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Gonna make it.

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

Croaker

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Good day fastlaners. A long time coming for me, but a week ago I've finally decided to take the plunge and start the journey towards financial freedom. Maybe I made up my mind a long time ago, maybe I'm just taking the first step. Even then, this didn't come easy. Thoughts wouldn't leave me alone and kept pestering until I had no other choice but to give in.

I spent time on and off the forum, I read a couple of books, I watched some videos and listened to some podcasts. I believe some information stuck into my head but ultimately I didn't learn nothing useful. Concepts have nowhere to hold on to, as business world is too foreign to me with no experiential foundation to build a house upon.

Though what it did was give me a shit ton of anxiety. Of not pursuing nothing. Of not taking control. It reached such a critical mass that the decision to take action was the easy way out. Full on all or nothing action. Get all the stoppers out and change myself to whatever I need to be to achieve independence and be on top of my own created hierarchy.

Mind you, I have no marketable skills and l'm not particularly good at anything. I don't have an entrepreneural bone in my body. I don't speak bussiness and money. There's no real passions under the hood. I'm just a middle aged man that coasted along through life, and unwillingly gained some life experience. Maybe some wisdom. That's it. I don't have a lot of free time between family, work and keeping myself fit. I'm not energetic, I'm not overly motivated. From an objective point of view, I'm most likely going to fail. If you'd personally know me, you'd stake all your money on that option. I am the laziest, slowest, most unproductive person I know.

But.

I'll update this thread at least every 8 days (shift pattern), until I'm out of the rat race.
 
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From an objective point of view, I'm most likely going to fail. If you'd personally know me, you'd stake all your money on that option. I am the laziest, slowest, most unproductive person I know.
I'm rooting for you, Croaker!
 

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Good day too, fellow Fastlaner.

Here's a trick that I would like to share to reduce anxiety. Remember the song 25 Minutes by MLTR?

Just spend 25 minutes every day within these 3 days from now to work on what you think the most important for you to start a business. Maybe reading just one page from Wikipedia about HTML.

If you managed to do that, then congratulations! You've just followed a schedule. Because, as MJ said:
Fastlaners regard time as the king of all assets.

Obviously, you've to know the fine line between action-faking and baby steps.

Okay, I'm going to do my 25 minutes now. Godspeed!
 

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I applaud you. Try something and create some form of tiny success / momentum.

Hopefully that can make you believe in yourself more.

You don't need a lot of skills or experience if you have a strong belief and willingness to search for the answers. You can find solutions for most problems and knowledge gaps just through google or on forums such as this. Each small obstacle encountered is another puzzle piece. Business is not one big challenge, but a thousand trivial problems.
 
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Croaker

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So this first set of 8 days hit me like a ton of bricks. I realised that my goal is not concrete enough, that I always have better things to do than work on my future; that sleep is crucial; that separate workspace is essential; that I can't control myself as good as I thought I'd able to; that work needs to be planned and scheduled; that I need to sell my endeavour to spouse to carve our more time; that decisions have to be made quickly with no delay; that I need to change my programming at a core level; that every non-physical hobby must go; that breaks at work need to be utilised for learning; that if I'm not going through with this, I won't be able to look into my kids eyes and lift them up without sounding hypocritical.

As I've said at the start of this thread, I'll change myself to whatever I have to be to make this work. And it's almost like I have to change my entire self, my entire environment. Almost seems like I have to change the concept of who I am.

So be it.

