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Crawling thru a sewer pipe filled with sh*t: Why it matters.

WJK

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why 30s is too late? It's not too late, It's just harder. In this mathematical equasion to get $=energy*time. The older you are the less energy you have, I think this is about 2% per year. The older you are the less time you have - your obligations increases (children, family, work) - all this things are against your success (not always! sometimes having a child and family is great motivator). But working is huuge disadvantage. Your biggest energy levels are at hours 7-14. Take some time and read "One thing" - Garry Keller. So if you work - your projects takes 50% more time to be finished.
edit: it's not impossible, you can still make huge things at that age - see Arnold Schwarzenegger biography - but you need to be the Terminator ;)
I'm a lot older than you guys in your 30s. I'm 64 and I totally disagree with you about declining productivity due to age. I have some young people around me who spending their time, using a lot of energy, and they get nothing important done. They sometimes look up and ask me why and how I get so much more done than they do.

I've had the time to create some hacks for a lot of chores, challenges and problems. They are routine and easy for me after all of these years.

I have a lifetime of good habits -- I thought through all these issues years ago, and decided how I wanted to live my life.

I have a wonderful base to build on for most things I want to do. I seldom run into something for which I have no knowledge or experience.

I am happy to be my age. I wouldn't go back to being young for anything. My youth was painful and messy. I'm happy to have left all that behind. These are my most productive years!
 
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WJK

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You're in prison and your MEANING/PURPOSE is to escape to FREEDOM.

View attachment 18820

You're speaking to a fellow inmate, Joe, and he says...

Joe: Hey man, we've discovered a way to escape this sh*t-hole and FREE yourself.

You: Yea? How?

Joe: In shitter number three, in the west bathroom, the bricks behind the toilet are all lose and you can crawl out behind it. Behind the wall there is a sewer pipe and freedom will be as simple as crawling through a sewer pipe filled with sh*t. You want in? We're going tomorrow.

You: Crawling through a sewer pipe filled with sh*t? That sounds disgusting, not to mention I have bad knees and shouldn't be crawling.

Joe: What? Have you heard anything I said? WE CAN ESCAPE THIS PLACE.

You: Yes I heard you, but crawling through a sewer pipe into freedom isn't how I expected to free myself. I don't like how that sounds and it kinda nauseates me. I'd rather wait until a more pleasing opportunity comes by. It be really nice to escape hiding in a bin of freshly laundered sheets.

Joe: But all the laundry is done onsite here at the prison, you'll never escape because that opportunity will NEVER come.

You: Oh well, I guess I'll remain a prisoner for the rest of my life.

Story by MJ DeMarco (Please attribute if sharing!)

Moral of the story?

Your refusal to embrace discomfort and unpleasant actions (crawling through a sewer pipe filled with sh*t) is what keeps you in prison. No, your dream opportunity of escaping in a stack of freshly laundered sheets isn't going to happen. Do the damn dirty work or remain a slave.

This story came about as I was reading in another thread where someone had mentioned that their meaning/purpose was quite simple: FREEDOM: To be free from SCRIPTED bull-sh*t and to do whatever they wanted.

In my opinion, that type of MEANING/PURPOSE is the BEST because not all meaning/purposes are the same. Some, in fact, are detrimental to your success.

Why?

Because some meaning-and-purposes are all inclusive of action, behavior, and opportunity. The more generalized your purpose, the better it will be in helping you conquer the world. Like our prison example, "freedom" is very generalized and suddenly ALL ACTIONS are considered, even crawling through a sewer. Yet, the more specific your purpose, the worse it probably is.

(Note: We're assuming ALL actions here are ethical and legal.)

So when you confine your meaning and purpose to specific *things* -- say, I want to be the best race car driver on the planet! -- you RISK confining your action to a limited set of actions and opportunities. When the sewer opportunity floats by, you dismiss it. Meh, not sure how that will help me become a great race driver.

In other words, you will refuse to pursue other opportunities because it falls outside of your limited scope of purpose and vision.

So I'll leave you with this...

What is your MEANING and PURPOSE in life?

Is it general, such as "FREEDOM?" Or is it SPECIFIC and perhaps, hindering?

