Hi everyone...
Im new here and like many before me Im seeking the unscripted life. College debted. Scripted path followed. I bounced around from many jobs and careers after college and made great earnings as a young business man in the sales world. I rose through the ranks and really thought I was enjoying what I was doing because of my paychecks. I learned to survive and thrive in a 100% commission based job, earning well over six figures as a 23 year old. I became a manager and was now in charge of replicating myself. I learned to lead and communicate with people. I learned the tactics of selling and selling well (fast) in a one call close environment. I feel that though I felt my life becoming more and more "scripted" and locked in to a career (what seemed like setting up the rest of my life) I was learning very important skills that most don't master. Skills that still remain strong.
As many of you know and is outlined in MJs books this for some would have been great and I watched the others around me in similar positions in my company brag about never needing to write another resume and being so happy they were set for life. But something inside of me just said that this isn't enough. Once I rose as far as politics and company growth would allow me to go I realized this was going to be a longgggg game of always selling for someone else. Even though it was good pay it was making someone else rich while working 6 days a week. Long story short I heard my inner voice saying this isn't for you. To summarize for sake of getting to the point of this first post I self imploded to get myself out of the company and onto a different career (life path) people thought I was crazy for leaving 6 figures in the dust for my next move and maybe it was. Im sure you will all cringe when you hear what I did next so I apologize in advance. I followed a passion and a love. Through out the depressing days and ending relationships of self destruction I found solace in fishing. Yes saltwater New England fishing. I spent my nights and weekends and free time which soon became all time fishing. It made me happy, it made me forget, and it offered freedom. I was "hooked"
Being the business man first I thought I had to make money doing this because if this makes me happy and it can pay the bills this is where my life should be going. So I started a YouTube channel and began documenting my outings. I actually saw some instant success with this and the echos came raining down. I quickly made a highly targeted video on fishing a specific lure that I guess your could say went viral in a small niche and soon I had 1000 subs and was able to monetize. I did and set up my affiliate marketing with Amazon and soon I had some small paychecks coming in. The guy selling the lures even contacted me and set up an affiliate program with him. I had a holy shit moment and started making more content and saw some traction. But then something happened and don't know why I stopped. I started getting some serious negative feedback and it derailed me and really made me question if this is a good idea. Even though it was working and I saw a path to great things I was attracting people to fishing spots that locals did not appreciate. They blasted me in the comments, they really hurt my prideful work that was just trying to help and educate others to have success and better outings. I was 100% value based at the time in hopes it would grow to financially support it. And I think I could have pushed through all the negativity because there was also so much positivity but then my windows began getting smashed when I would go fishing and someone would see me, gear would be stolen, false police calls would be made about me trespassing?? As I became more recognized some people did not take so kindly to it. But then others would see me and yell out I love your videos or I would be recognized at fishing shows and events and that helped but I stopped creating. One because of fear and one because of the market seemingly being smaller and I didn't think I could become wealthy off of making these niche fishing videos, It just didn't seem scalable to the point where I wouldn't have to work. The $100 from YouTube every couple months and the $40 from amazon was nice but I gave up. (Im still being paid both 3 years later after my final video) I felt I had to find another way even though I had these great visions on how to make this work.
So I finally quit my job and took the first paying opportunity to mesh the ocean with bills. I hopped on a commercial lobster boat that left the dock and wouldn't return for 7 days. 3 years of being in a suit and tie, sitting in the morning commute, sitting at my desk, sitting in a meeting and sitting with clients and now I was sitting on a boat surrounded by fish guts and drug addicts. I can tell you I don't recommend it but I absolutely loved every second of being out there. I still to this day believe it was the single greatest thing I did but often believe it was a quarter life crisis lol. Again to shorten the story it was an incredible experience but after all that sitting my body broke before my mind did after the first 3 days. I never gave up and was offered the chance many times after to make another trip with them but I realized I needed to find something less labor intensive if this was going to work.
