparked within me this AM reading through some threads on here. I aim to provide these inputs to help clear up some of the confusion you see and read about! As someone that has built up several companies...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

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[DXIAZZ]

I literally have thought the same thoughts as you. “College is waste” “why go if the outcome will be a job something I hate” but then I had the same realization. I’m young and it’s the perfect time to set my foundation. A foundational high income skill that I can fall back on.

I’ve worked countless of jobs and they’ve made me feel so miserable. The economy has gotten worse as the years have gone on. You can’t move out and survive alone in the US with a basic minimum wage. A high income skill is a must. Everything said in this post is very true. Reading Fastlane dad and Neodialectic’s story was very inspiring.

 

[MitchC]

I’m glad I don’t have college debt but I did spend a long time working terrible low paying jobs while setting my business up and I do definitely feel like I missed out on that experience and time in my life to meet people and have fun and try a bunch of things and learn a bunch of things

It would be so cool to go to a good university and be surrounded by young smart motivated people

I think another factor to consider is maturity and mindset. You need to be quite mature and confident to build a good business, this is something that generally comes with age, so why not study and have fun while you are young and still developing this maturity

 

[Oso]

Hi

This is something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately.

Why wouldn’t you go to college or university? If you have the possibility to do it?

This isn’t my fixed opinion but rather a questioning of my OWN belief that:
”going to college is a complete waste of time + the missed ”potential earning” of a job/ business.”

Here’s my current situation to give an example:

Age 21, $22k saved up, quit full-time job, no business registered and some scattered ideas that won’t get me far. Example: dropshipping a ”special” sleep mask in Sweden.

Instead of winging some random business ideas that have a minimal potential of being a specialized unit. Wouldn’t a degree set yourself up for life? In other words, make sure that you can go on forever and. not lose?

Of course I’m not talking about a kindergarden/Mozart History education.
But something of STEM/general.

Btw. University in Sweden is free and you can for sure avoid a student loan to cover living cost. Interest:0.59% (swedish university=american college)

This thread was inspired by @fastlane_dad and @NeoDialectic tips on how to set yourself up and achieve your dreams.

This next part is copied from fastlane_dads thread! (Link below for whole thread)

Work towards a degree / slowlane / high income skill

Everything is about chances and risk - and I wanted to make sure I am setup with a high earning skill no matter what. I was not delusional about starting a business that would be an instant success or bring me millions of dollars when I was 18 years old - so I enrolled in a university that was more or less guaranteed to pay me a middle/upper class earning wage for the rest of my life.

There is a lot of gurus and naysayers calling this a waste of time, or many other negative connotations associated with going to college. To me it was an enjoyable time, and an insurance policy that would feed me for the rest of my life. Your 'slowlane' beginnings also will provide you a future paycheck to experiment and try and fail at your other entrepreneurial or fastlane ventures. If you are struggling to put food on the table or cover your mortgage / rent - you will not have the privilege to devote yourself freely to think of and startup businesses - majority of which will be a drain on your wallet and time. This should not be the end goal for you, rather a stepping stone in guaranteeing consistent cash flow and employability.

The time to do this is when you are young! You will have time for it all - part time jobs, gf, side-hustle, partying and learning additional skills. I clamor for those days as I had little to no 'real' responsibility during that time (no wife, no house, no kids, no aging parents, etc). THIS is the time to invest all you can in yourself, and a high-income skill through college is a good first plan! Remember to choose your major carefully though!

Copied from:

GOLD! - MINDSET - Actionable Steps and Mindset from a Fastlane Millionaire!

OK this isn't a fully thought out post but just some random actionable mindset tidbits that sparked within me this AM reading through some threads on here. I aim to provide these inputs to help clear up some of the confusion you see and read about! As someone that has built up several companies...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

I can't speak for everyone around the world, but for most Americans it's seldom worth it, and/or it comes at a very steep price.
Most of us don't have 22k saved by 21, let alone 18.
Most of us don't get "free college."
Students can't legally drink until age 21, but at 18, they get taken advantage of by predatory student loan practices. Weird how student loan debt is the only debt that isn't wiped by bankruptcy (last I checked), isn't it? Oh and, most loan offices can (and will) go after your family should something happen to you while you owe money.
Most students exist to memorize bullshit test answers so the school gets funding. The vast majority of the time, their actual options beyond high school are seldom discussed in detail.

I never went to college and it is something I regret. I only skipped it because at no point in time did I have any sit down and say, "hey, what do you want to do when you grow up?" I had "guidance counselors," but their job was to make sure I was taking their curriculum seriously, not prep me for the future. No, seriously: my senior year of high school, the principle called me into her office and outright accused me of "not taking the SAT seriously."

Was she right? Of course. Because no one explained why I should care about it, and by the time I knew what it was for, my grades were so bad it didn't matter: community college was my only option. There are so many other variables, it's impossible to keep track of them all. For instance, as a millennial, no one in my family had gone to college. It wasn't until the Gen X (maybe, idfk this shit) generation popped out that my family finally got into college. I'm sure that played a role, too.

