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.

Looking for advice "How to Start Side Hustle, Exercise, Me Time while holding Full time Job"

BLIM

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
79%
May 24, 2018
38
30
Singapore
Hello Guys,

First of all, I am glad to be part of this forum.. This will be a starting point of my entrepreneur journey.
Thanks to MJ DeMarco for 2 of the amazing book ( fastlane and unscripted )

I am looking for some advice for those who are in my position.

I am a Network Architect who is holding 2x CCIE ( Cisco certificate ) for those who know the cert and have been working 9-6 jobs for almost 11 years. Currently I am 33 years old and getting a decent amount for living and saving, however I don't have any intention to work for other people for the rest of my life.

I know I can start side hustle like dropshipping, amazon fba, merch by amazon and etc however the only problem is time. I always drain out when I go back home.

Here is my daily schedule
7am - 9am : wake up and prepare go office
9am - (6pm/8pm) : office and most of the time stay late due to longer working hour
8pm - 10pm : workout exercise ( 3 - 4 times per week) -- if I skip workout, it's because I feel tired and plan to go home rest early
10pm - 11 pm : go back home
11 pm above : chit chat with wife and sleep

I always try to be consistent however if I sacrifice my sleeping time, the next day I am not able to fully concentrate.

I am looking for people who are in my position and probably can advice me what to do for side hustle and time management.

Thanks
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

The Abundant Man

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
150%
Jul 3, 2018
1,428
2,140
Why do you feel drained out when you go back home?
 

MHP368

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
161%
Aug 17, 2016
794
1,277
37
Sahuarita AZ
Stop staying late and cut back on the exercise, thats 6 to 8 hours a week on exercise and 10 hours a week overtime. So boom, 13-15 hours freed up

Whats your commute? , brown bag your lunches and set out clothes the day before, unless you have kids and a 45 minute commute you shouldn't need 2 hours to get ready.

also give up all your hobbies, this is your hobby now, boom 20 more hours on weekends.

I'm not kidding, I think i've spent like MAYBE 6 hours socializing with friends this year , the world is dead to me, my freedom and sanity is on the line.

But I feel like those are all obvious places to cut corners , I get the sense that you don't really have a firm "why" at all. As you said you're job has allowed a certain amount of excess capital to accumulate, presumably your comfortable. Until your quite uncomfortable you'll stay in the slow lane , maybe thats what you needed to hear and the real reason for this post?

grab unscripted , go read pages 82-84 and 96-97 as well as 198.

Spend a few hours really fleshing out where your headed with this career path and if you want this enough to make some sacrifices. If you can't give up your beach bod and tell your employer they dont own you in pursuit of your dreams I dont know what to tell you. Somethings gotta give my man.

Best of luck.
 
Last edited:

BLIM

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
79%
May 24, 2018
38
30
Singapore
Stop staying late and cut back on the exercise, thats 6 to 8 hours a week on exercise and 10 hours a week overtime. So boom, 13-15 hours freed up

Whats your commute? , brown bag your lunches and set out clothes the day before, unless you have kids and a 45 minute commute you shouldn't need 2 hours to get ready.

also give up all your hobbies, this is your hobby now, boom 20 more hours on weekends.

I'm not kidding, I think i've spent like MAYBE 6 hours socializing with friends this year , the world is dead to me, my freedom and sanity is on the line.

But I feel like those are all obvious places to cut corners , I get the sense that you don't really have a firm "why" at all. As you said you're job has allowed a certain amount of excess capital to accumulate, presumably your comfortable. Until your quite uncomfortable you'll stay in the slow lane , maybe thats what you needed to hear and the real reason for this post?

grab unscripted , go read pages 82-84 and 96-97 as well as 198.

Spend a few hours really fleshing out where your headed with this career path and if you want this enough to make some sacrifices. If you can't give up your beach bod and tell your employer they dont own you in pursuit of your dreams I dont know what to tell you. Somethings gotta give my man.

Best of luck.

Hi MPH368,

I do appreciate your advice.

Actually it's one hour preparation, most of the time I slept another 30 min to 45 min before I actually make a move.

I agree with you, at this stage I don't have a firm "WHY", that's why I don't sacrifice much and make my own commitment. I will follow your advice and consider what I want to achieve in this life so I won't regret.

grab unscripted , go read pages 82-84 and 96-97 as well as 198
-> I know where you coming from. What is time for you and also in pages 198 give illustration regarding the income

I think I will need to read again the fast lane and unscripted book

Thanks
 

Einfamilienhaus

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
188%
Feb 8, 2019
217
408
Start working less for others and work more for yourself. If you don't want to or your situation can't afford it working in part-time. Sleep less.

