Moved across the country alone and living in a car. Update thread until stability

[oneac]

Moving out of sad, comfortable conformity into uncertainty in the name of your own happiness and success isn't a foreign concept to fans of MJ DeMarco.

Hell, this isn't even the first time that I did so.

But it is the first time I did so correctly. That is, I'm seeing this as a process and not an event.

I am not trying to get rich in 10 days, but instead in 3-4 years.

However long it takes, really.

I drove 30 hours from my home state New Jersey, to the extraterrestrial deserts of Utah. It's beautiful here. I feel an incredible mental clarity. Distractions have (still working on it though) been kicked out of the door.

Struggling and providing for myself feels like an adventure. I know that each action I take is taking me one step closer to my highest goals, one of them being the fastlane.

Quick rundown of my living situation:
- Was originally gonna save up $5k+ dollars by staying and working in NJ until December. Instead I decided that I'm tired of waiting to be happy and decide to go with about $1.5k

- I got here 3 or 4 days ago

- I live in inside of 2010 Honda Civic for now.

- The only goals that I'm focused on right now is getting into a nice little apartment. Entrepreneurship is on the back burner until my life is stable (learned this the hard way from my previous attempt at moving out)

- I shower, brush and exercise inside of Planet Fitnesses scattered throughout my area

- I got a job yesterday and today was my first day, feet hurt after a 10 hour shift but I worked those hours smiling knowing that this money is soon going towards my own apartment in a month or two from now

- I spend extra time in parks or libraries, I need to get better at getting my brain out of go mode. I'll get there soon

My successes so far:
- Made the drive without any problems
- Got a full time job fairly quickly
- Made sleeping in my small car bearable, getting better at sleeping every single night
- Have been getting better at understanding my own needs and emotions instead of just relying on logic
- Have kept my car well maintained, this is important as that's my biggest asset right now

I'm considering getting a part time job to save up money faster while I'm waiting for my apartment.

I have this ever present feeling to provide as much value as I can, even in the lackluster state that I'm in. I do this by giving fellow homeless people food from my stash when I can and by smiling and complimenting people as much as I can. I had the desire to try and make money independently (arbitrage, window washing, etc) but I don't know if its such as good idea of trying to fill someone's cup when mine isn't even full. What do you think about this?

Every Saturday I'll update this thread until I'm stable enough to divert attention away from surviving and towards entrepreneurship. Then I'll make a thread updating my entrepreneurial journey.

I don't think the updates are going to be that interesting. How interesting can working each week and saving up money be? But we'll see.

In two months from today or less I'll be in my own apartment.




The Chipotle and view I rewarded myself with after the 30+ hour drive

 

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

[oneac]

It's been one week since I last updated you.

Things have gotten so much better so fast.

For starters, I have a job now.

Thanks to a temp agency I was able to get hired onto a production plant literally the next day. Next paycheck I plan to send flowers to the lady who helped me get this job.

Work is pretty decent. 4 days, ten hours each. Insoles are a must as I'm on my feet most of the day.

Depending on where they send me, the labor is easy or difficult. My coworkers are cool and they invited me to go hiking in two hours but I had to decline because I wanted these three weekend days to be mine to reflect, go to mosque, and start making moves towards the fastlane.

I can sneak headphones into work and listen to audiobooks. This is a plus in my eyes, I've been listening to the Great Rat Race Escape and The Untethered Soul. Listening isn't as great as reading but I'll take whatever I can get.

I was actually going to get a second job to speed up the process of finding an apartment but...

I got an apartment! I'm no longer living in my car!

It's kind of hilarious how badly I misjudged the time it would take to move out of my car.

The story goes like this -- my past life as a car flipper has taught me to periodically hunt for deals on Facebook Marketplace. While looking for apartments for for rent, I came up with a strategy: look for Spanish apartment ads in white neighborhoods because the landlady would be more inclined to rent towards a fellow latino.

The ideal landlady was an older Spanish lady that lives alone or with elderly family members. (Not because I'm setting up a home invasion, but because I'm a light sleeper)

This, combined with my natural baby face and ability to sweet talk got me a pretty nice basement apartment for 900/M to a sweet landlady.

She's gifted me a slow cooker, some pans, and a rug which is great. I just finished making two meals and I gave her a container of food.


One of the two meals I made in the slow cooker... The chicken came out amazing...

I have a living room, a small kitchenette, a bedroom and a small bathroom. Oh and I can park my car in the garage.

Wifi and laundry isn't included unfortunately but all other utilities are. This is AMAZING, all I really have to do is go to a laundromat and work in a cafe/ library in my own time. Not big sacrifices at all. Not compared to living in a Honda Civic.

