Millions of visitors tell a telling story...

[MJ DeMarco]

If Stephen King was writing a book, would you expect a romance novel?​

Thanks to The Fastlane Forum, I've interacted with millions of aspiring entrepreneurs over the last 15 yrs. Yes, MILLIONS!

Here's what I learned: Most won't succeed as they go thru life with a cadre of poison pens—limiting beliefs and destructive premises that fund poor decisions and hence poor outcomes.

For example, if you hate your job but falsely believe "Starting a business is risky," you'll stay stuck in that job, choosing unknown risk over known pain.

If you carry these poison pens, they then become responsible for writing your story, page by page, day by day.

Arming yourself with these pens to write your story while expecting a different outcome is like picking up a Stephen King novel and expecting a romance over some diabolical horror show.

Here are the 8 most destructive poison pens that will turn your entrepreneurial endeavors into the same: a diabolical horror show with a predictable ending: The death of your entrepreneurial dreams.


#1) THE MARKET IS SATURATED
The market is NEVER saturated if you offer a better product and a better value. People who ask such questions aren't looking to create value, they're looking to chase money; which is why they ask about "saturation."

RETHINK: Think of the market like a raging river; it naturally gravitates toward value and value is the path of least resistance; the water doesn't care how fast or how much it is flowing; it simply goes where it needs to go.


#2) I DON'T HAVE TIME
Actually, you do have time, but starting a business isn't as important as Netflix, sleep, video games, TikTok, or the Yankees' 75th game of the season. Translation: My entertaining comfort is more important than my freedom.

RETHINK: There are 168 hours in a week and if you have a 40 hour workweek, there are 128 hours left for your dream. How can you make time by removing what truly isn't important your my life? Or, what adjustments can you make that will help me invest more time in my rat-race escape?


#3) I DON'T HAVE MONEY!
Money certainly helps but it isn't a requirement. Value is blind and doesn't ask you for a bank account balance. If you have skills, you can charge a premium price—money—for those skills. When people refuse to acquire skills, they refuse to acquire money.

RETHINK: What skills can you hone to increase your value? Where is your money going? What side-hustles can you start that will raise your value per hour worked?


#4) I DON'T HAVE SKILLS!
No one is born with skills, you must acquire them thru grit & focus. I wasn't born an entrepreneur or an author. I honed these skills over years through deliberate practice. Do you think Tom Brady was born with a football? Or Messi with a soccer ball? For me, financial freedom was more important to me than the latest Call of Duty release.

RETHINK: Again, what is your priority? Winning a damn video game? Or winning at life and living a dream? Put forth the same effort into your entertainment vices into learning and skill development. And then one day, you might win the real game—life.


#5) I DON'T HAVE ANY IDEAS!
Wow, it is so awesome you live in a perfect Utopia where there are no problems, no faulty products, no inconveniences, no poor customer service experiences; nope, life is just perfect!

What a joke! This poison pen reflects someone who has no clue, and no chance.

RETHINK: What irritates the F out of you? Solve it! Be better!


#6) I HAVE KIDS!
That's right. I forgot that in all of recorded human history, no one has ever started a business and succeeded when they had kids. This poison pen is medicating your cognitive dissonance for your inaction and makes you "feel good" about doing nothing.

RETHINK: It's because you HAVE kids is why you need to commit to a better outcome for them. Every minute you spend in a job you hate is a minute away from them. Remember, 168 hours are in a week.


#7) I CAN'T QUIT MY JOB!
That's OK. You don't need to quit your job because it can help you with skill development, ideation, funding, and network expansion. Your life isn't your job; your job is to set yourself free from the rat-race tyranny & the "work, buy and die" paradigm. Isn't that worth your time?

RETHINK: What needs to happen before I give myself the "green light" to quit my job? Personally, I recommend growing sales and a verified productocracy. I never advise quitting without some prior validation in the business arena.


#8) BUT, I AM [IDENTITY LABEL]!
BLANK represents a faulty identity issue. I have ADHD. I'm divorced. I'm a recovering alcoholic. I'm the wrong gender or race.

Again, value is generally color blind; if you have what I want, I won't care that you wet your bed as a kid. How much does it cost and when can I get it?