I wake up at 4 am. Make my routine. Enjoy breakfast.
At 7 am the work starts. At 15 pm it ends.
Making two times in a week now my workout. So it means being on this days at 6-7 pm at home.
Or If I'm not exercising. I'm hanging out with friends.
In both cases:
Around 8-9 pm I'm working for myself. Till 12 midnight. 1 am.
And again.
And again.

Or I go home directly and have more time for work.

You see in all that cases I just sleep around 4 Hours a day. On weekends little bit longer.

Sleeping more doesn't mean sleeping well. It depends on how deep the sleep is. It also depends on how you start your day.

I'm doing it since 5 years sleeping less than 4-5 hours. But I used this mentally more for partying and other stuff before.:wideyed:

But!

Seriously: Don't do it continually! Keep an eye on yourself if you want to do this!

It works for me pretty well, but maybe not for you!

Even if you want to build up a side hustle you have to invest a lot of time. Having no time for something you deserve means being disrespectful to yourself. What do you think how many people want "Something good"? And how many of them are really doing soemthing for it?

Like MJ wrote in his book you can also use Kaizen. It means you improve yourself everyday in small steps. Maybe you can invest everyday just 1 hour for your side hustle. At the end of the week you have worked at least 7 hours. Dont crush yourself finding now 4 hours a day you can spend for your business. It is more important how much time you can invest continuously.

Working 1 hours a day give you more focus on your goal than 8 hours in two days.
 

BLIM

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
79%
May 24, 2018
38
30
Singapore
Start working less for others and work more for yourself. If you don't want to or your situation can't afford it working in part-time. Sleep less.

I wake up at 4 am. Make my routine. Enjoy breakfast.
At 7 am the work starts. At 15 pm it ends.
Making two times in a week now my workout. So it means being on this days at 6-7 pm at home.
Or If I'm not exercising. I'm hanging out with friends.
In both cases:
Around 8-9 pm I'm working for myself. Till 12 midnight. 1 am.
And again.
And again.

Or I go home directly and have more time for work.

You see in all that cases I just sleep around 4 Hours a day. On weekends little bit longer.

Sleeping more doesn't mean sleeping well. It depends on how deep the sleep is. It also depends on how you start your day.

I'm doing it since 5 years sleeping less than 4-5 hours. But I used this mentally more for partying and other stuff before.:wideyed:

But!

Seriously: Don't do it continually! Keep an eye on yourself if you want to do this!

It works for me pretty well, but maybe not for you!

Even if you want to build up a side hustle you have to invest a lot of time. Having no time for something you deserve means being disrespectful to yourself. What do you think how many people want "Something good"? And how many of them are really doing soemthing for it?

Like MJ wrote in his book you can also use Kaizen. It means you improve yourself everyday in small steps. Maybe you can invest everyday just 1 hour for your side hustle. At the end of the week you have worked at least 7 hours. Dont crush yourself finding now 4 hours a day you can spend for your business. It is more important how much time you can invest continuously.

Working 1 hours a day give you more focus on your goal than 8 hours in two days.
Einfamilienhaus, I appreciate your feedback.

Yes, you got the point. I need to know my "WHY" and it will motivate me.

I do agree with the statement working 1 hours a day is better than weekend 8 hours.

Btw, what did you do in full time and side hustle ?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

kristkaa

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
238%
May 15, 2015
29
69
Estonia
If you really want it, you can find few hours each day. Plus you have a weekends. I know its possible, I was working from 8am to 6pm. Plus had to find time for wife and 2 kids. I suggest going bed earlier and waking up earlier, so you can do a quick workout and then have the first hours for your fastlane ideas.

This is very generic advice, but if you have some savings, why not just reduce your living expenses, save few months more if necessary and just quit your job? It seems you have some valuable skills that you can use. Maybe you should come out from your comfort zone. And if you fail, couldn't you get re-hired by some other company?

Good luck.
 

FierceRacoon

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
137%
Jun 1, 2019
217
298
Here are some things I or my friends have tried:
(1) Move closer to your job to cut commute. If possible, make it a 5-minute walk. Last time I moved I realized that the extra rent was "only" $1400 extra per month, whereas I was avoiding 30-40 hours of soul-draining commute per month.

(2) Focus on your job to become a top performer. Then ask your manager to work remotely on some days or switch to a 4-day week. There are ways to do it, but first you have to deliver outstanding value.
(3) Save money, quit your job, try your business for a year, or until you are far in credit card debt. (Please, be responsible with this advice!!!) If it fails, find a full-time job, save, quit for a year. Rinse and repeat.
(4) Look for contract / consulting opportunities instead of full-time work. Then you can do those in bursts of 2-3 months. Even if your whole income is not replaced, your runway with your savings can increase to 3-4-5 years, giving you time to try other things.