And if it is a hindrance, what can you do to REFRAME it so you'll take advantage of freedom-making opportunities, discomforting actions that might resemble crawling though a sewer pipe filled with sh*t?

If success was easy, everyone would do it. If it could be accomplished without discomfort or pain, everyone would do it. If it had a short sure-shot road, everyone would do it. If it came with a time and money back guarantee, everyone would do it. If, if, if...
 

gileneusz

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I'm a lot older than you guys in your 30s. I'm 64 and I totally disagree with you about declining productivity due to age. I have some young people around me who spending their time, using a lot of energy, and they get nothing important done. They sometimes look up and ask me why and how I get so much more done than they do.

I've had the time to create some hacks for a lot of chores, challenges and problems. They are routine and easy for me after all of these years.

I have a lifetime of good habits -- I thought through all these issues years ago, and decided how I wanted to live my life.

I have a wonderful base to build on for most things I want to do. I seldom run into something for which I have no knowledge or experience.

I am happy to be my age. I wouldn't go back to being young for anything. My youth was painful and messy. I'm happy to have left all that behind. These are my most productive years!

I refer age constrains to starting a business, not running a developed for long time company. If you know how to run your company and do it for years now, your experience and your age is your advantage and this is good for you. In my case - you know nothing about it, you learn everything, you try and try and try again, so your young age is advantage. If you would be older it would be much harder to start without any enrepreneur experience.
 

Kennypaul

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This sh*t sucks.

Seriously.

I keep setting money on fire trying to find the right audience to market to, the right messaging to use, the right offers to make, ways to make my product more valuable...

I get up 1,2, even 4 hours early some days so I can study and code and set up ads.

I’ve learned how to code, how to market on various platforms, how to copyright etc. I’m not claiming to be good at any of these things yet.... just that I spend a lot of time trying to learn them and get better.

Then I get dressed and go to my shitty job. Sure it pays well. But it’s drab, and dull, and a waste of my energy. I grit my teeth through meetings and conference calls and web trainings which could all be short emails. I work on my business 50% of the time I’m at work.

I won employee of the year. It feels like I won slave of the year. I keep that shitty plastic award that probably cost $2 to make on my desk at home to remind me how badly I need to escape. It brings me zero pride. It took very little effort.

When I’m done with my work day I come home and eat. I play with my son for a bit before he goes to bed.

Then I work out and /or I work on my business some more.

I’ve been doing this for 4+ years now. Some days (today) I feel like I’m going to have a mental breakdown.

Again... this sh*t sucks.

But I know it’s better than another 40 years of mindless meetings that could be emails.
You just to keep moving forward with your goals(not jobs ones) man.I know it's a drag.I'm a student at the University and I passed all my courses recently the last year, but I don't feel proud of them because it doesn't connect with my entrepreneurial goals.So I can totally relate to what you are saying.Let's be more focused on the fast lane road and I know one day it will pay off.Good luck to you man!.
 
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Kennypaul

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You're in prison and your MEANING/PURPOSE is to escape to FREEDOM.

View attachment 18820

You're speaking to a fellow inmate, Joe, and he says...

Joe: Hey man, we've discovered a way to escape this sh*t-hole and FREE yourself.

You: Yea? How?

Joe: In shitter number three, in the west bathroom, the bricks behind the toilet are all lose and you can crawl out behind it. Behind the wall there is a sewer pipe and freedom will be as simple as crawling through a sewer pipe filled with sh*t. You want in? We're going tomorrow.

You: Crawling through a sewer pipe filled with sh*t? That sounds disgusting, not to mention I have bad knees and shouldn't be crawling.

Joe: What? Have you heard anything I said? WE CAN ESCAPE THIS PLACE.

You: Yes I heard you, but crawling through a sewer pipe into freedom isn't how I expected to free myself. I don't like how that sounds and it kinda nauseates me. I'd rather wait until a more pleasing opportunity comes by. It be really nice to escape hiding in a bin of freshly laundered sheets.

Joe: But all the laundry is done onsite here at the prison, you'll never escape because that opportunity will NEVER come.

You: Oh well, I guess I'll remain a prisoner for the rest of my life.

Story by MJ DeMarco (Please attribute if sharing!)

Moral of the story?