RETHINK: Think about the last few things you bought... did you ask the person who sold you those items about their grades? Did you ask them for their bank account balance, their sexual preferences, or their emotionally absent parents? Value is the ultimate non-discriminating entity!

CONCLUDE: When someone posts at my forum and I see these "poison pens," I know they are a lost cause; unless they swap their poison pen into a growth pen, a belief system capable of writing a new story.

What poison pens can you ditch so your life can take on a new story arc?

 

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[Vas87]

Printed these off and stuck to my wall as the 8 Commandments of Killing the Inner Bitch Voice.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Printed these off and stuck to my wall as the 8 Commandments of Killing the Inner Bitch Voice.

What struck me as I wrote it was that there are 168 hours in a week. If you work a 40 hour a week job, you still have 128 hours left, or 72.2% of your hours remaining.

 

[Frederik O. Pete]

#1) THE MARKET IS SATURATED
#2) I DON'T HAVE TIME
Thanks for the reminder.

"I never advise quitting without some prior validation in the business arena."
I read TMF and currently reading Unscripted and didn't catch this from the book or the forum.
I did quit my job before I got sales, I'm living off my savings which will last 2-3 month if I don't start making money...

But I will! Lex Deville got a guide showing how to make 2000/month with some niche product.
I tried to follow that guide roughly with my own idea, my cookbook, and it's not going exactly as I imagined...

But it's not holding me back! Every day I ask myself "What should my business look like to make money?" "What value does my customers need and how can I give and charge them for it?" and "How do I communicate this value properly to the right customers?"

And in case it does fail, I don't make any money - It's not a waste.
So far, I wrote cookbook (never did that before), I learned how to set up a website, Optimize SEO, run meta ads, create content in Canva, currently learning google ads, landing page optimization and homepage optimization - THESE ARE VALUEABLE SKILLS

So, let's say 2 months pass, my business is still not moving - Then I'll go back to Lex Post, follow it exactly step my step and try again.

If that fails, I'll try again.
And again.
And again...

Until I hit it.

Every time I try, I get better.

Now, back to work - I hope you're all doing and eating well <3

MJ, it's a veggie cookbook, all veganizeable ;P
Check it out if you want hehe

 

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[ZackerySprague]

What struck me as I wrote it was that there are 168 hours in a week. If you work a 40 hour a week job, you still have 128 hours left, or 72.2% of your hours remaining.

Well you should also account for commuting time to and from the job location that you are working. So if it takes you say 45 minutes to an hour going to and back home to the job site.

That's roughly 2 hours added on for a 5 day work week. That comes out to be 50 hours instead, plus your toll tag of probably ~$50 dollars?

So minus the 10 hours, you would have 118 hours each week, while trying to build something after 6:00pm. Don't forget your out $50 bucks a week or ~$200 dollars in tolls alone.

Back in 2019, I almost paid $20 bucks per day on parking alone in downtown Dallas.

 

[Frederik O. Pete]

Well you should also account for commuting time to and from the job location that you are working. So if it takes you say 45 minutes to an hour going to and back home to the job site.

That's roughly 2 hours added on for a 5 day work week. That comes out to be 50 hours instead, plus your toll tag of probably ~$50 dollars?

So minus the 10 hours, you would have 118 hours each week, while trying to build something after 6:00pm.

If I quantify it, I potentially wasted 26,208 hours. Lol oh my god.

How can you make more time to focus on your business?
Can you use the commute hours to learn something? Podcast?
If traveling by train or bus, can you watch an instructional video an learn something?
Can you post on your brands social media while commuting.

I don't know, it's your commute - But I think this is a more productive and constructive way to think

 

[ZackerySprague]

How can you make more time to focus on your business?
Can you use the commute hours to learn something? Podcast?
If traveling by train or bus, can you watch an instructional video an learn something?
Can you post on your brands social media while commuting.

I don't know, it's your commute - But I think this is a more productive and constructive way to think

1. Selling a service to clients more per hour, less in time. However, this would require me to do sales on or before 8 am and 5pm. With a 1 hour lunch, or on Hybrid Days say Monday & Friday. Contract is ending in April though, so I am on a 60 time limit.

