Burn the Ships - what are you experiences ?

[Swam010]

Hello Fellow ( to-be) Fastlaners.

I'm Leon, 34, Dutch, wife + 6yr old Kid and driving the slow lane currently.
Reached a 120k net income yearly ( seriously ?) for 17 years of corrupt life trading.

Waking up....

I woke up 5 years ago while walking the freakin sidewalk in fancy Burberry clothes. Proud I calculated the price of all the clothes on my Body, Wow I wear today 4.600 Euro worth clothing, shoes, watch etc. how cool am I, I said to myself!

And then I realized my monthly salary was back then 3.000 net, and I just paid 1,5 month of my life for that ( I love how MJ describes this in his book )

Anyways I'm super grateful that I woke up and the last 2 months something have changed in me to turn desperation into action.

However...

My Job is a huge energy drainer for me ( Financial Director ) even if I have learned a lot, the people around me do not understand it, they are un-aware of the reality and believe the lies, they are Naysayers all the time! My circle of influence sucks too. ( improved with this forum)

Fastlane...

I work on Fastlane from 5:30 am to 7:30 am and 2 hours in the evening next to my " family tasks" as husband and father. I also use some idle time on the job, 2 -3 hours per week and off course weekends.

Now here comes my Plan...

Quit the job and focus fully on building my fastlane. I have no passive income but I figured that I can live with my family for + 6 years still pretty decent from our savings. This will give me 40 - 50 HOURS! per freakin week additional time to built the fastlane. a +200% increase of speed!

Questions to fellow fastlaners who " dropped out " of the job:

- When was the appropriate moment for you to quit job?
- What you've learned from doing that?
- What would you do different if you could re-do that decision?

bonus question:
- How did you convince your wife? ;-)

Looking forward to some interesting experiences.

Thanks!

Leon

 

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[Chris Kelsey]

I didn't drop out of a job or had a family but I did drop out of high school to burn my ships to force myself to take the entrepreneurial path.

Things I endured:
- Parents yelling at me every single day telling me I was going to fail
- Most of my friends said I was an idiot and literally everyone doubted me
- An overall negative environment at home but I had no money to leave

It won't be like this for you at all, especially considering you're able to support yourself for quite some time after you quit.

In terms of the right time, there will either be the moment that:
1. You get so sick of your current job you that you quit and just go full-on being an entrepreneur even if you don't have a validated concept.
2. You validate your concept and know that it will work, so quitting will be an easy and obvious option.

I would say that burning my bridges (quitting high school when I had a 4.0 and six months left to graduate) made me go HARD in doing what I could to succeed. It really put the pressure on me because I knew I had no other choice. And it only took 1 month from dropping out to get my first $15k+ contract.

If you already have savings for that long and you KNOW 100% you want to be an entrepreneur, I would say just do it (if you really want to go hard in succeeding in business). But PLEASE, think for yourself, this is just based on what you've told me, at the end of the day it's your call.

 

[deepestblue]

Get it provable first. Just my advice. In other words, have two people who you don't know pay you cash money for whatever it is. Until a great idea succeeds in the actual marketplace, that's all it is. Congratulations on working to leave the job world.

 

[Swam010]

Thanks deepestblue, who have here actually really dumped the job to start the fastlane from scratch?

 

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[Get Right]

We can't tell you what to do but I might suggest a re-framing exercise:

What if you went to work everyday with the sole purpose of funding your fastlane? What if everytime you walked in that door you thought " these suckers are giving me loads of cash to develop my next project"! They don't even know about it, ha! Make it a game.

You might try playing the game Cashflow. If you play it 10+ times, I think you will see some different ways your situation could play out.

 

[The-J]

What if you went to work everyday with the sole purpose of funding your fastlane? What if everytime you walked in that door you thought " these suckers are giving me loads of cash to develop my next project"! They don't even know about it, ha! Make it a game.

This is an excellent way to reframe it.

OP: You're not an INSIDERS. There's a thread on the Inside by @Vigilante that is required reading for you. It's called "Addicted to Passive Income Deposits".

Buy a subscription (you said you read the book, you need to get the badge first). Read it now and change your perspective on your job.

 

[Swam010]

This is an excellent way to reframe it.

OP: You're not an INSIDERS. There's a thread on the Inside by @Vigilante that is required reading for you. It's called "Addicted to Passive Income Deposits".