Your refusal to embrace discomfort and unpleasant actions (crawling through a sewer pipe filled with sh*t) is what keeps you in prison. No, your dream opportunity of escaping in a stack of freshly laundered sheets isn't going to happen. Do the damn dirty work or remain a slave.

This story came about as I was reading in another thread where someone had mentioned that their meaning/purpose was quite simple: FREEDOM: To be free from SCRIPTED bull-sh*t and to do whatever they wanted.

In my opinion, that type of MEANING/PURPOSE is the BEST because not all meaning/purposes are the same. Some, in fact, are detrimental to your success.

Why?

Because some meaning-and-purposes are all inclusive of action, behavior, and opportunity. The more generalized your purpose, the better it will be in helping you conquer the world. Like our prison example, "freedom" is very generalized and suddenly ALL ACTIONS are considered, even crawling through a sewer. Yet, the more specific your purpose, the worse it probably is.

(Note: We're assuming ALL actions here are ethical and legal.)

So when you confine your meaning and purpose to specific *things* -- say, I want to be the best race car driver on the planet! -- you RISK confining your action to a limited set of actions and opportunities. When the sewer opportunity floats by, you dismiss it. Meh, not sure how that will help me become a great race driver.

In other words, you will refuse to pursue other opportunities because it falls outside of your limited scope of purpose and vision.

So I'll leave you with this...

What is your MEANING and PURPOSE in life?

Is it general, such as "FREEDOM?" Or is it SPECIFIC and perhaps, hindering?

And if it is a hindrance, what can you do to REFRAME it so you'll take advantage of freedom-making opportunities, discomforting actions that might resemble crawling though a sewer pipe filled with sh*t?

Thanks MJ..You are really good with getting the message through.
 

WJK

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I refer age constrains to starting a business, not running a developed for long time company. If you know how to run your company and do it for years now, your experience and your age is your advantage and this is good for you. In my case - you know nothing about it, you learn everything, you try and try and try again, so your young age is advantage. If you would be older it would be much harder to start without any entrepreneur experience.
Each time I start something new or change directions, it's easier for me, than for the young people around me. I can get something up and running so much faster than they can. Start- up investments takes a much smaller percentage of my assets. I know what to do, and what not to do. Even when I make a mistake, I make faster corrections, with a lot less long term damages. And my 40+ years of experience, and wide education, transfers across many different business fronts.

I watch a young people around me try different plans and business models. They make classic mistakes, and they don't listen to those who know, or seek out the information they need to be successful. They run down roads, without studying the route.

I prepare and study for a long time before I drop the hammer, or decide if I even want to go there. When I do get started, it general goes together pretty quickly. The information is out there. It's available to everyone. It is free or close to free.

You don't have it any harder than we did when I was young. Just spend some time to educate yourself.
 

WJK

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You just to keep moving forward with your goals(not jobs ones) man.I know it's a drag.I'm a student at the University and I passed all my courses recently the last year, but I don't feel proud of them because it doesn't connect with my entrepreneurial goals.So I can totally relate to what you are saying.Let's be more focused on the fast lane road and I know one day it will pay off.Good luck to you man!.
You have no idea how you'll use your education. I use mine everyday. You need to also be spending your spare time doing your business education on the side. Read. Ask business people questions. Go look at businesses. Take notes. Find out how things work. Good luck!
 
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Kennypaul

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You have no idea how you'll use your education. I use mine everyday. You need to also be spending your spare time doing your business education on the side. Read. Ask business people questions. Go look at businesses. Take notes. Find out how things work. Good luck!
I'm doing exactly that.But thanks anyway.Same to you.
 

gileneusz

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art- up investments takes a much smaller percentage of my assets.
Each time I start something new or change directions, it's easier for me, than for the young people around me. I can get something up and running so much faster than they can. Start- up investments takes a much smaller percentage of my assets. I know what to do, and what not to do. Even when I make a mistake, I make faster corrections, with a lot less long term damages. And my 40+ years of experience, and wide education, transfers across many different business fronts.

I watch a young people around me try different plans and business models. They make classic mistakes, and they don't listen to those who know, or seek out the information they need to be successful. They run down roads, without studying the route.