The way that I was able to get this apartment even though I burned through a lot of my money on the move here was by borrowing $1500 from a friend which I will repay in a month. I wonder what you would think about this decision -- I put myself into debt to move into an apartment and stabilize my life quicker and to not let this apartment slip me by. I have not doubt I can pay him back with my job (pays a decent 20/HR).

In two months from today or less I'll be in my own apartment.

This was a huge miscalculation LMAO.

Anyway, I will be continuing this thread even though I said previously that once my life is stable I'd stop.

The next step is to start developing a leverage-able skill. This will be coding and I take inspiration from @Tau Ceti

I'll see you next week

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Looks to be a nice place by the Rocky Mountains. Since living in the rust belt of the US for a couple decades, can't help but picture Utah as this:

LOL. Utah has many diverse climates and some of the most beautiful vistas in the world.

I have a living room, a small kitchenette, a bedroom and a small bathroom. Oh and I can park my car in the garage.

Wifi and laundry isn't included unfortunately but all other utilities are. This is AMAZING, all I really have to do is go to a laundromat and work in a cafe/ library in my own time. Not big sacrifices at all. Not compared to living in a Honda Civic.

The way that I was able to get this apartment even though I burned through a lot of my money on the move here was by borrowing $1500 from a friend which I will repay in a month. I wonder what you would think about this decision -- I put myself into debt to move into an apartment and stabilize my life quicker and to not let this apartment slip me by. I have not doubt I can pay him back with my job (pays a decent 20/HR).

What do you need at your new apartment?

We might have a surplus of items here that we can donate.

 

[oneac]

What was the reason for this drastic step? Why not wait until having enough money for an apartment?

I was unable to tolerate my unhappiness anymore and realized that if I really wanted this I’d make it work not matter what - apartment or no. I guess in a way it’s a bit of a challenge to see if the pain of living in a car is greater than the pain of living the mediocre life I had back home

 

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

[oneac]

It's been 6 days since I last updated you.

Some signs of struggle this week, many signs of forward movement. Adapting is the name of the game.

I look at the wall right in front of me and just think about how I'm fretting situations I know I can handle when I've already faced way more difficulty on the journey here alone.

Let me start with the good of this week -

I HAVE INTERNET
Understand how huge this is - I now work on my business in the morning hours before work and as soon as I come home as well.

Before I had to waste gas going to a cafe, set up my work environment, get comfortable, get distracted at the unpredictable noises of strangers, pack up, go home.

Now it's come home, eat, work at in an optimized, distraction free environment, go to sleep.

I pay 23 a month for 200mbps download. This is pretty decent I believe. Definitely fast enough for watching coding tutorials and borrowing books from the internet

THRIVING OFF GOODWILL

Pull up bar I got, max 7 pull ups

Thrifting has been an indispensable asset to me. Some game-changing items I've picked up were:

- Pull Up Bar
- Huge foldable table I now use as a desk
- Gallon water bottle
- A powerful Vacuum with hose
- 4 Large Plates, 4 Small Plates, 4 Bowls

Got all of that for under 30 bucks, cleaned them up and now they work perfectly

STABLE ROUTINE AND BUDGET
I have a stable morning routine and after work routine that helps me get work done.

WORKING ON MY FIRST SAAS
I'm learning certain skill sets I need to build a SaaS.

I'm a bit afraid to share the idea for fear that someone may steal it. I know this is a bit irrational considering that ideas aren't worth shit. I'm a bit torn because I'd like to be as transparent as possible, mainly because there are some obvious drawbacks to this idea which I wish I could discuss in detail with more knowledgeable users.

I truly think this one has potential. Why?

- I'm committed to the process and execution

- I have domain knowledge

- niche market

- The idea would have certainly helped me save time and make money

- I've talked to a person in the industry this idea is for (just one person, with my domain knowledge I know others want this too) and they said they would've killed for this (though, he hasn't paid. Then again I haven't built anything for him to pay for lmao)

- there are similar products with paying customers. I've infiltrated both of them. neither of the products have many buyers. I'd say because their marketing is horrible, there user experience isn't great, and their offer is also lacking. I have a vision to be better than them. An ingenious way to market directly to the target market, that would also be automated. Basically, I have many value skews in mind

- High entry barrier

The drawbacks?
The product is (1) reliant on a pre-existing platform (2) the product would be against the platforms terms of service...

The players in the market get around this by having lowkey communities where they sell the product.

This major drawback is conflicting because this is a product I'd want to make anyways.

Some of the unexpected bad news I got this week:
- The factory I work in is closing in 6 weeks because they're moving to Malaysia. They offered the workers who are in good standing 8 weeks of pay for 6 weeks of work so I guess that's a plus. I'm not too worried, I'm sure I can find another job fairly quickly once this one ends

- When I made my weekly budget, I assumed that I'd make at least $720 after tax... The government whooped my a$$ and I actually make like $620 a week.

