Hi all,
I've been posting on here for a few weeks now and made a progress thread but never an intro thread. The progress thread outlined the most of it but I figure it'd be nice to have a plain introduction.
I'm Chris, 21 years old and a current college student studying business.
To make a long story short I was brought up to believe I'd be working for someone else forever, and that the only way to get ahead was to start getting a$$-F*cked now rather than later so you can "get your mortgage paid as fast as possible" and "be free" - I lived with my two parents and my older brother who is 4 years older. I became perplexed by business from deep within the shadows of depression at 15 years old. You name the typical *loser* and i fit the criteria.
Never had a girlfriend all the way through high school? Check.
Terrible communication skills? Check.
Surrounded by other losers who I called 'friends'? Check.
Skinny, and very frequently the target for being bullied? Check.
Picked last in gym class? Check.
Poor grades? Check.
Played video games all day? Check.
Yes, my life was a *wreck*. One day I found myself on yahoo answers, unsatisfied with my life, and yet unwilling to change. I sought for help, and help was what I found. Fortunately by the contribution of one person and my curiosity to dig deeper into his response to my deep-burrowed depression question on Yahoo Answers, I had a life coach who started showing me the ropes. Did I follow half the shit he said for a year? Nope, not a chance.
Over the years I began to realize a lot of the stuff my coach was telling me was always spot on, and that I should listen to him. When I was 17 and nobody would hire me anywhere, he told me "Why don't you start a business?" and I did.
Though clearly not linear progress, because life isn't linear, I spent the next 3-4 years building a lawn care business, learning from my coach, piecing my life together, bit by bit. I graduated high school and went on to community college. My grades were terrible in HS so that's the only place I was going... And then I began the grind.
(I did end up getting employed, by the way, and by 'grind' I mean i GRINDED. I would work 40 hours a week Monday-Friday, go to class Monday-Friday at night, and run my lawn care business on the weekend. Work alone consisted of 60+ hours and school was around 10 hours a week. I did that some summers to get this far.. and for my first 2 years of college, I didn't take one semester off. Like MJ DeMarco points out in his books, all this shit people talk about with success, fastlane, etc, it isn't an event, but a process. I lived the blood sweat and tears of the process)
I went from a guy who was always looking to escape reality, to adding 90 pounds (to date) to my frame since I first entered high school. I became the fitness enthusiast, trainer, and often times, mentor for fellow high school classmates. With that, I was running the lawn care business and going to community college. Through my efforts, not only did I succeed in the weight room, but I began to succeed in *LIFE*. My physique grew, my grades rose, and my business took off. From a guy who couldn't get a job so he went and created a job, from making $7.25 to rake leaves for my first official 'contract', i eventually had 15+ accounts to service on a weekly basis. Although not 'fast lane', it was the building block to something great. Not only did I gain all the tangible skills of marketing, sales, communication, etc, but I gained something even more valuable. I gained insight into a new reality that I could create. That I didn't have to work for someone else forever, or be enslaved by a mortgage, like my family has always been their whole life. Life's goal was to pay the mortgage.. My parents did that, and they're still unhappy with the same grievances that plagued them when they still had a mortgage. Nothing changed. Typical slowlane..
I went on to sell the lawn business, graduate with highest honors, and transfer to four year school. To get to a four year school was beyond a 'struggle'. My parents didn't support the real dream, the dream to one day rise above and have actual freedom. They saw college as a big lie and a fraud, and my dreams were crushed. How was I going to afford college?
To really sum this up, I went on to get rejected by my #1 school, fought my way in, didn't have enough money to afford going, pitched to my parents and was shut down 4 times on student loans, appealed and negotiated an increase in financial aid with the school, I sold my pitch to my parents for a SMALL loan that would help me fund year 1, with the idea that I would figure out how to pay for year 2. In reality I had no F*cking clue how I was going to do it, because the financial gap was large.
