What clicked in your head to start your Fastlane process?

[Allen]

I know this may be a generic question, however I'm really struggling with this and I'm hoping for some guidance and advice from those who have experienced the same issue.

I just became a member of the forum so a very short background...

I have worked in Corporate America for close to 20 years. I "enjoyed a successful career" in technology sales and marketing that eventually landed me in executive director and division leadership positions. Although I was moving very fast during this period, after reading TMFL, I realized I was in the slowlane even though I was earning six figures and enjoyed the other perks of working for Fortune 500 companies.

The recent economic challenges hit my space hard in 2009 and I have since been dowsized by three separate corporations three times in the last 4 years even though I was "making my number" which led me to review my options and which also led me to TMFL link on Amazon one night, or early morning, a few months ago as I was pondering my life and how I did not want some bean-counter 10 states away and whom I never met, to determine the welfare of my family and my career.

Back to the present...

Although I have been reading a lot of books and attending a lot of networking events, I still have not decided on my "it" that I want to pursue in order to live my Fastlane lifestyle. I know my "it" doesn't have to necessarily be a passion and I know my "it" needs to provide a service, fill a need and be able to scale, I'm just overwhelmed with all of the options available and really don't know where to start. I know "action" is the key to success so that's why I'm frustrated.

I feel as though I have been playing a game of corporate fetch for the last 20 years where most of the hard decisions were already made and even at the executive level, I was simply told what to do. "Go increase revenue XXX in this YYY market and report back every month. If you do well, you get a nice salary, bonus, commission, a glass trophy and a vacation. If you don't make your number, we will find someone who will."

I'm hoping someone else has already been down this path and crossed a similar bridge and can shed some light on the subject.

Thanks!

 

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[100k]

Hi,

you have 20 years of experience in IT. Have you faced any problems in the last few years that you think could be solved, seen any a system that could be improved and save a company a lot of money...etc. etc.


Let me know if that help

 

[FastLearner]

Everything clicked in my head after I had an epiphany about life in general. That everybody is busy

working for someone like little worker bees forgetting that as human beings we're the only animal that

has a sense of purpose. Working a 9-5 isn't purpose, building a dream is.. And when you take the

chance to choose your dream, you'll face many obstacles but

ultimately that's beauty of it. That's the trophy. Look around you. Your friends, your family, that ex-

girlfriend from college...

They're all holding their hands out for a paycheck. That paycheck determines how much freedom they have...[/LEFT]



Wouldn't you like to know what it's like to write your own?:coolgleamA:

 

[Allen]

Hi,

you have 20 years of experience in IT. Have you faced any problems in the last few years that you think could be solved, seen any a system that could be improved and save a company a lot of money...etc. etc.


Let me know if that help

Thanks. I like your idea of potentially improving business systems as I'm currently consulting in the space, however it's still only an intrinsic opportunity. I'm basically selling my time for money.

Many of the large networking, data center and outsourcing companies I've worked for bundled technology services together which I then sold as part of a larger solution. The technology moves so fast that it's hard to find a sweet spot where I can provide additional value. I'm more of a marketer than an engineer so I need to start there.

It's inspiring yet frustrating at the same time to see people who seemingly have found their passion and their niche market by providing a service or filling a need while some of us are still searching even after 20 years of real-world business experience and advanced education. Reading today about David Karp's $80M+ retention bonus with Yahoo really drives home the point. Here's a very smart "kid" who dropped out of high school and started tumblr in 2007. Six years later, he has not only provided a unique service that has enhanced the lives of many people, he's also pretty much set financially for generations and can now pursue any philanthropic goal he desires.

He disovered his "it" in high school and ran with it.

 

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[Allen]

Everything clicked in my head after I had an epiphany about life in general. That everybody is busy

working for someone like little worker bees forgetting that as human beings we're the only animal that

has a sense of purpose. Working a 9-5 isn't purpose, building a dream is.. And when you take the

chance to choose your dream, you'll face many obstacles but

ultimately that's beauty of it. That's the trophy. Look around you. Your friends, your family, that ex-

girlfriend from college...