  • I started going through Fox Web School courses and doing every exercise, thought I had to start somewhere and might as well be here; Currently @ 20% completion, but I haven't even got the the meat of it. I'm switching off my critical qualities as much as I can and sponging up everything like it's gospel. I won't doubt, I'll accept and implement. This may end up as a good or a bad review for @Fox .
  • I had to choose a concrete goal with a deadline as otherwise I'm never going to defeat procrastination, and that ended up being "Leave my full-time job as an employee by 4th of April 2023, making at least, or close to £2000/mo". It's a good deadline date as this'll be my 10 year anniversary at the company, and gives me 14 months to succeed. I don't need to be making much by that time, my goal is driven by being able to make money selling my skill and not needing to work night shifts. Freeing up additional 42 hours a week will help me boost the income further.
  • I've counted how many sets of 8 there is until my deadline, and this'll work as my timer. Wrote down the monthly income goal as well at the top of the post so that would work as a constant reminder and an eyesore. The state of failure is an update post with 54/54 weeks and less than £2000 of monthly income. I may add something else I track further down the line.
  • Filled out my resignation letter, with all the dates, names and a my signature. It only needs to be sent by email to be in effect. Now, i'd like to think that whatever happens, the letter is going to be sent on the date I've written on it. With quick google search I can see that there are accountability apps for that kind of thing. I send the letter, pay, give the date and the address of recipient and it's out of my control. The letter is going to be received no matter what. That would activate every survival instinct in my body and increase my productivity immeasurably, but I fear the consequences as I have a family to take care of. Would anyone have an input on this as I'm undecided. Increase the odds of success by increasing risk or the risk would be too great?
  • Downloaded @MJ DeMarco weekly goal .pdf ; will get into the habit of filling it out at the same day I make the update post.

On to the next week.
 

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Fox

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So this first set of 8 days hit me like a ton of bricks. I realised that my goal is not concrete enough, that I always have better things to do than work on my future; that sleep is crucial; that separate workspace is essential; that I can't control myself as good as I thought I'd able to; that work needs to be planned and scheduled; that I need to sell my endeavour to spouse to carve our more time; that decisions have to be made quickly with no delay; that I need to change my programming at a core level; that every non-physical hobby must go; that breaks at work need to be utilised for learning; that if I'm not going through with this, I won't be able to look into my kids eyes and lift them up without sounding hypocritical.

As I've said at the start of this thread, I'll change myself to whatever I have to be to make this work. And it's almost like I have to change my entire self, my entire environment. Almost seems like I have to change the concept of who I am.

So be it.

  • I started going through Fox Web School courses and doing every exercise, thought I had to start somewhere and might as well be here; Currently @ 20% completion, but I haven't even got the the meat of it. I'm switching off my critical qualities as much as I can and sponging up everything like it's gospel. I won't doubt, I'll accept and implement. This may end up as a good or a bad review for @Fox .
  • I had to choose a concrete goal with a deadline as otherwise I'm never going to defeat procrastination, and that ended up being "Leave my full-time job as an employee by 4th of April 2023, making at least, or close to £2000/mo". It's a good deadline date as this'll be my 10 year anniversary at the company, and gives me 14 months to succeed. I don't need to be making much by that time, my goal is driven by being able to make money selling my skill and not needing to work night shifts. Freeing up additional 42 hours a week will help me boost the income further.
  • I've counted how many sets of 8 there is until my deadline, and this'll work as my timer. Wrote down the monthly income goal as well at the top of the post so that would work as a constant reminder and an eyesore. The state of failure is an update post with 54/54 weeks and less than £2000 of monthly income. I may add something else I track further down the line.
  • Filled out my resignation letter, with all the dates, names and a my signature. It only needs to be sent by email to be in effect. Now, i'd like to think that whatever happens, the letter is going to be sent on the date I've written on it. With quick google search I can see that there are accountability apps for that kind of thing. I send the letter, pay, give the date and the address of recipient and it's out of my control. The letter is going to be received no matter what. That would activate every survival instinct in my body and increase my productivity immeasurably, but I fear the consequences as I have a family to take care of. Would anyone have an input on this as I'm undecided. Increase the odds of success by increasing risk or the risk would be too great?
  • Downloaded @MJ DeMarco weekly goal .pdf ; will get into the habit of filling it out at the same day I make the update post.

On to the next week.

Good to see you taking a lot of action.
You seem to have clear why and your own internal motivation dialled in.

I would say a good next move is to now put the focus on what the market wants.
Start thinking about what businesses to best help and how you can give the most value.

What you have listed above is great for you but the people you are selling to are only going to care about themselves.
So the next stage is to switch gears again and get into problem-solving mode.

Who can you help next and how can you give them a lot of value they would be happy to pay for?
 

