The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

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

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

How do you guys get a "second wind" to work on your business goals?

Anything related to matters of the mind

BellaPippin

B is for Beast
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
275%
Jul 16, 2015
1,430
3,928
34
Chicago, IL
Looking for advice from folks who still need to hold on to their 9-5 and are moonlighting their road to the fastlane. Currently I work 40hs a week and take college classes (which comes with homework and study). I normally start my day at 7am on average. My body really plays against me when I'm finally home around 7-9pm (next semester probably 9pm every day).

I have managed to go lifting 3 times a week consistently for the past month and Ive noticed a little increase in energy (next step will be upping my protein intake, as my body is getting hungry fast, think that will help with energy too).

I've also set the goal of starting the day earlier rather than try to carve time at night when I'm already done for the day, but that's a work in progress (currently struggling to get up).

Any other tips? Energy drinks and caffeine don't work very well with my organism, for the record.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

GrayCode

.
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
399%
Nov 23, 2015
261
1,041
Looking for advice from folks who still need to hold on to their 9-5 and are moonlighting their road to the fastlane. Currently I work 40hs a week and take college classes (which comes with homework and study). I normally start my day at 7am on average. My body really plays against me when I'm finally home around 7-9pm (next semester probably 9pm every day).

I have managed to go lifting 3 times a week consistently for the past month and Ive noticed a little increase in energy (next step will be upping my protein intake, as my body is getting hungry fast, think that will help with energy too).

I've also set the goal of starting the day earlier rather than try to carve time at night when I'm already done for the day, but that's a work in progress (currently struggling to get up).

Any other tips? Energy drinks and caffeine don't work very well with my organism, for the record.
Hey, PT here so the working out is a great idea to up energy levels. May i ask..

What do you do for a living?
What are you studying in school and why?
What type of fastlane business are you working on?
 

BellaPippin

B is for Beast
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
275%
Jul 16, 2015
1,430
3,928
34
Chicago, IL
Hey, PT here so the working out is a great idea to up energy levels. May i ask..

What do you do for a living?
What are you studying in school and why?
What type of fastlane business are you working on?

Hey there :D

I am a personal banker.

I am getting my associate in liberal arts, paying out of pocket to avoid loans first two years, in the hopes of transferring to a 4-year school and becoming an economist+political scientist. I'm not expecting to get a job as an economist, I do it for my own personal ambition/satisfaction. It's linked to my "big picture goals" if that makes sense. As such I am trying to plan carefully whether I'll go into loans in a year or so or not or if I should wait after I get the associates. I am a moderate risk-taker I suppose so my plan is to figure out how to get into the fastlane so that studying full-time isn't an issue (or a burden).

This is my progress thread https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...e-an-audience-but-not-a-product-to-sell.61915, I'm trying to fill a need in my exchange-students niche, but I still haven't managed to get sales out of it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

100k

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
149%
Oct 20, 2012
1,529
2,284
You're a personal banker, but studying liberal arts?

How the heck does that work?

What are you going to use that liberal arts degree for?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

BellaPippin

B is for Beast
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
275%
Jul 16, 2015
1,430
3,928
34
Chicago, IL
You're a personal banker, but studying liberal arts?

How the heck does that work?

What are you going to use that liberal arts degree for?


By definition, "in modern times, liberal arts education is a term that can be interpreted in different ways. It can refer to certain areas of literature, languages, art history, music history, philosophy, history, mathematics, psychology, and science".

Economics is a science, so is political science. The associates degree is in "liberal arts" because it encompasses all the general education classes --common to many majors-- that I will be able to transfer to the 4 year university where I'll officially major in economics (to save me two years of loans, as I can pay for community college with my banker job). Like I said before I want my degree because once I get into the fastlane to take care of the "making-a-living" part I would like to use it to do meaningful research. Point being, my plan doesn't link my degree to my income. It's something I do because I want to and it just happens to be very expensive in America so I'm trying to do it efficiently.


I am a banker because I have experience in retail and amongst other benefits I am getting paid to learn how to sell and network, which is a skill I will need to be a successful business owner.
 

Vigilante

Legendary Contributor
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
596%
Oct 31, 2011
11,116
66,265
Gulf Coast
I want you to read this book.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0684802031/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20

There's a simple concept at play here that you have to master.

Bella, you're living life in reverse. Your best energy should be devoted to the most important things in your life, and let everything else fill in around them.

You make it a point to keep FIRST THINGS FIRST.