Or find another job. Teach network engineering? Can you tutor high school math or standardized tests after completing training? You don't have to replace ALL of your current income. You just need to replace ENOUGH so you can live.
That's the trap with high-paid slowlaners: if you are making 25k at a restaurant, you need to make 25k dropshipping; if you are making 400k as a lawyer, you think you need to make 400k dropshippping or via affiliate programs :)
Since everyone focuses on 3-6-9 months of savings, and spending is proportional to income, guess for whom is it easier? Correct, it is easier for a waiter to quit his job and pursue entrepreneurship than it is for a lawyer, even though the lawyer may have more money saved! Are there families who can live on your current savings for 2-3-4 years, maybe not at your current lifestyle?


(5) Look for ways to get something done during your office hours. E.g. spend 15 minutes a day reading books on time management while you are in the office. If anybody asks, you are trying to create more value. Of course, apply the advice to actually create more value. Read books on goal-setting and productivity while in the office (again, not more than 15-30 minutes a day, but you don't need more) and apply the advice. It will gradually change you, and you will begin to see more opportunities.
(6) Obviously, you need to work some of the weekends.
(7) Find partners who want to start a business with you. Perhaps they can utilize your current competency, but in exchange teach you about business or marketing. Perhaps you get a smaller stake (5-10%) , but work less time? This way you will begin your learning curve asap.
 

lowtek

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
332%
Oct 3, 2015
2,164
7,186
42
Phoenix, AZ
Welcome to the forum. Can't you double up and do some work on your side hustle, at work?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Einfamilienhaus

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
188%
Feb 8, 2019
217
408
Einfamilienhaus, I appreciate your feedback.

Yes, you got the point. I need to know my "WHY" and it will motivate me.

I do agree with the statement working 1 hours a day is better than weekend 8 hours.

Btw, what did you do in full time and side hustle ?

Right I'm building up a marketing agency. I call it an agency but in truth it's an One-Man-Show. I have to scale I know.

Now I'm Building everything from Scratch. It starts asking yourself how the program a Navbar and ends with how to sell the potential customer the long term Membership Package.

My Plan is not a Side Hustle. My plan is to leave wage slave Lifestyle I have now.

Look.

It doesn't matter how much you earn right now. When your boss can pay you for your job. He earns 10x more than that.

He earns 10x more because you make him rich with your knowledge and work force. It doesn't matter if you are working at McDonald's or for the most famous lawyer Office in your country.

So they question you should ask yourself is:

Why not investing my own knowledge and work force and earn 10x more for myself?

It doesn't mean that you have to build up your own McDonald's because your making all day long Burgers.

Look at the Basics.

You used your motivation to learn something. (Making Burgers)
You learned something and created value for somebody else. (McDonald's)

Why not using your motivation you always have to learn something new? Create value for yourself? And sell it to others?

But not as a wage slave. As an independent man.

Leaving this system step by step makes you step by step to a human being. Not just a number. Somewhere you are registered.
 

BLIM

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
79%
May 24, 2018
38
30
Singapore
Right I'm building up a marketing agency. I call it an agency but in truth it's an One-Man-Show. I have to scale I know.

Now I'm Building everything from Scratch. It starts asking yourself how the program a Navbar and ends with how to sell the potential customer the long term Membership Package.

My Plan is not a Side Hustle. My plan is to leave wage slave Lifestyle I have now.

Look.

It doesn't matter how much you earn right now. When your boss can pay you for your job. He earns 10x more than that.

He earns 10x more because you make him rich with your knowledge and work force. It doesn't matter if you are working at McDonald's or for the most famous lawyer Office in your country.

So they question you should ask yourself is:

Why not investing my own knowledge and work force and earn 10x more for myself?

It doesn't mean that you have to build up your own McDonald's because your making all day long Burgers.

Look at the Basics.

You used your motivation to learn something. (Making Burgers)
You learned something and created value for somebody else. (McDonald's)

Why not using your motivation you always have to learn something new? Create value for yourself? And sell it to others?

But not as a wage slave. As an independent man.

Leaving this system step by step makes you step by step to a human being. Not just a number. Somewhere you are registered.

Thanks for your advice mate and all the best with your journey, I believe you will be different level when we chat again in the future.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

BLIM

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
79%
May 24, 2018
38
30
Singapore
Here are some things I or my friends have tried:
(1) Move closer to your job to cut commute. If possible, make it a 5-minute walk. Last time I moved I realized that the extra rent was "only" $1400 extra per month, whereas I was avoiding 30-40 hours of soul-draining commute per month.