Croaker

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Saying this week was unproductive would be an understatement. My boy got sick and wife had taken on extra overtime a week before. If little one doesn't go to the nursery my time is limited to the break times at work. Not complaining, this is out of my control and things like that unfortunately happen. Managing time and making more of it is essential at this point because my deadline clock is ticking and I'm very aware of it.

On another note, I've decided that my first customer will be my missus. She had written a fiction book last year, and she's close to finishing her second. Perfect. First one got like 20 sales, so my goal would be to get her a lot more of that. She has very low online presence so I could work on marketing her product as well. There's huge learning opportunity for me here. Also, for the fun of it, I'll try to write her an e-mail from a fake account and sell her my services without telling her it's me. See if I can get that overtime money transferred to my account.

30% done in Fox Legends Program, warm-up seems to be over and the real meat of it begin.

On to the next week.
 
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From an objective point of view, I'm most likely going to fail.
Yeah. Ok. That's most likely true. You most likely will fail to hit your goal of quitting on April 4. You most likely will fail to convince your wife to market her book. You will most likely fail to land your first propsect into a client. You will most likely fail at getting your first business off the ground. And your second business. And on and on it goes.

And with every failure comes learning. With every failure comes growth. Strength. Keep failing. Like a resistance trainer you keep pushing against the external forces that want to see you fail, and you keep pushing against the internal monologue that reinforces this message. Embrace the failures. Celebrate your success. Fail faster. Learn faster. Grow faster. In this way your failures also become successes.

Adopt the Edison mindset. When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?" Edison replied, "I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps." Another quote by Edison in a 1910 biography as it relates to Edison's later work on storage batteries. The book quotes Edison's friend and associate Walter S. Mallory:

"I said: 'Isn't it a shame that with the tremendous amount of work you have done you haven't been able to get any results?' Edison turned on me like a flash, and with a smile replied: 'Results! Why, man, I have gotten lots of results! I know several thousand things that won't work!'"

If you adopt this mindset, there is only one force that can stop you: death.

Given enough time, a determined man who learns from his mistakes can accomplish virtually anything.

The only true failures are quitters.
 

Croaker

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Yeah. Ok. That's most likely true. You most likely will fail to hit your goal of quitting on April 4. You most likely will fail to convince your wife to market her book. You will most likely fail to land your first propsect into a client. You will most likely fail at getting your first business off the ground. And your second business. And on and on it goes.

And with every failure comes learning. With every failure comes growth. Strength. Keep failing. Like a resistance trainer you keep pushing against the external forces that want to see you fail, and you keep pushing against the internal monologue that reinforces this message. Embrace the failures. Celebrate your success. Fail faster. Learn faster. Grow faster. In this way your failures also become successes.

Adopt the Edison mindset. When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?" Edison replied, "I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps." Another quote by Edison in a 1910 biography as it relates to Edison's later work on storage batteries. The book quotes Edison's friend and associate Walter S. Mallory:

"I said: 'Isn't it a shame that with the tremendous amount of work you have done you haven't been able to get any results?' Edison turned on me like a flash, and with a smile replied: 'Results! Why, man, I have gotten lots of results! I know several thousand things that won't work!'"
Love this. Most of my life I used to equate my personal negative thoughts and emotions to objective reality. Only later in life it hit me that the interpretation of events itself creates a different world you can live in. It's undeniable that the glass is half empty. And Edison didn't produce results up to the point of associates question. But does this view serve you? Or Is it a view which any reasonably pragmatic person would reject at the recognition of the process?

It's a choice. And a painful joyful realisation at once, as I lived blind for too many years I finally cracked the thing that was holding me back in every aspect of life. Edison was an absolute beast at this, it seems.

If you adopt this mindset, there is only one force that can stop you: death.

Given enough time, a determined man who learns from his mistakes can accomplish virtually anything.

The only true failures are quitters.
Thank you for encouragement. I wont quit. Pinky promise.
 

Croaker

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Good day lads.