They're all holding their hands out for a paycheck. That paycheck determines how much freedom they have...[/LEFT]



Wouldn't you like to know what it's like to write your own?:coolgleamA:

I had a similar revelation in terms of holding a job vs. building a lifestyle. However after all the motivational books, seminars, it all comes down to taking action.

I feel like after all of my experience, all of my education, all of my research and all of my studying of millionaire success models, that I'm sitting in an exotic sports car (Lambo?) with 700+ HP under my butt ready to take off, but not being able to decide which direction to go.

Maybe I'm wrong in trying to find my "it" and I just need to try a bunch of stuff and see what sticks.

 

[FastLearner]

Maybe I'm wrong in trying to find my "it" and I just need to try a bunch of stuff and see what sticks.

No, you're not. Whatever sticks will probably work best for you.

 

[timmy]

e Hi Allen
I too am a late starter at TMFL. I have come up with my fastlane business template .(I think) It's simple, providres a need , scalable,and falls somewhat into my area of expertise . First, I spent a few hours here and there during my down time reading relavent threads on TMFL just to get me thinking 24/7 fastlane. This was followed by a few long walks in the early morning as the sun rose . This was the time that was required to decide a path forward. I feel a terrible sense of urgency going forward. My 10 year old daughter refers to tmfl forum as my library. Hope this helps you and good luck.

 

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[Allen]

e Hi Allen
I too am a late starter at TMFL. I have come up with my fastlane business template .(I think) It's simple, providres a need , scalable,and falls somewhat into my area of expertise . First, I spent a few hours here and there during my down time reading relavent threads on TMFL just to get me thinking 24/7 fastlane. This was followed by a few long walks in the early morning as the sun rose . This was the time that was required to decide a path forward. I feel a terrible sense of urgency going forward. My 10 year old daughter refers to tmfl forum as my library. Hope this helps you and good luck.

Thanks. I know I don't walk alone when it comes to this change in lifestyle and plan. When I was 20, I could live off of peanut butter and beer for weeks. However, when you are older and have the welfare of your family to think about, it's easy to think about retreating back into the "safety" of Corporate America. I know this isn't true, so I appreciate the insight.

 

[Kencan98]

I spent my entire adult life in business for myself besides a few sales jobs after highschool just I could learn how to sell.

I have absolutely ZERO to show for any of it.

Click.

 

[FastLearner]

I spent my entire adult life in business for myself besides a few sales jobs after highschool just I could learn how to sell.

I have absolutely ZERO to show for any of it.

Click.

Maybe it was a series of some bad choices you made in your younger years?

Sometimes it's not the business itself but how you go about it and what exterior influences are causing you to not be as successful as you should be.

If you knew then what you know now you may have made some better business choices as well as your personal.

 

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[Tom.V]

My it? I was starting to make more money than all of my friends early 2012. But I wanted more.

 

[100k]

Thanks. I like your idea of potentially improving business systems as I'm currently consulting in the space, however it's still only an intrinsic opportunity. I'm basically selling my time for money.

Many of the large networking, data center and outsourcing companies I've worked for bundled technology services together which I then sold as part of a larger solution. The technology moves so fast that it's hard to find a sweet spot where I can provide additional value. I'm more of a marketer than an engineer so I need to start there.

It's inspiring yet frustrating at the same time to see people who seemingly have found their passion and their niche market by providing a service or filling a need while some of us are still searching even after 20 years of real-world business experience and advanced education. Reading today about David Karp's $80M+ retention bonus with Yahoo really drives home the point. Here's a very smart "kid" who dropped out of high school and started tumblr in 2007. Six years later, he has not only provided a unique service that has enhanced the lives of many people, he's also pretty much set financially for generations and can now pursue any philanthropic goal he desires.

He disovered his "it" in high school and ran with it.

Okay... what comes easy to you? (props to MJ for that one). Think about what you can do effortlessly that other's struggle with.