Regardless, I'm sincerely happy your situation seems exponentially better, and I wish you all the best. For the record, I do agree with your overall premise, though I personally feel it's far easier to have the opinion you do when the education is free.

Cheers.

 

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[Andy Black]

College/University is practically free here in Ireland. We'll encourage our kids to go when they get older, mostly for the experience and to pick up good specialised skills. Ideally they'll have their own revenue streams by then too.



Just be aware that higher education has a tendency to make people "overthink" as discussed here:

MINDSET - Start Faster. Stop "Learning".

If you're just getting started, haven't made a sale, or feel you're spinning your wheels then this 8 minute video should help. It's pulled out of a longer call (also linked below). Curious what your main takeaways are, and what you'll do different going forward. View...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

[kommen]

The biggest regret of my life was not taking a gap year and specifically choosing Information Technology as my degree.

In my opinion, I think it hinges on the degree. I honestly think an IT degree is quite useless especially because it's something you can learn A LOT more from the internet, and it doesn't cost much to buy the hardware needed to start taking action.

On the other hand, I do think that something like a medical degree or a civil engineering degree is VERY worth it because it allows you to independently solve problems that directly involve HUMAN SAFETY. (EDIT: or a skill that requires expensive equipment to start practicing/taking action) I understand that it's possible to skip this by designing it yourself and hiring a licensed person just to approve its safety, or selling the design to the licensed person instead to make his job easier. But I also feel you would sacrifice a bit of control that way.

I wish I could tell my younger self to be careful on what Google people tell you what's "the most needed skill". Especially in third-world countries, I've noticed that while programming is still needed here, it's not the most needed, because it's more difficult to think how can programming help your fellow neighbors, compared to another skill like urban planning. (Which you don't need college for!) Nobody realizes how dangerous our roads are and how painfully car-dependant third-world countries are, so bad that American cities are still an upgrade.

 

[DreamLund]

I can't speak for everyone around the world, but for most Americans it's seldom worth it, and/or it comes at a very steep price.
Most of us don't have 22k saved by 21, let alone 18.
Most of us don't get "free college."

Yes! Totally aware that it’s really different in USA.

I never went to college and it is something I regret. I only skipped it because at no point in time did I have any sit down and say, "hey, what do you want to do when you grow up?" I had "guidance counselors," but their job was to make sure I was taking their curriculum seriously, not prep me for the future. No, seriously: my senior year of high school, the principle called me into her office and outright accused me of "not taking the SAT seriously."

Was she right? Of course. Because no one explained why I should care about it, and by the time I knew what it was for, my grades were so bad it didn't matter: community college was my only option. There are so many other variables, it's impossible to keep track of them all. For instance, as a millennial, no one in my family had gone to college. It wasn't until the Gen X (maybe, idfk this shit) generation popped out that my family finally got into college. I'm sure that played a role, too.

Wow.
Thanks for telling me about your story

Regardless, I'm sincerely happy your situation seems exponentially better, and I wish you all the best. For the record, I do agree with your overall premise, though I personally feel it's far easier to have the opinion you do when the education is free.

Wasn’t really an opinion. But more of a questioning of my own previous belief inspired from the American way of looking at College

Cheers.

Thanks for the reply Oso. Much appreciated

 

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[DreamLund]

I’m glad I don’t have college debt but I did spend a long time working terrible low paying jobs while setting my business up and I do definitely feel like I missed out on that experience and time in my life to meet people and have fun and try a bunch of things and learn a bunch of things

I can really see myself living this story atm. I’ve been an Extra Teacher, Minimum wage Janitor, and a truck driver. The great this is: experience+savings added to my life

I think another factor to consider is maturity and mindset. You need to be quite mature and confident to build a good business, this is something that generally comes with age, so why not study and have fun while you are young and still developing this maturity

Great reply.
I’m trying to figure out what’s considered a good mindset and maturity and if its measurable haha.

 

[summon99]

The biggest regret of my life was not taking a gap year and specifically choosing Information Technology as my degree.

In my opinion, I think it hinges on the degree. I honestly think an IT degree is quite useless especially because it's something you can learn A LOT more from the internet, and it doesn't cost much to buy the hardware needed to start taking action.

On the other hand, I do think that something like a medical degree or a civil engineering degree is VERY worth it because it allows you to independently solve problems that directly involve HUMAN SAFETY. (EDIT: or a skill that requires expensive equipment to start practicing/taking action) I understand that it's possible to skip this by designing it yourself and hiring a licensed person just to approve its safety, or selling the design to the licensed person instead to make his job easier. But I also feel you would sacrifice a bit of control that way.

I wish I could tell my younger self to be careful on what Google people tell you what's "the most needed skill". Especially in third-world countries, I've noticed that while programming is still needed here, it's not the most needed, because it's more difficult to think how can programming help your fellow neighbors, compared to another skill like urban planning. (Which you don't need college for!) Nobody realizes how dangerous our roads are and how painfully car-dependant third-world countries are, so bad that American cities are still an upgrade.

Hey man im looking to go into the IT field to, do you recommend skipping college and going through the compTIA certs route or should i go to college either way?