Hello everyone,
I'm new around here, so I'd like to introduce myself. Sorry if it's a bit long, but hopefully some of you will read it, it is my life story after all
My name is Chris. I'm 22 years old, and I'm a poster boy for the slowlane lifestyle.
From a young age, success in school was the top priority in my life. I studied hard and took every advanced class, many of which I didn't give a crap about, all in the name of boosting my GPA. I graduated valedictorian of my class and went on to study software engineering at a well known university.
My real passion was personal finance and investing. In my free time, I learned as much as I could about the stock market, compound interest, and how I could become a millionaire by living frugally and investing in low-cost index funds. I ate it up like Joey Chestnut at a hot dog contest! I opened an IRA as soon as I turned 18, and I've been contributing to it for the past 4 years.
As I entered my college years, I knew the next step in my financial journey was to land a high-paying job so I could shovel more money into my investment accounts. I got great grades, spent the summers interning with great companies, I built my resume, and worked on my technical interview skills. I did everything right. Leading into the last summer of my college career, all my hard ward was rewarded with an internship at a FAANG Tech company. It was my dream come true!
I completed the internship, graduated in the top 0.5% of my class, and accepted a full time offer with the same company, paying well over six figures a year. This was the vision I had for my life since I was 18 years old. Now, I've moved across the country and live alone in a tiny studio apartment in Seattle where I save over 50% of my income so that I can retire in 20 years instead of 40. A dream come true if you asked my 18-year-old self. I've been living this life for a few months now, and I can tell you IT'S FREAKING BORING! I never do anything fun, exciting, or meaningful. And during the COVID shutdowns, I barely leave my apartment.
What do I dream about now? I dream about quitting my job. I dream about moving home to be with my friends and family again. I want to become a better athlete, to start lifting weights again, to take a yoga class, to become a cross country coach. I want to learn to make great food, and to share it with great people. I want to be able to go anywhere and do anything without thinking about the cost, or the amount of hours it's going to take to pay for it.
I don't remember exactly what lead me to pick up The Millionaire Fastlane , but I do know that it has opened my eyes to the fact that I'm living in the slowlane while all the financial role models I had been looking up to are making millions in their own fastlane businesses. It was a frustrating revelation, because I've dedicated so much of my adult life to the slowlane and I've seen it work for me. I'm a stand-out success by normal standards, but I still feel like I'm living a lie. For example, I love to run. If money was no concern, I could spend my whole day training to be a better runner. In college, there were days when I would go out for a run twice a day plus spend time training in the gym, spend time stretching and recovering, spend time preparing healthy meals, and get ten or eleven hours of much-needed sleep each night. My financial independence dreams were fueled by this vision. But if I'm honest with myself, I realize that I'll be a shell of my former self in 20 years. These days, I never go to the gym. I still run, but after a long day of sitting at a desk, I feel stiff and I have no energy. Long story short, I have come to understand that I need to enter the fastlane if I want to live my dreams while I am still young.
So I got to work. I decided to start building a website for aspiring software engineers to pick up side projects they could build and add to their resumes. I also started reading UNSCRIPTED , to get some additional inspiration and advice. I am currently working through part 4 of the book, which is what prompted me to join this forum. For those of you who have read the book, MJ starts by outlining TUNEF - the unscripted entrepreneurial framework. The foundation of the framework is an FTE - a "F*ck this event." I stopped reading to reflect on this, and I realized that I definitely haven't had an FTE. I have a good job. I get along with my team and my manager. I'm nowhere near fed up to the point of anything as drastic as quitting my job, but I have acknowledged that my dream is impossible on my current path (what's the point of being a millionaire if I'm too old and my body has deteriorated from 20+ years sitting in a desk chair?)
So this is my story. I'm a successful slowlaner who is on the verge of letting his dreams slip away, and I've come to the fastlaneforum for advice. I think we hear a lot about these entrepreneurs who make it big from a background of flipping hamburgers or cleaning toilets. Everyone likes these underdog stories, and they spread over the media like wildfire. I'd like to know whether this FTE is actually a prerequisite to fastlane success (if MJ says so, I think it must be), and if so, how can I convert my fastlake interest into unwavering commitment? If you have any experience, success or failure, coming from a similar background, I'd love to hear from you!
If you made it this far, thanks for taking the time. I know it's a most valuable resource. I look forward to reading your replies.
