I am 16 with nothing and Lost

[Zayan]

Realization
I turned 16 about three months ago. I recently hopped on self improvement and self isolation because I realized these people I used to hang out with have no real future other than a corporate job getting B*tched by their boss for a measly 5k paycheque monthly if they behave well. So I bought the first book in my life "the Millionare Fastlane" midway into the book I realized I never bought in on the slowlane BS. The idea of sacrificing your ur young for not even that good of a reward sounds terrible. After I retire I probably won’t even have enough for a supercar, i'll probably have to settle with something cheaper. Which means im compromising even after wasting 30 years on a job I hate.

Action
The first thing I did is applied in the Army Reserves so I can build up discipline at a young age and try to start an online clothing business which I still didn't finish due to my poor habits but I will get there, I also started researching career options. After listening to a few Andrew Huberman podcasts I really want something to do with psychology while making money. Im recording my change process and planning on uploading it on youtube but isn't there a million other self improvement journey youtubers already, how am I gonna make mine stand out?

Lost
-Im confused on what I really wanna do with my life when I graduate. Do I really want to go to university for psychology? Should I enlist in the army?
-Should I just go for a computer science degree?
-How can I be productive? I keep saying i'll change or do work but I end up doing only 1 productive thing and crashing
-Who do I go to for advice?
-how can I do good in school while trying to manage a business and working out?




Gratitude
I really want to thank MJ DeMarco for introducing me to the Fastlane, without it I probably would have wasted my youth

@MJ DeMarco

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[heavy_industry]

How can I be productive?

Productivity is wasting time by pretending to be busy.

Define a clear goal, develop a strategy for achieving it, then execute the plan and assess your progress toward reaching the goal.

Learn to focus. Learn to motivate yourself. Learn to stay disciplined.

Learn to be effective rather than "productive".

Who do I go to for advice?

www.thefastlaneforum.com

---

And never dare to say that you have nothing.

By being young, you have an incomprehensible amount of wealth. Any old billionaire would switch places with you at the drop of a hat. They would do anything and hand over all their money just to be able to be 16 and live their life over again.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[SnowLava]

I am 15, and here's my take-

-Im confused on what I really wanna do with my life when I graduate. Do I really want to go to university for psychology? Should I enlist in the army?

That's normal. Even I have confusion regarding my future. Try to do a WADM analysis (it was in some chapter of TMF ) of your options. Although, are you choosing psychology just because it looks cool? You mentioned liking Andrew Huberman podcast. But I am pretty sure you wont like doing the countless hours of boring work and research required to make each podcast. Have you considered the other options that you have that would help you to provide value to other people? stuff like robotics, computer science, engineering, etc.

How can I be productive? I keep saying i'll change or do work but I end up doing only 1 productive thing and crashing

I had the same problem as well. The unsexy answer is to persist. To try to be 1% better anyway. You will feel disappointed with yourself, and its ok. You deserve to feel that way. Everyday, try to be better. Try to do more. And you shall get out of your rut.

Who do I go to for advice?

This forum , perhaps? Feel free to DM if you want as we are of the same age and might help each other.

how can I do good in school while trying to manage a business and working out?

Learn how to study. Stuff like active recall, spaced repetition etc. Watch some videos on 'how to learn' on youtube. Or you can even take the free course learning how to learn. 'Make it stick' is a great book for it as well.

Your output = time doing work x leverage.

There's been decades of research on how to actually study. If you implement those techniques, you can get more output in less amount of time.

This is what I did. I studied how to study. Now I get top grades while I study 1/4th the time everyone else of my class does.

Regarding working out and managing a business, even I have to do something substantial. I have started working out again (20mins per day), and would gradually increase it. And the business part - first I want to have a side hustle to just generate some income as a student. It would help me to learn sales skills as well. So I have these daily goals that I try to hit. I make sure that those goals are inside my capability, just pushing me a bit outside my comfort zone, and then progressively overload the goals!


Ultimately, you do have the time. There are countless others here doing what you want to do. @Stoicmind is one of those - you can check his progress thread, would surely inspire you.

Start making yourself 1% better. Start recording your progress.

 

[Kevinn]

I am in my last year of high school. This is my advice to you as a teenager who also fell down the self improvement rabbit hole.