Buy a subscription (you said you read the book, you need to get the badge first). Read it now and change your perspective on your job.

Thank you guys! I'm on it!

 

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[_Seba_]

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...ng-slowlane-job-and-is-now-a-fastlaner.68426/

Maybe this one will give you some answers. Hopefully you can add a post to this thread soon.

Best,
Seba

 

[amp0193]

Welcome to the forum. I have a wife and a 2-year old daughter. My current business was started the month after she was born.

- When was the appropriate moment for you to quit job?

When it was costing me more money to go to my job than it was to work on the business. The tasks for optimization, expansion, developing processes, etc. for the business were too great to be accomplished in outside-of-day-job time. I don't mean aimless, figure out what I want to do type and dabble type stuff... I mean clear cut, I need to do these things for the business yesterday to increase my monthly income by X, tasks.

- What you've learned from doing that?

I probably should have quit even earlier. The free life is great. Time with your kid is a limited resource.

- What would you do different if you could re-do that decision?

Quit earlier, and cut ties with the job before letting things get sour and resentful. All of my bridges to the job and it's people are burned, which is unfortunate.

bonus question:

- How did you convince your wife? ;-)

My wife was against me starting the business. I did it in secret anyways, using personal money that I hustled together, and only told her about it when it was making money. After 2 years of making money, and making much more than my day job... the convincing kind of took care of itself. It's the mother-in-law you gotta worry about. Her worrying is what took my wife so long to come around.

 

[amp0193]

Things I endured:
- Parents yelling at me every single day telling me I was going to fail
- Most of my friends said I was an idiot and literally everyone doubted me
- An overall negative environment at home but I had no money to leave

Hi Chris, just curious:

How long has it been since then?

How long did it take for parents/friends to turn from negative to positive once you started showing success? Or did they ever?

 

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[Swam010]

Welcome to the forum. I have a wife and a 2-year old daughter. My current business was started the month after she was born.


When it was costing me more money to go to my job than it was to work on the business. The tasks for optimization, expansion, developing processes, etc. for the business were too great to be accomplished in outside-of-day-job time. I don't mean aimless, figure out what I want to do type and dabble type stuff... I mean clear cut, I need to do these things for the business yesterday to increase my monthly income by X, tasks.

I probably should have quit even earlier. The free life is great. Time with your kid is a limited resource.


Quit earlier, and cut ties with the job before letting things get sour and resentful. All of my bridges to the job and it's people are burned, which is unfortunate.



My wife was against me starting the business. I did it in secret anyways, using personal money that I hustled together, and only told her about it when it was making money. After 2 years of making money, and making much more than my day job... the convincing kind of took care of itself. It's the mother-in-law you gotta worry about. Her worrying is what took my wife so long to come around.

Thank you! Very valuable input to me.
May I ask what sort of business you're engaged in?

 

[amp0193]

Thank you! Very valuable input to me.
May I ask what sort of business you're engaged in?

Selling physical products.

 

[Dazed]

Hey OP

I can relate to this because I too am an accountant.

Technically I left the slow lane 5.5 years ago. My daughter was born, the economy was struggling, and I was finding it difficult to find the next job up on my career ladder. Plus I could see the career ladder in front of me, and it didn't look very appealing. Work evenings and weekends and earn £70-£100k.

Since then I've had various attempts with little success. Currently I work three days as an accountant on a decent salary and spend the rest of my time working on my business.

I don't like my job, it's boring and my boss can be a bit of an idiot. However, I'm covering the bills so I don't have any more stress or pressure.

My wife, my mother, and my mother in law are all worried about my lack of success as like you I'm clever and good with numbers. They constantly ask for updates on my physical products business and ask me if I'll consider going back to working full time like you are doing currently.

I'm content with what I'm doing but really need to focus on the outputs of my business so I can start seeing fast lane success.

Feel free to PM if you want to chat.

 

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[Andy Black]

I like the challenge of building my Fastlane business while still providing for my family.

Burning boats isn't an option for me, in fact I'd consider it reckless given I have dependents.

 

[JasonR]

Questions to fellow fastlaners who " dropped out " of the job:

- When was the appropriate moment for you to quit job?
- What you've learned from doing that?
- What would you do different if you could re-do that decision?

bonus question:
- How did you convince your wife? ;-)

I quit when I had more than enough money to sustain my lifestyle from my business. I should have quit sooner.

I would quit sooner, once I had a product/service that was making money that looked promising.