Have an awesome day,
- Chris
I'm new around here, so I'd like to introduce myself. Sorry if it's a bit long, but hopefully some of you will read it, it is my life story after all
My name is Chris. I'm 22 years old, and I'm a poster boy for the slowlane lifestyle.
From a young age, success in school was the top priority in my life. I studied hard and took every advanced class, many of which I didn't give a crap about, all in the name of boosting my GPA. I graduated valedictorian of my class and went on to study software engineering at a well known university.
My real passion was personal finance and investing. In my free time, I learned as much as I could about the stock market, compound interest, and how I could become a millionaire by living frugally and investing in low-cost index funds. I ate it up like Joey Chestnut at a hot dog contest! I opened an IRA as soon as I turned 18, and I've been contributing to it for the past 4 years.
As I entered my college years, I knew the next step in my financial journey was to land a high-paying job so I could shovel more money into my investment accounts. I got great grades, spent the summers interning with great companies, I built my resume, and worked on my technical interview skills. I did everything right. Leading into the last summer of my college career, all my hard ward was rewarded with an internship at a FAANG Tech company. It was my dream come true!
I completed the internship, graduated in the top 0.5% of my class, and accepted a full time offer with the same company, paying well over six figures a year. This was the vision I had for my life since I was 18 years old. Now, I've moved across the country and live alone in a tiny studio apartment in Seattle where I save over 50% of my income so that I can retire in 20 years instead of 40. A dream come true if you asked my 18-year-old self. I've been living this life for a few months now, and I can tell you IT'S FREAKING BORING! I never do anything fun, exciting, or meaningful. And during the COVID shutdowns, I barely leave my apartment.
What do I dream about now? I dream about quitting my job. I dream about moving home to be with my friends and family again. I want to become a better athlete, to start lifting weights again, to take a yoga class, to become a cross country coach. I want to learn to make great food, and to share it with great people. I want to be able to go anywhere and do anything without thinking about the cost, or the amount of hours it's going to take to pay for it.
I don't remember exactly what lead me to pick up The Millionaire Fastlane , but I do know that it has opened my eyes to the fact that I'm living in the slowlane while all the financial role models I had been looking up to are making millions in their own fastlane businesses. It was a frustrating revelation, because I've dedicated so much of my adult life to the slowlane and I've seen it work for me. I'm a stand-out success by normal standards, but I still feel like I'm living a lie. For example, I love to run. If money was no concern, I could spend my whole day training to be a better runner. In college, there were days when I would go out for a run twice a day plus spend time training in the gym, spend time stretching and recovering, spend time preparing healthy meals, and get ten or eleven hours of much-needed sleep each night. My financial independence dreams were fueled by this vision. But if I'm honest with myself, I realize that I'll be a shell of my former self in 20 years. These days, I never go to the gym. I still run, but after a long day of sitting at a desk, I feel stiff and I have no energy. Long story short, I have come to understand that I need to enter the fastlane if I want to live my dreams while I am still young.
So I got to work. I decided to start building a website for aspiring software engineers to pick up side projects they could build and add to their resumes. I also started reading UNSCRIPTED , to get some additional inspiration and advice. I am currently working through part 4 of the book, which is what prompted me to join this forum. For those of you who have read the book, MJ starts by outlining TUNEF - the unscripted entrepreneurial framework. The foundation of the framework is an FTE - a "F*ck this event." I stopped reading to reflect on this, and I realized that I definitely haven't had an FTE. I have a good job. I get along with my team and my manager. I'm nowhere near fed up to the point of anything as drastic as quitting my job, but I have acknowledged that my dream is impossible on my current path (what's the point of being a millionaire if I'm too old and my body has deteriorated from 20+ years sitting in a desk chair?)
So this is my story. I'm a successful slowlaner who is on the verge of letting his dreams slip away, and I've come to the fastlaneforum for advice. I think we hear a lot about these entrepreneurs who make it big from a background of flipping hamburgers or cleaning toilets. Everyone likes these underdog stories, and they spread over the media like wildfire. I'd like to know whether this FTE is actually a prerequisite to fastlane success (if MJ says so, I think it must be), and if so, how can I convert my fastlake interest into unwavering commitment? If you have any experience, success or failure, coming from a similar background, I'd love to hear from you!
If you made it this far, thanks for taking the time. I know it's a most valuable resource. I look forward to reading your replies.
Have an awesome day,
- Chris
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today