I'm also not stressing about this because I used my inner savings rat to cut expenses and live like a miser starting this week. $50 less on food, $10 less on gas, $25 less on random expenses, $50 less on emergency savings for car troubles (not that there's anything wrong with my car)

It's doable though. For example, today I spent 40 bucks on food that will last me a week. To achieve the same goal, last week I spent 100 dollars

 

[MTF]

I absolutely love your spirit.

So many people your age would just keep procrastinating for years and waiting for perfect circumstances. Meanwhile, you moved across the country with almost nothing and are already building a new life for yourself.

Respect. I predict a huge Fastlane success for you.

 

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

[ZCP]

I'm learning certain skill sets I need to build a SaaS.

I'm a bit afraid to share the idea for fear that someone may steal it. I know this is a bit irrational considering that ideas aren't worth shit. I'm a bit torn because I'd like to be as transparent as possible, mainly because there are some obvious drawbacks to this idea which I wish I could discuss in detail with more knowledgeable users.

@MJ DeMarco could you charge my card for his INSIDERS subscription first year?

@Darwin Diaz let's gift you an INSIDERS and you can post there and get input / opinions.
also, dm me.

 

[Rabby]

@Rabby @MTF who do we know that can help this guy kickoff a saas biz?

Honestly, offer a service. Do something right away, get paid for it right away. You can possibly convert it to a SaaS or automated business later. But first things first, looking at the title of this thread, I would work on getting out of the car and into a house or apartment.

 

[oneac]

Hey guys!.... I say that with a tired enthusiasm.

This has been a good week. Not so productive on developing my software product since I took Monday off to recover from a lack of sleep (I do not regret this though, I hold health extremely high).

Nevertheless every single day, even if working on my product was the last thing that I wanted to do, I got something significant done.


Image of my project management system. I like to focus one thing at a time and be able to look back at what I've accomplished

Last week I said that I'd try to get the project done by Monday. That was a hilarious joke. There's still quite a bit of work to be done but I should definitely be finished before the end of November

The project
Why have I been hiding ideas like they matter?

I am working on a web scraping tool to scan the Chrome Extension store. This tool will gather all relevant info (user count, rating, etc) on all the extensions available and (1) display it on a filterable csv file and (2) find potential market gaps within the Chrome Extension store. This will help Chrome Extension developers find extensions that have a large user base, a paying user base, and would be "value-skewable"...


CSV of Chrome Extension Date. Doing experiments with how to efficiently scrape over 100k Chrome Extensions

I haven't done market research to see if anyone would find my product useful but I know I would so I'm building it

The way I see it, building this first software product teaches me many things. I'm learning/ am going to learn new Python libraries, becoming a more competent builder, how to manage a large (well, large for me) project, how to publish a software product online, how to attract a target audience (Chrome Extension Developers) and more

Really, my one goal for this project to for one person to say "This was valuable" and to add one email onto a list.

Besides that I'm kinda playing it by ear

My plan for more entrepreneurship time
As I've said a few post ago, the place I'm working at is shutting down and moving to Malaysia. So mid December I'll be out of a job.

Since I'll have the debt i mentioned before paid off by the time my job ends, my only real expense is going to be rent and living cost. This got me thinking:

Why don't I just work the bare minimum hours in a part-time job to cover my bills and use the extra time to focus on building and shipping products?

Instead of working for 40 hours a week, why don't I work for 20 and reduce expenses like a mfe?

The risk involved with this is that at no point in time will I have a large pool of savings (I have a bit of savings now but nothing crazy at all. Plus the pay incentive at my job for staying till the end will be there as well) to be there for me

The up side is that I would have more time to work on my software products.

What's your opinion on this?

Time
I've been super interested in the subject of time recently. I made this thread and got some good book recommendations.

Currently reading On the Shortness of Live by Seneca

I visited a graveyard and a certain grave hit me. It was a baby girl who survived just a month. She didn't even get a chance to live.

And here we are with the gift of life and we waste it on useless things.

Had that baby girl grown up to dream about her future, I promise you she wouldn't say "I want to play video games" "I want to work at a medical production factory" "I want to waste time watching YouTube videos"

I didn't say those things either. I wanted to be an astronaut. I wanted to be on par with Steve Jobs. I wanted to play flamenco guitar.

In this world financial freedom opens the doors to every other type of freedom because it grants you TIME.

Time to play guitar for 3 years. Time to read books about attachment styles and heal psychological trauma. Time to spend with your aging grandmother and ability to tell her "You don't have to work anymore"

This journey to freedom is the only one that matters.