Here's a great analogy :

 

Vigilante

Legendary Contributor
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
596%
Oct 31, 2011
11,116
66,265
Gulf Coast
Also, I moved your thread from SLOWLANE to Mindset, Motivation and Choices.

Don't ever start a thread in Slowlane again, Bella. Thats not you.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Kingmaker

Gold Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
337%
Jan 26, 2013
396
1,335
San Diego
When I was in grind mode, I'd leave work at 5pm and tell myself I'm not going home until 9pm. Then I would go to a place where I didn't know anyone that had Wi-Fi and work. Usually a public library, a Starbucks or a shopping mall. -Put yourself into constraints where all you can do is work, and your brain will view it as fun because it's the only thing available to do.

Healthy diet is very important. You don't realize how much it matters until you get to experience the high energy levels. Then there's no going back to eating crap. -Eat healthy for for mental clarity, workout.

I was also going to college at the time, but dropped out. Realized I don't need a classroom or a piece of paper (degree) to learn about what I'm interested in when I have the whole Internet at my fingertips. -Focus, on what really matters, on high ROI activities. Cut out all the rest.

***

On another note, I used to work at Wells Fargo as a teller when I was younger and it's not the worst environment for an aspiring entrepreneur to be in. Bank employees themselves are Slowlane as shit, but dealing with money and clients of various income levels on the daily was good practice.

So in your position I would take refuge in the fact that you don't have it as bad as a lot of people in absolutely mind-numbing day jobs, and focus up on business more during free time.
 
Last edited:

wholehog

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
117%
Dec 6, 2015
18
21
44
Looking for advice from folks who still need to hold on to their 9-5 and are moonlighting their road to the fastlane. Currently I work 40hs a week and take college classes (which comes with homework and study). I normally start my day at 7am on average. My body really plays against me when I'm finally home around 7-9pm (next semester probably 9pm every day).

I have managed to go lifting 3 times a week consistently for the past month and Ive noticed a little increase in energy (next step will be upping my protein intake, as my body is getting hungry fast, think that will help with energy too).

I've also set the goal of starting the day earlier rather than try to carve time at night when I'm already done for the day, but that's a work in progress (currently struggling to get up).

Any other tips? Energy drinks and caffeine don't work very well with my organism, for the record.

Personally, there is nowhere better but the beach in Hawaii. The fact that it takes me 6 hours to get there only helps. I unwind all the stress and the "to-do's" and then once I get there I start resetting. And by the way you don't have to have a lot of money to go to Hawaii. There are a ton of Hacks (www.hackertravel.com) that you can do to get free airline tix, pts to pay for a room on vrbo.com or airbnb and wala you are in Hawaii for free.

Even though I have plenty of money to pay myself I find it more gratifying to use points and hacks to go for free. I somehow feel like I"m living on the edge even though everything I do is legit and by design...
 

GrayCode

.
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
399%
Nov 23, 2015
261
1,041
I want you to read this book.

http://www.amazon.com/First-Things-Stephen-R-Covey/dp/0684802031/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449525137&sr=8-1&keywords=first things first

There's a simple concept at play here that you have to master.

Bella, you're living life in reverse. Your best energy should be devoted to the most important things in your life, and let everything else fill in around them.

You make it a point to keep FIRST THINGS FIRST.

Here's a great analogy :

Thank you for this vid
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Gale4rc

Silver Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
107%
Sep 23, 2013
649
693
35
It sounds like you wont be successful for a pretty long time but you're ok with it. As long as you acknowledge that and stick to your plan there isn't anything wrong with that.

Personally I'm an all in type of guy though :)
 

BellaPippin

B is for Beast
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
275%
Jul 16, 2015
1,430
3,928
34
Chicago, IL
I want you to read this book.

http://www.amazon.com/First-Things-Stephen-R-Covey/dp/0684802031/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449525137&sr=8-1&keywords=first things first

There's a simple concept at play here that you have to master.

Bella, you're living life in reverse. Your best energy should be devoted to the most important things in your life, and let everything else fill in around them.

You make it a point to keep FIRST THINGS FIRST.

Here's a great analogy :



Damn, I cried a little. It is a great analogy. I will read that book. I thought it would be the 7-Habits book (which I read a long time ago) but I didn't know about this one. I'll get it for my daily commute. And thanks for your encouraging words, @Vigilante. they are much more appreciated than you could imagine.
 