I went on to not only survive and pay for year 2, but to set myself up for a THIRD year and slow down my curriculum, so I can take the time to work on my fastlane venture(s). Yes, financially it has worked out in my favor to afford not only a 2nd, but a 3rd year. Renegotiations with financial aid offices, selling my lawn care business, making dean's list for a grant increase, and finding a way to get free housing (Resident Assistant) allowed me to fund 3 years at a 4 year school, paying for it all on my own (With the help of a small cosigned loan).
My brother went on to follow exactly what my parents preached all of growing up, and now I get to witness it. He's in his career (slowlane), he bought a house at 25, and now he's planning on working over time as often as he can, putting every dollar he can on the mortgage, as he hopes to pay it off over the next 10-15 years.
In the next 3-5 years, I plan on being a fastlane millionaire.
I stumbled across this forum by chance while google searching for entrepreneur forums to find like-minded people to contribute to and learn from. That led me to MJ DeMarco, his book (which I completed earlier today), and the fastlane. I knew the fastlane existed, and MJ DeMarco has helped me further define what that truly is.
And now, I have a year and a half until I graduate. I had a full time job offer if I were to graduate on time, which I declined. Instead, I plan on taking the extra year of school and diving right into the fastlane. In fact, I'm reading up a bit on these forums and then diving in immediately. I am not a time waster, I am an action-taker.
I somewhat regret going to business school because the majority of business skills I learn are on my own time and many classes I come out of saying "I didn't learn anything all semester" - But that's aside the point. Fortunately, I'm out of the toxic environment that once surrounded me of negativity from my family and brother (Typical slowlane / sidewalk 'lifes a bitch then you die' stuff all the time) and i'm living on my own, i'm surrounded by a handful of like-minded people on campus (Even though the majority just party and bullshit) and i'm 100% confident that I will succeed in the fastlane. Not a matter of if, but a matter of when.
Looking forward to continuing this journey with all of you. I hope you enjoyed reading my intro.
I've been posting on here for a few weeks now and made a progress thread but never an intro thread. The progress thread outlined the most of it but I figure it'd be nice to have a plain introduction.
I'm Chris, 21 years old and a current college student studying business.
To make a long story short I was brought up to believe I'd be working for someone else forever, and that the only way to get ahead was to start getting a$$-F*cked now rather than later so you can "get your mortgage paid as fast as possible" and "be free" - I lived with my two parents and my older brother who is 4 years older. I became perplexed by business from deep within the shadows of depression at 15 years old. You name the typical *loser* and i fit the criteria.
Never had a girlfriend all the way through high school? Check.
Terrible communication skills? Check.
Surrounded by other losers who I called 'friends'? Check.
Skinny, and very frequently the target for being bullied? Check.
Picked last in gym class? Check.
Poor grades? Check.
Played video games all day? Check.
Yes, my life was a *wreck*. One day I found myself on yahoo answers, unsatisfied with my life, and yet unwilling to change. I sought for help, and help was what I found. Fortunately by the contribution of one person and my curiosity to dig deeper into his response to my deep-burrowed depression question on Yahoo Answers, I had a life coach who started showing me the ropes. Did I follow half the shit he said for a year? Nope, not a chance.
Over the years I began to realize a lot of the stuff my coach was telling me was always spot on, and that I should listen to him. When I was 17 and nobody would hire me anywhere, he told me "Why don't you start a business?" and I did.
Though clearly not linear progress, because life isn't linear, I spent the next 3-4 years building a lawn care business, learning from my coach, piecing my life together, bit by bit. I graduated high school and went on to community college. My grades were terrible in HS so that's the only place I was going... And then I began the grind.