I prepare and study for a long time before I drop the hammer, or decide if I even want to go there. When I do get started, it general goes together pretty quickly. The information is out there. It's available to everyone. It is free or close to free.

You don't have it any harder than we did when I was young. Just spend some time to educate yourself.
This is gold. Could you give any details of your steps during your journey? I don't ask for a long text, just few milestones or rock-solid advices. It reminds me playing video game (HOMM 3 ;) ) When I started playing it, it was complicated and hard, after few months I was fluent, now when I start over after many years of not playing it - I can set difficulty on "impossible" and win without any problem.
 

ZF Lee

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But MJ, I don't want to do the hard work :( I just want the freedom...

Nothing pisses me off more than a person who literally complains 24/7 about how life is unfair, how capitalism is cancer, how the 1% are evil, how the only way to get rich is to do something illegal or have connections, yet, have the audacity to spend their bi-weekly paycheck on fine dining, clubbing, and designer bags in one weekend.

Great post MJ!
Illegal is one thing.

As for connections, you got to have the track record to even get the higher-ups to believe in you. That means you have been giving value even before the connections got in.

It works even in regular Slowlane academics. If you have a track record of value (grades, clubs and societies), companies will take note of you, if you can call that connections.

Ah, but of course my man
Budgetting is SOOOOO elementary it could make me cry :p
But I mention it only because a lot of the crawling through the sewer is financial stress and concerns about money
As you get towards the end where you start seeing the light, you obviously start to see things more like a rocket launch
Budgetting will STOP being elementary once more profits come in...:rofl::rofl::rofl: Thank goodness for accounting apps though.

Crawling thru shit is fine as long you wear proper protective gear...but I wonder if the tunnel might be filled with RATS.:eek:

I'm not sure what 'RATS' are supposed to mean in a real-life Fastlane scenerio. Lawsuits from competitors? Naysayers?
 
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Wax Comical

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You're in prison and your MEANING/PURPOSE is to escape to FREEDOM.

View attachment 18820

You're speaking to a fellow inmate, Joe, and he says...

Joe: Hey man, we've discovered a way to escape this sh*t-hole and FREE yourself.

You: Yea? How?

Joe: In shitter number three, in the west bathroom, the bricks behind the toilet are all lose and you can crawl out behind it. Behind the wall there is a sewer pipe and freedom will be as simple as crawling through a sewer pipe filled with sh*t. You want in? We're going tomorrow.

You: Crawling through a sewer pipe filled with sh*t? That sounds disgusting, not to mention I have bad knees and shouldn't be crawling.

Joe: What? Have you heard anything I said? WE CAN ESCAPE THIS PLACE.

You: Yes I heard you, but crawling through a sewer pipe into freedom isn't how I expected to free myself. I don't like how that sounds and it kinda nauseates me. I'd rather wait until a more pleasing opportunity comes by. It be really nice to escape hiding in a bin of freshly laundered sheets.

Joe: But all the laundry is done onsite here at the prison, you'll never escape because that opportunity will NEVER come.

You: Oh well, I guess I'll remain a prisoner for the rest of my life.

Story by MJ DeMarco (Please attribute if sharing!)

Moral of the story?

Your refusal to embrace discomfort and unpleasant actions (crawling through a sewer pipe filled with sh*t) is what keeps you in prison. No, your dream opportunity of escaping in a stack of freshly laundered sheets isn't going to happen. Do the damn dirty work or remain a slave.

This story came about as I was reading in another thread where someone had mentioned that their meaning/purpose was quite simple: FREEDOM: To be free from SCRIPTED bull-sh*t and to do whatever they wanted.

In my opinion, that type of MEANING/PURPOSE is the BEST because not all meaning/purposes are the same. Some, in fact, are detrimental to your success.

Why?

Because some meaning-and-purposes are all inclusive of action, behavior, and opportunity. The more generalized your purpose, the better it will be in helping you conquer the world. Like our prison example, "freedom" is very generalized and suddenly ALL ACTIONS are considered, even crawling through a sewer. Yet, the more specific your purpose, the worse it probably is.

(Note: We're assuming ALL actions here are ethical and legal.)

So when you confine your meaning and purpose to specific *things* -- say, I want to be the best race car driver on the planet! -- you RISK confining your action to a limited set of actions and opportunities. When the sewer opportunity floats by, you dismiss it. Meh, not sure how that will help me become a great race driver.