Well let's say all business have the same general IT problems (or specialize in an area for big corporate companies) - could you perhaps make a general IT 101 for businesses on video and sell it online? In the video you could talk about all of the advice you have ever given about IT, cover every single useful topic a company may find useful.... littertual give them something that would cost $5000+ in consultancy fees, and sell that video or video series for $97.99. Or if you focused on big corporate companies you could maybe go into a specific topic or topics and sell that for $999 and still save them like $5000-$30k (I dunno your market, prices might be off).

Then you just make an authority site and a great landing page - buy traffic from adwords/facebook (since you are a marketer - or you can hire a company to manage it for you). That way you are giving the corporate businesses $5000 worth of advice for $97, and if they need specific advice that is not covered in the DVD then you can send them to your small network of advisors that you know - that would be able to help them and get a $1000 commission for sending them a client.

So let's say you sell 200 x $97 DVD's per month - that's $15k on auto pilot (after cost) and you might have 5 people that need your help - you could send them to your buddies and make $1k or work with them personally from home via skype for $3000. Or 3rd option....

You would work the hours you choose and have a lot more time at home.

It's not exactly fast lane.... but you can certainly scale it up - and every year update the video and send the old customer's a new video for same price. You get your demographic and marketing right and you could sell 1000+ copies a month.... now all of a sudden you are in a fast lane. Coz I think there are at least 1000 people across the globe that need up to date advice on IT/Marketing every month (All the new businesses/older businesses coming online in US/UK/AU/CA and other countrie) - you just need to deliver something of value to them.

If you become the authority of that niche - you could potentially make millions just doing speeches... i.e fill up a room with 400 corporate people - charge them $1000 a pop and do a seminar and answer their questions. You would still have to put in time, but your time would be worth like $10k+ per hour. *check out Jay Abraham's seminars.

I hope that has given you some ideas to run with. Let me know if ya need some more brainstorming .

 

[Kak]

Been an entrepreneur since I can remember. I've held 2 jobs in my life. I quit very early because I could make more money on my own. Both were within a buck of minimum wage. I have not had a job in 4 years now. I don't think Ill ever have to again.

 

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[GuestUser8117]

Been an entrepreneur since I can remember. I've held 2 jobs in my life. I quit very early because I could make more money on my own. Both were within a buck of minimum wage. I have not had a job in 4 years now. I don't think Ill ever have to again.

Hey Kak, I'm curious to know what is your business? Something like energy brokerage I think? Not sure.

 

[CryptO]

Even though we have been arch enemies for many years, it was my father who was my biggest influence and I guess I've always wanted to rival or do better than him.

Growing up I saw him running quite large companies and showing me that there is allot more to life than simply working for somebody else.

This did however make me feel very alienated from practically all of my social group, whose parents and outlook on life always seemed very harsh and different.

 

[RogueInnovation]

I was living a great life overseas, had some troubles with an atm machine blackout, and ended up borrowing a friends money to get back to my home country. I found my trip being cut short due to random circumstances to be really really shitty.
I met a great biz mentor, and he offered me advice in exchange for me giving him some.
He did what he could, but it wasn't too long until he couldn't say things without having already covered them or them having gone over my head. I realised that part of the protege path is to do the other half on your own. With just enough money for tickets and a few months rent I went back over seas in refusal of what happened to me initially, and made money on the move.

I did it first cuz I believed I didn't deserve what was happening to me financially. And then later learnt that it was ignorant of me to think I could live a life ignoring business and money (my transformation from the side walk).
So I then worked deeply on some projects, and got the courage up to launch my first biz.

My story is the bloodied hands and knees version. My mentor, worked his way out of his job and launched a competing product.
No matter which path you take, I feel that the constant is to find out how it is relevant to you and your chosen life.
For me, without it, I never would have met my girl, and its about protecting people close to me from bullshit.

Just recently I came to peace with it, and realised that making biz, is a way of demonstrating you have an open mind. Its a way of showing that you don't think "life is best without businesses", and shows a side of myself that likes the contemporary and the modern being a part of society.

 

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[Kak]

Hey Kak, I'm curious to know what is your business? Something like energy brokerage I think? Not sure.

