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What has been GOOD about quarantine/corona for you?

Fox

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We got a lot of smart and insightful people on here - I'd love to see what has been something postive you have taken from the last while?

- Any thing you have noticed and improved or fixed?
- Any big lessons about biz, life, relationships?
- Any thing you finally got time to enjoy or experience?

While I am sure it hasn't been easy for a lot of us I do feel there are a lot of great lessons that people on here can share.

I would love to see what has been some of the big takeaways.
 
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Fox

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I'll go first.

I think it has really speed up my priorities. Before this happened it always felt there was so much time and now I really feel you got to move fast towards exactly what you want in life. That things can change faster than you think and there won't always be an endless window of opportunity to get what you are after.

That might sound negative (maybe?) but it has been a really positive lesson for me.
 

Timmy C

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We got a lot of smart and insight people on here - I'd love to see what has been something postive you have taken from the last while?

- Any thing you have noticed and improved or fixed?
- Any big lessons about biz, life, relationships?
- Any thing you finally got time to enjoy or experience?

While I am sure it hasn't been easy for a lot of us I do feel there are a lot of great lessons that people on here can share.

I would love to see what has been some of the big takeaways.


I just seen the free time as a massive opportunity and am taking advantage of that opportunity.

I made some money with retail arbitrage and my revenue for my business has gone up 300% the last 2 months!

I also made some investments.

When else are you gonna get this much time to work on your business?

We will have to go back to the grind of the 9 - 5 eventually, and when i do i told myself i want to be in a even stronger position to hit the Fastlane when i do so.
 

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After the presentation of @AllenCrawley I decided to migrate my webshop from WooCommerce to Shopify and already seeing a increase of conversions.

And Tiger King obviously.
 
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I almost died around 2 weeks ago from a horrific car accident. Hydroplaned across 4 lanes on a freeway with my girlfriend in the passenger seat. I was driving my girl's car and her wheels were completely bald so the wheel locked immediately. I was forced to tail spin and smashed the left hand guard rail to prevent hitting it head on.

When we finally came to a stop, I was facing oncoming traffic. Miraculously, me and my girlfriend walked out of it with not even a scratch. No airbags deployed, no broken glass, no other cars involved.

Ironically, C0VlD-19 saved my life by not having a lot of cars on the road. At the same time, it was a slap in the face to get my shit together. That experience is a brutal reminder to me that the only thing that really matters is giving love, sharing value, and living a life that is not full of regrets. I am now on my way to starting a business after putting it off for so long with video games.
 

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For me it's great to be honest. The only major downside is the gym being closed.

I now have way more time to focus on my webdesign business (I'm in the Fox Webschool program). Before I was putting off prospecting and getting more clients because I was too busy. Now I have my second client and I'm working to get the third. The quarantine and the accountability group at the school really helped me to take more action.

Also, with the homeworking I realize I have a lot of stuff that I don't use and just takes up space. Every day when doing my home workout or yoga I had to move the furniture. So I sold most of my furniture. Also I sold or gave away most of my clothes. I had 2 closets for my clothes. One of them is half empty now, the other one I sold. I sold kitchen stuff (microwave, slowcooker) that I didn't use. It just feels so great to have more space in my kitchen, living room and my bedroom. I'll probably get a new (but way smaller) dining table in the near future, but the rest of the stuff I don't miss at all.
 

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People realising there is more to life than just working themselves to exhaustion by being forced to stay home and taking reduced hours. What I see is that they are starting to reflect on their life choices and start realising that they dont really need to follow this lifestyle.

I can tell that even when this is all over it is going to make a lot of them question if the old life is really what they want to continue. btw I'm also really intrigued to see the longterm social/cultural impact from this after it is over.

Plus I get to spend more time with my girl if you know what I mean.
 
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Phikey

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  • No distractions so I can focus 100% on my businesses
  • Consistent routine for my health and fitness - no room for excuses
  • Able to hire great new employees/contractors for cheaper than usual

I flew home to Australia from South America so I wouldn't get locked out and stuck in a country with **** going down. Moved back in with family, no more salsa dancing, Spanish/Portuguese. I thought I was going to hate it. I'm now very thankful. I'm using this time to put my head down and really focus.