(2) Focus on your job to become a top performer. Then ask your manager to work remotely on some days or switch to a 4-day week. There are ways to do it, but first you have to deliver outstanding value.
(3) Save money, quit your job, try your business for a year, or until you are far in credit card debt. (Please, be responsible with this advice!!!) If it fails, find a full-time job, save, quit for a year. Rinse and repeat.
(4) Look for contract / consulting opportunities instead of full-time work. Then you can do those in bursts of 2-3 months. Even if your whole income is not replaced, your runway with your savings can increase to 3-4-5 years, giving you time to try other things.

Or find another job. Teach network engineering? Can you tutor high school math or standardized tests after completing training? You don't have to replace ALL of your current income. You just need to replace ENOUGH so you can live.
That's the trap with high-paid slowlaners: if you are making 25k at a restaurant, you need to make 25k dropshipping; if you are making 400k as a lawyer, you think you need to make 400k dropshippping or via affiliate programs :)
Since everyone focuses on 3-6-9 months of savings, and spending is proportional to income, guess for whom is it easier? Correct, it is easier for a waiter to quit his job and pursue entrepreneurship than it is for a lawyer, even though the lawyer may have more money saved! Are there families who can live on your current savings for 2-3-4 years, maybe not at your current lifestyle?


(5) Look for ways to get something done during your office hours. E.g. spend 15 minutes a day reading books on time management while you are in the office. If anybody asks, you are trying to create more value. Of course, apply the advice to actually create more value. Read books on goal-setting and productivity while in the office (again, not more than 15-30 minutes a day, but you don't need more) and apply the advice. It will gradually change you, and you will begin to see more opportunities.
(6) Obviously, you need to work some of the weekends.
(7) Find partners who want to start a business with you. Perhaps they can utilize your current competency, but in exchange teach you about business or marketing. Perhaps you get a smaller stake (5-10%) , but work less time? This way you will begin your learning curve asap.

Thanks for your advice FierceRacoon,
Point no 1, it may not be possible due to the price in city area is expensive
Point no 2, I am not sure whether it will work but it's worth to try to ask remote working
Point no 3,4 : you are 100% correct, I am in a trap with high-paid slowlaners.. I realize the longer I go with slowlaner the more difficult I will step out due to the pay scale.

Currently me and my sister try to do dropshipping business however I realize it takes times to reach the my fulltime income. I am only earning 100 bucks / month while doing my fulltime job

Btw what do you think about saving money with slowlane for 5 - 10 years while do some investment in property and rent it out to earn some amount for living so I can start my own things ??
Will it consider wasting time ??

Point no 5 : yeah, normally I do it during lunch time. My colleagues mention I am not mingle with them LOL...

Point no 6 : Indeed !! and I have make up my mind to read 1 hours per day rather than spend full time 8 hours on weekend

Point no 7 : Yeah, I probably have to start looking for partner and the partner need to be trustworthy
 

MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
445%
Jul 23, 2007
38,076
169,476
Utah

0dysseus

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
121%
May 23, 2018
34
41
Berlin, Germany
Stop staying late and cut back on the exercise, thats 6 to 8 hours a week on exercise and 10 hours a week overtime. So boom, 13-15 hours freed up

Whats your commute? , brown bag your lunches and set out clothes the day before, unless you have kids and a 45 minute commute you shouldn't need 2 hours to get ready.

also give up all your hobbies, this is your hobby now, boom 20 more hours on weekends.

I'm not kidding, I think i've spent like MAYBE 6 hours socializing with friends this year , the world is dead to me, my freedom and sanity is on the line.

But I feel like those are all obvious places to cut corners , I get the sense that you don't really have a firm "why" at all. As you said you're job has allowed a certain amount of excess capital to accumulate, presumably your comfortable. Until your quite uncomfortable you'll stay in the slow lane , maybe thats what you needed to hear and the real reason for this post?

grab unscripted , go read pages 82-84 and 96-97 as well as 198.

Spend a few hours really fleshing out where your headed with this career path and if you want this enough to make some sacrifices. If you can't give up your beach bod and tell your employer they dont own you in pursuit of your dreams I dont know what to tell you. Somethings gotta give my man.

Best of luck.

True. It never stops to amaze me, how so many of my friends and people I've met want to succeed without any sacrifice at all. It will happen to some, but those are the lucky exceptions. The rest of us gotta hustle, no way around it.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

COSenior

Gold Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
171%
Jun 22, 2013
950
1,628
Colorado
You have already determined you need to find your why. I suggest doing that before you decide on how. Spend some time with that before you start changing your routine. I agree with others that you are devoting time to stuff you could cut down on to start your business, but NOT with the person who advocates only sleeping 4 hours a day. Sorry, dude, but that's terrible advice. There's no point in finding your why and starting a business only to die young of illness you brought on yourself.

