midnight
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- Oct 7, 2020
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intro--
Hello,
I'm Tam and this is my introduction as well as my execution thread.
I've been visiting the FLF for a while now but haven't really taken the time to interact with any members. As I read about the threads of @biophase, @Envision, @Valier and @Fox and applied ideas/process that they mentioned, I saw my life changed in the past 8 months, more than it had in the last 18 years of my life. Big shoutout to them. I am so grateful for you guys. There are many other names I am thankful for too, so don't feel like you're excluded!
While keeping the ideology from TMF and Unscripted in mind, I was burning with a desire for change as I saw how many of the members were executing, interacting, and just providing genuine value.
I wanted to find a way that I can give back to the forum too, with whatever experience I have, little as it may be.
backstory--
I read TMF and was introduced with the unscripted ideology while I was in college last year, and finished the book in the span of 2-4 days. It clicked, everything MJ wrote was like a direct whisper to me, and it just clicked. It was as if inside me was a tinder that ignited and blazed with the wind of MJ's words.
I had that gnawing in the back of my mind every single day before reading TMF, as I walked to class, as I was pressing weights, as I was talking to people. The feeling of uneasiness about taking a class or reading an article I knew, I was going to forget the next few weeks after the exam. The very same feeling the first chapter of Unscripted talks about. I was being indoctrinated with theory, formulas, and a plentiful of good grades. It was amnesia to how empty I was feeling as I was doing everything a "perfect" college student would be doing. I dreaded every single night back then as I would meditate at 11 pm and stay awake until 2 pm reading MJ and listening to Jock Willink and wondering to myself "WHAT IF".
I have always been an avid weight lifter and when I was in Uni, besides being introduce with entrepreneurial thoughts and screwing around my days with classes I would never use, I wanted to cut down my weight. At first, I was lifting because it was a passion. Then, as my thought process started to develop ideas and plans about entrepreneurship, I became scared and terrified, extremely terrified to the point of apathy. What of you may think? I was scared that I might leave uni and "disappoint my parents". MJ sow a seed and it was taking roots, and the previous seeds of my cultural upbringing tried to fight back. Filial Piety is a big part of my culture if you are wondering.
As days passed, weeks also flew by, I dropped pounds after pounds and was pushing myself way passed my limits in terms of weights.
At one point I was 145 lbs pulling 405 on deadlifts for a few reps.(hindsight, I regret it because while I tricked my mind into doing it, I was out of commission for a while)
Remember how I was passionate about weight lifting?
As I was thinking about leaving uni and dreamt about just saying f it all, I was conflicted with doing the hardest decision, telling my parents I did not see a future at uni. I lift heavier and heavier, ate less, took stimulants, drowned my free time with hours at the cardio machine, for one purpose and ... that is to numb myself. Erase the thoughts. Drown out your inner free spirit.
Silence the dream.
I wanted to not think about making the decision to following my own path.
This continued up till C0VlD-19 forced me to come back home(around Feb-March this year).
As college work died out and the year ended, I thought about what I wanted to do with my life, with the knowledge, ideology, and resources that I have.
Interestingly enough, although I was apathetic and semi depressed, I read this forum every single day to catch a glimpse of what it could be like to achieve the dream, to ignore everything in the back of your mind that stops me from taking action.
Over the next few months...
College was still on my mind, but after learning sales and marketing over the next few months... it was loooooooooong gone. MJ's words became my motto and ethos. I also built the courage to tell my parents my path and that every I was doing was for them, despite all my nerve saying don't do it and tell a lie. I didn't want them to work their whole life and not be able to take a break. I yearned for a better life, not only for me but for them too, and let them know that even if I fail and stumble in the next few years without a degree, that it was okay and that I believe somewhere along the way the dots will connect. I had to believe in my words as I told them and cried, because deep down self doubt was still there. "What if you fail?", "You're throwing so much money away", "You might regret this down the line".
I stumbled on @Fox post and read his web school thread a week after out of college.
You know that feeling when you don't have anything going for you, so you would look at what others are doing, so you could see possibilities beyond your current horizon, and perhaps remind yourself you're STILL ALIVE?
That was what I was doing while reading the thread.
Long story short, I was doubting myself and was a little short on cash, but I said screw it and signed up to his course.
I took the risk of borrowing money from my parents if things didn't work out said screw it, what was there really to lose.
***Key here. I joined not for the sake of making fast cash, but for the sole purpose of learning sales and a new skill that is transformative***
Despite all the resistant that I felt while reading his thread("you can't code at all"/"you're horrible at communicating"/"you don't have enough drive"/ "you are still a kid", basically every inadequacy excuses you can throw at a 19 y/r old), I enrolled in his course. The idea that I could be of value to others and actually learn translatable skills(marketing/sales/web service) propelled me to ignore these doubts.
I've been in his course for over 8 months and made back the money I invested within the first 2 months. I can't tell you how much it empowered me and filled me with confidence, knowing that I can call up people to talk about their business problems, be able to show value in my service, solve their problem, OVER DELIVER, and get paid.
