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A sculptor's journey towards the Fastlane

foodiepersecond

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There seems to be a trend of using deceased pet's ashes in some form of memorabilia. Would it be lucrative to somehow use some or all of their ashes in a sculpture of their exact likeness? There are certainly biological hazards involved but that was my first thought about sculptures other than doing something in the entertainment arena. Someone probably wants a Tiger King Joe Exotic sculpture.
 
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Abrodos

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Thanks for the idea @foodiepersecond !
I'm trying to move away from the manual labor though, at least the artisan one of a kind comissions.

But funerary art is some interesting niche. I have a friend who runs a quarry, he does cnc cutting for important sculptors, and I'm learning 3D... You've definitely given me an idea!

This week has been a bit difficult to manage. Again just 31 hours of work, I've been unfocused, migraine nearly every day, a bit of anxiety as well, and 31 hours just wasted on social media.

Mostly I've been working on a small figurine comission (about 12 hours for the prototype sculpt, for which I'll be paid about 100$), and 12 more hours "working" in the last college task before the thesis.

I feel stuck, and i fear this situation will extend to all summer. Also with the end of the quarantine, friends are starting to have social life again and I feel pressured to go to events.

I'll start a modelling for 3D printing course next week which I'm quite excited for, hopefully it will help me a lot with my FL project, but this will take even more time from me.

I'm super tired and sad as well, I don't feel like doing anything. My FL page hasn't been updated for two weeks, also I haven't worked on the big sculpture comission, and I haven't worked on any 3D modelling either.
I feel like I won't be able to take my FL project forward with such a lack of discipline, and also I feel like I'm an a**hole for not wanting to be with friends or with my girlfriend, because I actually could have time to do both college stuff, the commissions and my FL work, but I just waste most of it.
I just want this situation to end really...

Anyway sorry for the whining, but here's the only place I can whine :)
 

Abrodos

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Hi everyone!
This week has been much better.
I've had a clear , small goal to focus on, (20 small dragon figures for a high school farewell gift) and I've been able to reach it in less time than planned so I took all sunday for myself.

Also I've started the 3D printing course and I'm learning a lot of techniques and tricks that will be super useful in my 3D business.
College stuff is almost finished (just a couple pages left to write), an exam I had next Saturday will finally be done from home, and i'm finally closing some of the open fronts that were overwhelming me.
This week has also been quite good in terms of health (just a couple hours of intense migraine), and I've got a bit more control on my daily habits, so stuff is on good tracks.
I also turned the breakfast or toilet facebook-scrolling time into reading articles and content I had pending to read for a long time.
I've done about 34 hours of work (less than usual but more effective), 31 of social stuff and good leisure time, and 23 unproductive.

See you next week!
 
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Abrodos

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Hi everyone!!!

Super good week overall.

52 hours of work, 42 of which have been spent on the 3D modelling course, which will help me be 10x more effective in producing assets for my FL business. A lot of focus and way less time wasted that the weeks before: 24 hours of rest/exercise with friends, and just 12 of unproductive time.

The pink one is what I was being able to produce before the course, the gray one is what I'm learning to do right now.
render drac 1.jpgrosario.jpg

I've been tracking as well my daily discipline: been able to cut down to almost zero all unhealthy snacks, cell phone time, and skin picking. Still need to work on the other half of stuff, like sleeping schedules.

See you next week!
 
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Abrodos

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Here I am again!
Not much else to say. Most of the 38 hours I've "worked" this week have been dedicated to studying for an e-marketing/e-commerce exam I took on Saturday morning. I've spent about 15 hours with friends and family, 20 more playing Zelda (I don't feel bad about it, I had been a couple years without playing and I was looking forward to it), 10 hours with headache/anxiety/useless fb browsing, and 10 on unproductive stuff (porn, dating apps, IG/tiktok creeping). Not so good in terms of mantaining discipline (had to have frequent breaks, quite a bit of anxiety for the exam as well). But it's done, the second and last exam for this course will be on October, so it's a thing less to worry.

Also reviewing the content of the marketing course has stirred up the guilt/anxiety for my unfinished comissions and FL projects. I'm now working on a good calendar for them, to be able to focus on small stuff at a time.
A problem with the rubber weapons comissioneer has arised as well, and it's all my fault: I underbudgeted, materials are really expensive and time consuming, and his budget is super low (he needs the pieces to cost 2$ each, but just the materials cost $2 per piece actually, and it takes me an hour to make each piece). He was putting a lot of expectations on this product, he has advertised it and now needs a second 70-piece lot, but I need to discontinue the job because it's not economically viable and it entraps me. Even if I got paid 10 per piece I'd be charging less than 5$/hour, because the only possibility to cut down a bit the production times implies making new molds which are also really costly and don't guarantee good results anyway. So this guy has a big problem now, he's always been super nice during the comission (due to those complications I often delivered the products later than I said I would) and I feel like shit for having him deal with this mess.