BellaPippin

B is for Beast
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
275%
Jul 16, 2015
1,430
3,928
34
Chicago, IL
It sounds like you wont be successful for a pretty long time but you're ok with it. As long as you acknowledge that and stick to your plan there isn't anything wrong with that.

Personally I'm an all in type of guy though :)

@Gale4rc, could you develop a bit more on that? It's interesting.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

BellaPippin

B is for Beast
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
275%
Jul 16, 2015
1,430
3,928
34
Chicago, IL
When I was in grind mode, I'd leave work at 5pm and tell myself I'm not going home until 9pm. Then I would go to a place where I didn't know anyone that had Wi-Fi and work. Usually a public library, a Starbucks or a shopping mall. -Put yourself into constraints where all you can do is work, and your brain will view it as fun because it's the only thing available to do.

Healthy diet is very important. You don't realize how much it matters until you get to experience the high energy levels. Then there's no going back to eating crap. -Eat healthy for for mental clarity, workout.

I was also going to college at the time, but dropped out. Realized I don't need a classroom or a piece of paper (degree) to learn about what I'm interested in when I have the whole Internet at my fingertips. -Focus, on what really matters, on high ROI activities. Cut out all the rest.

***

On another note, I used to work at Wells Fargo as a teller when I was younger and it's not the worst environment for an aspiring entrepreneur to be in. Bank employees themselves are Slowlane as shit, but dealing with money and clients of various income levels on the daily was good practice.

So in your position I would take refuge in the fact that you don't have it as bad as a lot of people in absolutely mind-numbing day jobs, and focus up on business more during free time.

I've been trying to apply that on the gap that I have between my job and my class. Instead of going home for dinner I come to the college computer room and try to catch up on homework, and it's more productive. Another thing I noticed to day is that actually there is a large chunk of down time at work which I could use strategically (I moved locations and the traffic is 100 times lower than before). The main reason I like it its because the model of my branch encourages a lot of cold calling, relationship building and networking and I want to practice that. I do recognize I feel stuck there as well.

I realize college right now is more like a long-term effort, but I don't want to drop out. Not sure if it's a mistake or not. I really want my degree, I guess I'm not sure if it is for the right reasons.
 

Lex DeVille

Sweeping Shadows From Dreams
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
597%
Jan 14, 2013
5,351
31,935
Utah
Looking for advice from folks who still need to hold on to their 9-5 and are moonlighting their road to the fastlane. Currently I work 40hs a week and take college classes (which comes with homework and study). I normally start my day at 7am on average. My body really plays against me when I'm finally home around 7-9pm (next semester probably 9pm every day).

I have managed to go lifting 3 times a week consistently for the past month and Ive noticed a little increase in energy (next step will be upping my protein intake, as my body is getting hungry fast, think that will help with energy too).

I've also set the goal of starting the day earlier rather than try to carve time at night when I'm already done for the day, but that's a work in progress (currently struggling to get up).

Any other tips? Energy drinks and caffeine don't work very well with my organism, for the record.

I don't work 9-5, but my schedule is really full. I do early mornings. Usually up by 2 or 3.
Full body stretches as soon as I'm out of bed to get blood flowing, immediately followed by a bottle of cold water.
After that I prioritize by writing things down on a checklist of "must-dos".

Then high-quality coffee with MCT oil & Kerrygold Butter.
The high fat content subdues hunger & balances caffeine jitters which is nice because I fast.
Heavy foods (anything that's not a fruit or veggie) before 10ish usually makes me sleepy.
I have a second cup of coffee the same way a few hours later.

Learning & stuff that doesn't require the world to be awake is done first thing.
When the world wakes up, I try to do the most important actions first.
School work is in the afternoon since that's when my mind is tired, but not completely burnt.

Are your classes online? Mine are, and they're easy to bullshit. (Go Ashford!) :D

Some other stuff you may not care to know about me:
• Late nights = nothing getting done
• 3rd cup of coffee puts me to sleep wtf?!
• I prefer running to lifting - especially sprints
• It's easier to wake up earlier by doing it 30 minutes at a time
• Coffee after 2pm keeps me awake all night
• Reading phone or internet within 1hr before bed keeps me awake all night
• I usually go to bed between 8 & 8:30
• My wife has adapted to this lifestyle and it is our norm
• If I'm not in the mood to work, I won't
• If I'm not in the mood to work, and I watch this video, I'll get to work.