(I did end up getting employed, by the way, and by 'grind' I mean i GRINDED. I would work 40 hours a week Monday-Friday, go to class Monday-Friday at night, and run my lawn care business on the weekend. Work alone consisted of 60+ hours and school was around 10 hours a week. I did that some summers to get this far.. and for my first 2 years of college, I didn't take one semester off. Like MJ DeMarco points out in his books, all this shit people talk about with success, fastlane, etc, it isn't an event, but a process. I lived the blood sweat and tears of the process)
I went from a guy who was always looking to escape reality, to adding 90 pounds (to date) to my frame since I first entered high school. I became the fitness enthusiast, trainer, and often times, mentor for fellow high school classmates. With that, I was running the lawn care business and going to community college. Through my efforts, not only did I succeed in the weight room, but I began to succeed in *LIFE*. My physique grew, my grades rose, and my business took off. From a guy who couldn't get a job so he went and created a job, from making $7.25 to rake leaves for my first official 'contract', i eventually had 15+ accounts to service on a weekly basis. Although not 'fast lane', it was the building block to something great. Not only did I gain all the tangible skills of marketing, sales, communication, etc, but I gained something even more valuable. I gained insight into a new reality that I could create. That I didn't have to work for someone else forever, or be enslaved by a mortgage, like my family has always been their whole life. Life's goal was to pay the mortgage.. My parents did that, and they're still unhappy with the same grievances that plagued them when they still had a mortgage. Nothing changed. Typical slowlane..
I went on to sell the lawn business, graduate with highest honors, and transfer to four year school. To get to a four year school was beyond a 'struggle'. My parents didn't support the real dream, the dream to one day rise above and have actual freedom. They saw college as a big lie and a fraud, and my dreams were crushed. How was I going to afford college?
To really sum this up, I went on to get rejected by my #1 school, fought my way in, didn't have enough money to afford going, pitched to my parents and was shut down 4 times on student loans, appealed and negotiated an increase in financial aid with the school, I sold my pitch to my parents for a SMALL loan that would help me fund year 1, with the idea that I would figure out how to pay for year 2. In reality I had no F*cking clue how I was going to do it, because the financial gap was large.
I went on to not only survive and pay for year 2, but to set myself up for a THIRD year and slow down my curriculum, so I can take the time to work on my fastlane venture(s). Yes, financially it has worked out in my favor to afford not only a 2nd, but a 3rd year. Renegotiations with financial aid offices, selling my lawn care business, making dean's list for a grant increase, and finding a way to get free housing (Resident Assistant) allowed me to fund 3 years at a 4 year school, paying for it all on my own (With the help of a small cosigned loan).
My brother went on to follow exactly what my parents preached all of growing up, and now I get to witness it. He's in his career (slowlane), he bought a house at 25, and now he's planning on working over time as often as he can, putting every dollar he can on the mortgage, as he hopes to pay it off over the next 10-15 years.
In the next 3-5 years, I plan on being a fastlane millionaire.
I stumbled across this forum by chance while google searching for entrepreneur forums to find like-minded people to contribute to and learn from. That led me to MJ DeMarco, his book (which I completed earlier today), and the fastlane. I knew the fastlane existed, and MJ DeMarco has helped me further define what that truly is.
And now, I have a year and a half until I graduate. I had a full time job offer if I were to graduate on time, which I declined. Instead, I plan on taking the extra year of school and diving right into the fastlane. In fact, I'm reading up a bit on these forums and then diving in immediately. I am not a time waster, I am an action-taker.
I somewhat regret going to business school because the majority of business skills I learn are on my own time and many classes I come out of saying "I didn't learn anything all semester" - But that's aside the point. Fortunately, I'm out of the toxic environment that once surrounded me of negativity from my family and brother (Typical slowlane / sidewalk 'lifes a bitch then you die' stuff all the time) and i'm living on my own, i'm surrounded by a handful of like-minded people on campus (Even though the majority just party and bullshit) and i'm 100% confident that I will succeed in the fastlane. Not a matter of if, but a matter of when.
Looking forward to continuing this journey with all of you. I hope you enjoyed reading my intro.
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