Also I haven't been able to restrain my bad habits this week (6 days out of seven I've been into unhealthy stuff, skin-picking wounds, unable to restrain myself from eating ice-cream and sweets). A bit sad about that. I've put about 14 lbs since the lockdown, also have split up with a half-girlfriend who was becoming a bit overwhelming and dependent. Yesterday I was at a birthday party with some friends, but i just wanted to go home.

On the good side I have thrown away all of my bad habits triggers. I deleted my dating apps accounts, closed down my fb and ig from my browser, and got rid of my favourites folders. I just shaved and groomed as well.

Anyway, they call it the entrepreneur desert wandering for a reason I suppose.

I'm now trying to regain control, organize the following weeks in a good schedule that allows me to both reprise my sculpture work, keep working on the 3D modelling course, and workout a bit so I can lose a pound or two.
 

Abrodos

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Hi everyone! I'm here again. This week has been much better. Not much in terms of actual hours (46h of work) but in productivity and self-care (9h of sport which I'm very proud of). I've reprised the big sculpture that i kept postponing as well, about 9 hours of work into it, 24 hours into the 3D course, which is almost finished, and several other errands (elaborating some budget plans for the rubber weapon guy and a couple other customers, and also planning my work calendar from now till November.
But most importantly, I've been able to keep my bad habits at bay for all the week. On Friday evening I found it very difficult to concentrate, so I decided to make Saturday a day off. Today I've reprised everything as if it were a working day: 3D classes on the morning and a 5km walk with a friend on the afternoon. I've been able to consistently alternate between working out and going hiking almost every day, losing about 2,5 kg of weight. I've also been super focused throughout the week, and I've started a self-development book I had wanted to read for months.
Next week I'm gonna continue with the big sculpture and finish the last 3 classes of the 3D course, as well as start the final thesis for my master's degree, which is due September. I plan to keep the working out/going hiking schedule once the soreness goes a bit away and the focus on daily habits.

So see you next week! :bicep: :bicep: :bicep:
 
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Abrodos

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Hi everyone! 44 worked hours this week, 28 dedicated to the 3D modelling course, which is finally finished. 7 hours for a one-day small job (an artistic educational activity with kids), and 7 more with my Master's Thesis. I spent very little time on social media, but about 25 hours playing Breath of the Wild.
In regards to work, I'm trying to just tackle 2 projects per week. So this week that the 3D model is finished, it'll be the Master's Thesis and the big sculpture.

I haven't sustained my discipline-focus this week. I relaxed after seeing last week accomplishment, so I kind of let myself go. I overate, skin-picked, watched a lot of porn and woke up between 8 and 9:30 almost every day (my aim is 7-8) Also the last sessions of the 3D course were especially tedious, the modelling program kept crashing... and I seeked quick rewards.
In regards to exercising, I went for a walk on Monday and Wednesday, the wednesday one I went alone and I did more than usual (15 km at a high walking speed), but I overworked and injured myself on the foot sole . So I hit a months-low (76,5 kg) but I'm now at 78,8 again.

Anyway, I'm thinking of a reward system to help me sustain all these good habits. There are several things I'd like to buy/do, but in a way, the focus on work and on austerity, never having time for that, is a way of avoiding them. Stuff as paragliding, getting a massage/spa, getting new clothes or some books or hobby stuff.

I'm thinking about a small prize for every good habit sustained for each week, and a big one to "celebrate" 10 weeks.

See you!! :)
 
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Abrodos

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Hi everyone!!! Another week of self-accounting.
This week has been a bit weird. Grandma died so I went on a day trip to her funeral. Even though i had never had much of a relationship with her, I suppose it has affected me. I had to justify my father (her son)'s decision not to attend by exaggerating his health problems, and I didn't feel like I was doing the right thing. He's been neglecting himself since his aneurysm, hasn't left home, has put a lot of weight, he has no contact with other people, he blames everything on external factors, denying his ability to change things, and he takes the littlest comment about that as a personal attack, which makes him not speak to my mother and me for days.
I try that his attitude towards life doesn't affect me, but coexistence is difficult with him right now, and I feel a lot of pressure when thinking about having children myself and being a good father to them.
Also I had very little contact with friends, most are on holiday trips these days, I won't be able to go help at a summer camp I usually go each year (which was something I was really looking forward) due to COVID measures, and I suppose everything adds up. I've been feeling a bit sad, tired and alone. The headaches have been less agressive though, so that's a good thing.