Fox Legends program 40% complete. Started learning simple coding and playing with WordPress. I don't find it as daunting as I thought it would be and I can see myself completing first unpaid - portfolio - project in 2-3 months. It's only the start though, I'll see how my learning progresses;

Have another 2 free projects lined up after this so the only thing that's creating a lot of resistance is free available time to pursue my goal. I make the most of this time, but even with quitting video-gaming, limiting myself to only weight-lifting and zero cardio, cutting my sleep time by one hour, i'm not finding myself pushing as fast as I need to. Less hours of sleep seems to be more detrimental than helpful as I'm more cranky and have less energy, so might have to rethink this change.

Also coming up with some business ideas and writing them down in case I need them. Quite a unique way of thinking about the world as an entrepreneur. And even if I'm not one of them yet, I can sense that this is the way to play the game of life.

On to the next week.
 
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Good day lads.

Fox Legends program 40% complete. Started learning simple coding and playing with WordPress. I don't find it as daunting as I thought it would be and I can see myself completing first unpaid - portfolio - project in 2-3 months. It's only the start though, I'll see how my learning progresses;
Did I miss your progress on your wife's book marketing? I thought that was a common-sense place to start.
 

Croaker

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Did I miss your progress on your wife's book marketing? I thought that was a common-sense place to start.
Yes the first project that I'm undertaking is mywife's second book marketing. Though I didn't write her an email pretending to be someone that she doesn't know, as I thought that'd be a bit cruel when she'd find out it was me. I know roleplaying doesn't work anyway as evidenced by my spectacular performance on demo trading and conversely poor performance on live stock trading.

She was actually quite happy and thought me working on making more sales was a no-brainer; though I still have to figure out how to do that, as besides revamping her website and putting some ad spend behind this I'm shooting blanks. She doesn't use social media and don't want to engage in it. Doesn't want to sell, just wants to write. To be honest, I myself am not convinced of the feasibility of a fiction writing business, but I'll do what I can though.

Second project is my best mates brother. He's an electrician, started working for himself half a year ago. Doing good, more work than he can handle, so I'll have to figure out how can I help him besides making a pretty website. Still didn't have a proper talk with him to understand his needs, only an agreement that he's interested.

Third one is a work colleague who's doing some painting here and there on his days off. Wants to work for himself fully. So that is pretty straightforward - just get him enough work of which he wouldn't be able to handle without bringing in his notice.

By the end of these projects I should have a more wider understanding of the business world, and try on tackling cold businesses.
 

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I only saw the title and skimmed.

Why is the thread called “Not gonna make it”? Is it a play on you getting other people to make things? If not then can you make it a more positive title? Otherwise you get told you’re not gonna make it every time you come to update your thread.
 
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Croaker

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I only saw the title and skimmed.

Why is the thread called “Not gonna make it”? Is it a play on you getting other people to make things? If not then can you make it a more positive title? Otherwise you get told you’re not gonna make it every time you come to update your thread.
Title changed. For me it was motivating in a sense. Like proving to someone that, no, I can actually do it and escape the rat race even though the odds are stacked against me. Maybe even change the title as I go along and keep growing, with it reflecting my progress.

But I understand that other people visiting the forum may misperceive it and dismiss it as something negative and self-defeating. May even affect someone's day for the worse. Good spot.
 

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Title changed. For me it was motivating in a sense. Like proving to someone that, no, I can actually do it and escape the rat race even though the odds are stacked against me. Maybe even change the title as I go along and keep growing, with it reflecting my progress.

But I understand that other people visiting the forum may misperceive it and dismiss it as something negative and self-defeating. May even affect someone's day for the worse. Good spot.
It’s more for your own benefit. The negative words and stories you tell yourself are insidious.

“This is boring.”
vs
“How can I make this more interesting?”

“Yes, but …”
vs
“Yes, and …”

Careful of what you say and how you say it. The supercomputer between your ears will believe whatever you tell it.

The first person to lead is yourself.


EDIT: I just read more of your opening post. You seem to be focusing too much on what you don’t have.

Everyone has so much value to offer, and it starts with believing it.

Glass half empty.
vs
Glass half full.


(I’m not even a half is glass full kind of guy. I’m more of a “Oh wow! I have an empty glass!! What can I fill it with?”)
 