Now I live by this rule, no matter what investment I make: have at LEAST 6 months of living expenses in the bank, no matter what.

I can't answer your wife question as I've explicitly chosen to avoid a girlfriend/significant other who would not be on board with my lifestyle, risk taking, and entrepreneurship style life (it's a bit crazy for many).

 

[Swam010]

I quit when I had more than enough money to sustain my lifestyle from my business. I should have quit sooner.

I would quit sooner, once I had a product/service that was making money that looked promising.

Now I live by this rule, no matter what investment I make: have at LEAST 6 months of living expenses in the bank, no matter what.

I can't answer your wife question as I've explicitly chosen to avoid a girlfriend/significant other who would not be on board with my lifestyle, risk taking, and entrepreneurship style life (it's a bit crazy for many).

Thanks for all of your replies, it's true that this forum has given also me more insights than all those years in the mediocre thinking circle.
I'd quit my job ( which becomes reckless if it is with uncalculated risks and purely emotional ) to
let's say " put a imaginary gun on my head " My goals are clear and mean my life for me, but how much they really mean
if I want to keep the job and commit to having just +/- 25% focus on my life goals instead of 75%....

 

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[ApparentHorizon]

Now here comes my Plan...

I can live with my family for + 6 years

- When was the appropriate moment for you to quit job?
- What you've learned from doing that?
- What would you do different if you could re-do that decision?

Wow - 6 years is something. Most people barely have 6 months to scrape by.

Could be a double edged sword though...you may have less urgency or more breathing room to create and implement a better plan.

• Quit college and later a full time job paying 6 figures doing what I love. Walked out without notice when my employer was more interested in office politics than actually running his company.
• We've all heard this a million times, but nothing solidifies it like actual experience: "Get to work building your dream or someone else's."
• Moving away from toxic people would have been great to learn much earlier. I heard a saying once, "The top sure is lonely, but the food tastes better."

Since you have dependents, have you thought about a proof of concept before you make any major moves?

 

[Swam010]

Wow - 6 years is something. Most people barely have 6 months to scrape by.

Could be a double edged sword though...you may have less urgency or more breathing room to create and implement a better plan.

• Quit college and later a full time job paying 6 figures doing what I love. Walked out without notice when my employer was more interested in office politics than actually running his company.
• We've all heard this a million times, but nothing solidifies it like actual experience: "Get to work building your dream or someone else's."
• Moving away from toxic people would have been great to learn much earlier. I heard a saying once, "The top sure is lonely, but the food tastes better."

Since you have dependents, have you thought about a proof of concept before you make any major moves?

Thanks for your interesting reply!


Yeah I know and I'm pretty grateful about that too, somehow intuitively always stayed away from liabilities and have for years
not a single penny in debt. ( not that liabilities are by definition bad, but you get my point, no car loan, mortgage etc.)

It's also not (mainly) about the money ( the what ), it's more about becoming the person I decided to be. ( the who )
I want wikipedia page saying :

" Swam010 was a great contributor to the world who impacted the life of many
by amazing ........... and .................. "

Now I will fill in those dots, the job is just a big time burden now, not an excuse not to built the dream. I just hate the slow speed.

I'm working for one of the world's largest webshop's fulfillment centers ( +4500 FTE )
as financial director, that's more than a 9-5 job...
So naturally my preference goes out to starting e-commerce.


ps. Critics always welcome, that's how I learn.

 

[Jon L]

Ideally, you would start your fastlane business on the side, and then build it up to a point where it was producing enough cash to quit your day job.

For me, that wasn't really an option. Here was my situation, and its not ideal:
1) I was not working smart enough in my day job to make enough money/put me into a better job. I was too afraid of my bosses and what everyone else thought of me to do the kinds of things necessary to move forward. (obviously not a good position to be in to start a business, either)
2) I lost two jobs because of this (one after 7 years, the next after 9 months)
3) I had a side income doing freelance work that immediately turned into full time income when I lost that last job. (was 'lucky')
4) Because I had to support my family, I was forced to figure out how to make my business run successfully
5) now, 2.5 years later, and after much stress, and some very lean times (but our family of four did somehow manage to eat and keep a roof over our heads), things are finally improving.

But, this is where I was/am at. I'm making it work, and its going to turn out really well.

