OK, here it goes. I know I was supposed to do this 3 1/2 years ago, but better late than never.
I’m a university grad, born, raised, and schooled in the hellhole known as Toronto. I majored in finance at a business school, & got a job as an accounting clerk shortly after graduation.
During the 2008 recession, I used to hear on the radio all the time about big corporate executives getting billion-dollar bailouts while millions of workers suffered & suddenly became unemployable, with the middle class never to recover. I was only 12 at the time, but I figured it out: working would never make me rich. Starting & owning my own business would.
Problem is, I was (and still am) a massive action-faker. As a teenager, I sold mine & my family’s old possessions on Kijiji all by myself thinking I was a “businessman” (LOL; my parents let me take all the stuff for free & keep all the money for it.) I read The Millionaire Fastlane at 18 & got onto this forum shortly after, & went to the Toronto meetup (June 2015). Thanks to the advice of the people I met there, I dumped all my bad habits (gaming, porn, Netflix, lying in bed doing nothing). Within a few months, I started going through a massive quarter-life crisis in which I nearly killed myself, but also re-discovered who I really was & began living true to myself again. I started (but never finished) a book on alternate NBA history that became pretty popular on an online alternate history forum, I made a decent profit during the whole bitcoin boom, and I finished my university degree in finance, graduating with my class. And then I got a clerical accounting job thanks to my mom. My action faking is why I’m writing this post right now.
You know why I’m an action faker despite knowing what to do? I’m F*cking scared to death. I’m confused, frozen, & stuck. I’ve come up with business ideas that I’ve written down on my phone, but after that, I’ve never even bothered to research the steps that would go into making them work. I’ve been in financial “survival mode” all this time (barely managing to pay off my university tuition, investing any savings I had in the Canadian equivalent of a 401k, & building a 6-month emergency fund just in case my parents croak & I need to carry the house). I live at home with immigrant parents who want me to become the model Slowlane citizen. I have a massive victim mentality thanks to how expensive everything is combined with wage stagnation (the middle-class squeeze; Toronto is one of the worst cities for it, making economic mobility virtually impossible under the old paradigm). I feel like everything’s just too competitive out there. I’m scared that if I fail, I’ll end up as a long-term homeless, which as a kid, my parents used to tell me, “Don’t ever end up like those F*cking homeless on the road.” I also have a massive need for societal & familial approval. I feel Iike I can’t afford to fail given the way the world works nowadays and my own situation, despite the fact that I know I might need to fail countless times in order to succeed as an entrepreneur.
But at the same time, I know... in order to achieve financial freedom & riches (and the life freedom that will result), this is the only way. The way I see it, the Slowlane is “survival mode,” the Fastlane is “abundance mode,” and the Sidewalk is just how life’s gonna be for the 99% at the rate we’re going.
I know MJ’s probably gonna ban me if he sees this rant because it makes me sound like a little bitch. Well, that’s exactly what I am because of my fear of failure. And at 18, I wasn’t mentally ready to execute this Fastlane stuff. But now, I am. By quitting all my bad habits & giving myself some nice financial backing at this age when most of my peers are in 6-figure debt (and sticking with my plans to do so), I’ve shown myself that I have the courage & self-discipline to do it & stick with it no matter what others say.
So yeah, here’s hoping this Fastlane journey either fixes me, gives me the money to fix my f*cked up self, or some combination of both.
Lehgo
I’m a university grad, born, raised, and schooled in the hellhole known as Toronto. I majored in finance at a business school, & got a job as an accounting clerk shortly after graduation.
During the 2008 recession, I used to hear on the radio all the time about big corporate executives getting billion-dollar bailouts while millions of workers suffered & suddenly became unemployable, with the middle class never to recover. I was only 12 at the time, but I figured it out: working would never make me rich. Starting & owning my own business would.
Problem is, I was (and still am) a massive action-faker. As a teenager, I sold mine & my family’s old possessions on Kijiji all by myself thinking I was a “businessman” (LOL; my parents let me take all the stuff for free & keep all the money for it.) I read The Millionaire Fastlane at 18 & got onto this forum shortly after, & went to the Toronto meetup (June 2015). Thanks to the advice of the people I met there, I dumped all my bad habits (gaming, porn, Netflix, lying in bed doing nothing). Within a few months, I started going through a massive quarter-life crisis in which I nearly killed myself, but also re-discovered who I really was & began living true to myself again. I started (but never finished) a book on alternate NBA history that became pretty popular on an online alternate history forum, I made a decent profit during the whole bitcoin boom, and I finished my university degree in finance, graduating with my class. And then I got a clerical accounting job thanks to my mom. My action faking is why I’m writing this post right now.
You know why I’m an action faker despite knowing what to do? I’m F*cking scared to death. I’m confused, frozen, & stuck. I’ve come up with business ideas that I’ve written down on my phone, but after that, I’ve never even bothered to research the steps that would go into making them work. I’ve been in financial “survival mode” all this time (barely managing to pay off my university tuition, investing any savings I had in the Canadian equivalent of a 401k, & building a 6-month emergency fund just in case my parents croak & I need to carry the house). I live at home with immigrant parents who want me to become the model Slowlane citizen. I have a massive victim mentality thanks to how expensive everything is combined with wage stagnation (the middle-class squeeze; Toronto is one of the worst cities for it, making economic mobility virtually impossible under the old paradigm). I feel like everything’s just too competitive out there. I’m scared that if I fail, I’ll end up as a long-term homeless, which as a kid, my parents used to tell me, “Don’t ever end up like those F*cking homeless on the road.” I also have a massive need for societal & familial approval. I feel Iike I can’t afford to fail given the way the world works nowadays and my own situation, despite the fact that I know I might need to fail countless times in order to succeed as an entrepreneur.
But at the same time, I know... in order to achieve financial freedom & riches (and the life freedom that will result), this is the only way. The way I see it, the Slowlane is “survival mode,” the Fastlane is “abundance mode,” and the Sidewalk is just how life’s gonna be for the 99% at the rate we’re going.
I know MJ’s probably gonna ban me if he sees this rant because it makes me sound like a little bitch. Well, that’s exactly what I am because of my fear of failure. And at 18, I wasn’t mentally ready to execute this Fastlane stuff. But now, I am. By quitting all my bad habits & giving myself some nice financial backing at this age when most of my peers are in 6-figure debt (and sticking with my plans to do so), I’ve shown myself that I have the courage & self-discipline to do it & stick with it no matter what others say.
So yeah, here’s hoping this Fastlane journey either fixes me, gives me the money to fix my f*cked up self, or some combination of both.
Lehgo
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today