In other words, you will refuse to pursue other opportunities because it falls outside of your limited scope of purpose and vision.

So I'll leave you with this...

What is your MEANING and PURPOSE in life?

Is it general, such as "FREEDOM?" Or is it SPECIFIC and perhaps, hindering?

And if it is a hindrance, what can you do to REFRAME it so you'll take advantage of freedom-making opportunities, discomforting actions that might resemble crawling though a sewer pipe filled with sh*t?


To refer to 7 Habits, I feel that a job can be just as much of a grind as entrepreneurship, except that working at a job is perceived as "Important and Urgent" - with possibly arbitrary yet externally-enforced deadlines, bosses and management and coworkers breathing down your neck, and the pressure to not lose a hard-won job or career via the Sunk Cost Fallacy.

In contrast, building a business is viewed as "Important but Not Urgent" - the "Plan B", the "if I can be bothered after work", the "wouldn't it be nice" (note: this song is the old theme for Australia's lottery TV ads) or the pie-in-the-sky backyard Death Star project with no deadline - and thus reliably pushed behind mediocre comforts in priority.

Urgency is the thing that drives employees to get out of their comfortable warm beds in the morning, and herd themselves to their own slaughterhouse of time, and do it all again the next workday.

Urgency in the other direction, to escape ScriptThink, is the F*ck You Event MJ talks about. Most Fastlane-aware people don't have enough of this type of urgency to achieve escape-velocity, and until we have that quarter-life or mid-life crisis, lay-off, personal tragedy, or some other last straw, we'll keep on following the Script like clockwork.

Funny how we pay for opportunity to claw back time, by wasting said time until we see its true value.
 

WJK

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This is gold. Could you give any details of your steps during your journey? I don't ask for a long text, just few milestones or rock-solid advices. It reminds me playing video game (HOMM 3 ;) ) When I started playing it, it was complicated and hard, after few months I was fluent, now when I start over after many years of not playing it - I can set difficulty on "impossible" and win without any problem.
It's back to the old standard -- it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to get good at anything. And to be really good, it takes multiple sets of skills and expertise -- so that's 10,000 hours for each different aspect.
I have gone to the expense and effort to educate myself, both formally and through self education. It primes the pump.
There are 5 levels of expertise:
1. You don't know that you don't know.
2. You know that you don't know and start to pay attention.
3. You can do the skill with difficulty. Generally, at that level you'll hate the whole thing.
4. You can complete the skill OK. It still takes effort and carefully following the steps.
5. You can do the skill so naturally that everyone thinks they can do it too. You make it look so easy. You are an expert.

There are no short cuts that I know of in this process. There are no magic bullets. There are no 4 hour work weeks -- until you get to the expert level. Only on that level, you become poetry in motion. You own that little slice of the world!
 
Last edited:

Edwin Fernandez

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Joe: Hey man, we've discovered a way to escape this sh*t-hole and FREE yourself.

@MJ DeMarco Thanks you for this gold nugget of wisdom. In this story, you'd be the guy who made it out a while back; returning to the prison boundaries risking his own freedom, once again, trying to get one time former inmates out, sneaking in the escape plans, your books.

Thank you for your courage, thanks for caring. You words inspire true, non-fake hope.

(***humbly, and quickly cowers away with head bowed…***)
 
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keith4444

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It's back to the old standard -- it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to get good at anything. And to be really good, it takes multiple sets of skills and expertise -- so that's 10,000 hours for each different aspect.
I have gone to the expense and effort to educate myself, both formally and through self education. It primes the pump.
There are 5 levels of expertise:
1. You don't know that you don't know.
2. You know that you don't know and start to pay attention.
3. You can do the skill with difficulty. Generally, at that level you'll hate the whole thing.
4. You can complete the skill OK. It still takes effort and carefully following the steps.
5. You can do the skill so naturally that everyone thinks they can do it too. You make it look so easy. You are an expert.

There are no short cuts that I know of in this process. There are no magic bullets. There are no 4 hour work weeks -- until you get to the expert level. Only on that level, you become poetry in motion. You own that little slice of the world!