I managed to buy some cheap powerlifting equipment and I have a full gym set up in the spare bedroom. Meal prepping, tracking all my macros, weighing myself every day. I'm going hard on health and business and there are no distractions holding me back. I'll be happy with doing this for 3-6 months and I'll be further ahead than a normal year of traveling while working.

Quickly I saw this as an opportunity. No more social events or going out with friends. I can basically go monk mode and make some significant gains in some big goals without anyone tugging at my attention.
 

Bobby_italy

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We overpriced a quotation because we didn't want to actually do that job but the company asking us is very big and gives us more contracts so we obliged.

Obviously we didn't get it because we were more expensive than others, tho everyone else gave up after the corona virus while our offer is still standing and they contacted us again to see if we can make a deal.

So if we close this deal we're getting one of our biggest (mid 6 figures) and most profitable contracts(in the last 10 years, before we had even 7-8 figures ones...) right after the pandemic and we're in italy, I'm debating wheter I should make a thread about our contruction company but it isn't fastlane and it's really small/boring usually, like you get a contract you work for 5 months while getting something smaller on the side, last year we did about 30 "jobs".

Also we never really know how much we're profiting until the end of the year after taxes etc.., last year was super rough and we basically broke even because we didn't get 5 of those 30 jobs paid, we have a ton of problems with non-paying people/companies because in Italy a process can last 10-15 years and you'll probably end up getting the money but at what cost?
A way in which we mitigated getting messed with is making small increments, like we charge 10% upfront and for every 10% of job done we ask 10% so when we finish the job they can just mess us up for 10% of the total revenue.

The real problem in Italy is that you pay taxes on your invoices even if they will never get paid because the state considers it impossible for you to not get paid, it's a paradox and I have no idea how a revolution hasn't started yet from entrepeneurs, sometimes it feels like being in hell for actually working and providing value to people...
 

aeden

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Walking almost every day with the family has been therapeutic. I never *really* appreciated the luxury of a nice walk through a nature reserve until so many friends ended up quarantined in apartments. Talking with them and hearing how distressed they are from not being able to even go outside has been a big eye opener.
 
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MTF

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Cool thread, @Fox.

As much as I hate what's happening, there are many lessons I'm learning from it. Here are the three main ones:

Money is even more important than I thought

I left Europe with my girlfriend to chill out in the Caribbean when everything was still normal. There were a few hundred cases in Italy and just a few in other European countries. Nobody (or very few people) knew what was coming. Over the next couple of weeks (during which we were supposed to return) flights were cancelled, borders were closed, mandatory quarantines were imposed. We considered it too big of a headache to try to return, hoping that the situation would get under control in a few weeks. Well, we were wrong.

Anyway, because I have a successful business, I can afford to stay here indefinitely even though it's not a cheap place by any means. I don't have to worry about money and we get to live in a very nice oceanfront house. We would be in a very, very bad position if we didn't have money.

Also, if we were to return to our home country (which will probably happen in the next two months depending on how the situation unfolds) and were forced to undergo a 14-day mandatory quarantine (we're hoping that over the next few weeks they'll lift it or replace it with quick tests), I would just rent a nice house by a lake, in a forest, in the mountains, by the sea, or somewhere else where being stuck for two weeks would be easier to bear (it would still be hell anyway). If I didn't have money, we would have to quarantine in our apartment, stuck indoors with only a small balcony (I want to slit my wrists just thinking about it). Which brings me to the second point...

I hate living in an apartment

Now, this isn't new. I've always preferred living in a house over an apartment but first I wanted to build a house for my parents (as a side note, this is another reason why money is so important—they're faring pretty well given the current situation because they have a big plot of land, their own garden, and a lot of stuff to do around the house; as retirees they would have withered in an apartment).