I own 4 businesses. One is an commercial energy brokerage firm. That business sucks, but continues to pay me while I ignore it.

There is actually a 5th I want to add, but I can't handle any more. I posted the concept in the INSIDERS thread. To my knowledge no one has done anything with it.

I'm living hardcore business right now. I have only golfed once in the last 30 days. I used to golf 3 or 4 times a week. My income has more than doubled in the last 2 months.

 

[Bigguns50]

I never had an "it" moment. I looked at the business I was in at the time...found a problem, a solution, and in another month my site will be up and I'll be running. I don't even like the particular industry I'm going to serve but that's ok as long as it runs in the fastlane.

Okay... what comes easy to you? (props to MJ for that one).

I missed that one somewhere, but a huge part of what I'm doing does come easy to me. I've also spotted another problem, I'm putting together a landing page and I'll be testing this next week. This also involves what I do easy. I just never took that into consideration.

100K has the right idea as far as a fastlane business. I think looking in the industry you're in is a good start but there are problems all around. I swear, the more I practice looking for them, the more I find.

By the way...I'm also one of the 'older guys'. Who cares. We're here.

 

[DennisD]

Wow. 20 years industry experience. I'm 25, so that blows my mind. You've been working in the industry since I was 5.

I think the typical fastlane story is this: people are indoctrinated into the system, they're told it's what they're supposed to be doing, and then they rebel and find their own fastlane path.

I guess I can't really relate. I never had that. I was always the oddball, and never liked things that were 'popular'. It actually made me quite unpopular. Picked on all the way until I graduated high school. I think this was always my path, if only because I naturally do my own thing.

The industry I'm settling in is something I know better than anything else in the entire world.

 

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[ricktx]

I spent my entire adult life in business for myself besides a few sales jobs after highschool just I could learn how to sell.

I have absolutely ZERO to show for any of it.

Click.

Hum. Join the club. Spent 22 to 31 running my own consulting business. Did not have much to show for that either..... until I realized how much valuable experience I got in the process, a few short years later. That experience did not equate into money at first. However, It enabled me to do things most IT guys will never see or be offered, and without the experience I acquired in those days, I would have not seen or done any of it. It was an amazing ride and I would not trade any of it for anything.

Now for me, that part of my life is over with (been there ... done that so to speak) so on to the next step for me. How about you?

If you have not read the Fast Lane Millionaire I suggest you drop everything and read it. If you have read it .. Read it again... you not getting it.

Seriously, that will explain why you have nothing to show for all your hard work, and exactly what to do to fix it. Amazing book these forums are based on.

 

[DeletedUser2]

Cut your options down. No action while you have too many options just means your overwhelmed

Pick 3 research them pick 1 and start taking action

That feedback will either show you the right direction

Or that you need to pivot

No action. Will simply eat time you do not have.

Starting somewhere will cut through the bullshit
And the path will become more clear

Go start F*cking up!

Z

 

[Runum]

Several concerns I see here.

Like Zen said, you woke up to your reality and now you are overwhelmed with choices.

The concern I have is that you are comparing yourself to others. You are on your unique path in life. Your life is your own and comparing to others will never allow you to be happy with your life. You have a great family, be careful that you don't screw that up.

The other concern is that by looking at the works of others such as Karp, the tendency is to look at the result and not all the hard work and actions it took to get there. Karp is successful at what he does but I am pretty sure it wasn't easy and he worked his butt off. Be careful don't equate fastlane with easy street and no work street.

The next thing is, there is no roadmap for this. You gotta try stuff and mess up, because you WILL mess up if you try stuff. Zen taught me, kill a bad idea quickly. Some guys will try an idea for years before they decide it's a dud. Some guys will design an experiment about an idea, create the metrics, and prove the idea, right or wrong, in a month. Some guys will do several experiments a month and learn faster.

You, my friend, are going to have to not chase shiny objects. Try an idea and see if it works. The faster you get your scars the faster you will be heading in the direction you want.