I'm a coach for exactly what you're working on - finding the time for your side-hustle/home-based business. Feel free to take advantage of the free resources on my website in my signature.
 

FierceRacoon

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
137%
Jun 1, 2019
217
298
Btw what do you think about saving money with slowlane for 5 - 10 years while do some investment in property and rent it out to earn some amount for living so I can start my own things ??
And what if you mess up and lose the money? Another 5-10 years? Maybe practice on something less expensive in the meantime? I have a friend who is a highly skilled slowlaner, very well-paid. He thought he was smart because he is into finance, and the first time he tried something with real estate, he lost ~200-300K. Just like that, because of not asking enough questions up front. I don't know how much you are saving each year, but imagine losing 200K on your first deal. I assume prices in Singapore are comparable to the New York metro area. Then he told me about another acquaintance of his who got into real estate, also without experience, and bought a property without factoring depreciation and repairs. So on paper the property was making money every month after mortgage, but in reality it was losing every month, so that guy ended up spending countless hours doing manual labor repairing the property.

This is what you get by trying to throw money at a problem. If you want to do real estate, you still have to learn about it as a professional.
 
Last edited:

AlexDep89

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
209%
Feb 6, 2018
32
67
35
Belgium
I was wondering, why not look to start a business in your current field of expetise?
You talk about dropshipping, amazon,...but that is something you have less (or no) experience in. So instead of looking for all that extra time (which will also be occupied by learning these businesses) why not use 11 years of experience?

I like to think out loud with you since I'm a junior network engineer and I'm also still in the slow lane.

Lets look at the commandments (and maybe compare them with the so popular dropshipping).

Need:
IT is the industrie where there has been more work then people to do it. This has been for 2 decades. This won't decline anytime soonand with the evolution and possible boom in the world of IoT there is a big need for people with networking experience.

Dropshipping fullfills the need for products to get to the consumer. That is the need. The product is not the need you fullfill. So yes you fullfill a need but you must realize, that essentially you are a marketeer and a salesperson for the manufacturers.

Entry:
Can any 16 year old do your job right now? I don't think so. Any 16 year old with a computer and internet can start dropshipping.


The other commands greatly depend on what kind of business you would eventually start.

So I will give you my idea of how i see myself progressing. Keep in mind, I live in West-Europe, so situation might not be the same.

1) Keep studying and building experience as a network engineer (this step you can already skip)
2) Stop working as an employee on payroll and start working as a freelancer (higher profit + in Belgium you have to set up a company to work as a freelancer. )
3) Transfer from selling my time (freelancer = work per hour) to selling projects (installation and configuration of network en networkequipment, security auditing the netwerk, optimization projects,...) This is a great time to find a wholeseller so you can also sell the IT equipment with a profit margin + search co-operations with other IT companies (that only give support, or other IT services but no network) and elektrical companies (who do wiring, UTP cables,.. but not the montage at the end + config).

4) Scale up and maybe add other business ideas:
* Once you earn enough money to hire a salesperson + you already work more then full time yourself hire a salesperson that can make sure you have a constant flow of projects. Since this person works full time on sales, your projects might increase enough so you need a employee
* Maybe you have a toolkit of software you like, and maybe somebody can help you write 1 program to replace several + one that automatically generates a nice report (instead of the stuff only we can read ;) and start selling that toolkit.
* Offer training. Have you seen the price of some courses not to mention bootcamps?

So in summary: use what you already have.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

BLIM

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
79%
May 24, 2018
38
30
Singapore
You have already determined you need to find your why. I suggest doing that before you decide on how. Spend some time with that before you start changing your routine. I agree with others that you are devoting time to stuff you could cut down on to start your business, but NOT with the person who advocates only sleeping 4 hours a day. Sorry, dude, but that's terrible advice. There's no point in finding your why and starting a business only to die young of illness you brought on yourself.

I'm a coach for exactly what you're working on - finding the time for your side-hustle/home-based business. Feel free to take advantage of the free resources on my website in my signature.