I immediately started contacting charter boats when I got back home. I figured having rich people pay to be taken fishing sounds like a lot less labor and a lot more of the sport I was interested in. I was VERY fortunate to have the best boat in the state agree to hire me literally within days because he was losing his mate to college. I also attribute this to my sales skills lol but thats another story. Less than 3 weeks after I took off the tie I was back on another boat steaming back out on the water and really felt lucky I was now being paid to do exactly what I was spending all my free time before doing. Sportfishing. Now when I stepped off I was paid very well for the hard work and enthusiasm I was bringing (little did customers or captain know I would have probably don't the job for free) Being in New England the fishing season is only seasonal so as the season winds down I found myself unemployed and broke once again. It paid but it didn't pay well. So I went back to work selling in the same field I was in before out of necessity and hated every minute of it even though I was back in the six figure lane.
As the summers came I would quit and go back to work for this boat until I would need to go back to sales. 2 more seasons came and went when I was given an opportunity to buy the boat from the captain who was pretty much my only father figure. I did everything I could to make it happen and within a few weeks she was mine. I was very excited for my new life journey as many again would kill to have this opportunity. I saw the potential and I saw the thrill of following a passion generating a living. But there it was again... this voice in the back of my head saying you know how much work this will be... And I don't want you to mistake that voice for the "shortcut" mindset. I saw the work of trading time for money for the rest of my life and it wasn't like the other captains and owners were living great lives. Most of them complained about it and seemed to hate it. But the opportunity to do what I love was right here and I fell for it (looking back I probably should have let it pass) After a year of classes, licenses, permits and courses I now am a recognized captain and the youngest one in the fleet. My ego always sees myself as very accomplished like one of the guys on deadliest catch but the little voice still keeps bringing me back down to reality. Don't get me wrong I really do love what I do so I continued on the path however I did start to fall for a few gurus and YouTube videos on creating passive income and starting your own Ecommerce sites on Shopify. Now after reading Unscripted I feel silly for needing to admit I was really trying to get rich quick and easy on the side to help finance my passion. BOAT really does stand for Break Out Another Thousand. And I wasn't interested in thousands... Even though thats where I was barely positioned.
As I started to build my new business up I began to use different tactics that others were not doing. I built my own site with my graphic design background on Shopify instead of building a generic site like all the other boats. I made it easy to book online using a live calendar. Even though I was very new and very inexperienced I charged more for my trips than even seasoned captains. I leveraged tactics that I knew my generation would respond to. And they all worked. After my first season the echos ran loud. People would say they booked with me specifically because of how my website looked or how easy it was to book a trip. I kept at it making improvements along the way and would see great success. I was making more money per trip than other guys and my reviews were better. It was working. But... All the while the voice still yelling at me (yeah thats great dude but your still gonna get up tomorrow at 330 and have to steam out in the fog to bring out the exact clients you would rather be than guide for 8 hours) I was trading time and for money and it was the furthest thing from passive that it could be. The reason Im the youngest captain is because the guys my age have no interest in working that much and that hard. And I don't blame them one bit. Its very fulfilling and very fun but it kind of sucks at the same time. And im never going to be wealthy doing it and that has always from day one been my goal. I know I have completely strayed from my goal and it is how I came into possession of MJs book.
I feel as though I am pouring my time and effort into a losing venture. Even though it makes me happy and proud, and the mentorship I have around me is amazing its just not what I truly want. I want the freedom to fish and not the chains of needing to fish to gain my freedom. I am 100% dedicated to making a change. I want out. I hate both lives. the corporate 9-5 and the passion that like in the book becomes a chore. I want to leverage the skills I have and my time to making it in something that at least has gold gum balls in the machine.