It's priceless.
What I learned from @Fox course was more than just a way to make money, but a way to think when it came to business. As I connected with more people (Big inspiration came from @Isaac Oh and learned about the journey of @GuitarManDan), I dreamt and formulated ideas and possible needs in the market. I didn't see myself doing web design as my only mean to fastlane. If you're reading this, thank you R, Issac, and Dan.
Somewhere before summer, I had to take a break from web design to handle a few family and internal issues and during this time, I spent devising plan that I would execute once I got back into commission.
execution--
The plan I came up with at first started with a web service(had I not learn web design, I would have never thought about messing with web service) that would allow people to connect with each other(social network) and empower them to follow their goals(very similar to what the FLF is doing), but with a spice for millennial like me to be interested in(secret
).
As I thought about marketing the service and getting people to actually be part of it and endorse, I devised up a follow up plan to build an audience, as I don't have endless amount of cash to generate ad campaigns.
And that is ... ba dum ba dum ba dum.... drum roll...
A youtube channel. Free marketing.
Though I know... it's oversaturated, time-consuming, and all the limitation of a red sea market.
But, as I read @Valier thread, I discovered something interesting. His personal brand(not the idea/niche) but rather his execution made him stand out and skewed values. He made self-help, entertaining. What I found most interesting after reading James's post a few time is that his production quality increases over time(over-delivering) and his value does not reside in the subscriber count, but rather building trust(CTR/retention-time) with his audience. This is the key frame of mind as I learned about youtube.
For the over a little a month and a half 10-12 hours a day, I've been learning how to edit, story-telling, narration, and a crap ton of other things I've never knew was in play when it came to create a good video... and oh boy there's more to learn
)))))--- that's best part. My content will be, similar James, documentary based, informational, yet entertaining, in the self-help/business/life niche; with the twist that I will be leveraging the community to the service I mentioned earlier as the audience grow bigger. So in short, high-value content is the primary focus and leveraging it comes second. James if you're reading this my friend, you set my standard real high for this personal brand!
The devised execution time for the personal brand is around 10-12 months, and in that time will have around 15-20 videos(better production quality every single upload). If the market does not respond after that amount of time, I will be leveraging other form of organic marketing skills(SEO is the only thing on my mind right now) but I'm sure I can learn more and do more web design clients or will get a job even if I need the capital to launch google/facebook ads.
With that being said, my video just finished rendering so I should probably start editing.
Have a good day
Hello,
I'm Tam and this is my introduction as well as my execution thread.
I've been visiting the FLF for a while now but haven't really taken the time to interact with any members. As I read about the threads of @biophase, @Envision, @Valier and @Fox and applied ideas/process that they mentioned, I saw my life changed in the past 8 months, more than it had in the last 18 years of my life. Big shoutout to them. I am so grateful for you guys. There are many other names I am thankful for too, so don't feel like you're excluded!
While keeping the ideology from TMF and Unscripted in mind, I was burning with a desire for change as I saw how many of the members were executing, interacting, and just providing genuine value.
I wanted to find a way that I can give back to the forum too, with whatever experience I have, little as it may be.
backstory--
I read TMF and was introduced with the unscripted ideology while I was in college last year, and finished the book in the span of 2-4 days. It clicked, everything MJ wrote was like a direct whisper to me, and it just clicked. It was as if inside me was a tinder that ignited and blazed with the wind of MJ's words.
I had that gnawing in the back of my mind every single day before reading TMF, as I walked to class, as I was pressing weights, as I was talking to people. The feeling of uneasiness about taking a class or reading an article I knew, I was going to forget the next few weeks after the exam. The very same feeling the first chapter of Unscripted talks about. I was being indoctrinated with theory, formulas, and a plentiful of good grades. It was amnesia to how empty I was feeling as I was doing everything a "perfect" college student would be doing. I dreaded every single night back then as I would meditate at 11 pm and stay awake until 2 pm reading MJ and listening to Jock Willink and wondering to myself "WHAT IF".
I have always been an avid weight lifter and when I was in Uni, besides being introduce with entrepreneurial thoughts and screwing around my days with classes I would never use, I wanted to cut down my weight. At first, I was lifting because it was a passion. Then, as my thought process started to develop ideas and plans about entrepreneurship, I became scared and terrified, extremely terrified to the point of apathy. What of you may think? I was scared that I might leave uni and "disappoint my parents". MJ sow a seed and it was taking roots, and the previous seeds of my cultural upbringing tried to fight back. Filial Piety is a big part of my culture if you are wondering.
As days passed, weeks also flew by, I dropped pounds after pounds and was pushing myself way passed my limits in terms of weights.
At one point I was 145 lbs pulling 405 on deadlifts for a few reps.(hindsight, I regret it because while I tricked my mind into doing it, I was out of commission for a while)
Remember how I was passionate about weight lifting?