THanks for the website. Will take a look
 

BLIM

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
79%
May 24, 2018
38
30
Singapore
And what if you mess up and lose the money? Another 5-10 years? Maybe practice on something less expensive in the meantime? I have a friend who is a highly skilled slowlaner, very well-paid. He thought he was smart because he is into finance, and the first time he tried something with real estate, he lost ~200-300K. Just like that, because of not asking enough questions up front. I don't know how much you are saving each year, but imagine losing 200K on your first deal. I assume prices in Singapore are comparable to the New York metro area. Then he told me about another acquaintance of his who got into real estate, also without experience, and bought a property without factoring depreciation and repairs. So on paper the property was making money every month after mortgage, but in reality it was losing every month, so that guy ended up spending countless hours doing manual labor repairing the property.

This is what you get by trying to throw money at a problem. If you want to do real estate, you still have to learn about it as a professional.

I agree with you, having an expertise on the domain is very important. Losing 200K-300K in the starting point is really painful.
Yeah Singapore and New York living cost not that much different.
 

BLIM

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
79%
May 24, 2018
38
30
Singapore
I was wondering, why not look to start a business in your current field of expetise?
You talk about dropshipping, amazon,...but that is something you have less (or no) experience in. So instead of looking for all that extra time (which will also be occupied by learning these businesses) why not use 11 years of experience?

I like to think out loud with you since I'm a junior network engineer and I'm also still in the slow lane.

Lets look at the commandments (and maybe compare them with the so popular dropshipping).

Need:
IT is the industrie where there has been more work then people to do it. This has been for 2 decades. This won't decline anytime soonand with the evolution and possible boom in the world of IoT there is a big need for people with networking experience.

Dropshipping fullfills the need for products to get to the consumer. That is the need. The product is not the need you fullfill. So yes you fullfill a need but you must realize, that essentially you are a marketeer and a salesperson for the manufacturers.

Entry:
Can any 16 year old do your job right now? I don't think so. Any 16 year old with a computer and internet can start dropshipping.


The other commands greatly depend on what kind of business you would eventually start.

So I will give you my idea of how i see myself progressing. Keep in mind, I live in West-Europe, so situation might not be the same.

1) Keep studying and building experience as a network engineer (this step you can already skip)
2) Stop working as an employee on payroll and start working as a freelancer (higher profit + in Belgium you have to set up a company to work as a freelancer. )
3) Transfer from selling my time (freelancer = work per hour) to selling projects (installation and configuration of network en networkequipment, security auditing the netwerk, optimization projects,...) This is a great time to find a wholeseller so you can also sell the IT equipment with a profit margin + search co-operations with other IT companies (that only give support, or other IT services but no network) and elektrical companies (who do wiring, UTP cables,.. but not the montage at the end + config).

4) Scale up and maybe add other business ideas:
* Once you earn enough money to hire a salesperson + you already work more then full time yourself hire a salesperson that can make sure you have a constant flow of projects. Since this person works full time on sales, your projects might increase enough so you need a employee
* Maybe you have a toolkit of software you like, and maybe somebody can help you write 1 program to replace several + one that automatically generates a nice report (instead of the stuff only we can read ;) and start selling that toolkit.
* Offer training. Have you seen the price of some courses not to mention bootcamps?

So in summary: use what you already have.

Hey Alex,

It's good to have someone from the same background.
I do agree with you about the Needs,our job is call professional.

You remind me about the goal that I set after I work in Network industry. Being a freelancer is good because you only sell your services and you don't have to handle the hardware equipment which you need to buy upfront.

Regarding training, Yes CCNA, CCNP and CCIE training is not cheap however personal brand and how we present and explain in easy term so the audience can understand easily are very important.

Really appreciate your advice. I will think through it and find my WHY before I decide on HOW
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Envision

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
779%
May 5, 2014
861
6,707
Ive never understood this, time is not the issue, your time management is.

I built my companies, invested in rentals, went to college full time, worked full time, and worked out + hung out with friends all at once.

I prioritized my needs and I worked things into each other to make it work. Only you can choose how you will make it work because your life is different than everyone elses.
 

JAJT

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
549%
Aug 7, 2012
2,970
16,306
Ontario, Canada
Here is my daily schedule
7am - 9am : wake up and prepare go office
9am - (6pm/8pm) : office and most of the time stay late due to longer working hour
8pm - 10pm : workout exercise ( 3 - 4 times per week) -- if I skip workout, it's because I feel tired and plan to go home rest early
10pm - 11 pm : go back home
11 pm above : chit chat with wife and sleep

I'd personally swap this around to:

5 am:

Wake up. Put your alarm across the room to force you out of bed to turn it off. No snoozing. Turn your alarm off, go immediately to the kitchen, grab a large glass of water, drink it all, then grab your coffee and whatever else.

5:30 am:

Go workout.

Others are saying to skip this but I personally consider this something that isn't optional. If I don't workout regularly I have a hell of a hard time with everything else in my life. I consider it a success factor and I'm hardly alone.