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Croaker

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The first person to lead is yourself.
Such a great quote.
Glass half empty.
vs
Glass half full.
Yeah we had that same exchange with @BizyDad. I know I have an issue with not defaulting to a positive angle on events; must be the effect of environment and as I wasn't raised in a western culture.

I'm aware of this and actively try to catch myself thinking passive, negative, powerless thoughts and argue a different case with automata.

Seems like you nailed the art of self-leadership to a T; some excellent examples of gently steering thoughts in a desired direction, instead of fighting them head on.
 
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Andy Black

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some excellent examples of gently steering thoughts in a desired direction, instead of fighting them head on.
Only someone who’s been around the block will spot that and comment that way. See the value you can offer? Wisdom is earned and us middle aged folks have earned more than we realise over the years.

How can you gently steer some of the youngsters in the forum who don’t have your patience and experience?

And you might like this:
 

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We are proud of your commitment to succeed.

I read a lot of self-put downs in your post. That's a shame because you have everything you need to get started but one. A positive attitude towards yourself. Can we try an exercise to help get you started?

Let's hear 3 positive things about yourself.
 

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Andy Black

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We are proud of your commitment to succeed.

I read a lot of self-put downs in your post. That's a shame because you have everything you need to get started but one. A positive attitude towards yourself. Can we try an exercise to help get you started?

Let's hear 3 positive things about yourself.
Lol. I saw that movie again with the kids recently.

“See? Nobody cares.”

What a great line.
 
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Yes the first project that I'm undertaking is mywife's second book marketing. Though I didn't write her an email pretending to be someone that she doesn't know, as I thought that'd be a bit cruel when she'd find out it was me. I know roleplaying doesn't work anyway as evidenced by my spectacular performance on demo trading and conversely poor performance on live stock trading.

She was actually quite happy and thought me working on making more sales was a no-brainer; though I still have to figure out how to do that, as besides revamping her website and putting some ad spend behind this I'm shooting blanks. She doesn't use social media and don't want to engage in it. Doesn't want to sell, just wants to write. To be honest, I myself am not convinced of the feasibility of a fiction writing business, but I'll do what I can though.

Second project is my best mates brother. He's an electrician, started working for himself half a year ago. Doing good, more work than he can handle, so I'll have to figure out how can I help him besides making a pretty website. Still didn't have a proper talk with him to understand his needs, only an agreement that he's interested.

Third one is a work colleague who's doing some painting here and there on his days off. Wants to work for himself fully. So that is pretty straightforward - just get him enough work of which he wouldn't be able to handle without bringing in his notice.

By the end of these projects I should have a more wider understanding of the business world, and try on tackling cold businesses.
So, you have a toe hold on your dream. Good for you...

Novels sell at a much higher rate than non-fiction books. Your wife wants to write and you want to start a marketing business. It sounds like a match made in heaven. There are MANY artists who have spouses who market their art. Your wife is an artist. Make her famous and you guys rich. You be her ghostwriter on social media sites. You can manage them all for her. You learn how to work in her writing nitch. Then you help her to learn what works and doesn't work within that world. Make her shine!

I'm listening to a book that you need to pick up. Launch, by Jeff Walker. It's how to launch an organic business campaign.

Here's another thought. The lady who wrote 50 Shades of Gray was self-publishing on a free site. Those posts repelled her into her success. Research and find out how she did it.

And that's just one of your 3 gigs...
 

Croaker

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Only someone who’s been around the block will spot that and comment that way. See the value you can offer? Wisdom is earned and us middle aged folks have earned more than we realise over the years.

How can you gently steer some of the youngsters in the forum who don’t have your patience and experience?

And you might like this:
Hah, somehow I have a feeling that wisdom is the last thing younger aspiring entrepreneurs need, as strange as it may sound. Something more akin to personalized blinders to help them focus. Wisdom will come, eventually, over the years. Some targeted insight could help, but not from someone who hasn't walked the path. My mental models could easily fall apart during entrepreneural process as it is a thing requiring utmost agency.

I've read the thread and thoroughly enjoyed it. You have a talent of distilling complex information into its essence.
We are proud of your commitment to succeed.