I don't ever want to be stuck in an apartment for weeks on end. I love nature and the outdoors so much that I just can't even think about it. Where we are now the lockdown has been so strict that we can't even legally walk around the block. But at least we have the view, a small yard, a terrace, and a lot of fresh air coming from the ocean. If we were in our apartment back in our home country, we would have to deal with neighbors making noises all day long (some of them seem to be using their washing machines 24/7), little space (it's not a small apartment but a house always feels more spacious), and a general feeling of being in a prison.

Once this is over, I'll start looking for a big plot of land where I can have a nice house surrounded by nature, where I can grow my own food, where I can be away from other people and be more self-reliant. I'm not sure yet if I even want to buy it in my home country (considering that I don't want to live there all year round) but we'll decide once we're back. All I know is that I don't enjoy living in the city and want to rely more on myself.

Which brings me to the third point.

Preppers were right

I used to believe that preppers were overreacting, that the world is so developed and has such great technology, scientists, etc. that it's very unlikely we'll have to hunker down in our shelters.

Now I know that the world is more vulnerable than I thought. A crisis can happen at any moment. If such a relatively harmless for most people virus can cause so much damage, then I can't even imagine what something more serious would.

So-called experts don't know s***, politicians are even worse scum during such times, and the general population is like sheep, blindly accepting whatever others decide without ever questioning it.

I hate being so reliant on others considering how easy it is for some ***** to decide that I can't leave my home. I can't change it but at least, if I had my own house with a big plot of land, solar energy, own food, additional supplies and survival skills, I could be more in control (vs living in an apartment where everything is controlled by someone else and shared with others).

I would also like to have a second citizenship or at least a second permanent residency so that if the s*** hits the fan I had more options.

I did have some interest in prepping and survival before but it was mostly a fun hobby to get new skills. I wasn't treating it seriously, I thought that something like that would never happen (also, it's kind of pointless to be a prepper if you live in an apartment). Now it's clear that if you aren't self-reliant at least to some extent and hope that others will always save you, you're foolish.

So these are my three main lessons for now.
 

TonyStark

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I almost died around 2 weeks ago from a horrific car accident. Hydroplaned across 4 lanes on a freeway with my girlfriend in the passenger seat. I was driving my girl's car and her wheels were completely bald so the wheel locked immediately. I was forced to tail spin and smashed the left hand guard rail to prevent hitting it head on.

When we finally came to a stop, I was facing oncoming traffic. Miraculously, me and my girlfriend walked out of it with not even a scratch. No airbags deployed, no broken glass, no other cars involved.

Ironically, C0VlD-19 saved my life by not having a lot of cars on the road. At the same time, it was a slap in the face to get my shit together. That experience is a brutal reminder to me that the only thing that really matters is giving love, sharing value, and living a life that is not full of regrets. I am now on my way to starting a business after putting it off for so long with video games.
I would’ve slapped my girl in the face for having such bald tires :rofl:
 

Chapas

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I live in one of the only countries in the world without real quarantine measures, where kids are still running around in the schoolyards and old grey-haired men are still sipping rosé wine at café terraces. Surreal watching this and reading about quarantines in other countries. We do keep our own quarantine measures though, by ordering groceries home and not hanging around a bunch of people. There is no-way I will join one of those corona-magnets in a café. No matter how much I like my cold beer in the sun at a café terrace.

I have been really dissappointed in myself for slacking way to much in the first month of quarantine. Only in the second month I have picked up my pace. The positives have been:

- I save 4 hours (4!) on commuting every single day. I actually work in a total different country. Fortunately our office is closed down for 2 months now and everybody works from home. I believe that I will work from home most of the summer due to border issues, so that is potential 360 hours I can use for other stuff (buuuuusiness). Not commuting 4 hours a day also means that I am more efficient at my slowlane job. A win/win for all parties here.

- That leads me to the next point. Being home I save a lot of money. First and foremost I save around $400 each month of the commute. Then there is the money we usually spend going to cafés and restaurants. And last but not least we will save a lot of money due to the fact that we probably will not travel anywhere this year. So corona is actually helping me raise money for business.