First of all don't cut off all your friends because they want a 9-5. 99% of people in high school are going to college or trade school of some sort. I would find people who have attributes that you want to have. One of my closest friends wants to go to a high end college and often skips hanging out in order to focus on school. He's stuck in the script! I should cut him off right? No! Although our goals aren't exactly the same, he's someone I'd want to be. He's hardworking, disciplined, and knows what to prioritize. I've found myself becoming more like him after spending time with him. You're gonna develop the habits of who ever you hang out with. Would you rather be like the college bound student with a 1500+ SAT, 4.0 GPA, in multiple extracurriculars, and is focused on their goals or the "entrepreneur/school sucks" stoner who smokes weed in the bathroom?

Honestly, I myself still am kind of unsure of what I want to do. I have somewhat of an idea of what I want to do but keep in mind you may find yourself on a completely different path. My brother went to college to become a lawyer. He worked part time at a car dealership and had the choice to become a salesman at the cost of dropping out of college. He took the risk and now makes 6 figures with slim to none college debt while under 21 years old. Not exactly Fastlane but pretty damn good for someone who isn't even allowed to drink. I'd say join a bunch of electives and clubs at your school and stick around for a while. Something will catch your eye. Whatever you do, make sure you work hard.

How productive is your current state? When I mean productive I mean taking action. Not watching self-improvement videos or reading books. When I was 16 I would consume a bunch of self help content and feel productive but I wasn't. Start off small. Do you do all your school work on time? If you don't, make it a goal to become a straight A student. "Why would I work hard in school? I want to escape the script not work for it! It's a waste of time!". What you do now is what you do everywhere. When push comes to shove and you need to work and work with no results you'll quit. You're a teenager who's brain is fried from Instagram and TikTok, not a machine. Start slow and add more as you go.

For "advice", I like to journal about what I did today and how can I improve. Its a daily habit for me and I do it right before I go to sleep. Gives you a bit of clarity and humility to see how you can improve. Also having your thoughts written down takes the burden of remembering everything off your mind.

Do you have a job? If not I'd recommend getting one. You'll learn budgeting, become harder working, and the most important thing, you'll start seeing money as time. Burger and fries costs $15? Nope. It costs 1 hour of my life.
That new car? It's not $40,000, its almost half a year of my life. A lot of people on this forum find problems while working their 9-5 jobs. It's not a bad thing.

What business are you managing? You're 16. You're goal is to go outside and experience the world and learn. If you're like me when I was 16 and expecting to start a million dollar business chances are its not gonna happen. Set yourself up for the future by learning and instilling good habits. Doesn't mean you can't start a small side hustle though. There are so many side hustles for you to do that can teach you skills and give you some extra cash. I've seen window tinting, tree and hedge trimming, buying broken lawnmowers on Facebook and fixing them up, and so much more just in my local area.

Chances are if you're posting on this forum you have more than a majority of the planet. And I guarantee you everyone in high school is "lost" as well. That's the point of high school. To find a direction. I'm gonna assume you have two years of high school left. Enjoy it, work hard when needed, be stupid and have fun, but don't be too stupid.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Devilery]

You have something that I'm confident many people on this forum would pay millions for - TIME. I don't mean to discourage, but imagine those in their 40s or later feeling the same, don't end up in that situation, take action TODAY!

If you dedicated yourself to ONE thing (assuming it's a solid choice, but don't overthink, you'll adjust on the way), your life could change in the span of a few months, and in a few years, you could be reborn and live life you don't even dare to dream yet, and you'll be just in your 20s.

I'm in my late 20s and even I wish I had taken action when I had my first entrepreneurial ambition rather than spend years "thinking".

Start offering a simple service in your community, master a remote skill, anything, and witness your life change.

 

[Zayan]

I am in my last year of high school. This is my advice to you as a teenager who also fell down the self improvement rabbit hole.

First of all don't cut off all your friends because they want a 9-5. 99% of people in high school are going to college or trade school of some sort. I would find people who have attributes that you want to have. One of my closest friends wants to go to a high end college and often skips hanging out in order to focus on school. He's stuck in the script! I should cut him off right? No! Although our goals aren't exactly the same, he's someone I'd want to be. He's hardworking, disciplined, and knows what to prioritize. I've found myself becoming more like him after spending time with him. You're gonna develop the habits of who ever you hang out with. Would you rather be like the college bound student with a 1500+ SAT, 4.0 GPA, in multiple extracurriculars, and is focused on their goals or the "entrepreneur/school sucks" stoner who smokes weed in the bathroom?

Honestly, I myself still am kind of unsure of what I want to do. I have somewhat of an idea of what I want to do but keep in mind you may find yourself on a completely different path. My brother went to college to become a lawyer. He worked part time at a car dealership and had the choice to become a salesman at the cost of dropping out of college. He took the risk and now makes 6 figures with slim to none college debt while under 21 years old. Not exactly Fastlane but pretty damn good for someone who isn't even allowed to drink. I'd say join a bunch of electives and clubs at your school and stick around for a while. Something will catch your eye. Whatever you do, make sure you work hard.