 

AgainstAllOdds

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
647%
Dec 26, 2014
2,274
14,724
32
Chicago, IL
Looking for advice from folks who still need to hold on to their 9-5 and are moonlighting their road to the fastlane. Currently I work 40hs a week and take college classes (which comes with homework and study). I normally start my day at 7am on average. My body really plays against me when I'm finally home around 7-9pm (next semester probably 9pm every day).

I have managed to go lifting 3 times a week consistently for the past month and Ive noticed a little increase in energy (next step will be upping my protein intake, as my body is getting hungry fast, think that will help with energy too).

I've also set the goal of starting the day earlier rather than try to carve time at night when I'm already done for the day, but that's a work in progress (currently struggling to get up).

Any other tips? Energy drinks and caffeine don't work very well with my organism, for the record.

Sounds like you have a lot on your plate. It might make sense to just hold off on your fastlane goals, and to just finish college and get your workout routines and eating habits figured out first. Then come back to running a business when you have the time to devote to it.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

theag

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
297%
Jan 19, 2012
3,903
11,580
associate in liberal arts
paying out of pocket
I'm not expecting to get a job as an economist
if that makes sense

No, it doesnt make any sense.

No kind of "perfect day routine" or workout will help you here. You need to decide what you want.

If you want to be an entrepreneur you should work on a business. Drop that liberal arts degree stuff and read a book in your free time or take one of the bazillion free online courses offered by top universities if you prefer that environment. But paying for it in your situation is beyond crazy.
 

William

Bronze Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
97%
Feb 15, 2012
160
155

wilddog

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
182%
Sep 3, 2013
235
428
Toronto
Then high-quality coffee with MCT oil & Kerrygold Butter.
The high fat content subdues hunger & balances caffeine jitters which is nice because I fast.

Do you notice a difference mentally/physically with a bulletproof coffee vs a regular cup of joe?
I've tried it a couple of times (coconut oil + organic butter) but I was still starving after and cognitively I felt the same.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Lex DeVille

Sweeping Shadows From Dreams
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
597%
Jan 14, 2013
5,351
31,935
Utah
Do you notice a difference mentally/physically with a bulletproof coffee vs a regular cup of joe?
I've tried it a couple of times (coconut oil + organic butter) but I was still starving after and cognitively I felt the same.

I don't drink regular coffee so it's hard to say. I also don't drink Bulletproof brand if that's what you're asking.
I drink a coffee called Kicking Horse. The only thing I sometimes drink that's more regular is Starbucks when I'm on the go.
Starbucks coffee always leaves me feeling hungry & jittery even with added fat and I'm not sure why.
Using coconut oil instead of MCT oil also leaves me feeling hungry early. Again, not sure why.

Mental clarity is a nice idea, but it's more a combo of healthy eating + exercise + meditation etc.
The physical benefit is simply filling fulfilled without feeling too hungry or too tired to focus.

Mental clarity, physical fitness, energy...

In the end it's all a process.

Not just coffee.
 

AustinS28

Silver Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
240%
Sep 25, 2014
297
714
33
Manhattan, NY
Really liked Vigilante's advice up top, I've never read that book, but I have had many people including my mentor echo the same advice on how to prioritize your work. Paraphrased, he said "if you don't make time for the big scalable business that is going to change your life,

Some other things I've done that have helped -

* Some nights you're going to get 4-5 hours of sleep, is it the healthiest way? Maybe not, but the initial grind requires sacrifice. Turn yourself into a morning person if you can and get organized.

*Be as healthy as possible, diet and exercise.

*Take a day/night off here and there. It may sound counterproductive, but taking a day off has done two things for me: 1 It allows me to recharge and catch up on some rest. 2 I'm more motivated to get back to work. I realized a long time ago that if I just leave time for work, yes I can get a lot done, no I don't feel mentally healthy.

*Back to organization plan goals for the week. Small goals are the necessary steps to the big ones.

*Be obsessed but don't become obsessive over the small things. Worrying about sleep will make you sleep less. Worrying that you're going to be tired when you get home is going to make you feel tired. Be comfortable feeling uncomfortable and get your work done.
 

BellaPippin

B is for Beast
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
275%
Jul 16, 2015
1,430
3,928
34
Chicago, IL
I don't work 9-5, but my schedule is really full. I do early mornings. Usually up by 2 or 3.
Full body stretches as soon as I'm out of bed to get blood flowing, immediately followed by a bottle of cold water.
After that I prioritize by writing things down on a checklist of "must-dos".