2. Yes. Already do, however, I have stopped reading for now. I have done enough in the past few years and less action upon them. I now only buy books when confronted a problem (I don't buy them just for the sake of them anymore), most have been mindset = Valuing yourself knowing you are enough.

3. Yes I do this at work with Laracasts $15 dollars a month, learning how to code since most of my Fastlane idea's seem to be related to software. But looking to acquire soft validation first from them all. I have several:

A. Car Tuning Software for Cars.
B. Monitoring System for System Administrators for Patch Management (What a pain in the rear, problem found at work.)
C. Client Relationship Manager for Small Law Firms.
D. E-commerce related: Woman's Diaper handbag's, found a supplier. I haven't bought a sample. (Seemed very promising based on the feedback of the market place for Soft Validation).

4. I don't have any brands and as of late my posts haven't been very valuable to others. I stopped posting for now. My main brand that I have is LinkedIn helping other techs.

My commute isn't bad, it's just very long, but I'll do what I must to survive. It can be bad, but at times it's good as well. You get to see the Planes in the Sky with the evening sunset. Place some smooth music, and thus, it places you in a very peaceful mood thinking that this world is a big place. It's very beautiful.

 

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[Frederik O. Pete]

That's awesome man! At least something is happening and you're trying to get the best out of it

I know 9-5 can be a drag. I know the transportation time is part of the daily and weekly hours and I really, really know the feeling of being exhausted from a hard week of work.

I believe the fastlane mindset is less about arguing with MJ about how long the 9-5 workweek really is all things considered, and more about how we can optimize it for ourselves and our business.

We can also count the time we spend cleaning up at home, the time we use showering, getting dressed, going to the bathroom, doing dishes, laundry, cooking, brushing our teeth and it goes on and on and on - But...
Does that help us?

It's the hours we work on business that matter.
More exactly, it's the actions within those hours that improve our business and ourselves that really matter.

So how can we get more hours? Usually it's spending less time doing stuff that's not important, like watching TV - MJ writes it above.

And how can we get the most out of those hours.

I'm not a successful entrepreneur or anything yet, but I think I kinda get the mindset part of it. Still have a lot to learn!
Anyway, best of luck dude! Keep up the good stuff

 

[ZackerySprague]

Oh I wasn't arguing, more like adding to the numbers, lol.

With a little bit of salt of realism to it. We are all sheep in boxes commuting back and forth to jobs. Lol. Bumper to bumper traffic, screaming at the guy in front of us to go faster or why he can't drive. *exaggerated joke*. Doesn't actually happen.

 

[amp0193]

#6) I HAVE KIDS!

And I don’t want to hear from anyone without kids about how they #2 Don’t Have Time…

Well you should also account for commuting time to and from the job location that you are working. So if it takes you say 45 minutes to an hour going to and back home to the job site.

Commutes are not a given. You can change where you live.

I hate driving a car in traffic and when I had jobs, would always choose to move my house/apartment to be like 1/2 mile from my work. Gave me an hour of time back in my day, and no time road raging.

Or if one is fortunate enough to live in a civilized location that has nice trains, and you can work while you commute (or if not fortunate… it is also possible to move where you live to one of such places).

Or if you do have a commute, keep it 3-5 miles away and then bike to work, and then you get a workout while commuting, and then you don’t need to reserve as much time in your weekly schedule for the gym. (This is what I currently do these days)

 

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[ZackerySprague]

And I don’t want to hear from anyone without kids about how they #2 Don’t Have Time…


Commutes are not a given. You can change where you live.

I hate driving a car in traffic and when I had jobs, would always choose to move my house/apartment to be like 1/2 mile from my work. Gave me an hour of time back in my day, and no time road raging.

Or if one is fortunate enough to live in a civilized location that has nice trains, and you can work while you commute (or if not fortunate… it is also possible to move where you live to one of such places).

Or if you do have a commute, keep it 3-5 miles away and then bike to work, and then you get a workout while commuting, and then you don’t need to reserve as much time in your weekly schedule for the gym. (This is what I currently do these days)

Yes commutes are not a given, I chose to stay put because of how cheap my Unit was.

The plan was if I converted, I would move closer. I take back what I said. I have found some places around Plano that are about the same price.