I read a lot of self-put downs in your post. That's a shame because you have everything you need to get started but one. A positive attitude towards yourself. Can we try an exercise to help get you started?

Let's hear 3 positive things about yourself.
I am more negatively oriented than most people, but my mind rationalises it me being a realist. And if I'm a realist, that really tickles my fancy. Wasn't always that way, but sometimes circumstances swing you the other way. A bit too much.

1. Responsibility
2. Work ethic
3. Attention

Quite hard to find traits that I like in myself that would be perceived as positive exclusively. Good exercise.

So, you have a toe hold on your dream. Good for you...

Novels sell at a much higher rate than non-fiction books. Your wife wants to write and you want to start a marketing business. It sounds like a match made in heaven. There are MANY artists who have spouses who market their art. Your wife is an artist. Make her famous and you guys rich. You be her ghostwriter on social media sites. You can manage them all for her. You learn how to work in her writing nitch. Then you help her to learn what works and doesn't work within that world. Make her shine!

I'm listening to a book that you need to pick up. Launch, by Jeff Walker. It's how to launch an organic business campaign.

Here's another thought. The lady who wrote 50 Shades of Gray was self-publishing on a free site. Those posts repelled her into her success. Research and find out how she did it.

And that's just one of your 3 gigs...
This just warmed my heart. You have a knack for envisioning the perfect resolution into which is easy to buy into. I might just take over all the marketing aspect of hers, not only treat it as a one and done project. Feels motivating and right and I think you expanded my world a little.

Also interesting how you view individual success examples as replicable models, or at least some parts of it, and not dismiss it as low probability flukes with no value.

Picked up Launch on Audible. Thank you. Screenshot_20220220-191019.png
 

Nate_34

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Great response! 3 solid personal strengths that are also keys to success.

Personal story: When I was 20, my best friend told me I was "the most negative person he'd ever met." I shrugged, and felt like that was "just me." Turns out, I had been trained to turn everything, even minor or major wins, into negatives.

Unsolicited Advice: A book that helped me realize my negative thinking habits and take control of the thinking patterns I was following is: How Successful People Think by John C. Maxwell.

Up until I read that book, I felt like my negative thoughts were a reflex... not something that I could control.

This book is a great resource for those of us that are "realists" and over-thinkers. By controlling the way we think, we control our fate. And that's what we're all on this forum for... taking control of our fate and freeing ourselves.

Best of luck to you!

Respectfully,
Nate
 
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WJK

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This just warmed my heart. You have a knack for envisioning the perfect resolution into which is easy to buy into. I might just take over all the marketing aspect of hers, not only treat it as a one and done project. Feels motivating and right and I think you expanded my world a little.

Also interesting how you view individual success examples as replicable models, or at least some parts of it, and not dismiss it as low probability flukes with no value.

Picked up Launch on Audible. Thank you. View attachment 42209
You can do this thing... IF you really, really want it. Remember, it's a journey that the faint of heart quickly quit... the rewards go to the guy left standing. Be that guy.
 

Croaker

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Good Evening,
Quite an uneventful week this has been in terms of moving the needle forward. Legends program still @ 40% as switched to codecademy to learn coding. At first seemed easy and somewhat too good to be true, but now started to get tricky with all the exercises. Might jump creating the project straight away and see how it goes. Though I do want to create something better than my missus had a year ago with just using WordPress and a week of her time.

She's started doing one extra day of overtime each week, which takes away even more time from her writing and me trying to start a business. We know the money is needed and we'll have to find a way to make up for the lost time somehow. Shocking really if I think back even 5, 10 years ago - used to have so much more time, and used to do so little with it.

Two thirds of the way through How Successful People Think by John C. Maxwell; It was a lot shorter book so decided to go through it first. Launch is quite a bit longer and more specific, so I'll crack on it next. Also noticed that sometimes there's not a lot to update as things just keep being worked on, but I'll keep doing it anyway as promised to myself.

Grind grind grind... On to the next week.
 

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Good Evening,
Quite an uneventful week this has been in terms of moving the needle forward. Legends program still @ 40% as switched to codecademy to learn coding. At first seemed easy and somewhat too good to be true, but now started to get tricky with all the exercises. Might jump creating the project straight away and see how it goes. Though I do want to create something better than my missus had a year ago with just using WordPress and a week of her time.