Although limit your workout to 45 minutes to 1 hour. Tops. You can get a great workout in that amount of time.

7 - 9 am:

Go to the office, work on your own private business project. If you can put in even 30 minutes to an hour every single work day you'll be making meaningful progress towards your goals. Work on it at lunch as well and stay an hour after work to get a bit more in since you're already used to staying late.

Everything else:

Do your job, go home on time, veg out with the wife, and other obligations / hobbies / enjoyments / etc.

Just get your a$$ to bed by 10pm.
That gives you 8 hours of sleep.

Weekends:

Continue to wake up at 5am and start working on your pet project at 5:30am. Work until you've made meaningful progress and feel satisfied.
 

COSenior

Gold Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
171%
Jun 22, 2013
950
1,628
Colorado
I'd personally swap this around to:

5 am:

Wake up. Put your alarm across the room to force you out of bed to turn it off. No snoozing. Turn your alarm off, go immediately to the kitchen, grab a large glass of water, drink it all, then grab your coffee and whatever else.

5:30 am:

Go workout.

Others are saying to skip this but I personally consider this something that isn't optional. If I don't workout regularly I have a hell of a hard time with everything else in my life. I consider it a success factor and I'm hardly alone.

Although limit your workout to 45 minutes to 1 hour. Tops. You can get a great workout in that amount of time.

7 - 9 am:

Go to the office, work on your own private business project. If you can put in even 30 minutes to an hour every single work day you'll be making meaningful progress towards your goals. Work on it at lunch as well and stay an hour after work to get a bit more in since you're already used to staying late.

Everything else:

Do your job, go home on time, veg out with the wife, and other obligations / hobbies / enjoyments / etc.

Just get your a$$ to bed by 10pm.
That gives you 8 hours of sleep.

Weekends:

Continue to wake up at 5am and start working on your pet project at 5:30am. Work until you've made meaningful progress and feel satisfied.
Solid advice. There are more hours in the day and the week than people think there are, even if you get a decent amount of sleep. This illustrates it perfectly.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

William B

New Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
85%
Dec 29, 2018
13
11
Start working less for others and work more for yourself. If you don't want to or your situation can't afford it working in part-time. Sleep less.

I wake up at 4 am. Make my routine. Enjoy breakfast.
At 7 am the work starts. At 15 pm it ends.
Making two times in a week now my workout. So it means being on this days at 6-7 pm at home.
Or If I'm not exercising. I'm hanging out with friends.
In both cases:
Around 8-9 pm I'm working for myself. Till 12 midnight. 1 am.
And again.
And again.

Or I go home directly and have more time for work.

You see in all that cases I just sleep around 4 Hours a day. On weekends little bit longer.

Sleeping more doesn't mean sleeping well. It depends on how deep the sleep is. It also depends on how you start your day.

I'm doing it since 5 years sleeping less than 4-5 hours. But I used this mentally more for partying and other stuff before.:wideyed:

But!

Seriously: Don't do it continually! Keep an eye on yourself if you want to do this!

It works for me pretty well, but maybe not for you!

Even if you want to build up a side hustle you have to invest a lot of time. Having no time for something you deserve means being disrespectful to yourself. What do you think how many people want "Something good"? And how many of them are really doing soemthing for it?

Like MJ wrote in his book you can also use Kaizen. It means you improve yourself everyday in small steps. Maybe you can invest everyday just 1 hour for your side hustle. At the end of the week you have worked at least 7 hours. Dont crush yourself finding now 4 hours a day you can spend for your business. It is more important how much time you can invest continuously.

Working 1 hours a day give you more focus on your goal than 8 hours in two days.
Hey brotha! As someone who oversleeps, I agree and need to take notes on what you said: quality sleep > quantity definitely agree! That being said, I hope you check out Matthew Walker's "Why we Sleep", it's a good read on why it's essential for our brains to sleep minimum of 6-7 hours. Let me know what you think if you get a chance to read it!
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2019-06-12 at 4.50.16 PM.png
    Screen Shot 2019-06-12 at 4.50.16 PM.png
    579 KB · Views: 1

BLIM

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
79%
May 24, 2018
38
30
Singapore
T
I'd personally swap this around to:

5 am:

Wake up. Put your alarm across the room to force you out of bed to turn it off. No snoozing. Turn your alarm off, go immediately to the kitchen, grab a large glass of water, drink it all, then grab your coffee and whatever else.

5:30 am:

Go workout.

Others are saying to skip this but I personally consider this something that isn't optional. If I don't workout regularly I have a hell of a hard time with everything else in my life. I consider it a success factor and I'm hardly alone.