I'll take this advice when looking for my next gig.

I like that last option. Maybe I can sell my car and save me almost $19k in interest.

 

[amp0193]

I like that last option. Maybe I can sell my car and save me almost $19k in interest.

I did that in my 20s when I was paying down debt and scratching together cash to get a business going. My wife and I went down to 1 car from 2 (10 years later, still just have 1 car). Car-related expenses are a lot when you’re commuting daily.

Needs to be factored into the equation along with rent.

 

[ZackerySprague]

I did that in my 20s when I was paying down debt and scratching together cash to get a business going. My wife and I went down to 1 car from 2 (10 years later, still just have 1 car). Car-related expenses are a lot when you’re commuting daily.

Needs to be factored into the equation along with rent.

Smart!

For my car expenses today, a little embarrassed, but here they are:
1. $436.03 for my car payment @ 17%
2. $350 for car insurance from GEICO. Uptick probably from two things. The car accident (2022) and how new my car is.
3. Gas. This car can fill up an entire tank under $20 to $25 dollars. I fill up maybe twice a week.

If I had my old car before the accident. It would have been paid off. I paid $136 in car payments and insurance alone. Was pretty cheap.

I should have bought a used Vehicle. Haven't had any repairs on both vehicles, the power trains on each held up. Grace the gods, I'm grateful for that.

I do have a bike in my storage closet outside. It needs repairs.

In two weeks, ill pay off one of the biggest loans that I took out 5 years ago. I'm so relieved.

 

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[MaxT]

Another amazing newsletter, thanks for sharing it. Many people here owe you a lot, just for the forum, the messages, it helped me a lot for my part. Thank you again, good luck to all

 

[TrevorLC]

My poison pen is a mix of #2 not enough time and #8 Identity issues.

I am thoroughly convinced I'm a lazy person. It's not that I think because I'm lazy ppl won't buy from me, but I think because I'm lazy I can never create the product/service in the first place.

Perhaps I'm not a lazy person, but I don't know how to stop acting like one.

My inner monologue on a near daily basis at some point is something like "I want to escape into netflix/video games/social media. No you should go work on your business or at least exercise or read or clean. Well haven't you earned some relaxation? Or does it really matter if you take one morning/afternoon/evening to relax? Can't you just be productive tomorrow or later this week?... who am I kidding that's all bs. You should go be productive right now. F*ck it, don't have it in me"

Does this being a chronic pattern just mean I don't actually want the fast lane badly enough? I feel like I do, but seems I'm acting like I don't.

 

[heavy_industry]

Perhaps I'm not a lazy person, but I don't know how to stop acting like one.

My inner monologue on a near daily basis at some point is something like "I want to escape into netflix/video games/social media. No you should go work on your business or at least exercise or read or clean. Well haven't you earned some relaxation? Or does it really matter if you take one morning/afternoon/evening to relax? Can't you just be productive tomorrow or later this week?... who am I kidding that's all bs. You should go be productive right now. F*ck it, don't have it in me"

Does this being a chronic pattern just mean I don't actually want the fast lane badly enough? I feel like I do, but seems I'm acting like I don't.

This happens because you view life through the broken lens of "work-life balance", which is a false dichotomy.

Stop viewing the bullshit entertainment as the good and well-deserved "relaxing activities" after your hard and unpleasant work.

The mission is WORKING HARD and achieving FREEDOM. Once you get fully committed, everything else loses its appeal:

• YouTube becomes an obstacle.
• Video games become a nightmare.
• Scrolling on your stupid phone becomes a torment.

If you ever want to have any shot at success, business needs to be the most exciting thing in your life. You need to become addicted to it.

---

Awesome post @MJ DeMarco

Gold standard, as always!

 

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[Panos Daras]

My poison pen is a mix of #2 not enough time and #8 Identity issues.

I am thoroughly convinced I'm a lazy person. It's not that I think because I'm lazy ppl won't buy from me, but I think because I'm lazy I can never create the product/service in the first place.

Perhaps I'm not a lazy person, but I don't know how to stop acting like one.