 

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

[Lex DeVille]

I wonder what you would think about this decision -- I put myself into debt to move into an apartment and stabilize my life quicker and to not let this apartment slip me by. I have not doubt I can pay him back with my job (pays a decent 20/HR).

I would've done it in a heartbeat. Use debt to achieve goals. Debt means nothing once you have a profitable idea.

If you happen to be near Hill Air Force Base, or you're applying to Federal positions for stability at all, I might be able to help, at least with the resume aspect. I have good results with the Federal jobs system. I'm helping someone else apply to Hill AFB and SLC fed positions. I've recently received offers there. I might move out there next month. Will probably decide by Tuesday.

 

[oneac]

Rare late weekend update: I’m taking a short break from coding and walked over to my fridge.

I’ve been thinking recently : no matter what, we all (I hope) will have something to eat.

When I was living in my car I still managed to eat and not go hungry.

I’m grateful modern society has allowed this to happen.

How can I see myself as anything but wealthy when my fridge is stocked with food?

I know I’ll be okay for the coming week and that puts me at ease.

I know nothing of your past but after reading through this thread I gotta say you're a legend man.

I know personally I would be scared shitless if I was in your shoes right now, but you have the drive and faith in yourself to keep moving, even when shit gets very bad.

I hope to see you wildly successful someday.

Haha. Thank you man, I really appreciate it.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Wow, just got to read this thread. Awesome job Mr. Diaz on making decisions to move your life forward, in a manner which you deem. Your spirit and drive is incredible as you clearly are grateful for what you have, not what you do not.

Big things headed your way.

What city in Utah are you? I moved here 28 months ago.

 

[David Fitz]

I just took a gamble and moved from Ireland to Portugal now as I was so sick of my lifestyle.

Glad to see I'm not the only one doing shit like this haha

 

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

[ZCP]

@BigRomeDawg talk to this man about tent to apartment transition and it's aid to your mental state!

@Darwin Diaz offer to meet @MJ DeMarco for some vegan coffee. he's not far from you.
what is your next big obstacle? what connections do you need to get to the next step as quickly as possible?

 

[ZCP]

Got a smallish/ medium desk?

I think you rephrase this to 'I would be incredibly grateful for anything you might have! how could i contact you / pick them up?'. (It's a chance to meet MJ and inspire HIM!)

 

[oneac]

Yoooooo.

A lot happened this week I'm excited to let you know what's going on.

1. Finished my first project, complete success
I'm happy to announce that I've finished my first project, published it to the world and accomplished my goals

In this post I published a tool that I created for Chrome Developers to help them find profitable extensions to make. I've also published it on Reddit and a niche Discord. The feedback was great and that was actually one of the goals of this project

Project goals:
- Finish a project and upload it to the world
- Get any sort of feedback, good or bad

I've accomplished this and I'm quite proud of myself.

Now I've completely lost interest in working on this or on Chrome Extensions. The reason being that I want to focus on B2B software.

I see my next project as my first 'real' attempt at a business.

That is, I'm setting the goal to make money now.

Here are the goals for this next project:
- Find a niche and a problem worth solving ((worth solving=stressful enough for customers & competition not too tough))
- Build the project and publish it to the world
- Learn to market and market my product
- Work on this business for 6 months before moving onto the next one
- Continue this cycle until ramen profitability (more on this later)
- Once I hit ramen profitability, buy back my time and work on more ambitious projects

2. Moving onto learning how to find a problem and niche
The first step in this process will be to find problems and validate that they are worth solving. So I'm going to pour over resources that aid me in this process.

I've bought the below books:
- The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick
- Start Small, Stay Small by Rob Walling

I'm also reading countless blog post about finding problems in niche markets and taking notes on them.

3. Ramen profitability
One thing that I've found great joy in is reading software entrepreneur essays.

In this one by Paul Graham (for some reason the site says it's not secure, probably because it hasn't been updated since the dinosaurs were around) he goes over the concept of Ramen Profitability. I love this concept.

Ramen Profitability is when your business makes juuuust enough money for you to cover your living expenses, and therefore, buy back your time.

For a business to be Ramen Profitable to me I need a measly $1600 in monthly recurring revenue.

Monthly expenses
Rent: 900
Food: 400
Internet: 30
Phone: 70
Laundry: 60
Gas: 80
Random Expenses: 100

TOTAL: 1640 needed per month

Just 1640. 1640 to no longer have to be a slave for a business owner. 1640 to not have to wake up at times my chronotype is not supposed to. 1640 to be able to surround myself with like minded people anytime that I want. 1640 to no longer have to hear my manager bitch about small things. 1640 to not have to worry about my job moving to Malaysia and stressing about how I'm going to make money. 1640 to finally be able to explore this beautiful state, which I can't do because I'm in "survival mode". 1640 to be able to look at myself in the mirror and know that I'm my own master.