Many of you will have seen this before but this reminds me of the 4 stages:
Unconscious Incompetence
Conscious Incompetence
Conscious Competence
Unconscious Competence

Like when we learn to drive a car, we think we know how to drive a car, we've watched other people drive cars - cant be that hard can it? This is Unconsious Incompetence

When we satart to learn how to drive a car we realise HOW HARD it really is! This is Conscious Incompetence

When we've had many lessons and pass the driving test. This is Conscious Competence

Now after several years we can get in and drive that car without even thinking of how or when to change gear etc - Finally this is Unconscious Competence
 

Longinus

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Quit my job last week and already fell with my face flat in some shit.

Had an accident with my gf's car.
Mechanical problems with my car with +€1000 costs.
Supplier problems for my products.
Problems with Chinese embassy for my visa.

After years of almost no problems, I have it all at once, right after I quit! It's like I'm in that sewer trying to catch a breath and suddenly hundreds of people take a shit RIGHT NOW.

Anyway, I see it as a test. Just have to make more money.
 

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MJ, thanks for this powerful and vivid metaphor. It is just what I needed today!

I quit my job almost a month ago and moved back to my country and came to some unexpected shit that is draining my savings, on top the expected shit (dealing with the bureaucracy and high taxes you have to pay in my country to start a new business, and the difficulties of starting a new business itself). On the other side, temptation is knocking on my door with another job offer (a different cell but same prison). But despite the comfort of the cell is tempting while you are in the sewer, it pales compared to freedom. This vivid metaphor is a great motivation, thanks for sharing!!!! :)


Enviado desde mi SM-G920T mediante Tapatalk
 
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When freedom means everything to you and your ready to take the leap.
You'll crawl through a sewer full of crap. You'll run through a burning building. Whatever the cost you're willing to pay it.

I moved out to Phoenix a few months ago had to live in a shelter. I looked around at people laying on the ground sleep with no drive or ambition. I said to myself " how can people live like this?" When there's no target to hit, no goals in life that's what happens.

Me, I burned the bridge and I can only go forward. However, I get there even though the sewer.
 

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Shawshank Redemption is my second fav movie of all time behind The Matrix.

Andy Dufresne, the protagonist of the film had to slowly chip through 10 feet of stone over a period of years before getting access to his shitty escape tube. "Salvation lies within." ;)

I'm too new to my lane to even call it a fastlane. Shit, I might be in the wrong lane, for all I know, but I can already sense the discomfort of doubting my every move. I'm building a table business called Together Tables and I'm uncertain about everything. I'm combatting fear, uncertainty, envy, shame, laziness, doubt, lack of money, ignorance, confusion, lack of sleep, single parenting, fear of job loss, and many more shitty nouns, AND I'M JUST ONE MONTH IN!

The nice thing is I have all you "Reds" in here to get me "things" like wisdom, encouragement, tactics, strategies, a kick in the teeth or a$$ when needed, etc., to help me overcome all of those things.

Screen Shot 2018-04-03 at 7.39.15 PM.png

"Get busy livin' or get busy dyin'."
 
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MJ DeMarco

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MJ DeMarco

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Rabby

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Love this. I've crawled through sewer pipes, and would do it again. No doubt I will crawl through several on the way to the next level.

Notes:
  • The pipe is of indeterminate length, but usually about twice as long as I assume it will be.
  • At random intervals, there are flush-ports that dump you back in prison if you don't swim up-stream through crap for roughly 17 hours at a stretch to get away. Well, depending on who designed your prison, and how convoluted you made your escape plan.
  • Every so often other prisoners will attempt to break your legs and deliver you to angry prison guards. For some perverse reason these types hate escapees and love prison guards in a rather creepy way.
 

LuckyPup

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The Arkham Redemption, Robot Chicken.

The joker said this after taking a poop in the toilet. Batman was stuck in the pipes.

Where's my reps? :cool:
I always appreciate an obscure, late night parody superhero poop reference.
 
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LuckyPup

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You're in prison and your MEANING/PURPOSE is to escape to FREEDOM.

View attachment 18820

You're speaking to a fellow inmate, Joe, and he says...

Joe: Hey man, we've discovered a way to escape this shit-hole and FREE yourself.

