Thread: How to GET THE MOST out of your Fastlane Membership

Welcome to the Fastlane!

The fastlane is not just a forum. It is a community formed to share, support, and learn. If you truly decide to interact, read, learn, and get to know the people here, your life will change.

Following are some of the things you can do to magnify your fastlane results.

Lurk or Join? Well... both! It can be beneficial to lurk for a while. It takes a while to get a feel for the personality of this particular community. However, reading will only give you a very small return on your time. Your learning will take leaps forward when you register and start really interacting here. So, yes you lurkers out there... it is okay to do for a time. However, we are all about taking action here! So, after you have spent a little time to read, it is time to take the leap and Register!


Make An Introduction Even though this forum is growing quickly, we are still a tight community, and we are very anti-spam. You will be well received if your first post is an introduction. (If you dive right into other discussions, some members may feel you are a spammer.) Please, share a little about yourself with us! We want to know your experience, your interest, and where you plan on going in the future! Go Here to Make Your Introduction.

Get the Most Out of Your Threads If you are here because you would like help, you are just getting started on the path to financial freedom, or you are in "learn" mode, please read the due diligence and ask for advice threads before you start a thread. You will get more out of your new threads if you put thought into the best way to ask for advice or ask your question.

Say Thanks Once you have asked your question, remember to say thank you to those that have taken the time to respond to you. There are two ways to say "thanks." You can click on the "thanks" button to the left of the post, or you can give the poster reputation points. You do this by clicking on "great post. add Speed ++" button found to the left of the post. For more on Reputation, Read This.

Give Back We all have something to learn and we all have something to share. Remember to spend time in both of these areas. You may feel like you don't have any knowledge to give. That is not so. We all learn, and we all grow. You have had experiences in your life, and those experiences taught you something. Sometimes, those lessons come from failures too. (we have all had them). As you begin to get to know this community, remember to keep a balance. Make deposits ( helpful posts, share lessons, say thank you)

Keep it Respectful You don't have to be here very long to realize that this is not a typical internet forum. There is no tolerance for rude behavior. We are real people that have formed real friendships. We don't always agree, and that is to be expected. However, we do expect all members to conduct themselves with a respectful tone.

Meet Others There are physical gatherings, once or twice a year. People get together, brainstorm ideas, share knowledge, and network, network, network….. (of course, there is a little fun involved too) . Anyone is welcome to attend these events, but space is limited. If you want to jump into the fastlane with both feet, get involved in one of these gatherings.

What is it like?

The 2008 Gathering
The 2009 Gathering

Upcoming Events

Sep 2009 Cruise
The 2010 Gathering

Mastermind There are people here that are forming lifelong relationships and friendships with others. They do deals together, speak on the phone or email regularly, and start mastermind groups with one another. If you really want to get your life in the fastlane going…. Join (or start) a mastermind group.

Read the Legends. Finally, the best of the best posts can be found in the Legend section. From the home page, scroll down. About halfway down, in the right hand sidebar, you will find the list of legendary posts. You can also get a list of the Legendary Threads Here. Enjoy!

Again, Welcome to the Fastlane... Where we are a community and friends.... not just a forum.

Fastlane members.... what other advice do you have for the new registrants?

Great suggestions ATW. Don't forget the 2009 B&P photos.

B&P Post Your Photos!

Oh, wow. Thanks for the photo link.
I forgot all about that thread! Ah... good times.
It is so much fun to go back and look

Originally Posted by AroundTheWorld

Oh, wow. Thanks for the photo link.
I forgot all about that thread! Ah... good times.
It is so much fun to go back and look

I agree, I'm ready for 2010.

Both Greg, Texas Ranger, with your great mod skills(which I was fortunate enough to see in person at B&P) and Sonya, with not only great business, but lifestyle advice(i.e. how to's for raising children and how to run a successful partnership with your spouse) are just a few of the many reasons I am addicted to these forums!

To add to the OP, participate and learn to take constructive advice, the inability to grasp those two made my first couple months here not so productive, but once I did grasp them I've continued on a lifelong journey towards success and fulfillment thanks to this wonderful community

Originally Posted by vr4playa

To add to the OP, participate and learn to take constructive advice, the inability to grasp those two made my first couple months here not so productive, but once I did grasp them I've continued on a lifelong journey towards success and fulfillment thanks to this wonderful community

vr4playa,

Thanks for adding to the list.

Care to share more about accepting constructive advice? What was happening for you in your life when you had a hard time with this?

How did you change, specifically? Was it a mental "ah-ha" moment with regards to constructive advice? How did your life (and experience on this forum) change once you made this shift?

Tony Robbins once said that if we want better answers, we first need to start by asking better questions.

I'm embarrassed to say, but I know that when I first started out on the RD forum--hell, even here, my questions were very vague--I would ask questions like, "How do you buy an apartment building?" or "How do you flip a house?"

I was frustrated with the answers I was getting because the answers were either very vague or sarcastic. I finally learned that the more honed my question, the more honed the answer. I had to do some initial research into the topic I was asking about, so I could ask a specific question and get a specific answer. ...Kinda like using a search engine. If you ask google "How do I buy an apartment?" your search results come back with 15 million results (literally!) But if I ask "how do I begin investing in apartment buildings with no money down?" I get 34k results (literally.)

Kinda funny, 'cause it seems so obvious now to ask a specific question, but I suppose that's the problem most people have in general: clarity on what they want or what they are looking for.