However now (and I apologize to any that are still with me for the rant) I feel I am at the point of my posting. I feel as though I have the desire and a lot of the tools to create and unscripted life I just at a point where I feel stuck. And now with COVID and the off season I just put the very last of my money into 2 things, a mortgage payment and a book. I now don't have any income for next months mortgage or car bills or anything else that runs my life and if I see another email that my account has been overdraft I think Im going to lose it mentally. Im currently in the limo... Contemplating wtf im doing and how the F*ck im going to get myself out of it. I just finished "Unscripted " last night and am all in 100% there is no looking back. I don't want to try, I don't want to maybe have it work Im going to make it work. But Im a bit lost and with the bills hanging over my head. I feel trapped. Like Ive been given the map to the best fishing spot in the world but I have no money for fuel. I know I can go back to sales and make a ton of money but like so many times before I slip into the scripted life and its sucks me in deep. I don't want to go back to anything scripted at all in fear of staying there 1 minute longer than needed. Its been 5 years of wanting to build and unscripted life and struggling to find the avenue to do it.
I know I can bring value. I certainly know I can bring it in the fishing industry but thats following a passion isn't it? Im not sure if I should go back to YouTube where I saw success and heard echos just because I heard them? At least that would be generating content thats valuable to people and they would learn from it. As im writing this im getting comments of people asking for more videos. I know there's need and value but I don't see myself becoming wealthy from it. It just doesn't seem as scalable when I my best video has 60k views and one on the latest iPad apps has 600k. I don't know if I should ditch the passion all together and start selling a product that somewhat solves a need and try to scale it up and market it on FB because those tactics just feel like the get rich quick schemes. I don't want to wait any longer to begin because I feel like ive just been procrastinating for the perfect plan and I can't seem to fight the excuses. Its time to make this happen but my biggest fear of all is I'm slipping back into the scripted life to keep my head above water while I continue to try and figure out what the best course of action is.
I hate to say it but I do need to get rich quick lol. Or right now I just need to get something quick so I can fund following the unscripted path. I know once I am on it I can use the sales and marketing tactics I used to rise in business, the advertising and design tactics that grew my first year charter business above 30 year experience. I know I can do this I just don't know where to really begin that won't drown me and ruin everything else I have thats barely hanging on.
I apologize 10X for the rant and I guess Im just looking for any kind of feedback or support. Im not looking for your ideas.. I read the book and it really made a massive impact as all who read it and seek for this life seem to say. I want to look back on this post and laugh one day but hope that it might be the first step in seeing traction on a path to living a free and unscripted life.
Im new here and like many before me Im seeking the unscripted life. College debted. Scripted path followed. I bounced around from many jobs and careers after college and made great earnings as a young business man in the sales world. I rose through the ranks and really thought I was enjoying what I was doing because of my paychecks. I learned to survive and thrive in a 100% commission based job, earning well over six figures as a 23 year old. I became a manager and was now in charge of replicating myself. I learned to lead and communicate with people. I learned the tactics of selling and selling well (fast) in a one call close environment. I feel that though I felt my life becoming more and more "scripted" and locked in to a career (what seemed like setting up the rest of my life) I was learning very important skills that most don't master. Skills that still remain strong.
As many of you know and is outlined in MJs books this for some would have been great and I watched the others around me in similar positions in my company brag about never needing to write another resume and being so happy they were set for life. But something inside of me just said that this isn't enough. Once I rose as far as politics and company growth would allow me to go I realized this was going to be a longgggg game of always selling for someone else. Even though it was good pay it was making someone else rich while working 6 days a week. Long story short I heard my inner voice saying this isn't for you. To summarize for sake of getting to the point of this first post I self imploded to get myself out of the company and onto a different career (life path) people thought I was crazy for leaving 6 figures in the dust for my next move and maybe it was. Im sure you will all cringe when you hear what I did next so I apologize in advance. I followed a passion and a love. Through out the depressing days and ending relationships of self destruction I found solace in fishing. Yes saltwater New England fishing. I spent my nights and weekends and free time which soon became all time fishing. It made me happy, it made me forget, and it offered freedom. I was "hooked"
Being the business man first I thought I had to make money doing this because if this makes me happy and it can pay the bills this is where my life should be going. So I started a YouTube channel and began documenting my outings. I actually saw some instant success with this and the echos came raining down. I quickly made a highly targeted video on fishing a specific lure that I guess your could say went viral in a small niche and soon I had 1000 subs and was able to monetize. I did and set up my affiliate marketing with Amazon and soon I had some small paychecks coming in. The guy selling the lures even contacted me and set up an affiliate program with him. I had a holy shit moment and started making more content and saw some traction. But then something happened and don't know why I stopped. I started getting some serious negative feedback and it derailed me and really made me question if this is a good idea. Even though it was working and I saw a path to great things I was attracting people to fishing spots that locals did not appreciate. They blasted me in the comments, they really hurt my prideful work that was just trying to help and educate others to have success and better outings. I was 100% value based at the time in hopes it would grow to financially support it. And I think I could have pushed through all the negativity because there was also so much positivity but then my windows began getting smashed when I would go fishing and someone would see me, gear would be stolen, false police calls would be made about me trespassing?? As I became more recognized some people did not take so kindly to it. But then others would see me and yell out I love your videos or I would be recognized at fishing shows and events and that helped but I stopped creating. One because of fear and one because of the market seemingly being smaller and I didn't think I could become wealthy off of making these niche fishing videos, It just didn't seem scalable to the point where I wouldn't have to work. The $100 from YouTube every couple months and the $40 from amazon was nice but I gave up. (Im still being paid both 3 years later after my final video) I felt I had to find another way even though I had these great visions on how to make this work.