Then high-quality coffee with MCT oil & Kerrygold Butter.
The high fat content subdues hunger & balances caffeine jitters which is nice because I fast.
Heavy foods (anything that's not a fruit or veggie) before 10ish usually makes me sleepy.
I have a second cup of coffee the same way a few hours later.

Learning & stuff that doesn't require the world to be awake is done first thing.
When the world wakes up, I try to do the most important actions first.
School work is in the afternoon since that's when my mind is tired, but not completely burnt.

Are your classes online? Mine are, and they're easy to bullshit. (Go Ashford!) :D

Some other stuff you may not care to know about me:
• Late nights = nothing getting done
• 3rd cup of coffee puts me to sleep wtf?!
• I prefer running to lifting - especially sprints
• It's easier to wake up earlier by doing it 30 minutes at a time
• Coffee after 2pm keeps me awake all night
• Reading phone or internet within 1hr before bed keeps me awake all night
• I usually go to bed between 8 & 8:30
• My wife has adapted to this lifestyle and it is our norm
• If I'm not in the mood to work, I won't
• If I'm not in the mood to work, and I watch this video, I'll get to work.



Thanks Lex, many of the things you named ring true for me too. My goal is to push it to 5am eventually, and I'm working on it. It does feel better when you wake up early and get to do stuff. Kinda like the Miracle Morning book. I am going to bed between 9:30 and 10:00 currently, and whether I drink coffee to stretch it till midnight to get stuff done, brain activity just won't happen lol. Thanks for those pointers.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

BellaPippin

B is for Beast
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
275%
Jul 16, 2015
1,430
3,928
34
Chicago, IL
No, it doesnt make any sense.

No kind of "perfect day routine" or workout will help you here. You need to decide what you want.

If you want to be an entrepreneur you should work on a business. Drop that liberal arts degree stuff and read a book in your free time or take one of the bazillion free online courses offered by top universities if you prefer that environment. But paying for it in your situation is beyond crazy.

You speak the truth. I am one that likes having the cake and eating it too, unfortunately. It works sometimes and other times it's just a pain.
 

BellaPippin

B is for Beast
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
275%
Jul 16, 2015
1,430
3,928
34
Chicago, IL
Do you notice a difference mentally/physically with a bulletproof coffee vs a regular cup of joe?
I've tried it a couple of times (coconut oil + organic butter) but I was still starving after and cognitively I felt the same.

This might sound bland or ethnic but its worth giving a try (my Argentinian speaking from inside): try yerba mate. Drinking mate. If I had to describe it it's like herbal tea that you drink sip through a straw. Now, mate contains stuff just as good as caffeine (mateine, no joke) but no crash after, and much healthier. It's also a good diuretic. Argentinian students (bah, anyone that needs to keep awake) at home use mate instead of monster drinks to pull all-nighters. Something new to try, I can testify it wakes me up most of the time.
 

David Young

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
86%
Jun 1, 2015
180
154
51
This might sound bland or ethnic but its worth giving a try (my Argentinian speaking from inside): try yerba mate. Drinking mate. If I had to describe it it's like herbal tea that you drink sip through a straw. Now, mate contains stuff just as good as caffeine (mateine, no joke) but no crash after, and much healthier. It's also a good diuretic. Argentinian students (bah, anyone that needs to keep awake) at home use mate instead of monster drinks to pull all-nighters. Something new to try, I can testify it wakes me up most of the time.
Some way off going fast lane but have an equally hectic day schedule with slow lane 9-5 and family. As mentioned above, I think diet is the key. Find a diet. Eating schedule that works for you and build from there. For me this has turned out to be a paleo approach but you need to work out what suits you.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Gale4rc

Silver Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
107%
Sep 23, 2013
649
693
35
could you develop a bit more on that? It's interesting.
Success for must of us took a long time to make it successful.

In your plan from what it seems, you have all this other stuff you want to do first before diving into entrepreneurship full time. While your entrepreneurship is on the back burner, you're missing out on tons of failure that will get you to success quicker.

How much longer until you finish college and everything? 2-5 years? Then when you really get into entrepreneurship it will probably add another 5 years unless you get lucky. For me, that time frame was never acceptable so I went in entrepreneurship head first at 21 and now at 27 I'm finally successful.

Nothings wrong with your plan but it seems like your dreams might end up in the grave yard, how many people do you know follow a plan (other than college) for that long?
 

