Hey Everyone,
My name is Matt. I'm 27. I'm on page 283 of The Millionaire Fastlane.
My God, what a great book. This is the third time I've tried to read it and I'm finally making it. Unfortunately, I have made many, many of the mistakes MJ writes about. The silver lining to that is I can see how clear and true the principles he lays out in the book are.
A little about me and why I care about financial freedom; I grew up with a good but workaholic mom, a nice but emotionally absent father and a younger brother with a pretty severe mental illness. It was the emotional focal point of the family for nearly a decade of our childhood. Needless to say, things weren't always great in our household. We lived in a middle to upper-middle-class area, but behind the 'American Dream' home, family life was often cold, lonely or violent. I'm not saying it was the worst. There are plenty of people who have been through much more and I deeply respect that. But what going through that did was give me a strong sense that life was not always what it seesms to be. Everyone around me seemed to be in some kind of spell where they ignored a major part of reality to their own detriment and for those around them.
This was exemplified for me by my dad. He was stuck bouncing from sales job to sales job (which he was neither good at nor fond of). He would often carelessly huff out a "works sucks, I hate it." when asked about his day at the dinner table. This happened more often than not for several years. My father's words made me intuit at a deep level that I need to do what I loved or be doomed to a "life of quiet desperation.".
In addition to seeing my family struggle with the school and medical systems due to my brother's mental illness, these moments witnessed over and over made me want to live an extraordinary life, or at the very least escape traps I was seeing all around me in the "American Dream".
This attitude, ever since I left for college when I was 18, has led to a lot... A lot of good, a lot of bad, a lot of doubt, a lot of joy, and a lot of other things. I have had some amazing memories, and some horrible, agonizing defeats. But over the past couple years I have made strides in cleaning up my bad habits and have finally gotten a solid job that affords me ample time and decent money to focus on, and prepare the ground to launch my fastlane vehicle.
I'm still in the process of distilling my ideas in order to find the one that deserves my optimal commitment. But I'm zeroing in on it and I can now appreciate at my age, with a treasure trove of experience, how to execute. I know nothing is guaranteed but I am confident that I will be able to put my shoulder to the wheel and make my vehicle go once I discern on it.
One of my dreams has always been to be an author. Ever since I read Ken Follet's "Pillars of the Earth" when I was 12 I wanted to reproduce that magical feeling reading I got for other people. I sensed the magic in the craft of a great novel, the majesty of weaving a tapestry with words. Over the past nine years, I have given it a solid go. No doubt in some half-a$$ and flawed ways at times. At other times simply naively or with inadequate resources. Now I see I had fallen deeply into the trap of 'Love v. Passion". I did always intuit that problem as I walked through my own process of learning to write, and especially seeing those in the industry who had to balance the nasty tension of artistry and profit. Now I see it's a trap I've been stuck in for some time. However, no more, I'm climbing out.
So, one of my passions is to earn the lifestyle where I can write the novels (and screenplays) without being hooked to *needing* to sell them.
Another is to never, absolutely never, tell my kids I hate my work at the dinner table. Instead, I'll give them the infectious ability to be highly capable of pursuing their own dreams, and teach them to do that for others. That, I promise. That, I am fundamentally committed to.
As alluded to in the title, I'm battle-scarred. I've made a lot of mistakes. I've failed. I've been foolish. Sometimes very foolish. But I've also succeeded. I've got a gold mine of hints and nudges in the right direction. I know the joy and vigor that comes from bringing the spark of a dream that works into reality. I'm so looking forward to fanning that flame here with you all. And in doing so spread it with responsibility and efficacy to help those in need. So here's to meeting you good folks and making dreams a reality.
My best & cheers,
Matt
My name is Matt. I'm 27. I'm on page 283 of The Millionaire Fastlane.
My God, what a great book. This is the third time I've tried to read it and I'm finally making it. Unfortunately, I have made many, many of the mistakes MJ writes about. The silver lining to that is I can see how clear and true the principles he lays out in the book are.
A little about me and why I care about financial freedom; I grew up with a good but workaholic mom, a nice but emotionally absent father and a younger brother with a pretty severe mental illness. It was the emotional focal point of the family for nearly a decade of our childhood. Needless to say, things weren't always great in our household. We lived in a middle to upper-middle-class area, but behind the 'American Dream' home, family life was often cold, lonely or violent. I'm not saying it was the worst. There are plenty of people who have been through much more and I deeply respect that. But what going through that did was give me a strong sense that life was not always what it seesms to be. Everyone around me seemed to be in some kind of spell where they ignored a major part of reality to their own detriment and for those around them.
This was exemplified for me by my dad. He was stuck bouncing from sales job to sales job (which he was neither good at nor fond of). He would often carelessly huff out a "works sucks, I hate it." when asked about his day at the dinner table. This happened more often than not for several years. My father's words made me intuit at a deep level that I need to do what I loved or be doomed to a "life of quiet desperation.".
In addition to seeing my family struggle with the school and medical systems due to my brother's mental illness, these moments witnessed over and over made me want to live an extraordinary life, or at the very least escape traps I was seeing all around me in the "American Dream".
This attitude, ever since I left for college when I was 18, has led to a lot... A lot of good, a lot of bad, a lot of doubt, a lot of joy, and a lot of other things. I have had some amazing memories, and some horrible, agonizing defeats. But over the past couple years I have made strides in cleaning up my bad habits and have finally gotten a solid job that affords me ample time and decent money to focus on, and prepare the ground to launch my fastlane vehicle.
I'm still in the process of distilling my ideas in order to find the one that deserves my optimal commitment. But I'm zeroing in on it and I can now appreciate at my age, with a treasure trove of experience, how to execute. I know nothing is guaranteed but I am confident that I will be able to put my shoulder to the wheel and make my vehicle go once I discern on it.
One of my dreams has always been to be an author. Ever since I read Ken Follet's "Pillars of the Earth" when I was 12 I wanted to reproduce that magical feeling reading I got for other people. I sensed the magic in the craft of a great novel, the majesty of weaving a tapestry with words. Over the past nine years, I have given it a solid go. No doubt in some half-a$$ and flawed ways at times. At other times simply naively or with inadequate resources. Now I see I had fallen deeply into the trap of 'Love v. Passion". I did always intuit that problem as I walked through my own process of learning to write, and especially seeing those in the industry who had to balance the nasty tension of artistry and profit. Now I see it's a trap I've been stuck in for some time. However, no more, I'm climbing out.
So, one of my passions is to earn the lifestyle where I can write the novels (and screenplays) without being hooked to *needing* to sell them.
Another is to never, absolutely never, tell my kids I hate my work at the dinner table. Instead, I'll give them the infectious ability to be highly capable of pursuing their own dreams, and teach them to do that for others. That, I promise. That, I am fundamentally committed to.
As alluded to in the title, I'm battle-scarred. I've made a lot of mistakes. I've failed. I've been foolish. Sometimes very foolish. But I've also succeeded. I've got a gold mine of hints and nudges in the right direction. I know the joy and vigor that comes from bringing the spark of a dream that works into reality. I'm so looking forward to fanning that flame here with you all. And in doing so spread it with responsibility and efficacy to help those in need. So here's to meeting you good folks and making dreams a reality.
My best & cheers,
Matt
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