- My wife and I have not killed each other yet. Being together 24/7 without seeing family and friends will always be a challenge for most people. Fortunately, we have been doing that before as well, and this is another proof that our relationship is beyond awesome and that a little corona 'quarantine' will not hurt that.

This being said I am looking forward to the day where everything gets back to normal again (or as normal as it can be).

Stay safe my friends!
 

MTF

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I live in one of the only countries in the world without real quarantine measures, where kids are still running around in the schoolyards and old grey-haired men are still sipping rosé wine at café terraces. Surreal watching this and reading about quarantines in other countries. We do keep our own quarantine measures though, by ordering groceries home and not hanging around a bunch of people. There is no-way I will join one of those corona-magnets in a café. No matter how much I like my cold beer in the sun at a café terrace.

Where is this mythical land? I'll pay good money to get there lol.
 

Chapas

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Where is this mythical land? I'll pay good money to get there lol.

Haha :) It is lovely Sweden. You should visit someday! We are actually having 'corona-tourists' from Denmark coming over to get a haircut, get their nails done or to just visit a restaurant here in Sweden.

But as Swede's say themselves. No need for quarantine here. Social distancing is their national sport, lol.

32671
 
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Despite my worries at the start of all this, my business has done pretty well over the past 2 months. Better than same time last year. So much in fact I'm growing/ expanding/ reinvesting when others are closing and selling up.
I've been out everyday 7 days week working since the lockdown, the roads are empty no traffic which is nice. I thought people/ customers would be against us working/ trading but generally everyone's pleased we're still open as normal and supportive.

Locally I've noticed families out walking, kids with their dad's on bike rides spending time together. I know people have suffered and I don't necessarily agree with the lockdown measures, but on the whole it's been a positive for me.
 

violinista

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Well, how about realizing that through entrepreneurship, there is a way out of a traditional, restrictive job, the opportunity to be rewarded financially/emotionally for helping people, and then being able to give back tremendously later in life, just because you can? I would not have come across this forum or the Fastlane books anytime soon without this time at home, and it has really opened up my mind to a new way of thinking about the world and how I can make a difference.

At the same time, I am struggling to truly dive in and get going on learning new skills because while I am fairly knowledgeable/skilled in my current field, it's slow lane. I am a music teacher/musician, and although there is demand for my skills to an extent, I can't help but think, based on what I've found on this forum and from researching the most successful YouTube channels in this field, it's something to pursue later in life after I've had success with something else. My challenge is committing to completely jumping ship and starting from scratch with investing time learning/specializing in a new service to help people.

I've been thinking a lot about this for the past 2 weeks and going between whether I should focus my current abundance of time on an idea related to music tutorials (improving something that already exists and does moderately well already in its current state of quality), or just reinventing myself completely through a different field in order to enter the Fastlane. There really is no answer. Who knows about anything until you try, no matter what I decide! :) Any perspective or insight is very welcome... I need all the wisdom I can get, haha.
 
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Odysseus M Jones

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I would’ve slapped my girl in the face for having such bald tires
Who would slap the driver for not checking tyres? ;)

Of course if one doesn't usually drive sports cars then checking tyre pressures, oil & coolant before every drive may not be second nature, although it should be even if they drive a Eurobox or whatever they're called.
Then again if someone can tailspin it in order to avoid a collision, that indicates advanced driving, which means they know the importance of tyres... :hilarious:

I won't even get into the near death experience despite no airbags deployed, no glass broken, not even a scratch.

On the same vein, several people are now bragging they had "Covid"

Maybe there's a T-shirt opportunity once this is all over?

Mine would be:

"I survived
SARS
Bird Flu
Swine Flu
Asian Financial Crisis
BREXIT (tbc)
Covid 19 (tbc)"
 
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Andy Black

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Well, how about realizing that through entrepreneurship, there is a way out of a traditional, restrictive job, the opportunity to be rewarded financially/emotionally for helping people, and then being able to give back tremendously later in life, just because you can? I would not have come across this forum or the Fastlane books anytime soon without this time at home, and it has really opened up my mind to a new way of thinking about the world and how I can make a difference.

