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Should I study, or just do?

ovoxomo

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I'm sure everyone has seen the common piece of business advice "Just take action!"

I think this a good piece of advice because many people don't, event after they've been exposed to something they think can lead them to their goals.

However, I also think that reading and analyzing things is a valuable thing to do, but this is often considered "action faking"

I follow a system of learning that I created, it is very in depth, and it allows me to really learn things on a deep level. But lately I don't know whether I should just quit all the reading and research and go all in on building a business??

On one hand, I value research as a way to gain a personal competitive advantage because most people dislike reading books, and don't have a real system for learning things. I've learned a lot from books and blogs.

But on the other hand, I still don't have a business to operate, and I'm starting to think it might be a better use of my time to just start something, experiment, and iterate. I don't have a ton of ideas to choose from, but I do have a couple that I think may work.

What do you guys think? How can I incorporate reading and taking action, without handicapping myself so to speak?
 
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SparksCW

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Trying is learning.

This thread is action-faking.

Learn by doing, start a business, learn each step along the way. Start a website, learn and study how to do it along the way. Learn SEO and put it into practice by doing. (replace website/SEO with whatever your idea is).

To be honest unless your business requires millions in start up capital or puts lives at risk in one way or another then you can easily start a website, start learning and start doing whilst learning on the job. Start talking to your potential customers, start providing value. Start doing.

Create your own apprenticeship.

Otherwise you'll still be studying whilst other people are passing you by, doing.
 

ovoxomo

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Trying is learning.

This thread is action-faking.

Learn by doing, start a business, learn each step along the way. Start a website, learn and study how to do it along the way. Learn SEO and put it into practice by doing. (replace website/SEO with whatever your idea is).

To be honest unless your business requires millions in start up capital or puts lives at risk in one way or another then you can easily start a website, start learning and start doing whilst learning on the job. Start talking to your potential customers, start providing value. Start doing.

Create your own apprenticeship.

Otherwise you'll still be studying whilst other people are passing you by, doing.


Fair enough, but what would one do in the case that they had no ideas? Just curious, I will definitely put your advice into practice, I'm not trying to make an excuse here.
 
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grindmode

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When I was a kid my dad used to throw me in the pool and also never gave me a bike with training wheels.... Probably not the best parenting and I hated him at the time (still somewhat do) but I learned those 2 things pretty damn quick...

Break it down to the most simple level sometimes... What would you do if you literally became homeless today and need money for food/shelter/etc. I often DREAM BIG as in HUGE DREAMS which is okay but I have to break it down like my homeless man scenario so I don't get ahead of myself thinking about for example how today I am guilty of getting pissed off researching insurance for my business idea yet I don't have the business yet or last year I registered an llc. with a legit name with my state paying all fee's but had no clue what I was going to do...

Just start running and things will happen- good and bad, whatever you do don't stop.
 

beatgoezon

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Fair enough, but what would one do in the case that they had no ideas? Just curious, I will definitely put your advice into practice, I'm not trying to make an excuse here.


If you don't have ideas, look for something you can solve, some sort of need or something you can improve that already exists.

Your idea can be something you're skilled at (CSS, programming language, SEO, copywriting, social media marketing) and something you'd like to provide value with to a demographic.

It can also be a product or service that is in demand and you'd like to provide it to clients/users/consumers

Research about some sort of value you could provide offline or online. Do just enough to figure out what you want to start(E-commerce store, Amazon affiliate, blog, apps, etc) These are just some online routes you could take, possibilities are endless both online and offline.

Pick something to try, do/build it, try to create your first sale, iterate on the original idea to get better scale, etc

This is overly simplified, but you'll get the idea.

Go
 

SparksCW

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Fair enough, but what would one do in the case that they had no ideas? Just curious, I will definitely put your advice into practice, I'm not trying to make an excuse here.

If you don't have an idea, then what are you studying?

I started an online shop years ago with no idea what I was doing, to this date the shop I started is still going, but it doesn't sell much, if anything each month. However I started, learnt by doing, created two other sites using what I had learnt so far and some contacts I had made by "doing", started actually making sales, learnt some more and the learnings were applied to better ideas. Now the two sites I have pay all my bills relatively easily each month, I have staff, an industrial unit and I no longer work for someone else. Still doing, still learning.