My inner monologue on a near daily basis at some point is something like "I want to escape into netflix/video games/social media. No you should go work on your business or at least exercise or read or clean. Well haven't you earned some relaxation? Or does it really matter if you take one morning/afternoon/evening to relax? Can't you just be productive tomorrow or later this week?... who am I kidding that's all bs. You should go be productive right now. F*ck it, don't have it in me"

Does this being a chronic pattern just mean I don't actually want the fast lane badly enough? I feel like I do, but seems I'm acting like I don't.

I find your post quite brave. Thank you for stepping out of your comfort zone and sharing your perspective. Most people here seem to have everything figured out.

What I would suggest, and what has worked for me, is to identify the reason why you label yourself as lazy. Is it backed by what you have done thus far?

Does this mean that you have NEVER achieved anything?

I truly find that hard to believe.

What I would suggest is to try changing your life in very small steps. Achieve small milestones and celebrate them.

Try to celebrate the small wins. For example, getting up earlier every day consistently. Work on your projects for 15 minutes per day. Go for a walk or do mild cardio for 10 minutes a day.

Try to do things consistently. Don't necessarily aim for "good", yet. Keep a good habit tracker for a month.

Once you have established constant iteration, you can progressively overload to something harder and harder and harder.

Hope that helps, report back with your progress.

 

[MTF]

What struck me as I wrote it was that there are 168 hours in a week. If you work a 40 hour a week job, you still have 128 hours left, or 72.2% of your hours remaining.

Sleep is non-negotiable so you have to subtract another 56 hours and now you're left with 72 hours. Then there's also commuting, eating, hygiene, exercise, etc. which are also non-negotiable so this number is probably closer to about 50 hours per week at most for even the most dedicated people.

 

[Panos Daras]

Sleep is non-negotiable so you have to subtract another 56 hours and now you're left with 72 hours. Then there's also commuting, eating, hygiene, exercise, etc. which are also non-negotiable so this number is probably closer to about 50 hours per week at most for even the most dedicated people.

Not even 50 hours. If you do not want to be a hermit and wish to be a functioning adult, we typically have around 22 free hours per week, excluding activities like Netflix or whatever else you may choose to do in your free time of fun.

As you can see from the table, some things that people never consider are that you can consistently cut down on time if you do meal prep, learn how to use a chef's knife properly and buy air-fryers or multicookers. By adopting these practices, you can gain an average of 5 extra hours (an estimate).

Remember health is priority #1. So do not reach for the app shortcut to buy garbage to put inside your body.

Additionally, when considering a new job, having the option to work from home is A MUST, as it can result in an average gain of another 7 hours.

Also remember that many people underestimate the amount of work they can accomplish with 10 hours a week of real, focused effort.

Here is the breakdown:

Activity	Hours per Week	Comments
Work	40	Standard full-time work hours.
Sleep	56	Assuming 8 hours of sleep per night.
Chores and Shopping:
- Daily chores (tidying, light cleaning)	7	Assuming 1 hour per day.
- Laundry (including folding)	1.75	15 minutes per day.
- Sweeping or vacuuming	1.75	15 minutes per day.
- Mopping floors	1	Typically done once a week.
- Cleaning bathrooms	1	Usually done once a week.
- Dusting	1	Usually done once a week.
- Changing bed linens	0.5	Usually done once a week.
- Supermarket visits	2	Can vary based on shopping habits.
Eating and Personal Care:
- Meal Preparation & Eating	14	Assuming 2 hours per day for cooking and eating.
- Cleanup after Meals	3.5	Assuming 30 minutes per day.
- Personal Hygiene (showering, teeth)	3.5	Assuming 30 minutes per day.
- Additional Personal Care (dressing)	3.5	Assuming 30 minutes per day.
Commuting and Transition Times	7	Average time for daily commuting and transitions.
Gym (including commute)	4	3 hours per week for gym plus 1 hour total commute time.
Total Committed Hours	146.5	Adjusted total hours spent on necessary activities.
Remaining for Side Projects	21.5	Adjusted time available for hobbies, side projects, etc.

-------------------------------
P.S: Hustle bros can piss off.

 

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[SSTrey]

What struck me as I wrote it was that there are 168 hours in a week. If you work a 40 hour a week job, you still have 128 hours left, or 72.2% of your hours remaining.