At the same time, I am struggling to truly dive in and get going on learning new skills because while I am fairly knowledgeable/skilled in my current field, it's slow lane. I am a music teacher/musician, and although there is demand for my skills to an extent, I can't help but think, based on what I've found on this forum and from researching the most successful YouTube channels in this field, it's something to pursue later in life after I've had success with something else. My challenge is committing to completely jumping ship and starting from scratch with investing time learning/specializing in a new service to help people.

I've been thinking a lot about this for the past 2 weeks and going between whether I should focus my current abundance of time on an idea related to music tutorials (improving something that already exists and does moderately well already in its current state of quality), or just reinventing myself completely through a different field in order to enter the Fastlane. There really is no answer. Who knows about anything until you try, no matter what I decide! :) Any perspective or insight is very welcome... I need all the wisdom I can get, haha.
I spoke to someone last week who runs a brick and mortars music school. She was delighted 180 students decided to continue their lessons online.

These might interest you:
> "Build Your High Ground" & "Grow What You Know"
> (Radio Interview) Freedom, Motivation, & Grow What You Know
 

violinista

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I spoke to someone last week who runs a brick and mortars music school. She was delighted 180 students decided to continue their lessons online.

These might interest you:
> "Build Your High Ground" & "Grow What You Know"
> (Radio Interview) Freedom, Motivation, & Grow What You Know

... you're totally right, Andy. I've been teaching music lessons online for almost a year at this point with great success and long term subscribers, and it is true that I've been getting more new students in the past month than normal that have booked lessons more months to come... you're right!! Heck, I've got random people commenting on my YouTube channel that I haven't posted on in two years all of sudden asking for tutorials of my covers in English and Spanish, which I speak both fluently... Ok, I need to just commit to teaching music, improving what already exists in terms of DIY strings help, and doing it in the most clear, accessible way possible. I can't teach lessons 24/7, but my videos can.

Thank you for your response. I will make the most of what I already know and build on it to be the best that can be found out there, and trust that more opportunities will present themselves along the way.
 
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violinista

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Isn't Carlos Santana doing masterclasses online?
You may not be a household name, but online music lessons/courses are a thing and it could easily be scaled.

Especially nowadays. I've started thinking long term, with the shut downs and potential second waves, how it may affect the public schools with teachers scrambling to assemble more learning resources/prepackaged lessons ready to go, applicable to their subject matter, as well as being accessible to their students... It can't hurt to try and create great, high quality online resources.
 

Odysseus M Jones

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Especially nowadays. I've started thinking long term, with the shut downs and potential second waves, how it may affect the public schools with teachers scrambling to assemble more learning resources/prepackaged lessons ready to go, applicable to their subject matter, as well as being accessible to their students... It can't hurt to try and create great, high quality online resources.
Absolutely!
And another advantage for you is that your existing students can be a kind of focus group to validate/invalidate your business model
Depending on the age of your students no one is more honest and forthright than children.

Go for it!

I wish I'd done it when I was teaching phonics back in the noughties

C'est la vie
 

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Can't go to restaurants or get my hair cut. Other than that, not noticing a lot of difference. Our golf course is still open but the clubhouse is empty. It us usually filled with people eating popcorn and drinking alcoholic beverages.

I'm still exploring the desert on foot and in my jeep. My dog and I really get around.

Also making progress on yard landscaping which I have needed to do for a while.

There is going to be some significant churn in the real estate market. Keeping my eyes peeled for that.
 
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Having lunch and dinner with my wife and our kids around the same table every day is great.

I finally tidied the shed. There's still much more clearing out to do. (Skip hire is much in demand at the moment.)

We probably got the last two sets of hex dumbbells online in Ireland before everywhere went out of stock. They're only 6kg and 8kg ones. There's no way I'd have paid €90 for two sets of dumbbells before this, but now we're both sold on having a home gym. As soon as things are back in stock we're getting more dumbbells and a rack to hold them in. Hmm... maybe we'll build a gym/office out back?

We put up a weekly "training" schedule on the fridge and the kids are excited by it. I went for a jog at 8am yesterday with the 9 and 11 year olds, got back, dropped them off, then went again with the 8 year old who was on his bike. This was great fun, good for them while I chatter away about running to them, and still gave me a workout.