++rep for bringing this up Sonya; what a great post!

I like that Yves, get your questions specific.

Also, before asking a question, google it, use our search function. Find out all you can about that topic and share what you have found out as you are asking the question. Also, please include links to the things you have found out. You may bring something new to the forum that we didn't know. By doing this you show the rest of the members that you aren't waiting around for somebody to do your work for you. You are also training yourself to ask different questions and look for answers independently.

Example: http://www.thefastlaneforum.com/100948-post14.html

Originally Posted by AroundTheWorld

Care to share more about accepting constructive advice? What was happening for you in your life when you had a hard time with this?

Well the most memorable was a rant post I posted last Summer about how much I hate banks and the pathetic interest you get on savings while they invest the money in higher interest yields and Russ came out and said something to the tune of "What are YOU doing about it?". This was at a time when I was near depression b/c of being unemployed for 3 months and had no clue of where to go. I could've curled up in a ball, but instead I realized that I was focusing my energy the wrong way.

Originally Posted by AroundTheWorld

How did you change, specifically? Was it a mental "ah-ha" moment with regards to constructive advice? How did your life (and experience on this forum) change once you made this shift?

The ah-ha moment is still on-going and one of the major changes I made thanks to this forum is to actually start reading, the book that has changed my life and will ultimately lead to my success was "The Four Hour Workweek", recommended here and the first book I have EVER read for fun and probably the 10th book I've actually read cover to cover in my life(getting through school involved a lot of creative "work smarter, not harder" tactics ).

In fact the last few weeks have been a lot of mental conditioning leading into the 30 Day Challenge(something Andres rec'd at B&P) next month, such as printing out reference cards of Keith Cameron Smith's "Top 10 Distinctions" and tabbing/bookmarking important mindset and actionable sections in 4HWW that will help compliment the activities of the 30DC and finally checking out a few books to reference in a licensing project I started working on with a fellow fastlaner that will lead to real-life business lessons of success I can give back to the forums that I have taken so much from! Although I definitely have enough failure stories already which IMO are just necessary character building steps on the road to success

To top it off the B&P was a series of "ah-ha" moments highlighted by Bill's presentation and the following reaction which was enough to show that this CAN be done and I do plan on being that "rock-star" of next year's B&P, then again, there wasn't a presentation that didn't move me, the challenge though has been to figure out which path to choose.

Originally Posted by yveskleinsky

I finally learned that the more honed my question, the more honed the answer.

What a great tip for helping people get the most out of their threads. Thanks. too

Originally Posted by Runum

Also, before asking a question, google it, use our search function. Find out all you can about that topic and share what you have found out as you are asking the question. Also, please include links to the things you have found out.

Another awesome tip!

As long as e are on the topic of how to get the most out of your thread... here is another one..

KNOW THYSELF. Sometimes we get questions like... "Should I move to Texas?" While questions like this could potentially lead to a good discussion, people can't possibly have a discussion based on this information alone. We don't know you. We don't know your circumstance, the reason you are considering it, the pros and cons, etc.

You must

1) Understand these things about yourself.
2) Share these things with the forum.

Tell us why you are considering it. What you expect to have happen. What the pros and cons are (as you see them), etc. etc.

Ultimately you are the only person that knows yourself, and you are the one that is responsible for your own happiness. When facing a life decision, it is really helpful to bounce your thoughts off other people. They can ask you guided questions and help you find the answer for yourself, but they can't answer the question for you.

So, instead of asking "should I....?" consider sharing what you are considering, the pros and cons as you see them, and asking for feedback and input. That may lead to some ah-ha's for you.

We are coming up with a great list of tips for people that are new to the forum. Any other ideas out there?

I'm trying to think about what else would have been helpful to me in the beginning.

Here are some Potential topics. Anyone want to bite and elaborate?

* How to give constructive advice
* How to receive constructive advice
* How to get the most out of your thread We have already gotten some GREAT tips on this. Anyone else have more on this topic?
* How to make connections with other members
* Other ???

I'll take the last one...

How to make connections with other members.

Since we are are community and not just a forum, we are all about building supportive relationships.... how can you go about doing that?

Interact on other people's threads. This one seems obvious, as it is basically what a forum is, but because it is so fundamental, it would seem silly to leave it out. Give advice, share frustrations, and just generally interact. Take the time to read and get to know other individuals.

Give Rep. Don't give rep just to send a message. The point of rep is to give credit to people for excellent posts... but if you do choose to give rep, you will find that there is a place for you to leave a comment. This is a great way to leave a personalized message to someone else. This can be the beginning of a new relationship or connection with someone.

Send a Personal Message (PM). When you want to request specific information, or share information that may be helpful to an individual, move your conversation to a PM. This can keep the conversation going, and bring your relationship with that person to a more personal level. Once you have established more of a personal relationship, keep it going. Remember to occasionally check in and follow up with that person.

Remember. Take the time to remember the goals, activities and situations of other people. If you haven't heard from them for a while, remember to check in with them and ask them how they are doing. Are they closer to their goal? Has the situation changed?

..bump..

just found this thread and thought it was great being a relatively new member of the community....

bump.... just because I happen to be here for BP links...

transcribe,

Best you go over to the intro's section and introduce yourself.

That's what new members are encouraged to do.

Single line posts, regardless of how nice/supportive they are, can get you banned as a spammer.

-Russ H.