The 'amazing' ness for me is this: During my 8-5, colleagues are constantly complaining, envious & tired of this corporate race, often complaining about our big boss, etc etc.
When I quiz & dig deeper about them either following that idea, or reading that self help business book or scaling that hobby, they always say things like: "but I need to watch my show" OR "I love Netflix too much" OR "I don't have time or money" etc etc... It F*cking pisses me off>
I hate the victim mentality, the notion itself ticks me off. Why the hell complain if you willing to do nothing about it.

 

[SSTrey]

Well you should also account for commuting time to and from the job location that you are working. So if it takes you say 45 minutes to an hour going to and back home to the job site.

That's roughly 2 hours added on for a 5 day work week. That comes out to be 50 hours instead, plus your toll tag of probably ~$50 dollars?

So minus the 10 hours, you would have 118 hours each week, while trying to build something after 6:00pm. Don't forget your out $50 bucks a week or ~$200 dollars in tolls alone.

Back in 2019, I almost paid $20 bucks per day on parking alone in downtown Dallas.

I wake at 6:30am.
0.5hr podcast/YT learning on the commute. (I havent listened to the radio in 5yrs)
Work 8 to 5pm.
0.5hr podcast/YT learning on the commute. (I havent listened to the radio in 5yrs)
Gym 6 to 7pm. (podcasts and YT learning only)
9 to midnight I work on my Fastlane.
That's 4 x 3 hrs Mon to Thurs = 12hrs
Sunday I do 2 to 8pm = 6hrs
During the week I push work 8 to 4pm and steal an hour each day when most have left the office already = 4 x 1 hr = 4hrs

Total 22 hrs per week minimum to work on Fastlane. There really is no excuse.

 

[SSTrey]

Not even 50 hours. If you do not want to be a hermit and wish to be a functioning adult, we typically have around 22 free hours per week, excluding activities like Netflix or whatever else you may choose to do in your free time of fun.

As you can see from the table, some things that people never consider are that you can consistently cut down on time if you do meal prep, learn how to use a chef's knife properly and buy air-fryers or multicookers. By adopting these practices, you can gain an average of 5 extra hours (an estimate).

Remember health is priority #1. So do not reach for the app shortcut to buy garbage to put inside your body.

Additionally, when considering a new job, having the option to work from home is A MUST, as it can result in an average gain of another 7 hours.

Also remember that many people underestimate the amount of work they can accomplish with 10 hours a week of real, focused effort.

Here is the breakdown:

Activity	Hours per Week	Comments
Work	40	Standard full-time work hours.
Sleep	56	Assuming 8 hours of sleep per night.
Chores and Shopping:
- Daily chores (tidying, light cleaning)	7	Assuming 1 hour per day.
- Laundry (including folding)	1.75	15 minutes per day.
- Sweeping or vacuuming	1.75	15 minutes per day.
- Mopping floors	1	Typically done once a week.
- Cleaning bathrooms	1	Usually done once a week.
- Dusting	1	Usually done once a week.
- Changing bed linens	0.5	Usually done once a week.
- Supermarket visits	2	Can vary based on shopping habits.
Eating and Personal Care:
- Meal Preparation & Eating	14	Assuming 2 hours per day for cooking and eating.
- Cleanup after Meals	3.5	Assuming 30 minutes per day.
- Personal Hygiene (showering, teeth)	3.5	Assuming 30 minutes per day.
- Additional Personal Care (dressing)	3.5	Assuming 30 minutes per day.
Commuting and Transition Times	7	Average time for daily commuting and transitions.
Gym (including commute)	4	3 hours per week for gym plus 1 hour total commute time.
Total Committed Hours	146.5	Adjusted total hours spent on necessary activities.
Remaining for Side Projects	21.5	Adjusted time available for hobbies, side projects, etc.

-------------------------------
P.S: Hustle bros can piss off.

22 hrs is 100% on they money for me. Ive been consistent for a while now with these extra hours.

 

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[Xeon]

Well you should also account for commuting time to and from the job location that you are working. So if it takes you say 45 minutes to an hour going to and back home to the job site.

That's roughly 2 hours added on for a 5 day work week. That comes out to be 50 hours instead, plus your toll tag of probably ~$50 dollars?