How productive is your current state? When I mean productive I mean taking action. Not watching self-improvement videos or reading books. When I was 16 I would consume a bunch of self help content and feel productive but I wasn't. Start off small. Do you do all your school work on time? If you don't, make it a goal to become a straight A student. "Why would I work hard in school? I want to escape the script not work for it! It's a waste of time!". What you do now is what you do everywhere. When push comes to shove and you need to work and work with no results you'll quit. You're a teenager who's brain is fried from Instagram and TikTok, not a machine. Start slow and add more as you go.

For "advice", I like to journal about what I did today and how can I improve. Its a daily habit for me and I do it right before I go to sleep. Gives you a bit of clarity and humility to see how you can improve. Also having your thoughts written down takes the burden of remembering everything off your mind.

Do you have a job? If not I'd recommend getting one. You'll learn budgeting, become harder working, and the most important thing, you'll start seeing money as time. Burger and fries costs $15? Nope. It costs 1 hour of my life.
That new car? It's not $40,000, its almost half a year of my life. A lot of people on this forum find problems while working their 9-5 jobs. It's not a bad thing.

What business are you managing? You're 16. You're goal is to go outside and experience the world and learn. If you're like me when I was 16 and expecting to start a million dollar business chances are its not gonna happen. Set yourself up for the future by learning and instilling good habits. Doesn't mean you can't start a small side hustle though. There are so many side hustles for you to do that can teach you skills and give you some extra cash. I've seen window tinting, tree and hedge trimming, buying broken lawnmowers on Facebook and fixing them up, and so much more just in my local area.

Chances are if you're posting on this forum you have more than a majority of the planet. And I guarantee you everyone in high school is "lost" as well. That's the point of high school. To find a direction. I'm gonna assume you have two years of high school left. Enjoy it, work hard when needed, be stupid and have fun, but don't be too stupid.

Productivity is wasting time by pretending to be busy.

Define a clear goal, develop a strategy for achieving it, then execute the plan and assess your progress toward reaching the goal.

Learn to focus. Learn to motivate yourself. Learn to stay disciplined.

Learn to be effective rather than "productive".


www.thefastlaneforum.com

---

And never dare to say that you have nothing.

By being young, you have an incomprehensible amount of wealth. Any old billionaire would switch places with you at the drop of a hat. They would do anything and hand over all their money just to be able to be 16 and live their life over again.

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks man, I guess my goal will now be to create a daily routine that includes waking up at 5am and dedicating 1 hour to Working out, Studies, Business research

 

[Zayan]

I am in my last year of high school. This is my advice to you as a teenager who also fell down the self improvement rabbit hole.

First of all don't cut off all your friends because they want a 9-5. 99% of people in high school are going to college or trade school of some sort. I would find people who have attributes that you want to have. One of my closest friends wants to go to a high end college and often skips hanging out in order to focus on school. He's stuck in the script! I should cut him off right? No! Although our goals aren't exactly the same, he's someone I'd want to be. He's hardworking, disciplined, and knows what to prioritize. I've found myself becoming more like him after spending time with him. You're gonna develop the habits of who ever you hang out with. Would you rather be like the college bound student with a 1500+ SAT, 4.0 GPA, in multiple extracurriculars, and is focused on their goals or the "entrepreneur/school sucks" stoner who smokes weed in the bathroom?

Honestly, I myself still am kind of unsure of what I want to do. I have somewhat of an idea of what I want to do but keep in mind you may find yourself on a completely different path. My brother went to college to become a lawyer. He worked part time at a car dealership and had the choice to become a salesman at the cost of dropping out of college. He took the risk and now makes 6 figures with slim to none college debt while under 21 years old. Not exactly Fastlane but pretty damn good for someone who isn't even allowed to drink. I'd say join a bunch of electives and clubs at your school and stick around for a while. Something will catch your eye. Whatever you do, make sure you work hard.

How productive is your current state? When I mean productive I mean taking action. Not watching self-improvement videos or reading books. When I was 16 I would consume a bunch of self help content and feel productive but I wasn't. Start off small. Do you do all your school work on time? If you don't, make it a goal to become a straight A student. "Why would I work hard in school? I want to escape the script not work for it! It's a waste of time!". What you do now is what you do everywhere. When push comes to shove and you need to work and work with no results you'll quit. You're a teenager who's brain is fried from Instagram and TikTok, not a machine. Start slow and add more as you go.