She's started doing one extra day of overtime each week, which takes away even more time from her writing and me trying to start a business. We know the money is needed and we'll have to find a way to make up for the lost time somehow. Shocking really if I think back even 5, 10 years ago - used to have so much more time, and used to do so little with it.

Two thirds of the way through How Successful People Think by John C. Maxwell; It was a lot shorter book so decided to go through it first. Launch is quite a bit longer and more specific, so I'll crack on it next. Also noticed that sometimes there's not a lot to update as things just keep being worked on, but I'll keep doing it anyway as promised to myself.

Grind grind grind... On to the next week.
Can you improve what she had last year? Sometimes a tweak can equal a major upgrade. And there are new things in WordPress all the time. Do you really want to reinvent the wheel or just make it turn better? Is the sticking point in her website or in your marketing program? I've seen some people do LOTS of business with websites that weren't really slick because they had the marketing side of it down. The website is only one arrow in your quiver -- just one of your tools.

You also might start a project and continue with your studies at the same time. Sometimes just by applying knowledge, you can have a breakthrough in your understanding and skill set. Just a suggestion...
 
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Croaker

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So this week I've finished the codecademy beginner course on HTML and CSS. And I feel like I've learned something. My free trial has ended and I'm deciding if I need to pay the annual fee for more courses on the platform or try something like theodinproject to expand upon the skill. I know the common advice among entrepreneurs is to learn some basic fundamentals and then crack on, but to me that seems absurd as I still have absolutely no clue of where to start barring the use of templates.

Even if I could, maybe, slap together a one page simple website, I don't know how not to feel like a fraud doing it. And that's without getting paid for the job, just making a project for my wife. Getting paid couple of grand for this? Haha. No.

I'm cognizant though of the dangers of action faking and getting into a trap of long term learning. I'm a professional procrastinator and sometimes can get into unproductive endeavours. Though this time I feel like I seriously need to learn more, and chew slower. I think I may be on the downslope. My experience quite similarily follows the image - motivated learning with instructors handholding you and complete confusion at the end of it when left to own devices. I dread what's to come and envy people who lean into adversity naturally.


The other thought that came up and I've yet to find an answer to, is to do with the morality in having a bussiness. Of being integrous entrepreneur. See, during the coding course I started thinking that I might actually just learn coding and find a job and end up being paid double I'm earning now. It'll take time. A couple of years at least. But if I persevere I might do it. Get deep into coding. Learn the ins and outs. Get hired. Learn even quicker. Then quit and create something with my own code. But I cought myself on tracks and switched the conversation. Had to remind myself that I don't want to be employee anymore and why would I go though such an arduous process just to make somebody else rich?

As a future bussiness owner I don't want to spend that much time just learning and not achieving monetary results. Then the solution is obvious! I sub-contract programmers. So, the real why in going through the coding courses, it's to enable myself to communicate with programmers, not create websites myself. All well and good, until you realise yourself becoming something like a middle-man, doing something like an arbitrage. And I don't see any value in that. From my point of view, morally speaking, this is akin to being a parasite.

On the last point I'm obviously overthinking. And If anyone could chime in and untangle this, that would be most welcome. I thought I'd better put these thoughts down for posterity.

Can you improve what she had last year? Sometimes a tweak can equal a major upgrade. And there are new things in WordPress all the time. Do you really want to reinvent the wheel or just make it turn better? Is the sticking point in her website or in your marketing program? I've seen some people do LOTS of business with websites that weren't really slick because they had the marketing side of it down. The website is only one arrow in your quiver -- just one of your tools.

You also might start a project and continue with your studies at the same time. Sometimes just by applying knowledge, you can have a breakthrough in your understanding and skill set. Just a suggestion...
I'd better redo all of it because it's really bare bones and I personally don't like the aesthetic. I also, generally, judge the content of the website by what sort of paint it has. I don't know if that is normal behaviour but I can't be the only one.

Also, your second point is on point. Might start working on hers while I'm going through the second course. Makes so much sense... Thank you.
 

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