I love this concept, if you couldn't tell.

This is my wallpaper:



4. Upgraded my exercise routine
I'm doing more exercises in the morning now. After 3 week of consistently doing the bare minimum to build the habit of exercise, I'm going to start a more complicated routine. I'm really excited for this.


5. Living pay check to pay check and trying door dash
My job was kind and want to say "Happy Thanksgiving!" by not paying us for our day off...

I'm not going to lie, that stressed me out quite a bit because I'm essentially living pay check to pay check while I pay back my friend who lent me the $1500 to move in (Last payment is in two weeks!)

The $450 coming in next Thursday instead of the usual $620 puts me behind on somethings so I decided to do door dash.

I didn't just intend to do door dash, I wanted to do it as perfectly as possible so I was look up guides, writing notes, and literally analyzing those who would do "door dash with me" videos to see how they make so much money.

After driving for over 6 hours I made like 50 bucks. The issue is that people reserve the best times (lunch and dinner) wayyyy ahead of time which leaves me the scraps.

I am ashamed to say that, at one point, I got so hungry and stressed about not knowing where this money is going to come from that I ate someones order and said "F*ck this" and just decided to not continue doing door dash.

I felt and still feel a bit guilty. I've gotten over it because I'm implementing a lifestyle change (more on this below).

Anyway, I think I'll be fine with money, I'll just have to cut cost drastically this coming week which I believe I can do. It's just a bit annoying since I'm the type of guy to eat healthy. I don't know how healthy ramen, eggs, and peanut butter sandwiches are going to be...

6. Mindset change: no more having things that I don't earn
Stealing that poor bastards food made me reflect a lot since I consider myself a moral person and especially because things like that are looked down upon in my religion.

I've decided that the best course of action is to remove "owning things that I don't earn" from my personality.

For example, up until I've decided to make this change:
- I used to pirate books
- I had an unlimited audible account from this girl I used to talk to
- I'm apart of a paid self improvement community because I use my friends account
- I've taken toilet paper from work because I'm too broke to afford it

I don't think these things are very conducive to the entrepreneurship journey. I told myself I do them out of necessity, but really I can rely on myself for a lot of these things.

I've gotten rid of all my stolen books and paid for the two I mentioned above, plus I'm also reading Ender's Game which I bought as well.

I've gotten rid of the audible account (this was the most painful)

Now, I'm gradually going to improve. So somethings I'll have to compromise for now

I'm gonna keep using the toilet paper, I'm not walking around with an unwiped a$$ LMAO.

Until I can afford the community, I will continue to leach.

But you get the point.

7. Imagining my 'higher self'
A lot of reflection also went into the type of man I want to be.

- A wealthy one.
- A moral one.
- A healthy and attractive one.
- The type of dad his son respects and aspires to be like.
- The type of dad that sets his daughter's expectation of how men should act towards her insanely high.
- The type of dad that can spend all his time with his kids, who doesn't have to go to work and be away from them.
- The type of man who creates his own family after the rejection of his own.
- The type of man who can confidently reject the evils of this world (in my view/ my religion's view).
- The type of man who, when a cousin or family member is in the same position that I'm currently in, can house them and serve as inspiration to realize their highest selves.
- The type of man that old friend look at and can't believe this is how I turned out.

I think I'll start growing out my beard now...


8. Joined a group of healthy people
Lastly, I joined a cool group of healthy people. We meet up on Sundays, they're pretty cool.

I like being there because I'm the weakest in the room and so they all serve as inspiration to me.

 

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

[MTF]

1.5 YEARS TO RELEASE A PRODUCT.
I think I can do this in 6-8 months with my background and ability to put down work.
I'm a bit conflicted because software development is the clearest path for me to make money. It's what I know I can do well and I don't mind learning this journey even if it would've taken a whole year

Can you build it using no-code tools?

Not going to lie. I let this girl from back home distract me a lot. She's coming over mid January.

The last three days my productivity has been shit because I let the dopamine I get from talking with her over power my drive to get on the fastlane. This is unacceptable to me so I'm going to only let myself talk with her when my planned work tasks are done.

I'll let myself talk with her only as a reward.

I've been really beating myself up about this but I'm going to take a reasonable approach.

Man that's bullshit. Enjoy it and don't beat yourself up about one of the greatest joys of life. Doesn't matter if you're hustling or whatever. In the future you'll look back with fondness to the early days of infatuation. Don't ruin it thinking you're doing something bad.

 

[ZackerySprague]

Update Dec 29, 2023

Life is the same.
I spend time learning, I go to work, I exercise.
It's starting to weigh on me a bit.
I want a friend in real life but my mind always tells me that it's a waste of time.
I want to talk with women but my mind tells me it'll take away my focus.