Anyway:
I've worked 32 hours (15 on my Master's thesis, 5 on the sculpture, and 10 on my FL project), spent 11 hours doing sports/resting/helping friends, another 11 hours with my family at the funeral, 14,5 playing Zelda (I'don't want to stop playing because it has a positive, calming effect to me, but I'll limit my time on it to 10h a week), and just 6h on FB and 3h on porn.

I've been able to mantain some habits better than last week, though not as good as some weeks before.
I'll probably rethink the reward stuff, I don't think it'll really help in making the habits part of what I am. What I've find helpful, is to concentrate on the mid-terms benefits of what I'm doing (or not doing), and think about how that is a greater reward than the instant reward of any temptation.

Anyway :) I keep looking forward!
Till next week!
 

Abrodos

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Hi everyone!!! Been a few weeks without writing. First week of the month was the usual: 36 hours of work (Finally finished the Master's Thesis). Then I went away for a week with some friends at the Costa Brava region (really needed it after such a year).
I got a bit of a cold there, with some fever so I got tested for Corona (thankfully the results are negative).
So I took a couple of sick days. For the second half of the week though, I've gone full throttle and done about 26 hours of work.
A bit of work on the big sculpture, and a painting for a contest which is due next week as well.
Some new updates for my 3D project, the campaign for which is finally taking shape (Made my first splash page advert, felt a little bit cheesy/weird).
Here it is:
34588

I want to launch in a week or so, but there's still a lot of work to do so at the moment I haven't shared this ad, just pics of the new models.

And I turn 31 in two days! Really thankful for having found Unscripted and the Forum a year ago.

So see you next week!
 

Abrodos

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Hola @che_hojas! gracias por leerme! Poco a poco vamos avanzando.

Here I am again!
Another weirdly scheduled week with very little actual work (less than 10h). Lots of time spent organizing and being in social meetings for me and my best friends's birthday celebrations, we were a couple days away with some other friends (I've used the opportunity to go spotting local investing/business opportunities as well).
Presented a painting to a contest in an expensive tourist destination, spoke with several artists and estate agents in that village.
Phone died as well, spent a full afternoon trying to fix it/recover information and looking for alternatives,
and also put some hours into a project that will probably interfere with my short term FL projects, but which aligns a lot with my core values (helping a scientific team with the visualizations of a breakthrough theory in physics).

So this next week will be a bit more packed with work. The Master's thesis has to be finished, delivered and presented, and several projects need be reprised.
 

Abrodos

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Hi everyone!!
This week has ben a lot better in terms of schedule and regularity.

I've worked 21 hours on my Master's thesis (which I present in a couple hours), about 10 on my Fastlane project, and 16 on helping in that physics project, and 5 on other projects. A total of 52 work hours, which is not bad.
I was having some doubts about my FL facebook page (I was losing traction) but an update this week has got a lot of attention (the photo/product was very attractive, I'm happy about that).

Besides from that, 10 healthy hours (social life and sport) and 18 idling (even though just 4 hours have been spent FB/IG browsing, I'm happy about that as well).

I've had strong headache almost every day, I believe due to the pressure of my thesis presentation.
But I've been able to regain control over most daily habits, so things are going well.

These days jobs in the public education system are being assigned. I had my appliance to those on "pause", but I've decided to become available again. It's a change to a more scripted job, but I've got a little tired of FL grinding/not earning any money during this last year, so I want to try the option of a more stable income for a while. Probably I'll get a 10hr/week job at some high school, so that will allow me to keep working on the FL project anyway.

That's it for the week!
:) see you!!
 

Abrodos

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Hi! It's mid-week but I want to post anyway.

Yesterday set up my Kickstarter to launch in 10 days. A couple guys were asking me for the launch date (I've been delaying it for a year, a month ago I said i'd be launching in 2 weeks but I didn't) and I said "F*ck it" and pre-launched and put an ad saying the campaign starts on sept 20, but I've been feeling like shit and I don't know why.
My master's thesis was quite a trainwreck btw (my tutor basically slacked off during all summer and failed to tell me how far I was deviating from the guidelines,and at the presentation the tribunal told me what I'd done was nothing close to a thesis).
Also there's the f***ng uncertainty about public education's job assignment procedure (a big ball of bureaucratic sh*t and toxic, mediocre, entitled people who constantly complain about it, everything worsened by Corona), the training period in a high school which will be in october as well, and the final exam for an online marketing course that I started 2 years ago will be in october 10 as well (2 weeks of studying needed).
In top of that I have a new possible commission, and I have been 2 weeks without working on the big goat sculpture (if I was my client, I'd probably be very upset with me).