So I finally quit my job and took the first paying opportunity to mesh the ocean with bills. I hopped on a commercial lobster boat that left the dock and wouldn't return for 7 days. 3 years of being in a suit and tie, sitting in the morning commute, sitting at my desk, sitting in a meeting and sitting with clients and now I was sitting on a boat surrounded by fish guts and drug addicts. I can tell you I don't recommend it but I absolutely loved every second of being out there. I still to this day believe it was the single greatest thing I did but often believe it was a quarter life crisis lol. Again to shorten the story it was an incredible experience but after all that sitting my body broke before my mind did after the first 3 days. I never gave up and was offered the chance many times after to make another trip with them but I realized I needed to find something less labor intensive if this was going to work.
I immediately started contacting charter boats when I got back home. I figured having rich people pay to be taken fishing sounds like a lot less labor and a lot more of the sport I was interested in. I was VERY fortunate to have the best boat in the state agree to hire me literally within days because he was losing his mate to college. I also attribute this to my sales skills lol but thats another story. Less than 3 weeks after I took off the tie I was back on another boat steaming back out on the water and really felt lucky I was now being paid to do exactly what I was spending all my free time before doing. Sportfishing. Now when I stepped off I was paid very well for the hard work and enthusiasm I was bringing (little did customers or captain know I would have probably don't the job for free) Being in New England the fishing season is only seasonal so as the season winds down I found myself unemployed and broke once again. It paid but it didn't pay well. So I went back to work selling in the same field I was in before out of necessity and hated every minute of it even though I was back in the six figure lane.
As the summers came I would quit and go back to work for this boat until I would need to go back to sales. 2 more seasons came and went when I was given an opportunity to buy the boat from the captain who was pretty much my only father figure. I did everything I could to make it happen and within a few weeks she was mine. I was very excited for my new life journey as many again would kill to have this opportunity. I saw the potential and I saw the thrill of following a passion generating a living. But there it was again... this voice in the back of my head saying you know how much work this will be... And I don't want you to mistake that voice for the "shortcut" mindset. I saw the work of trading time for money for the rest of my life and it wasn't like the other captains and owners were living great lives. Most of them complained about it and seemed to hate it. But the opportunity to do what I love was right here and I fell for it (looking back I probably should have let it pass) After a year of classes, licenses, permits and courses I now am a recognized captain and the youngest one in the fleet. My ego always sees myself as very accomplished like one of the guys on deadliest catch but the little voice still keeps bringing me back down to reality. Don't get me wrong I really do love what I do so I continued on the path however I did start to fall for a few gurus and YouTube videos on creating passive income and starting your own Ecommerce sites on Shopify. Now after reading Unscripted I feel silly for needing to admit I was really trying to get rich quick and easy on the side to help finance my passion. BOAT really does stand for Break Out Another Thousand. And I wasn't interested in thousands... Even though thats where I was barely positioned.