It'll probably be like this for a couple years. If this is what it take then whatever.
On Christmas eve I climbed a mountain.
View attachment 53235

View attachment 53236

Nothing wrong with having friends or finding a life partner bro.

You can do all three. Business, friends, and finding a partner.

 

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

[oneac]

Darwin where are you man? We're all rooting for you here, please give us an update when you can.

Hey guys. Sorry I haven't been posting lately. My life is kinda the same lmao.

I'm just learning and learning and laying the foundation. My goal for the first quarter of 2024 is to finish the prerequisite technologies I need to learn and publish a personal project that I would use.

I've made a daily blog but I haven't hosted the site yet, I'll link it once it's on the web.

As for my progress, I'm almost finished with a major section of the skills I need (see below) I was actually working on the final project today.



Going on a walk now to reflect, but I'll try and update this thread in detail either today or tomorrow. Many good things have happened to me and I'm enjoying this journey so far.

 

[Tau Ceti]

It's been one week since I last updated you.

Things have gotten so much better so fast.

For starters, I have a job now.

Thanks to a temp agency I was able to get hired onto a production plant literally the next day. Next paycheck I plan to send flowers to the lady who helped me get this job.

Work is pretty decent. 4 days, ten hours each. Insoles are a must as I'm on my feet most of the day.

Depending on where they send me, the labor is easy or difficult. My coworkers are cool and they invited me to go hiking in two hours but I had to decline because I wanted these three weekend days to be mine to reflect, go to mosque, and start making moves towards the fastlane.

I can sneak headphones into work and listen to audiobooks. This is a plus in my eyes, I've been listening to the Great Rat Race Escape and The Untethered Soul. Listening isn't as great as reading but I'll take whatever I can get.

I was actually going to get a second job to speed up the process of finding an apartment but...

I got an apartment! I'm no longer living in my car!

It's kind of hilarious how badly I misjudged the time it would take to move out of my car.

The story goes like this -- my past life as a car flipper has taught me to periodically hunt for deals on Facebook Marketplace. While looking for apartments for for rent, I came up with a strategy: look for Spanish apartment ads in white neighborhoods because the landlady would be more inclined to rent towards a fellow latino.

The ideal landlady was an older Spanish lady that lives alone or with elderly family members. (Not because I'm setting up a home invasion, but because I'm a light sleeper)

This, combined with my natural baby face and ability to sweet talk got me a pretty nice basement apartment for 900/M to a sweet landlady.

She's gifted me a slow cooker, some pans, and a rug which is great. I just finished making two meals and I gave her a container of food.

View attachment 52109
One of the two meals I made in the slow cooker... The chicken came out amazing...

I have a living room, a small kitchenette, a bedroom and a small bathroom. Oh and I can park my car in the garage.

Wifi and laundry isn't included unfortunately but all other utilities are. This is AMAZING, all I really have to do is go to a laundromat and work in a cafe/ library in my own time. Not big sacrifices at all. Not compared to living in a Honda Civic.

The way that I was able to get this apartment even though I burned through a lot of my money on the move here was by borrowing $1500 from a friend which I will repay in a month. I wonder what you would think about this decision -- I put myself into debt to move into an apartment and stabilize my life quicker and to not let this apartment slip me by. I have not doubt I can pay him back with my job (pays a decent 20/HR).



This was a huge miscalculation LMAO.

Anyway, I will be continuing this thread even though I said previously that once my life is stable I'd stop.

The next step is to start developing a leverage-able skill. This will be coding and I take inspiration from @Tau Ceti

I'll see you next week

Thanks for the shout-out. Good luck with your future endeavors.

 

[Tau Ceti]

Thanks for your reply it means a lot. I’ve read your story and actually have a quote of yours on my wall. It’s was about how you learned to code by just coding products 12 hours a day.

Wow, I don't know what to say. I am humbled that you read my story and that you decided to apply some of what I wrote.

I hope you succeed. I'll be rooting for you.

 

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

[oneac]

@MJ DeMarco could you charge my card for his INSIDERS subscription first year?

@Darwin Diaz let's gift you an INSIDERS and you can post there and get input / opinions.
also, dm me.

Wow thank you. I'm really grateful even for the thought of this, thinking that successful entrepreneurs believe in me always kicks me out of limiting beliefs.

"If MJ and ZCP thinks that I can do this, then do I know any better than them?" Is what I often think

 

[oneac]

Hello all. Another week goes by and here's what I've been up to:

Working on a free SaaS product to provide value and build skills, I'm challenging myself to release it by the end of the weekend
- I originally had an idea for an overly complicated SaaS product that was, frankly speaking, beyond the scope of what I'm capable of. I'm talking this idea was unvalidated and would've probably taken me multiple years to finish (largely due to my inexperience with programming and releasing products).