Use your phone to continue working on your side-hustle while in the train/bus. Or get a tablet if it's more efficient. If you're driving, use the time waiting in the traffic to think about the side-hustle. Or if possible, sell the car so that you can outsource the driving to someone else and take public transport instead, so you can continue to work while someone drives the thing for you.

 

[Kevin88660]

If Stephen King was writing a book, would you expect a romance novel?​

Thanks to The Fastlane Forum, I've interacted with millions of aspiring entrepreneurs over the last 15 yrs. Yes, MILLIONS!

Here's what I learned: Most won't succeed as they go thru life with a cadre of poison pens—limiting beliefs and destructive premises that fund poor decisions and hence poor outcomes.

For example, if you hate your job but falsely believe "Starting a business is risky," you'll stay stuck in that job, choosing unknown risk over known pain.

If you carry these poison pens, they then become responsible for writing your story, page by page, day by day.

Arming yourself with these pens to write your story while expecting a different outcome is like picking up a Stephen King novel and expecting a romance over some diabolical horror show.

Here are the 8 most destructive poison pens that will turn your entrepreneurial endeavors into the same: a diabolical horror show with a predictable ending: The death of your entrepreneurial dreams.


#1) THE MARKET IS SATURATED
The market is NEVER saturated if you offer a better product and a better value. People who ask such questions aren't looking to create value, they're looking to chase money; which is why they ask about "saturation."

RETHINK: Think of the market like a raging river; it naturally gravitates toward value and value is the path of least resistance; the water doesn't care how fast or how much it is flowing; it simply goes where it needs to go.


#2) I DON'T HAVE TIME
Actually, you do have time, but starting a business isn't as important as Netflix, sleep, video games, TikTok, or the Yankees' 75th game of the season. Translation: My entertaining comfort is more important than my freedom.

RETHINK: There are 168 hours in a week and if you have a 40 hour workweek, there are 128 hours left for your dream. How can you make time by removing what truly isn't important your my life? Or, what adjustments can you make that will help me invest more time in my rat-race escape?


#3) I DON'T HAVE MONEY!
Money certainly helps but it isn't a requirement. Value is blind and doesn't ask you for a bank account balance. If you have skills, you can charge a premium price—money—for those skills. When people refuse to acquire skills, they refuse to acquire money.

RETHINK: What skills can you hone to increase your value? Where is your money going? What side-hustles can you start that will raise your value per hour worked?


#4) I DON'T HAVE SKILLS!
No one is born with skills, you must acquire them thru grit & focus. I wasn't born an entrepreneur or an author. I honed these skills over years through deliberate practice. Do you think Tom Brady was born with a football? Or Messi with a soccer ball? For me, financial freedom was more important to me than the latest Call of Duty release.

RETHINK: Again, what is your priority? Winning a damn video game? Or winning at life and living a dream? Put forth the same effort into your entertainment vices into learning and skill development. And then one day, you might win the real game—life.


#5) I DON'T HAVE ANY IDEAS!
Wow, it is so awesome you live in a perfect Utopia where there are no problems, no faulty products, no inconveniences, no poor customer service experiences; nope, life is just perfect!

What a joke! This poison pen reflects someone who has no clue, and no chance.

RETHINK: What irritates the F out of you? Solve it! Be better!


#6) I HAVE KIDS!
That's right. I forgot that in all of recorded human history, no one has ever started a business and succeeded when they had kids. This poison pen is medicating your cognitive dissonance for your inaction and makes you "feel good" about doing nothing.

RETHINK: It's because you HAVE kids is why you need to commit to a better outcome for them. Every minute you spend in a job you hate is a minute away from them. Remember, 168 hours are in a week.


#7) I CAN'T QUIT MY JOB!
That's OK. You don't need to quit your job because it can help you with skill development, ideation, funding, and network expansion. Your life isn't your job; your job is to set yourself free from the rat-race tyranny & the "work, buy and die" paradigm. Isn't that worth your time?

RETHINK: What needs to happen before I give myself the "green light" to quit my job? Personally, I recommend growing sales and a verified productocracy. I never advise quitting without some prior validation in the business arena.


#8) BUT, I AM [IDENTITY LABEL]!
BLANK represents a faulty identity issue. I have ADHD. I'm divorced. I'm a recovering alcoholic. I'm the wrong gender or race.

