My 58th month on the fastlane forum - o.k. I am not counting anymore...

[#nowhere]

-Please move this thread if I chose the wrong forum chapter-

Yes, you can trust your eyes - I have been on the fastlane forum for nearly 5 years now (since the beginning of 2016).

When I first came here I was 24 - and Jesus how naive I was - and in the last months of my Master's in mechanical engineering. I had gone through a serious break-up before in 2015 that pushed me to change, to read TMF .... And it changed my life.

Spoiler: I am not a millionaire yet.

So what did I do to support my fastlane journey:

-I tried to start a company that does services for the state - it did not work out due to me not being able to secure a loan to pay 5 specialists for 1 year.
-I tried to build websites. I sucked because I could not sell and building was far away from what I wanted and could concentrate on for longer than 2 hrs. I thought 'ok. website programming is very specific and so many can do it. To be able to sell will help you'
-I joined a small company ( I was the only worker besides the owner) to learn sales. I had options for shares which I did not activate. The owner and I split up after 4 months. Ok. Do not give up
-I joined a very specialized company for specialized industrial machines that were very hard to explain. So they needed someone with a master's in mechanical engineering. Good.
We broke up: I made sales like hell and they did not want to pay my bonus. Sorry, but go f*** yourself.
-I had the opportunity to have a very specialized job in a very specialized niche which was and is highly paid. I work there as a project manager with several engineers under my influence. I learn deligating on someone elses cost. Good.
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But all this brought did not bring me nearer to my goal. Not literally ... I learned a lot.

Here is the fastlane stuff I did (and do):

2016:
-Tried the aforementioned service company. No money - no workers.

2016/2017:
-Tried to program myself to a specialized skill. I suck at programming.

2017, 2018:
Tried to import and go into ecom. Trying sucks. Execution rocks. Or: Dont be a copycat. Do your own thing even if it's not major change.

2019:
-Tried to buy a multiple family home. In the end it was to expensive .
-I founded a company that holds a patent for a very specialized product. It shines more through amplitude than through qty. It's in the b2b sector. The company is still active and my main project atm. We have to part time workers.

2020:
Tried to buy a company with 2 MM in sales. Unfortunately it did not work out. I had to do sooooo much due diligence with banks etc. I now know a lot more.



Why did I not switch from J.O.B. to specialized skill?

I am a highly paid professional and I have pretty low self esteem. I do not lease cars, take fancy vacations or wear designer clothes. I am saving or investing every penny for my fastlane venture. It was just the easiest way for me to generate capital. Next year I want to reduce hours (it is possible where I live without consequences) from 40 to 30 to work more in my fastlane venture. I always though back to the words of Vigilante: "Double dip as long as you can." When I cite him wrong please correct me.

I have learned so much on my job w/o the need to put my own capital on the line. It's insane. And I get paid for it. I dont know but for me the job brought me further.

Also I found out that I function better when I do not have to wonder where the next rent comes from or where to get the $$ for food. My life is pretty normal except of me building my fastlane venture in the shadows.


What I feel

Now comes the hard part. ... I feel like a total failure. 5 friggin years. Others, especially on twitter and other social networks, do it in 1 year, with ecom. I dont know if I am on the right route or not. I will have to find out. I have worked on this for nearly 1,5 years now, with 0 sales. We are able to sell since 10 months. This means we were not able to get one customer in the last 10 months. Ok, ok, the world has been special since.

What I learned

At least I learned a lot. A lot about business itself, about banks, loans, loans for RE - but nothing about potential customers yet. I learned that reading books will not take you anywhere. It will only help you if you have a specific problem. If I could share one, only one book, it will be: The motivation myth. (In short: JUST DO IT!). There is no course, no software, no event no nothing that will help you. You have to start and start somewhere at least. The fastlane journey is muddy and nasty at the beginning. There are no yachts, cars, women or anything else. Just hard work. I cant tell if this will change. But at the moment it's all work. Sometimes I forget about the goal.


Yes, you are right. I am not the tipical "my first anniversary at the TMF -Forums" writeup. I did not write here for a long time because I did not want to do the daily ego boost by surfing the forum. I wanted to have to say something when I come back and so do I.

It has been a rollercoaster. Funny, instructive, stressful (one job and one company means no saturdays, no evenings, and oftentimes no sundays) and one hell of a ride!


But yes. I did not do it yet. Even if I already worked on it for nearly 5 years now. I think I will need a bit longer - HAHA!


@MJ DeMarco: Thank you, you already changed my life for the better or better: I was able to change my life for the better because of you. I learned soooo much. I did so much. I gained so much. Even if I were not able to secure the financial state I desire.


Cheers

#n

 

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