If you want to learn more on the forum, I suggest you become and INSIDERS and read stuff by Zen, Vigilante, MJ, Snowbank, Biophase, and (sorry if I missed someone). Read and take notes. Ask better questions, get better answers.

Good luck.

 

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[Kencan98]

Hum. Join the club. Spent 22 to 31 running my own consulting business. Did not have much to show for that either..... until I realized how much valuable experience I got in the process, a few short years later. That experience did not equate into money at first. However, It enabled me to do things most IT guys will never see or be offered, and without the experience I acquired in those days, I would have not seen or done any of it. It was an amazing ride and I would not trade any of it for anything.

Now for me, that part of my life is over with (been there ... done that so to speak) so on to the next step for me. How about you?

If you have not read the Fast Lane Millionaire I suggest you drop everything and read it. If you have read it .. Read it again... you not getting it.

Seriously, that will explain why you have nothing to show for all your hard work, and exactly what to do to fix it. Amazing book these forums are based on.

The book is why I'm here and why I made the decision to cut off what I've been doing. I'm actually in my second time through the book. What's interesting though is that the book really didn't teach me anything new. But it did get me to question why I have been ignoring the "fastlane" model all my life. I came here probably a week ago or so not knowing what I was going to do but I knew that I was cutting off my old business and starting something fastlane.

Since then I've deleted my 50,000 person list in Aweber, canceled all my scheduled promotions that were upcoming, and trashed about 10 GBs worth of content that I created and once sold. A lot of the ebooks I wrote are now transferred onto Kindle but I did that a while ago. I also have a solid fastlane idea, I've presented the idea to the market and they like it, I created a 1 page plan, getting the website together, got my suppliers in place, got a sales process set up, competition researched (that's a bit of an issue), and we are launching on Sept. 1.

A lot has happened for me over the past week and the book motivated me to change. I agree that the book is something everyone should read but more importantly people need to read it and then DO IT! Information without action serves no purpose.

 

[Allen]

Several concerns I see here.

Like Zen said, you woke up to your reality and now you are overwhelmed with choices.

The concern I have is that you are comparing yourself to others. You are on your unique path in life. Your life is your own and comparing to others will never allow you to be happy with your life. You have a great family, be careful that you don't screw that up.

The other concern is that by looking at the works of others such as Karp, the tendency is to look at the result and not all the hard work and actions it took to get there. Karp is successful at what he does but I am pretty sure it wasn't easy and he worked his butt off. Be careful don't equate fastlane with easy street and no work street.

The next thing is, there is no roadmap for this. You gotta try stuff and mess up, because you WILL mess up if you try stuff. Zen taught me, kill a bad idea quickly. Some guys will try an idea for years before they decide it's a dud. Some guys will design an experiment about an idea, create the metrics, and prove the idea, right or wrong, in a month. Some guys will do several experiments a month and learn faster.

You, my friend, are going to have to not chase shiny objects. Try an idea and see if it works. The faster you get your scars the faster you will be heading in the direction you want.

If you want to learn more on the forum, I suggest you become and INSIDERS and read stuff by Zen, Vigilante, MJ, Snowbank, Biophase, and (sorry if I missed someone). Read and take notes. Ask better questions, get better answers.

Good luck.

Thanks! All good points! (Thanks everyone for your feedback).

I agree that my biggest mental and emotional challenge is fear of failure. When I started my career, I worked with a great organization that promoted the idea to "Ask for forgiveness, don't ask for permission." Basically, stating that it's OK to fail as long as you did your research and tried doing something that would result in positive change. Being, young and ambitious, I took full advantage of that credo and it served me well. Over the years and with increased responsibilities and promotions, that approach to business slowly changed and I became less and less willing to take risks in fear of making a mistake and looking foolish or worse, losing my job. The fact that the space I was working also become more commoditized and the healthy margins I had enjoyed earlier in my career that allowed for more calculated risks, began to diminish.

I know David Karp had a process that led to his success and I celebrate that process not just the event that the media covered earlier this week. My point earlier is more about how he discovered his "it" at such a young age. That is what impresses (and inspires) me most about his story.