Everyone is different, and you have to figure out how to make your situation work for you. Sometimes, like me, you have to defy conventional wisdom and do what you think is best. (I would be hard pressed to find anyone that would have recommended that I start a business when I did, or hire a sales rep when I did)

 

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[H. Palmer]

Thanks for your interesting reply!


Yeah I know and I'm pretty grateful about that too, somehow intuitively always stayed away from liabilities and have for years
not a single penny in debt. ( not that liabilities are by definition bad, but you get my point, no car loan, mortgage etc.)

It's also not (mainly) about the money ( the what ), it's more about becoming the person I decided to be. ( the who )
I want wikipedia page saying :

" Swam010 was a great contributor to the world who impacted the life of many
by amazing ........... and .................. "

Now I will fill in those dots, the job is just a big time burden now, not an excuse not to built the dream. I just hate the slow speed.

I'm working for one of the world's largest webshop's fulfillment centers ( +4500 FTE )
as financial director, that's more than a 9-5 job...
So naturally my preference goes out to starting e-commerce.


ps. Critics always welcome, that's how I learn.

1 Do you know what you want out of life?

2 What obstacle stands in your way?

3 Remove the obstacle.

You need clarity.

 

[Envision]

Honestly, in your situation I wouldn't quit until you have proven that your side business is going to make you as much or more of what your currently making.

You need to protect your downside if you have a family and a wife. The number one cause of divorce is financial and if you quit your job to pursue your unproven dream and cant produce its gonna stress out your marriage. You can argue this point but I lived it through my parents in a different circumstance.

There are too many things that could go wrong (I am more risk oriented than most)..

Your business should be able to do a few things:

1. It should provide you with the same or better lifestyle that you currently have.
2. It should be able to sustain and grow itself on its OWN
3. It should remove the amount of time associated to 1&2 from you and actually provide you with more free time.

Most people in your situation start a business only to work WAY harder and make less or equal to what they were making in their job... Why would you do that if you have 100x more risk and work to put in?

They also don't allocate proper resources to reinvesting in their business - most people pull from their business once it starts making money which ends up crippling it and slowing the growth and progress of it..

I'll work a job for years even with my online businesses and real estate making me more money than my job if it means that I can reinvest all my profits back into them to grow them exponentially and I would recommend doing the same

 

[Swam010]

Honestly, in your situation I wouldn't quit until you have proven that your side business is going to make you as much or more of what your currently making.

You need to protect your downside if you have a family and a wife. The number one cause of divorce is financial and if you quit your job to pursue your unproven dream and cant produce its gonna stress out your marriage. You can argue this point but I lived it through my parents in a different circumstance.

There are too many things that could go wrong (I am more risk oriented than most)..

Your business should be able to do a few things:

1. It should provide you with the same or better lifestyle that you currently have.
2. It should be able to sustain and grow itself on its OWN
3. It should remove the amount of time associated to 1&2 from you and actually provide you with more free time.

Most people in your situation start a business only to work WAY harder and make less or equal to what they were making in their job... Why would you do that if you have 100x more risk and work to put in?

They also don't allocate proper resources to reinvesting in their business - most people pull from their business once it starts making money which ends up crippling it and slowing the growth and progress of it..

I'll work a job for years even with my online businesses and real estate making me more money than my job if it means that I can reinvest all my profits back into them to grow them exponentially and I would recommend doing the same

Thank you envision, for sharing your pov.
I'd say your approach is more like, you must deserve to quite the job
if you have proven to sustain alternatively.

Something to think about..
thanks!

 

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[DaveC]

Are you seeing any return from a solid focused 2-3 hours a day? A clear plan for how you would dedicate this remaining time for growth to profitability and income replacement?

Then no, don't quit. Leverage your incoming capital and use it to fund business ideas and help accelerate the bootstrapping. Or better yet, just buy an existing business if you have some capital.

Burning the ships, I quit, take this job and shove it, etc.... is the easy part.

A focused and realistic plan, dedicated execution, and positive mental attitude are the process.

 

[Swam010]

Thanks for all the replies!

Postponed the date of ditching the job till the day that it's going to cost more
to keep the job compared to full-time on the alternative income stream.

After mental re-calibration, WADM and self-reflection, January 2020 is now a written down target.
1249 days to go, 30.000 hours approx, reverse engineering in process.

 

[Andy Black]

Thanks for all the replies!

Postponed the date of ditching the job till the day that it's going to cost more
to keep the job compared to full-time on the alternative income stream.