As I started to build my new business up I began to use different tactics that others were not doing. I built my own site with my graphic design background on Shopify instead of building a generic site like all the other boats. I made it easy to book online using a live calendar. Even though I was very new and very inexperienced I charged more for my trips than even seasoned captains. I leveraged tactics that I knew my generation would respond to. And they all worked. After my first season the echos ran loud. People would say they booked with me specifically because of how my website looked or how easy it was to book a trip. I kept at it making improvements along the way and would see great success. I was making more money per trip than other guys and my reviews were better. It was working. But... All the while the voice still yelling at me (yeah thats great dude but your still gonna get up tomorrow at 330 and have to steam out in the fog to bring out the exact clients you would rather be than guide for 8 hours) I was trading time and for money and it was the furthest thing from passive that it could be. The reason Im the youngest captain is because the guys my age have no interest in working that much and that hard. And I don't blame them one bit. Its very fulfilling and very fun but it kind of sucks at the same time. And im never going to be wealthy doing it and that has always from day one been my goal. I know I have completely strayed from my goal and it is how I came into possession of MJs book.
I feel as though I am pouring my time and effort into a losing venture. Even though it makes me happy and proud, and the mentorship I have around me is amazing its just not what I truly want. I want the freedom to fish and not the chains of needing to fish to gain my freedom. I am 100% dedicated to making a change. I want out. I hate both lives. the corporate 9-5 and the passion that like in the book becomes a chore. I want to leverage the skills I have and my time to making it in something that at least has gold gum balls in the machine.
However now (and I apologize to any that are still with me for the rant) I feel I am at the point of my posting. I feel as though I have the desire and a lot of the tools to create and unscripted life I just at a point where I feel stuck. And now with COVID and the off season I just put the very last of my money into 2 things, a mortgage payment and a book. I now don't have any income for next months mortgage or car bills or anything else that runs my life and if I see another email that my account has been overdraft I think Im going to lose it mentally. Im currently in the limo... Contemplating wtf im doing and how the F*ck im going to get myself out of it. I just finished "Unscripted " last night and am all in 100% there is no looking back. I don't want to try, I don't want to maybe have it work Im going to make it work. But Im a bit lost and with the bills hanging over my head. I feel trapped. Like Ive been given the map to the best fishing spot in the world but I have no money for fuel. I know I can go back to sales and make a ton of money but like so many times before I slip into the scripted life and its sucks me in deep. I don't want to go back to anything scripted at all in fear of staying there 1 minute longer than needed. Its been 5 years of wanting to build and unscripted life and struggling to find the avenue to do it.
I know I can bring value. I certainly know I can bring it in the fishing industry but thats following a passion isn't it? Im not sure if I should go back to YouTube where I saw success and heard echos just because I heard them? At least that would be generating content thats valuable to people and they would learn from it. As im writing this im getting comments of people asking for more videos. I know there's need and value but I don't see myself becoming wealthy from it. It just doesn't seem as scalable when I my best video has 60k views and one on the latest iPad apps has 600k. I don't know if I should ditch the passion all together and start selling a product that somewhat solves a need and try to scale it up and market it on FB because those tactics just feel like the get rich quick schemes. I don't want to wait any longer to begin because I feel like ive just been procrastinating for the perfect plan and I can't seem to fight the excuses. Its time to make this happen but my biggest fear of all is I'm slipping back into the scripted life to keep my head above water while I continue to try and figure out what the best course of action is.
I hate to say it but I do need to get rich quick lol. Or right now I just need to get something quick so I can fund following the unscripted path. I know once I am on it I can use the sales and marketing tactics I used to rise in business, the advertising and design tactics that grew my first year charter business above 30 year experience. I know I can do this I just don't know where to really begin that won't drown me and ruin everything else I have thats barely hanging on.
I apologize 10X for the rant and I guess Im just looking for any kind of feedback or support. Im not looking for your ideas.. I read the book and it really made a massive impact as all who read it and seek for this life seem to say. I want to look back on this post and laugh one day but hope that it might be the first step in seeing traction on a path to living a free and unscripted life.
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