For "advice", I like to journal about what I did today and how can I improve. Its a daily habit for me and I do it right before I go to sleep. Gives you a bit of clarity and humility to see how you can improve. Also having your thoughts written down takes the burden of remembering everything off your mind.

Do you have a job? If not I'd recommend getting one. You'll learn budgeting, become harder working, and the most important thing, you'll start seeing money as time. Burger and fries costs $15? Nope. It costs 1 hour of my life.
That new car? It's not $40,000, its almost half a year of my life. A lot of people on this forum find problems while working their 9-5 jobs. It's not a bad thing.

What business are you managing? You're 16. You're goal is to go outside and experience the world and learn. If you're like me when I was 16 and expecting to start a million dollar business chances are its not gonna happen. Set yourself up for the future by learning and instilling good habits. Doesn't mean you can't start a small side hustle though. There are so many side hustles for you to do that can teach you skills and give you some extra cash. I've seen window tinting, tree and hedge trimming, buying broken lawnmowers on Facebook and fixing them up, and so much more just in my local area.

Chances are if you're posting on this forum you have more than a majority of the planet. And I guarantee you everyone in high school is "lost" as well. That's the point of high school. To find a direction. I'm gonna assume you have two years of high school left. Enjoy it, work hard when needed, be stupid and have fun, but don't be too stupid.

Thanks for the advice man, Id say my friends are more too problematic and would start arguments over politics that do not affect them at all so I just left the never ending cycle of fights and reuniting.

For job, I applied in the Army reserves since it will teach me discipline while also paying me. I want to learn skills like website building and sales so I can utilize the internet. I don't want a job yet because Im already shit at time management, getting a job will make my grades drop and take time away from me.

As for finding new friends I think this forum is life changing how I get to connect with so many intellectual people who know what they are talking about, so for now ill utilize this by networking with more people my age and contributing to the forum.

My question to you is, What are some things I should do or learn? Anything Specific you would reccomend?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Zayan]

You have something that I'm confident many people on this forum would pay millions for - TIME. I don't mean to discourage, but imagine those in their 40s or later feeling the same, don't end up in that situation, take action TODAY!

If you dedicated yourself to ONE thing (assuming it's a solid choice, but don't overthink, you'll adjust on the way), your life could change in the span of a few months, and in a few years, you could be reborn and live life you don't even dare to dream yet, and you'll be just in your 20s.

I'm in my late 20s and even I wish I had taken action when I had my first entrepreneurial ambition rather than spend years "thinking".

Start offering a simple service in your community, master a remote skill, anything, and witness your life change.

Haha thanks man, There are just so many options and gurus and self improvement youtubers do you have any specific remote skills you would recommend?

 

[Kevinn]

Thanks for the advice man, Id say my friends are more too problematic and would start arguments over politics that do not affect them at all so I just left the never ending cycle of fights and reuniting.

For job, I applied in the Army reserves since it will teach me discipline while also paying me. I want to learn skills like website building and sales so I can utilize the internet. I don't want a job yet because Im already shit at time management, getting a job will make my grades drop and take time away from me.

As for finding new friends I think this forum is life changing how I get to connect with so many intellectual people who know what they are talking about, so for now ill utilize this by networking with more people my age and contributing to the forum.

My question to you is, What are some things I should do or learn? Anything Specific you would reccomend?

You said it yourself. Time management.

Social skills will also help. Not sure how social you are but I was incredibly shy at that age.

 

[DustinSaucier]

Sounds like you’re taking your first steps in the right direction for your future. It also looks like quite a few people responded with some great advice. If I could add something, though, don’t feel so pressured to “have it all figured out.”

You’re still very young. Start putting the work in now and trust the process. Yes, be very careful who you spend time with and call friends, but don’t think for a second that you have to write off anyone who doesn’t want to be the next Elon Musk. @MJ DeMarco talks about networking in Unscripted . Just because someone isn’t fast-tracking to be the next Uber billionaire doesn’t mean you can’t learn something from them.

Learn to focus. Learn to motivate yourself. Learn to stay disciplined.

@heavy_industry said it as plain as can be. That’s part of the process.

Im confused on what I really wanna do with my life when I graduate. Do I really want to go to university for psychology? Should I enlist in the army?