You: Yea? How?

Joe: In shitter number three, in the west bathroom, the bricks behind the toilet are all lose and you can crawl out behind it. Behind the wall there is a sewer pipe and freedom will be as simple as crawling through a sewer pipe filled with shit. You want in? We're going tomorrow.

You: Crawling through a sewer pipe filled with shit? That sounds disgusting, not to mention I have bad knees and shouldn't be crawling.

Joe: What? Have you heard anything I said? WE CAN ESCAPE THIS PLACE.

You: Yes I heard you, but crawling through a sewer pipe into freedom isn't how I expected to free myself. I don't like how that sounds and it kinda nauseates me. I'd rather wait until a more pleasing opportunity comes by. It be really nice to escape hiding in a bin of freshly laundered sheets.

Joe: But all the laundry is done onsite here at the prison, you'll never escape because that opportunity will NEVER come.

You: Oh well, I guess I'll remain a prisoner for the rest of my life. Besides, we get free food here.

Story by MJ DeMarco (Please attribute if sharing!)

Moral of the story?

Your refusal to embrace discomfort and unpleasant actions (crawling through a sewer pipe filled with shit) is what keeps you in prison. No, your dream opportunity of escaping in a stack of freshly laundered sheets isn't going to happen. Do the damn dirty work or remain a slave.

This story came about as I was reading in another thread where someone had mentioned that their meaning/purpose was quite simple: FREEDOM: To be free from SCRIPTED bull-shit and to do whatever they wanted.

In my opinion, that type of MEANING/PURPOSE is the BEST because not all meaning/purposes are the same. Some, in fact, are detrimental to your success.

Why?

Because some meaning-and-purposes are all inclusive of action, behavior, and opportunity. The more generalized your purpose, the better it will be in helping you conquer the world. Like our prison example, "freedom" is very generalized and suddenly ALL ACTIONS are considered, even crawling through a sewer. Yet, the more specific your purpose, the worse it probably is.

(Note: We're assuming ALL actions here are ethical and legal.)

So when you confine your meaning and purpose to specific *things* -- say, I want to be the best race car driver on the planet! -- you RISK confining your action to a limited set of actions and opportunities. When the sewer opportunity floats by, you dismiss it. Meh, not sure how that will help me become a great race driver.

In other words, you will refuse to pursue other opportunities because it falls outside of your limited scope of purpose and vision.

So I'll leave you with this...

What is your MEANING and PURPOSE in life?

Is it general, such as "FREEDOM?" Or is it SPECIFIC and perhaps, hindering?

And if it is a hindrance, what can you do to REFRAME it so you'll take advantage of freedom-making opportunities, discomforting actions that might resemble crawling though a sewer pipe filled with shit?

Get busy living. Even if it means living in shit for awhile.
vjB.gif
 

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But MJ, I don't want to do the hard work :( I just want the freedom...

Nothing pisses me off more than a person who literally complains 24/7 about how life is unfair, how capitalism is cancer, how the 1% are evil, how the only way to get rich is to do something illegal or have connections, yet, have the audacity to spend their bi-weekly paycheck on fine dining, clubbing, and designer bags in one weekend.

Great post MJ!
Wow... how time flies by.

I'm sorry but I had to quote myself guys... It's almost March 23 2019, 1 year after I made this post. I LITERALLY crawled through shit. I don't remember going out one weekend from this post to today. I don't remember watching TV, playing games, wasting time on useless crap.

I DO remember the countless sleepless nights.

I DO remember the amount of times my family was on the brink of bankruptcy.

I DO remember the amount of times I would watch my mom literally drive to work crying because she didn't want to go.

I DO remember the tears I would hide from all the distress I was in.

I DO remember the sports gambling problem I had.

I DO remember the times I just wished everything would end.

I DO remember telling myself "You're NOT a quitter. You're NOT meant for average. You WILL make it."

The result? I'm in a 100x better position than I was last year.

Thanks for the bump @MJ DeMarco - you brought back so many feelings. Wow.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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MJ DeMarco

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Bump, since discomfort is becoming more of a common theme here.

Looking back, boy did I have to climb thru some shitty sewer pipes.

@MTF might be a good story to put into your newsletter on slow content days.
 

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