I'm doing two upper body sessions a week. The 11 year old wants to join in properly. The other two do it for a bit and get bored. This is a great opportunity for me to chat to my son, show him how to do light weights, and build his confidence a bit before he goes into secondary school later this year. He's a bit worried about it I think. His older step-brother was bullied in school till we found out and the school put a stop to it. I also took my step-son down the gym when he was about 17 and that really helped his self-confidence.

I miss just popping to a cafe and having a cup of tea and watching the world go by. I had the sudden urge to do so today when I came out of a shop and then realised I couldn't. I'm making a mental note of what I actually miss so that I make sure I do it when I'm able to again. I'll call that a silver lining. It's like a reset where we are forced to drop all habits and now we realise which ones we actually miss.

I've less clients to manage as many have had to pause their campaigns. Revenue is lower but I'm loving it.

The Irish government is trying to keep the SME's going. I normally steer clear of the local enterprise office (LEO) but they're dishing out business continuity vouchers for €2,500 to get mentorship, and €2,500 online trading vouchers to get eCom sites built. I'm speaking with one of their business mentors for free tomorrow, and a different one next week. They'll be plugged into the resources available, and they'll also have big networks of businesses they've helped over the years.

The LEO is also hosting weekly virtual networking meetings on Zoom. I joined one a couple of weeks ago to see what it was like and it was actually great chatting to other business owners. They split us into virtual rooms of 3 people and we took turns being in the hot seat with the other two consulting to solve our most pressing problem. This has just reminded me how much I like real interaction with people rather than sending automated email sequences etc.

An in-person workshop had to be done online, and again I'm reminded how I enjoy doing them. I've offered to do another one for a paid group of Irish business owners that I'm in. Once that's done I'll make a free version and maybe post it online and put ad spend behind it.

With less client work on I've more time to work on pay-per-lead projects. I'd like to get some revenue from this model. It could be very scalable with my skillset. There's no way I'd have had the time to move this along when I had the full portfolio of clients.

I'd like to work on courses more and really make use of the fact that other people might want to learn online, but there's only so many hours in the day.
 

Sethamus

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I'll go first.

I think it has really speed up my priorities. Before this happened it always felt there was so much time and now I really feel you got to move fast towards exactly what you want in life. That things can change faster than you think and there won't always be an endless window of opportunity to get what you are after.

That might sound negative (maybe?) but it has been a really positive lesson for me.
The quarantine hasn’t really affected me because I came off a two week vacation and went straight to work for the past six weeks. However with the current economy and the slow down in my industry (oilfield). Your statement about time, opportunity, and moving faster rings true for me.

Isn't Carlos Santana doing masterclasses online?
You may not be a household name, but online music lessons/courses are a thing and it could easily be scaled.

Luckily for me my current renter started doing online teaching a year and a half ago. She has been able to make money during this and I’ve had no worries about her paying rent.
 

CaptainAmerica

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Well, I got married.... ;)
32731
(I'm the one in the dress)

Beyond that, I've learned more about where my skills really lie. I'm actually BAD at daily management, mostly because I hate it so much. I ran into an old consulting client (one I had taken from dissolving the company to a $3M in revenue), and he reminded me of how changing his lead worker into management was critical for freeing up his time and energy. I can HIRE A MANAGER! Sheesh. Why did I think I had to do it all myself?

Not much else has changed here, except we couldn't do the Italian honeymoon yet, and the wedding was 11 people instead of 150. We'll do a huge wedding again when we can.
 

becks22

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Well, I got married.... ;)
View attachment 32731
(I'm the one in the dress)

CONGRATS!! Reminds me that wonderful life changing events are still happening! My mom celebrated the big 70 in April (god she would disown me if I she knew I put her age on the Google as she says), a friend had her baby that I didn't get to meet yet, the son of a colleague picked his college after being named HS valedictorian (although there is no commencement) and I know quite a few other friends that have gotten good news during this time.
 

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