Although limit your workout to 45 minutes to 1 hour. Tops. You can get a great workout in that amount of time.

7 - 9 am:

Go to the office, work on your own private business project. If you can put in even 30 minutes to an hour every single work day you'll be making meaningful progress towards your goals. Work on it at lunch as well and stay an hour after work to get a bit more in since you're already used to staying late.

Everything else:

Do your job, go home on time, veg out with the wife, and other obligations / hobbies / enjoyments / etc.

Just get your a$$ to bed by 10pm.
That gives you 8 hours of sleep.

Weekends:

Continue to wake up at 5am and start working on your pet project at 5:30am. Work until you've made meaningful progress and feel satisfied.
this is good advice. I probably will switch my workout become swimming in the morning and believe it will be hard at first week or month but long run the body will adjust.

I will try and adjust accordingly
My schedule will be
5:30 FORCE wakeup
6:00 - 6:30 swimming
6:30 - 7:45 take a bath, breakfast and prepare to go office
8:00 - 9:00 travel by mrt to office
9:00 - 18:00/20:00 work
20:00 personal/side hustle time
22:00 sleep
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.
Last edited:

FierceRacoon

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
137%
Jun 1, 2019
217
298
I really love Brian Tracy's personal story that he always tells: in his early 20s he was working at a manual construction job. He used to take 3 (three) buses each way, and naturally got home exhausted, especially since he was carrying heavy things all day long. He had no family back then, but I imagine he didn't get extra time on the construction site either, namely, time to work on an internet business, and there was no internet in the first place.

He was barely making enough money to get by. Some day, when sitting in his kitchen during a very cold winter, he realized that this was it. That was his life, and not a rehearsal, and he was responsible for the outcome. And unless he changed something, nothing was going to change.
That idea impressed him so deeply that the next day he bought a book, and then another, and another one, and started reading how to improve different areas of his life, and committed himself to lifelong learning.

Later when he was in sales --- when he couldn't get a construction job any more --- he came to another life-turning question: why is it that some people are more successful than others? He noticed that the top guys at this firm were literally selling 10X and making 10X money compared to the rest, selling the same product to the same customers at the same price. So he went to the top guys and asked them -- and they told him -- and he did it, and got better results.

There are 10 MILLION millionaires in the United States, most of them self-made, first-generation. I doubt most of them had a network engineering job. I suspect most of them had jobs like cleaning houses and selling groceries and working in a laundromat, where they still had to work 9-6 and commute, but they were making much less money. Yet somehow they made it. MILLIONS of them.

Consider this: do you think most of them made money by sleeping less? No, they made it by MAKING MORE MONEY AND SPENDING LESS. How? By getting into a field with no ceiling, such as sales, or by getting a high income job and spending much less. Yes, lots of people were eating cardboard noodles for years, and their children were too, and lots of other people took a gamble and risked their security. This is not meant to be fun. And not everyone has what it takes.
 
Last edited:

Roli

Platinum Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
160%
Jun 3, 2015
2,061
3,301
Hello Guys,

First of all, I am glad to be part of this forum.. This will be a starting point of my entrepreneur journey.
Thanks to MJ DeMarco for 2 of the amazing book ( fastlane and unscripted )

I am looking for some advice for those who are in my position.

I am a Network Architect who is holding 2x CCIE ( Cisco certificate ) for those who know the cert and have been working 9-6 jobs for almost 11 years. Currently I am 33 years old and getting a decent amount for living and saving, however I don't have any intention to work for other people for the rest of my life.

I know I can start side hustle like dropshipping, amazon fba, merch by amazon and etc however the only problem is time. I always drain out when I go back home.

Here is my daily schedule
7am - 9am : wake up and prepare go office
9am - (6pm/8pm) : office and most of the time stay late due to longer working hour
8pm - 10pm : workout exercise ( 3 - 4 times per week) -- if I skip workout, it's because I feel tired and plan to go home rest early
10pm - 11 pm : go back home
11 pm above : chit chat with wife and sleep

I always try to be consistent however if I sacrifice my sleeping time, the next day I am not able to fully concentrate.

I am looking for people who are in my position and probably can advice me what to do for side hustle and time management.

Thanks

Welcome to the forum Benny. My advice would be to use the weekends to think about and research a potential side hustle/business.

Once you have a purpose, then you can work out how much money and effort it will take. Once you're sure you have found you definitely want to put your effort into, and you have enough cash to fund the business and your living expenses, quit your job and go for it.

At the end of the day you are a highly qualified architect, so if it all goes wrong you can always go back to that.

Research
Fund
Plunge.
 

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

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

Join Fastlane Insiders.

More Intros...

Top