After mental re-calibration, WADM and self-reflection, January 2020 is now a written down target.
1249 days to go, 30.000 hours approx, reverse engineering in process.

Remember, you don't need to match the revenue from your job, just match the monthly expenses you have.

 

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[Andy Black]

This would be my preference and advice to others:

• www.facebook.com/gary/videos/10154136771308350

 

[Nomadic]

You're going to get all kinds of different opinions on this man. Everyone is different and it really depends on how you act under pressure, in my opinion.

For me? I had a little bit saved up but not a whole bunch. I got so tired of the 9-5 (& by that I mean 5-5) that I just knew what I had to do. I had to quit. So that's what I did. I put my two week notice in the next day.

I don't have a family of my own to support though either, & I'm just 22 y/o. So the option was pretty clear for me. It took me a few months before I even made a dollar, but I was also operating on a very low budget.

In the end, I think it comes down to what your heart tells you man. Your heart rarely steers you wrong. If it's screaming to get out of that slowlane job, and you know you can support your family for awhile without it, then make the jump. Believe in what you can do, adjust, and work your a$$ off. It's almost impossible for things not to work out with that combination.

 

[thOsim]

You have enough money in the bank, no loan and can manage money, but you are full of doubts. To fight the doubts, ask yourself what is the worst case scenario and if it will happen (read Dale Carnegie - How to Stop Worrying and Start Living).

Answering your questions:

1. When was the appropriate moment for you to quit job?

I was frustrated from not being able to improve anything. I didn't want anybody to hold me back. If you want to accelerate your "appropriate moment", find reasons why you despise the job. This will catapult you to the "appropriate moment".

2. What you've learned from doing that?

Have some ideas what you want to do next after the jump, but don't count on them comming into fruition. Be prepared to adapt. Spend your savings wisely.

3. What would you do different if you could re-do that decision?

a. I wouldn't buy a new (cheap, but new) car thinking I will need it, but wait if it's a necessity.
b. I would work hard on my cold calling skills before the jump. I would do anything to overcome the fear of rejection. Kiyosaki suggests to start working for a charity and ask people for money on the phone.

4. How did you convince your wife?

I was telling her few months before the jump I couldn't take it anymore and then told her the day I quit the job. She was scared and not very happy, but adapted eventually. I don't know what you expect she will do (what the worst case scenario will be)?

 

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[Swam010]

You have enough money in the bank, no loan and can manage money, but you are full of doubts. To fight the doubts, ask yourself what is the worst case scenario and if it will happen (read Dale Carnegie - How to Stop Worrying and Start Living).

Answering your questions:

1. When was the appropriate moment for you to quit job?

I was frustrated from not being able to improve anything. I didn't want anybody to hold me back. If you want to accelerate your "appropriate moment", find reasons why you despise the job. This will catapult you to the "appropriate moment".

2. What you've learned from doing that?

Have some ideas what you want to do next after the jump, but don't count on them comming into fruition. Be prepared to adapt. Spend your savings wisely.

3. What would you do different if you could re-do that decision?

a. I wouldn't buy a new (cheap, but new) car thinking I will need it, but wait if it's a necessity.
b. I would work hard on my cold calling skills before the jump. I would do anything to overcome the fear of rejection. Kiyosaki suggests to start working for a charity and ask people for money on the phone.

4. How did you convince your wife?

I was telling her few months before the jump I couldn't take it anymore and then told her the day I quit the job. She was scared and not very happy, but adapted eventually. I don't know what you expect she will do (what the worst case scenario will be)?

Thanks a lot thOsim!

I'd think my wife would freak out, totally, I mean completely. (But that would drive me even more, since I have this " i prove you wrong attitude " )

For now I have adapted to the idea of job milking and change the perception to the job.
I decided to not make any quit / not quit rethinking till I have 3 concrete workable alternatives in the drawer.
I give myself 3 months for that.

I will be posting some progress on the forum soon ;-)

 

[Nomadic]

Thanks a lot thOsim!

I'd think my wife would freak out, totally, I mean completely. (But that would drive me even more, since I have this " i prove you wrong attitude " )

For now I have adapted to the idea of job milking and change the perception to the job.
I decided to not make any quit / not quit rethinking till I have 3 concrete workable alternatives in the drawer.
I give myself 3 months for that.

I will be posting some progress on the forum soon ;-)

Glad you came to a clear decision. Just don't wait until the time feels "perfect" for everything. That will never come. Good luck, keep us updated!