Your idea doesn't have to be perfect at this stage as long as it's feasible, you might make some money or you might not. But you'll definitely learn about business, sales, what doesn't work. I'm assuming you're not quitting a job at this stage, so you have little to lose by starting. At worst you'll learn a load of what not to do, ready to put into action when you come up with a more feasible idea.
 
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MidwestLandlord

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How can I incorporate reading and taking action, without handicapping myself so to speak?

I think you're over-thinking it.

The "just take action!" trope started I think because lot's of people are in the habit of reading and educating themselves, and never taking any action. I see that on this forum every single day. I'm guilty of it myself...A LOT.

But I don't think the "just take action!" should be taken as "just do something! just do anything!"

It should be taken as "you probably have enough knowledge to start, so start. Apply the knowledge you already have. Then, when you hit a problem, educate yourself on how to fix that problem and then fix it. Repeat until wealthy"

See why it got shortened to "just take action!"?

You only hurt your chances of succeeding when you read and educate yourself, but never make the choice to apply that knowledge.
 

grindmode

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I think you're over-thinking it.

The "just take action!" trope started I think because lot's of people are in the habit of reading and educating themselves, and never taking any action. I see that on this forum every single day. I'm guilty of it myself...A LOT.

But I don't think the "just take action!" should be taken as "just do something! just do anything!"

It should be taken as "you probably have enough knowledge to start, so start. Apply the knowledge you already have. Then, when you hit a problem, educate yourself on how to fix that problem and then fix it. Repeat until wealthy"

See why it got shortened to "just take action!"?

You only hurt your chances of succeeding when you read and educate yourself, but never make the choice to apply that knowledge.
THIS^
 

ovoxomo

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If you don't have an idea, then what are you studying?

I started an online shop years ago with no idea what I was doing, to this date the shop I started is still going, but it doesn't sell much, if anything each month. However I started, learnt by doing, created two other sites using what I had learnt so far and some contacts I had made by "doing", started actually making sales, learnt some more and the learnings were applied to better ideas. Now the two sites I have pay all my bills relatively easily each month, I have staff, an industrial unit and I no longer work for someone else. Still doing, still learning.

Your idea doesn't have to be perfect at this stage as long as it's feasible, you might make some money or you might not. But you'll definitely learn about business, sales, what doesn't work. I'm assuming you're not quitting a job at this stage, so you have little to lose by starting. At worst you'll learn a load of what not to do, ready to put into action when you come up with a more feasible idea.

I think you're over-thinking it.

The "just take action!" trope started I think because lot's of people are in the habit of reading and educating themselves, and never taking any action. I see that on this forum every single day. I'm guilty of it myself...A LOT.

But I don't think the "just take action!" should be taken as "just do something! just do anything!"

It should be taken as "you probably have enough knowledge to start, so start. Apply the knowledge you already have. Then, when you hit a problem, educate yourself on how to fix that problem and then fix it. Repeat until wealthy"

See why it got shortened to "just take action!"?

You only hurt your chances of succeeding when you read and educate yourself, but never make the choice to apply that knowledge.


Thanks! This makes more sense when you expand on it that way.

To answer the question of what I am studying, I was operating under the assumption that it would be beneficial to just read everything I possibly can on all realms of business for a few months and then I'd have all the reference material I'd inevitably need in the future. After reading the advice here I'll try to keep it to a 10:1 ratio of doing:reading.
 
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SparksCW

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I think you're over-thinking it.

The "just take action!" trope started I think because lot's of people are in the habit of reading and educating themselves, and never taking any action. I see that on this forum every single day. I'm guilty of it myself...A LOT.

But I don't think the "just take action!" should be taken as "just do something! just do anything!"

It should be taken as "you probably have enough knowledge to start, so start. Apply the knowledge you already have. Then, when you hit a problem, educate yourself on how to fix that problem and then fix it. Repeat until wealthy"

See why it got shortened to "just take action!"?

You only hurt your chances of succeeding when you read and educate yourself, but never make the choice to apply that knowledge.

