What's new

The start of a journey: from slowlane to fastlane

Topics related to Slowlane, Scripted mainstream dogma

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Live your best life.

Tired of paying for dead communities hosted by absent gurus who don't have time for you?

Imagine having a multi-millionaire mentor by your side EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has been a cornerstone of Fastlane, actively contributing on over 99% of days—99.92% to be exact! With more than 39,000 game-changing posts, he's dedicated to helping entrepreneurs achieve their freedom. Join a thriving community of over 90,000 members and access a vast library of over 1,000,000 posts from entrepreneurs around the globe.

Forum membership removes this block.

Ghergan

New Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Joined
Sep 3, 2015
Messages
3
Location
Italy
Rep Bank
$150
User Power: 67%
Hi everyone,
I just signed up to the forum and I'd like to present myself. I think the best way is to share my journey and share the lessons learned along the way.

NOTE: I know this wall of text can compete with the great wall of China, but I tried to summarise my life while trying to be as concise as possible. I hope it will be useful to someone.

Here's my story:


I dropped out of college because I had a clear idea of what I wanted to do: I wanted to be a designer and was sure there was a more efficient way to learn a new skill without spending that much money. After a period of self learning, I built my personal portfolio (even tho everything in there was just web design work done for made up clients :P).

Got my first job and learned my first two lessons: I was trying to get jobs by sending resumés, this is what everyone does, I thought. Turns out I sent a bunch of CVs with a conversion rate of 0% and I learned first hand that:

• You shouldn't follow the road most travelled
• When something doesn't work you should find another way

The first job was paid 300€/month but I did it anyway: I was eager to learn and it was a demonstration that you can achieve your goals when you work hard for it (I was a designer, finally!!!).

The business I was working with was full of debt and turns out they were going to close. I was laid off and the business closed. After a period of "What the f**k should I do now?" I landed another job, in a different city. I moved there and this time I was paid way better, the problem was I was required to work 8am-8pm every day and sometimes (quite often actually) I had to work till 2am. When I realised that I was stressed as hell, I couldn't keep up with the amount of work I needed to do and what I earned was just sufficient to pay the bills and nothing more I resigned to find a better job.

I found a good opportunity as a Creative Director for a startup. The CEO proposed 70k/y + 5% equity. What looked like a great opportunity was instead the worst opportunity I was ever offered:

It was 2k month for the first 5 months then it was 70k/y: well we never reached that point because after I worked my a** off for 5 months (working late at night here as well) he said he couldn't keep his promise and he offered me to keep working for him for 1.5k/month.

Another set of lessons learnt:

1) I was working that much because I really cared about helping people out, but you should never neglect yourself. You come first, and if you are in a good state of mind you can help people better.
2) Don't make irrational decisions: even tho I had a contract it was with a different country (really difficult to sue them without spending a lot of money and time), I should have been more careful instead of being lured into the position.

After this experience I was a bit depressed. I started asking myself if this was a life worth living. I realised that working for someone else is the road to slavery and that I didn't want to do that anymore. The problem was I was in such a slowlane mentality that I couldn't see another way.

I was able to design and build great websites, but I just couldn't see how I could make my own business and make an income on my own: I was out of ideas, I had no more energy, I was stressed.

I spent a lot of time letting life pass by: play videogames all day, no social life, returned to live with my parents because I was out of money.

I needed to do something about it: the first thing I did? I found another job!

Fastforward to now and I left the job: still working all day, still getting paid s**t, still going nowhere.

But now is different, because this is the start of my fastlane journey. I just can't handle it anymore, I know it's the only way forward, it's the only thing I can do (remember the lesson about changing what's not working?). And I have a plan:


SHORT TERM GOAL

Goal:

• Being able to earn at least 2k/month from home

Why
• Sustain myself and go live alone

When
• 4 months from now

How
• Affiliate marketing - freelance gigs - everything works


MID TERM GOAL

Goal

• Earn at least 5k month from home

Why
• Prove to myself that I can earn enough money on my own, so I don't need to work for someone else ever again

When
• April 2016

How
• Dunno, my focus is on short term goal


LONG TERM GOAL

Goal

• Work on my fastlane business

Why
• Travel, spend time with family, being able to have a nice house, not having to think about money issues anymore

When
• 3 years from now

How
• Dunno, my focus is on short term goal


Thanks for reading the wall of text, if you reached the end you totally get all of my gratitude! Feel free to leave a comment, I'm here to learn everything I can and every bit helps.

Cheers
 
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

Welcome to an Entrepreneurial Revolution

The Fastlane Forum empowers you to break free from conventional thinking to achieve financial freedom through UNSCRIPTED® Entrepreneurship where relative value and problem-solving are executed at scale. Living Unscripted® isn’t just a business strategy—it’s a way of life.

Follow MJ DeMarco

Get The Books that Change Lives...

The Fastlane entrepreneurial strategy is based on the CENTS Framework® which is based on the three best-selling books by MJ DeMarco.

mj demarco books
Back
Top Bottom