Again, value is generally color blind; if you have what I want, I won't care that you wet your bed as a kid. How much does it cost and when can I get it?

RETHINK: Think about the last few things you bought... did you ask the person who sold you those items about their grades? Did you ask them for their bank account balance, their sexual preferences, or their emotionally absent parents? Value is the ultimate non-discriminating entity!

CONCLUDE: When someone posts at my forum and I see these "poison pens," I know they are a lost cause; unless they swap their poison pen into a growth pen, a belief system capable of writing a new story.

What poison pens can you ditch so your life can take on a new story arc?

I think my attitude is yeah it’s not easy but if it is easy everyone would be making big money in businesses.

Just need to adopt of problem solving attitude towards having “insufficient xyz….”. The problems are real. You are not going to solve them in one day. But you have to get started

1) Market is saturated : not really a bad thing as proven demand attracts supply.

2) Dont have time: Squeeze time. Cut some events like a ruthless ceo doing massive layoff. Monitor roi in the mind. Combine two things into one. Listening to podcast while on the treadmill.

3) Dont have money: Make money and find business ideas that do not need a lot of money

4) No skills: Learn

5) no idea: You don’t need to be 100 percent original. Plenty of people in and outside this forum have results in saas and e-commerce. Slowlaners who have no idea what they want to do just wanna be doctors and lawyers because of the perceived “path” in effort and reward. You can copy the philosophy from slowlaners that if you don’t know what to do, zoom in into e-commerce or saas.

6) kids: in some way its time issue same as above

7) job: in some way its time issue.

8) But I am…. Taylor Swift sales surpassed Michael Jackson. Do you think she is more talented than Michael Jackson? Elon Musk scored 680 in verbal and 720 for Math in SAT. I am sure more than just a few in this forum did better than him as teenagers.

 

[Andy Black]

1. Selling a service to clients more per hour, less in time. However, this would require me to do sales on or before 8 am and 5pm. With a 1 hour lunch, or on Hybrid Days say Monday & Friday. Contract is ending in April though, so I am on a 60 time limit.

2. Yes. Already do, however, I have stopped reading for now. I have done enough in the past few years and less action upon them. I now only buy books when confronted a problem (I don't buy them just for the sake of them anymore), most have been mindset = Valuing yourself knowing you are enough.

3. Yes I do this at work with Laracasts $15 dollars a month, learning how to code since most of my Fastlane idea's seem to be related to software. But looking to acquire soft validation first from them all. I have several:

A. Car Tuning Software for Cars.
B. Monitoring System for System Administrators for Patch Management (What a pain in the rear, problem found at work.)
C. Client Relationship Manager for Small Law Firms.
D. E-commerce related: Woman's Diaper handbag's, found a supplier. I haven't bought a sample. (Seemed very promising based on the feedback of the market place for Soft Validation).

4. I don't have any brands and as of late my posts haven't been very valuable to others. I stopped posting for now. My main brand that I have is LinkedIn helping other techs.

My commute isn't bad, it's just very long, but I'll do what I must to survive. It can be bad, but at times it's good as well. You get to see the Planes in the Sky with the evening sunset. Place some smooth music, and thus, it places you in a very peaceful mood thinking that this world is a big place. It's very beautiful.

You might like this podcast on your commute. I travel quite often and like Noah.

Leveling Up with Eric Siu - Making A Million Bucks in 48 Hours? | Noah Kagan

Eric Siu interviews Noah Kagan, the founder of AppSumo, to explore essential entrepreneurial insights. They discuss the significance of having a clear vision, maintaining high standards, and finding joy in the entrepreneurial journey. Noah shares practical strategies for achieving business...

podcasts.google.com

 

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3) Dont have money: Make money and find business ideas that do not need a lot of money

Or just use other people’s money.

 

[John TenBrink]

What poison pens can you ditch so your life can take on a new story arc?​

What a "kick in the gut" article and wake-up call. Break the poison pens, bust out the #2 pencils, and start planning the life you've always wanted for yourself, your kids, ....your future.

THANK YOU MJ! Solid reasons WHY we are moved to pursue. No excuses.