Denis
New Contributor
I have been lurking for a while but I finally decided to commit to the fastlane, so I figured I should post an intro.
My name is Denis, I am 23 and I currently work as a software engineer. Throughout my life I could never buy into the philosophy of working 40 hour weeks for most of your life only to retire at age 65-70. I've always pursued other ways of making money (started selling on eBay when I was 13 and continued with various products through high school). I loved making money for myself and knowing that I was the one that made it happen. I did my own thing all through high school (was a bit of a loner) but in college I worked on my interpersonal skills (one of the most important skills you can have in my opinion). I improved significantly in my social skills but as a side effect from all the new friends and professional acquaintances I made, my thinking shifted into the slowlane.
I was hired for a software engineer position a few months out of college. After constantly hearing about the bad economic times and how no one had a job I considered myself lucky even if I hated working in an office for someone else and despised the 2 hour roundtrip commute. I began to limit risk and think inside the box. I believed that working for someone else was the only way to live and so looked to optimize my salary and position. I was still against working a 40 hour work week until old age but I just did not see a way out of it. I researched online for ways to retire early but only found the normal slowlane ideas (live below your means, put money in your 401K, educate yourself for a higher salary).
This all changed one day when I considered getting back into the selling game and came across the $100 Craigslist thread. After reading through it some old flame sparked and I decided to browse the forums this thread was on. A whole new way of thinking that I thought I left behind opened to me. It was a like I always had the key to the door of fastlane thinking but could never figure out just the right way of opening it. My old entrepreneurial spirit that was on the backburner came to forefront. I ordered MJ's book and the ideas felt right to me.
Since then I have been researching starting a business and reading through threads here on the forum. It is motivational to see people taking action. RyanDrake especially motivates me because he took something a simple as selling on craigslist and turned it into a venture that made thousands in a short amount of time. While not fastlane, I love how this disproves the conventional mindset of "Need Money = Get Job". If you have the skill and motivation, money WILL come to you.
I have a lot to learn about business. I am planning on starting a business on the side to get these lessons as I feel the best way to learn is by doing. The ideas shared on this forum are phenomenal and could be made into a series of books by themselves. I am constantly hit by an idea that seems obvious but I would never have considered. I am extremely grateful that this forum allowed me to break free of the conventional wisdom that would have made me another working drone.
I look forward to interacting with everyone on this forum and hope one day my own thread here will break someone from the slowlane mold that society imposes.
My name is Denis, I am 23 and I currently work as a software engineer. Throughout my life I could never buy into the philosophy of working 40 hour weeks for most of your life only to retire at age 65-70. I've always pursued other ways of making money (started selling on eBay when I was 13 and continued with various products through high school). I loved making money for myself and knowing that I was the one that made it happen. I did my own thing all through high school (was a bit of a loner) but in college I worked on my interpersonal skills (one of the most important skills you can have in my opinion). I improved significantly in my social skills but as a side effect from all the new friends and professional acquaintances I made, my thinking shifted into the slowlane.
I was hired for a software engineer position a few months out of college. After constantly hearing about the bad economic times and how no one had a job I considered myself lucky even if I hated working in an office for someone else and despised the 2 hour roundtrip commute. I began to limit risk and think inside the box. I believed that working for someone else was the only way to live and so looked to optimize my salary and position. I was still against working a 40 hour work week until old age but I just did not see a way out of it. I researched online for ways to retire early but only found the normal slowlane ideas (live below your means, put money in your 401K, educate yourself for a higher salary).
This all changed one day when I considered getting back into the selling game and came across the $100 Craigslist thread. After reading through it some old flame sparked and I decided to browse the forums this thread was on. A whole new way of thinking that I thought I left behind opened to me. It was a like I always had the key to the door of fastlane thinking but could never figure out just the right way of opening it. My old entrepreneurial spirit that was on the backburner came to forefront. I ordered MJ's book and the ideas felt right to me.
Since then I have been researching starting a business and reading through threads here on the forum. It is motivational to see people taking action. RyanDrake especially motivates me because he took something a simple as selling on craigslist and turned it into a venture that made thousands in a short amount of time. While not fastlane, I love how this disproves the conventional mindset of "Need Money = Get Job". If you have the skill and motivation, money WILL come to you.
I have a lot to learn about business. I am planning on starting a business on the side to get these lessons as I feel the best way to learn is by doing. The ideas shared on this forum are phenomenal and could be made into a series of books by themselves. I am constantly hit by an idea that seems obvious but I would never have considered. I am extremely grateful that this forum allowed me to break free of the conventional wisdom that would have made me another working drone.
I look forward to interacting with everyone on this forum and hope one day my own thread here will break someone from the slowlane mold that society imposes.
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