Great point.

When we say "just start doing" we do mean start doing something that has potential and is feasible. It's pretty easy to source some stock and sell it on eBay. It's pretty easy to grab a bucket and sponge and go car washing, or a lawnmower and go mowing. It might not make you rich, it might not be a long term business, but it'll teach you whilst doing.

Gary Vaynerchuk recommends that everyone does some eBay flipping, it teaches a lot about product sourcing, selling, etc. etc.

A Midwest says, there's a lot of threads like this, and people are waiting for the next Facebook idea. Looking for a unicorn. That's fine, but start doing something in business to get yourself going like an online shop, blog, service business. Find something you know about or can do and make a small sideline business out of it. It will teach you a lot.
 
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MidwestLandlord

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I started an online shop years ago with no idea what I was doing, to this date the shop I started is still going, but it doesn't sell much, if anything each month. However I started, learnt by doing, created two other sites using what I had learnt so far and some contacts I had made by "doing", started actually making sales, learnt some more and the learnings were applied to better ideas. Now the two sites I have pay all my bills relatively easily each month, I have staff, an industrial unit and I no longer work for someone else. Still doing, still learning.

Perfect real life example of what I was trying to say. Good post @SparksCW !
 

G-Man

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I think you're over-thinking it.

Don't feel bad, @ovoxomo, he's never accused me of overthinking.

121089
 
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SparksCW

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Perfect real life example of what I was trying to say. Good post @SparksCW !

Thanks!

Ironically as well. This site that has sold almost nothing for the past 5 years is now primely positioned for a huge consumer led demand of the previously out-of-reach technology. We're now applying everything we learnt back to this original site, the target audience is far, far broader and much larger. And they're all keen to get their hands on these type of products! I'm hopeful now that this site will soon far, far outsell our niches sites. We'll see, but either way we wouldn't be in this position if I hadn't started doing something.
 

The-J

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Yea OP what's wrong with both?

If learning from other sources causes you to mentally masturbate, you've got other problems to address. Mental masturbation means you're afraid and the actions you'd take would be action fakes anyway.

Kill the fear.
 
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I sort of do these involuntary cycles of 2-4 months of straight learning/studying/courses vs just straight ground work. More recently what I am doing and liking is just 80% of the day is straight ground work and the remaining 20% is learning/expanding/etc.

There's a point where you'll know all of the big concepts and principles needed for general 'success' once you feel you are moderately past that, I'd recommend putting a majority focus on to straight leg work, but brush up your knowledge still daily.
 

PureA

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Within this thread lay a lesson in itself. One that I know I've only just overcome...

We tend to think in black and white, right or wrong, good or bad. When in reality 99.9% of stuff is in a grey area.

"Gary V says don't read"

"Warren Buffet says read 1 hour everyday"

Every truth is but a half truth. Find your truth.

Try a 85/15 split of taking action to reading.. that doesn't work? switch it up. Switch it up until you find something that does work for you.

Rinse & Repeat.

Bonus: You can apply this to untold amounts of things throughout your life
 

ovoxomo

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Do both! Your actual learning will probably be a 90/10% split with 90% coming from action/experience, but the 10% will supplement and help that 90%.

Yea OP what's wrong with both?

If learning from other sources causes you to mentally masturbate, you've got other problems to address. Mental masturbation means you're afraid and the actions you'd take would be action fakes anyway.

Kill the fear.

I sort of do these involuntary cycles of 2-4 months of straight learning/studying/courses vs just straight ground work. More recently what I am doing and liking is just 80% of the day is straight ground work and the remaining 20% is learning/expanding/etc.

There's a point where you'll know all of the big concepts and principles needed for general 'success' once you feel you are moderately past that, I'd recommend putting a majority focus on to straight leg work, but brush up your knowledge still daily.

Within this thread lay a lesson in itself. One that I know I've only just overcome...

We tend to think in black and white, right or wrong, good or bad. When in reality 99.9% of stuff is in a grey area.

"Gary V says don't read"

"Warren Buffet says read 1 hour everyday"

Every truth is but a half truth. Find your truth.