Again, keep working on it. You don’t have to “figure it out today.” Now, my biggest advice pertaining specifically to enlisting in the army…

I’ve served a total of 9 years in the U.S. Army, 4 years active duty (with 2 Iraq tours) and 5 years as a national guardsman. This is NOT a decision to be taken lightly. While I wouldn’t give back my time in and I’m better for it, I will caution you to count the cost. It COULD be the best decision of your life or it COULD be the most miserable life-altering decision you ever make.

I don’t care if it’s the reserves or guard, everything in your life will come second place to the U.S. Army. They can plaster every sort of creative marketing and promise before you, but at the end of the day, you are the property of the United States government. Yes, you will be afforded all sorts of cool benefits. You will make lifetime friendships unrivaled to any I’ve ever found outside the military. But you will always answer to the government, and life will revolve around drills, training, formations, hurry-up-and-wait, deployments, uniforms, petty fragile-ego “leaders” who couldn’t otherwise cut it “out there,” and more. Again, I’m not saying it to discourage THAT decision, but only to ensure you understand what you’re considering. You’re welcome to message me if you have further questions on the army part.

Either way, man, put the work in, stay teachable, and trust the process.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Roli]

I recently hopped on self improvement and self isolation

First of all let me welcome you to the forum. It is good that you are on the self improvement train so early in your life but please do not isolate yourself.

No matter what anyone says, or how much they profess to be a "loner", we are social animals and we learn and grow by being around, and feeding off each other. Even annoying people are there to help us learn, and the more we socialise the more socially intelligent we become and that is a skill that you'll use throughout your life.

As far as routines and productivity are concerned, rather than think in that way, use this time in your life to find out what resonates with your personality. Maybe you are a whizz at maths, or you're creative in an artistic way, or you're good at sports. Whatever your interests are, look to broaden them and dedicate yourself to learning and improving in your particular area.

Also stay away from hash and weed, they are fun, but they also are great at robbing you of your ambition and there's plenty of time for that later on.

You mentioned isolation, as I said at the top this is not a good idea; instead seek out like-minded individuals. You will find that as you get into areas that interest you, you'll naturally connect with new people.

Once you have found an area or areas that interest you, now try and view the world through that lens and think about if they're any problems you might solve. The beauty about living in the 21st century, is that there are a plethora of ways to succeed. When I was born, the thought of a guy becoming a millionaire by playing with marbles was laughable, now there is a Swedish guy who has done just that, by building a Youtube channel around his obsession.

Next, use the resources around you. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking "school's a waste of time and I should be out there making money now". However, this is the only time in your life when you will have a bunch of resources that you can use for free, be it equipment or simply space, in the real world everything costs money, school allows you to try and test some projects for free.

Lastly, stay humble, it is easy to believe that you've been let in on a "great secret", but remember the fastlane is not for everyone. Some people (in fact probably most) are happy to settle into a career that pleases them and fulfills their needs and desires, this doesn't make them "suckers", "losers", or "stiffs", so don't look down on them.

I wish you the very best of luck, I remember being 16 and feeling like the world was there for the taking, it is, you just have to find your focus and keep it.

Happy New Year!

 

[Devilery]

Haha thanks man, There are just so many options and gurus and self improvement youtubers do you have any specific remote skills you would recommend?

It's tricky, there is no best skill, if you do anything better than most, it's a success. I started as a copywriter, then started building websites and funnels, then email automation, ads, etc. Now, I work with multiple long-term clients providing them with a mix of these services (e.g., for one, we're focused on building funnels, for the other, we're more focused on launching a new product and ads).

I'd say learn multiple skills - copywriting, web/funnel design, general marketing. That way, you learn everything you need to know to later start your business. I usually advise focusing on just one thing but copywriting is an absolute must-know, and learning how to use basic drag-and-drop builders like Divi, Shopify, and ClickFunnels is also very useful.

I would not learn anything too specific, so I can be flexible with what I do, e.g. I wouldn't learn a specific programming language. Instead, I chose to strategize, write, build, automate, advertise, and sell stuff. I'm not the best at any of these skills, but I believe being above good in 10 areas gives me more leverage when I'm building my own business - I can either do everything myself or at least have a good level of understanding.

 

[Jon822]

One thing every entrepreneur should strive to be exceptional at is copywriting. Unlike many other skills which are hit or miss depending on what type of business you start, any improvement you make in your skill at copywriting will benefit you. So I would suggest reading and practicing copywriting.

An entrepreneur that can't sell is like a lifeguard that can't swim -- you can have the inflatable tube, sunglasses, and tan but when someone in the water needs help, you're useless.

You should also give yourself some credit for pursuing such ventures at a young age. I wish I read more when I was younger and you're already doing it. This is a huge win for you!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.