As I was thinking about leaving uni and dreamt about just saying f it all, I was conflicted with doing the hardest decision, telling my parents I did not see a future at uni. I lift heavier and heavier, ate less, took stimulants, drowned my free time with hours at the cardio machine, for one purpose and ... that is to numb myself. Erase the thoughts. Drown out your inner free spirit.
Silence the dream.
I wanted to not think about making the decision to following my own path.
This continued up till C0VlD-19 forced me to come back home(around Feb-March this year).
As college work died out and the year ended, I thought about what I wanted to do with my life, with the knowledge, ideology, and resources that I have.
Interestingly enough, although I was apathetic and semi depressed, I read this forum every single day to catch a glimpse of what it could be like to achieve the dream, to ignore everything in the back of your mind that stops me from taking action.
Over the next few months...
College was still on my mind, but after learning sales and marketing over the next few months... it was loooooooooong gone. MJ's words became my motto and ethos. I also built the courage to tell my parents my path and that every I was doing was for them, despite all my nerve saying don't do it and tell a lie. I didn't want them to work their whole life and not be able to take a break. I yearned for a better life, not only for me but for them too, and let them know that even if I fail and stumble in the next few years without a degree, that it was okay and that I believe somewhere along the way the dots will connect. I had to believe in my words as I told them and cried, because deep down self doubt was still there. "What if you fail?", "You're throwing so much money away", "You might regret this down the line".
I stumbled on @Fox post and read his web school thread a week after out of college.
You know that feeling when you don't have anything going for you, so you would look at what others are doing, so you could see possibilities beyond your current horizon, and perhaps remind yourself you're STILL ALIVE?
That was what I was doing while reading the thread.
Long story short, I was doubting myself and was a little short on cash, but I said screw it and signed up to his course.
I took the risk of borrowing money from my parents if things didn't work out said screw it, what was there really to lose.
***Key here. I joined not for the sake of making fast cash, but for the sole purpose of learning sales and a new skill that is transformative***
Despite all the resistant that I felt while reading his thread("you can't code at all"/"you're horrible at communicating"/"you don't have enough drive"/ "you are still a kid", basically every inadequacy excuses you can throw at a 19 y/r old), I enrolled in his course. The idea that I could be of value to others and actually learn translatable skills(marketing/sales/web service) propelled me to ignore these doubts.
I've been in his course for over 8 months and made back the money I invested within the first 2 months. I can't tell you how much it empowered me and filled me with confidence, knowing that I can call up people to talk about their business problems, be able to show value in my service, solve their problem, OVER DELIVER, and get paid.
It's priceless.
What I learned from @Fox course was more than just a way to make money, but a way to think when it came to business. As I connected with more people (Big inspiration came from @Isaac Oh and learned about the journey of @GuitarManDan), I dreamt and formulated ideas and possible needs in the market. I didn't see myself doing web design as my only mean to fastlane. If you're reading this, thank you R, Issac, and Dan.
Somewhere before summer, I had to take a break from web design to handle a few family and internal issues and during this time, I spent devising plan that I would execute once I got back into commission.
execution--
The plan I came up with at first started with a web service(had I not learn web design, I would have never thought about messing with web service) that would allow people to connect with each other(social network) and empower them to follow their goals(very similar to what the FLF is doing), but with a spice for millennial like me to be interested in(secret
). As I thought about marketing the service and getting people to actually be part of it and endorse, I devised up a follow up plan to build an audience, as I don't have endless amount of cash to generate ad campaigns.
And that is ... ba dum ba dum ba dum.... drum roll...
A youtube channel. Free marketing.
Though I know... it's oversaturated, time-consuming, and all the limitation of a red sea market.
But, as I read @Valier thread, I discovered something interesting. His personal brand(not the idea/niche) but rather his execution made him stand out and skewed values. He made self-help, entertaining. What I found most interesting after reading James's post a few time is that his production quality increases over time(over-delivering) and his value does not reside in the subscriber count, but rather building trust(CTR/retention-time) with his audience. This is the key frame of mind as I learned about youtube.
For the over a little a month and a half 10-12 hours a day, I've been learning how to edit, story-telling, narration, and a crap ton of other things I've never knew was in play when it came to create a good video... and oh boy there's more to learn
)))))--- that's best part. My content will be, similar James, documentary based, informational, yet entertaining, in the self-help/business/life niche; with the twist that I will be leveraging the community to the service I mentioned earlier as the audience grow bigger. So in short, high-value content is the primary focus and leveraging it comes second. James if you're reading this my friend, you set my standard real high for this personal brand! The devised execution time for the personal brand is around 10-12 months, and in that time will have around 15-20 videos(better production quality every single upload). If the market does not respond after that amount of time, I will be leveraging other form of organic marketing skills(SEO is the only thing on my mind right now) but I'm sure I can learn more and do more web design clients or will get a job even if I need the capital to launch google/facebook ads.
With that being said, my video just finished rendering so I should probably start editing.
Have a good day
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