It was like a beginner game developer tried to make GTA V. Ridiculous. Honestly it's quite funny to admit this because I think of myself as someone who doesn't fall into the trap of making unreasonable changes to their lives. So glad to have caught myself.

Anyway, I'm working on a product and website that will be free that serves the chrome developer scene. This product will help people who want to develop chrome extension find value skews in the chrome marketplace so that they would be able to fill it and profit.

The scope of this project is much simpler and I'm going to challenge myself to release it by the end of this weekend. This is slightly unrealistic. I'd say 30 percent doable and 70 percent not but I'm excited to finish

10 hour work days bleed by... I can't use my phone anymore but I use it as a chance to remain conscious
- I previously wrote that I was moved to a more quiet position in my job and this was great because I could listen to audiobooks and educational YT vids.

Strangely, I found that consuming content, even educational content, made working on my own thing boring in comparison. Two out of four work days I didn't work as hard as I could've when I came home

Anyway, they moved me to a new spot where wearing headphones would damage my hearing. I just use it as an opportunity to reflect and practice conscious breathing.

Experimenting with my mind, habits, and diet. thoughts on carnivore?
Something that keeps life interesting is all the experiments I run on myself.

I'm easing into a carnivore diet, eating keto for a few weeks and observing how I feel. Can't wait to make keto beef stew in the crockpot tomorrow...

Network Marketing. Amway. Lovely grandma. secretive son-in-law. who moved my cheese.
Basically there is this nice old lady at my job that I talk to. She's always offering to share food I previously assumed was from Costco or a warehouse store like that. I tell share that I'm on a entrepreneurial journey here and she tells me about her son-in-law and puts us into contact

This guy is part of a MLM selling Amway and he introduced me to his mentor. All the bells and whistles of an MLM, they don't tell you about the product, the mentors were a couple from the midwest, they recommended me to read who moved my cheese.

Waning discipline. May get rid of phone. Just need a realignment
I'm too caught up with the lives of my friends and ex-girlfriend from NJ. We talk like everyday and it feels like a bit of a drain to my purpose. I'd always rather talk to them than do anything else. They want me to move back. I was thinking of changing my phone number

 

[MJ DeMarco]

This guy is part of a MLM selling Amway

Beware, MLM zombies walk Utah like a cancer.

 

[Aidan04]

I know nothing of your past but after reading through this thread I gotta say you're a legend man.

I know personally I would be scared shitless if I was in your shoes right now, but you have the drive and faith in yourself to keep moving, even when shit gets very bad.

I hope to see you wildly successful someday.

 

[oneac]

Beautiful show in Utah today.

Grateful I’m no longer living in my car.

 

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

[oneac]

I absolutely love your spirit.

So many people your age would just keep procrastinating for years and waiting for perfect circumstances. Meanwhile, you moved across the country with almost nothing and are already building a new life for yourself.

Respect. I predict a huge Fastlane success for you.

Thank you man I seriously appreciate it. Your replies always help me.

I would've done it in a heartbeat. Use debt to achieve goals. Debt means nothing once you have a profitable idea.

If you happen to be near Hill Air Force Base, or you're applying to Federal positions for stability at all, I might be able to help, at least with the resume aspect. I have good results with the Federal jobs system. I'm helping someone else apply to Hill AFB and SLC fed positions. I've recently received offers there. I might move out there next month. Will probably decide by Tuesday.

It’s refreshing to hear that. I was afraid my decision would’ve been seen as parasitic debt but when you put it like that I’m a bit more relieved with my decision.

I’m about 35 mins from the Air Force base btw but I’ll just keep my job since it’s only four days a week and let’s me work on own stuff. My goal is to increase my income with online products.

Thanks for the shout-out. Good luck with your future endeavors.

Thanks for your reply it means a lot. I’ve read your story and actually have a quote of yours on my wall. It’s was about how you learned to code by just coding products 12 hours a day.

That’s inspiring because it puts into perspective how the effort I put in and the decision I make are directly correlated to my success

 

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

[oneac]

I think you rephrase this to 'I would be incredibly grateful for anything you might have! how could i contact you / pick them up?'. (It's a chance to meet MJ and inspire HIM!)

‍(face palm) you’re right. I could’ve worded that wayyyy better, thank you for bringing that to my attention.

I like how your brain works, even in something as simple as that response you see an opportunity to provide value

 

[Andy Black]

Hello all. Another week goes by and here's what I've been up to:

Working on a free SaaS product to provide value and build skills, I'm challenging myself to release it by the end of the weekend
- I originally had an idea for an overly complicated SaaS product that was, frankly speaking, beyond the scope of what I'm capable of. I'm talking this idea was unvalidated and would've probably taken me multiple years to finish (largely due to my inexperience with programming and releasing products).