Try a 85/15 split of taking action to reading.. that doesn't work? switch it up. Switch it up until you find something that does work for you.

Rinse & Repeat.

Bonus: You can apply this to untold amounts of things throughout your life

I've been pondering this for a day now and I agree with doing both. I think the best strategy is splitting things 85/15 or so, this way I can get through all the best sources of information in a few months and at the same time get something off the ground to apply what I've learned.
 
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Raoul Duke

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When I was a kid my dad used to throw me in the pool and also never gave me a bike with training wheels.... Probably not the best parenting and I hated him at the time (still somewhat do) but I learned those 2 things pretty damn quick...


My dad did the same. You either sink or swim.
 

Chazmania

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I'm guilty of reading too much and not taking action, and I'm guilty of taking too much action without knowing enough about the business I had jumped into. Don't worry too much about perfection, just find something that resonates with you and start taking some steps forward. You'll learn.

Ultimately though, gotta be taking action based on your best educated guess and learn from there.

One other thing I'd like to point out though:

Reading MJ's book seriously altered the way I look at business and wealth creation. I wish I would have read it 20 years ago when I started out on my path. In this instance I wish reading that book multiple times would have come before action taking.

If you haven't read it yet drop everything else and get into it.
 

Motley crue

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You're probably best off doing both. Of course the first thing you need to do is get a product or service, which you don't need to over think. Don't just look and say "people buy tv's I'll manufacture tv's," rather people need someone to mow their lawns, clean their carpets, install floors.

You don't need to reinvent the wheel, find a niche that you're confident that you can make work, develop a plan on execution, spend some time studying (not months, but enough time to have a firm grasp on the industry). Once you have a good idea on your industry take the jump, but don't stop researching or learning about your niche.
 
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ZF Lee

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When I was a kid my dad used to throw me in the pool and also never gave me a bike with training wheels.... Probably not the best parenting and I hated him at the time (still somewhat do) but I learned those 2 things pretty damn quick...
I learned cycling and swimming by myself...nobody to teach me shit. Worse, I learned them when I was 17..very OLD.
But those weekends spent grinding away and struggling in the pool or on the road (with younger kids who learned it before me) was quite worth it. Now I can cycle and swim like nobody's business.

I used to read a lot, trying to find the next best gold chunk. Then I discovered that action would always give me a better night's rest than worrying which book was the best to read.

So I went to work.

I'm building my own website and app, and trust me, it's shit. Learning and doing it is like trying to climb Mount Everest naked. But it's got to be done. No Wordpress or Fiverr is going to save me...I don't trust them nor do I have funds to use. It's all on me. But then again, I have to do it, if not, someone else will.

People think that Fastlane is no different than some 'business thinking' or something like that. I get that kind of criticism all the time. Although MJ talks a lot about reading, he actually means that we need to read MORE than the average reader, not just read like a nerd!

The only nerds who ever succeeded are those who create value to help people.
The Fastlane means that we have to work harder, smarter and better than the average business, as the average means mediocrity. Average means a 'C' or 'D'. Average means a paycheck for our pains instead of news exposes, blogger ravings and millions of clients. Average means staying in a little dusty office for 30 years or so, screaming in your heart, "I hate going out and doing stuff! I'm afraid! I don't even like money anyway!"

Average also means trying to hide your fear of failure by trying to shove every hint of knowledge in your brain. No, you can't solve your problem of fear that way. Turns out, people don't care if you've watched every blog or podcast on business improvement. They care whether you can help them.

Look at your Fastlane solution you are about to provide. It may be F*cking hard to design and distribute, to settle the Commandment of Entry. It may be F*cking easy, so simple that no one would ever think of taking the idea. Either way, if it helps millions, you've got it.
 

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Reading helps you learn. Learning is paramount. Doing also helps you learn. There is no right answer to this. My knowledge comes from about 80 percent doing and 20 percent from deliberately setting out just to learn something.
 

grindmode

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Can you answer 1 of more of these questions regarding your biiz?

1. The demand is high but supply is low.
2. Can you sell an existing product/service that less than current prices any business with the same if not better quality?
3. Does your product do both 1 and 2.
 
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