TeflonDon

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
302%
Jan 9, 2013
49
148
England
Seeing a lot of great points in this thread already, going to add a few of my own and reinforce some already made, from my point of view. Bear with me here, I'm a long winded kind of guy. The tl;dr is right here for anyone as well - just read the bold lines.

1. Make sure you're sleeping well.

If you're well rested, you'll be more energetic, motivated and productive. Sinister Lex's method is what works for me also, moving the time back gradually. Move it 30 mins earlier, do that for a week to adjust, move another 30 mins. Life isn't a sprint, it's a marathon, you don't need to force yourself to wake up mad early the next few days, only to crash. Do it slowly, make it a long term habit.

2. Eat right.

I want to share a story with you all here. I'm a very active guy, lots of knowledge and experience in the fitness field. It's been well over a decade since I haven't trained at least 2-3x a week. That kind of week for me is like, christmas-new year week. The rest of my life, I train hard 5-6 days minimum, and also fight professionally as a hobby, so I know about being in shape, exercising, and nutrition.

Earlier this year I had a severe case of Gastritis that hospitalized me, and also gave me the worst physical pain I have ever felt. As a result, I was instructed to eat really healthy. No fats, no sugars, no spice. No seasonings, no pepper. Not even full-fat milk. No junk at all. Until this point, because I know my body and how to manipulate my weight, and I know how to train well, I've always been in shape, toned, and able to hit my target weight fine. I do this while enjoying a pack of biscuits or two each week, and the odd chocolate. And the occasional sausage & bacon sandwich, etc. Point being, I assumed my diet was fine, as I'm energetic and healthy.

When I had to eat 100% healthy, I noticed an interesting thing. My energy levels went UP! Way up. Like I was up at 8am, and still feeling productive at midnight. So, if you can cut the processed crap and such, you can get the same energy increase of a red bull/monster, except it lasts all day, every day, and there's no come down. Try it.

3. Exercise

Exercise is good, it livens you up. It also depends what you're doing though, and how, and when. Going for a nice jog in the morning livens me up for the day. Hard hill sprints in the morning kill my system, and leave me tired all day. You could look at trying different things here, seeing what works. Weights for me, don't do much energy wise. It also depends on your workout goals too though. Right now for my physical goals, running is counter-productive, weights are good.

4. Wake Up Earlier

You already mentioned it, and should keep at it IMO. I noticed it doesn't matter how much sleep I'm getting, it's the time I'm getting it at that affects my productivity. I'm not very productive at late night, I can grind stuff out, just can't do my best work. Morning time is the most productive time. Making both bed time and wake up time earlier, helps productivity.

5. Hydrate!

Often overlooked, and probably the one thing we can all do to increase productivity in ALL areas of life is to hydrate properly. If you don't pee clear, you're not properly hydrated. This means your brain isn't able to work at 100%. It means your body also can't function at 100% when you exercise. Literally everybody who asks me what the first thing they should do to live a healthy life, I tell them to drink more water, hydrate properly. If you drive a car low on oil, it doesn't work properly, and will eventually break down. So why do people think it's okay for us to run our own machine/body without the right fluid levels to keep it functioning properly?

6. Stretch/Walk

This is for when you're working, and you feel tired, demotivated, or unproductive. Take a little walk. You don't even need to go out, I just pace around the house for 5-10 and think about something different. You can also do stretches, or pretty much anything that gets you up and moving, and increases blood flow. This should refresh you, try it and see if it works.

As a bonus, if it's cold out, I step out there and walk for a few. Nothing wakes you up like the cold.

7. Efficiency

Pay attention to how well you're working. If you're tired and demotivated to the point that your work rate is low, and you're not producing efficiently, just leave it and take a break. Do what you like, take a bath, watch a movie, go to sleep, whatever.

See I noticed something last year. I try to force the grind at times, and just keep on pushing, and pushing, and pushing. Sometimes when I'm too tired to even process what I'm reading in front of me. In this mode, it could take me 2-3 hours to do an hours work. Add in the walks/stretches I'm doing to keep myself awake and going, and before you know it, you've ground out another 5 hours of work. Problem is, if I took a nap for 2 of those hours, I would have been refreshed enough to get all that work done, to a better level, in the next 2 hours as well.

Think about things like this. Sometimes we can actually lose time by making ourselves do things NOW!


I hope this helps you, and if anybody wants further clarification/info on any of the points here, ask away.
 

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

Latest Posts

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top