It was like a beginner game developer tried to make GTA V. Ridiculous. Honestly it's quite funny to admit this because I think of myself as someone who doesn't fall into the trap of making unreasonable changes to their lives. So glad to have caught myself.

Anyway, I'm working on a product and website that will be free that serves the chrome developer scene. This product will help people who want to develop chrome extension find value skews in the chrome marketplace so that they would be able to fill it and profit.

The scope of this project is much simpler and I'm going to challenge myself to release it by the end of this weekend. This is slightly unrealistic. I'd say 30 percent doable and 70 percent not but I'm excited to finish

10 hour work days bleed by... I can't use my phone anymore but I use it as a chance to remain conscious
- I previously wrote that I was moved to a more quiet position in my job and this was great because I could listen to audiobooks and educational YT vids.

Strangely, I found that consuming content, even educational content, made working on my own thing boring in comparison. Two out of four work days I didn't work as hard as I could've when I came home

Anyway, they moved me to a new spot where wearing headphones would damage my hearing. I just use it as an opportunity to reflect and practice conscious breathing.

Experimenting with my mind, habits, and diet. thoughts on carnivore?
Something that keeps life interesting is all the experiments I run on myself.

I'm easing into a carnivore diet, eating keto for a few weeks and observing how I feel. Can't wait to make keto beef stew in the crockpot tomorrow...

Network Marketing. Amway. Lovely grandma. secretive son-in-law. who moved my cheese.
Basically there is this nice old lady at my job that I talk to. She's always offering to share food I previously assumed was from Costco or a warehouse store like that. I tell share that I'm on a entrepreneurial journey here and she tells me about her son-in-law and puts us into contact

This guy is part of a MLM selling Amway and he introduced me to his mentor. All the bells and whistles of an MLM, they don't tell you about the product, the mentors were a couple from the midwest, they recommended me to read who moved my cheese.

Waning discipline. May get rid of phone. Just need a realignment
I'm too caught up with the lives of my friends and ex-girlfriend from NJ. We talk like everyday and it feels like a bit of a drain to my purpose. I'd always rather talk to them than do anything else. They want me to move back. I was thinking of changing my phone number

I think we're often better off in silence with our thoughts than cramming in yet more content. Consumersim is a slippery slope.

 

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

[oneac]

any updates @Darwin Diaz

Thanks for the call out. Last week you're right I didn't make any updates because honestly there wasn't much to update on. This week is kinda the same but here the significant things that happened these last two weeks

Debt paid. Job Ended. Starting a new one today.
- My job at the medical production plant ended yesterday. Today I'm starting a job at a grocery store and this has a couple advantages:
(1) The job is only a 5 min drive from my house so I'll be saving time when it comes to commuting. This also saves me money on gas. Not saying I'll do this but I can basically sell my car and get a bike without any crazy repercussions. This option is open to me in an emergency situation.

(2) This job offers part time work. Since I have finished paying off the debt I owed to my friend I have to make less money per week. Since my weekly cost of living is lower now, I can comfortably say that I'm able to survive on part-time hours, giving me an extra ten hours or so per week to work on learning (more on this below)

(3) Groceries will come at a cheaper price because they give me an employee discount.

I'm going to have to learn for a while before I can start
I've grossly underestimated the time it will take me to get 'production ready' with my coding abilities. Here is a roadmap I'm going to have to take before I can release a product, this is from an expert in the Shopify App space:


1.5 YEARS TO RELEASE A PRODUCT.
I think I can do this in 6-8 months with my background and ability to put down work.
I'm a bit conflicted because software development is the clearest path for me to make money. It's what I know I can do well and I don't mind learning this journey even if it would've taken a whole year


But 6 months just to take a shot goes against a lot of the philosophy that @ZCP and @Andy Black would tell me.

My mindset has shifted to think this -- I don't have an idea, I'm building the skill needed to make ANY app idea work (because I'd be the one who'd have to develop the apps)

Curious to learn what more experienced fastlaners would say about this roadmap, I wonder if they would say it takes too long.

Right now I can support myself with a job so a fast win wouldn't mean the difference between life and starvation.

Struggling a bit with discipline. Changing up how I organize my day.
Not going to lie. I let this girl from back home distract me a lot. She's coming over mid January.

The last three days my productivity has been shit because I let the dopamine I get from talking with her over power my drive to get on the fastlane. This is unacceptable to me so I'm going to only let myself talk with her when my planned work tasks are done.

I'll let myself talk with her only as a reward.

I've been really beating myself up about this but I'm going to take a reasonable approach.

Life moving forward.
Updates to this thread might be sparse because as you can see, I won't be doing much except learning and working. I'll update if anything new or exciting happens.

 

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