Also, I've been 2 weeks with pretty intense headaches that don't go away with my usual meds, concentrated in the back of my right eye and on the neck muscles, trying to exercise worsens them. I wanted to at least lose a bit of weight so I ate less, but instead I've gained 2 lbs.

A lot of uncertainty in regards to the KS campaign, both in how I will manage the marketing aspect (have no idea what I'm doing), page is just half done, don't know where to start with everything that needs to be done (sculpting half of the assets for the campaign, a video for the Kickstarter, molding and casting the first physical pieces, rendering the 3D models, designing the images and copywriting for the campaign). Today I've been like, paralyzed for the whole day, unable to focus on anything, sitting or lying in bed staring at the ceiling, or constantly checking if I got some mail or notification or job acceptance.
Also I haven't gained much traction with the FB posts. I tried a Facebook ad but it's not doing much. Still have to reach out to other plattforms (reddit, FB groups probably).
What a shitty day really. At least I've got it out of my chest.
Sorry for the ranting.
 
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NT2

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Week 1: FOCUS

Hi everyone!
I'll be documenting my progress here. As you might know, I'm a 30-year-old sculptor from Barcelona.
I've been freelancing for five years, and although everything is going better each year, it is hardly enough to cover my minimal living expenses.

I've never done any marketing effort seriously. All the customers have been people that know me personally, or acquaintances of them.
On one hand that's good because that means my product is good enough, on the other it means that I have plenty of work to do in the public aspect of my business.

My main problem these years has been that I've wanted to be a jack-of-all-trades.

So far, to just get it out of my mind, the projects that have been giving me some consistent money and recurrent customers for the past few years are:
1. - Giant fibreglass beast sculptures (one of a kind, very time consuming, low paid, but cool and impressive)
2. - Custom-made trophies (nice Fastlane potential)
3. - Painting/drawing comissions (portraits of friends mainly)
4. - Scenery for theatre and hand-painted lettering (one-of-a-kind commissions)

5.- And last but not least, this past year I've started working for short periods as a substitute teacher at several schools. Some sporadical slowlane switches that I felt were necessary for my mental health (being a struggling entrepreneur for so long, the loneliness, the uncertainty, everything was taking its toll on me).

Besides all this, last year also got into several non-paying stuff:

6.- Submitted a sculpture to one of the most important realist art contests (and, although not selected, I got into the catalogue!)
7.- Started collaborating with not one but two indie videogame studios,
8.- I signed up to an online course on digital marketing and e-commerce,
9.- Became a member of an investment club, which led me to Unscripted and
10.- the discovery of the FLForum,
11.- Started meeting with art galleries, to evaluate and redefine my paintings and sculptures,
12.- Started a paid partnership to create weapons for a fantasy prop shop,
13.- Started my first CENTS-based project, 3D printable scenery for wargames (which is on indefinite standby btw).
14.-Started a second CENTS project as well about silicone sex toys, also on standby,
15.- And started keyword researching and making Youtube sculpting videos.

As you can guess, jack of all trades means master of none, so most of those projects are unfinished or badly executed.

My main objective in this 2020 will be to FOCUS. Try to just do one thing at a time, and finish it before I get to the next one.


FIRST WEEK PROGRESS
So far, I've been able to:
1. Finish polishing the sculptures for the first set of weapons for the prop shop, which are due in two weeks (8 knife models and 8 copies of each),
2. Finish the remaining 75% of the online marketing course (I didn't want to start the year with it pending, so I've chugged it, 5 topics a day, and it's done).
3. Do a painting comission (3 portraits). Kinda fastlane because, while I usually charge 20/h, I charged 180 for the full commission and managed to do 2 portraits in under an hour and a half. The third one got messed up and required a lot of extra work, so I ended up working at 20/h really.
4. Work 3 hours on the fibreglass beast I've got halfway, so the clients see some small progress,
5. Empty my bookshelves from old books and rearrange them. I've divided my workspace/room in 70 small parts so I can tackle the tidy up process one step at a time. This week I've done 8 of these parts.
6. Open an account on a P2P secondhand selling app and upload several items, which was part of a group challenge to work on our selling abilities, I had this pending since summer.
7. Worked on some designs for a giant gargoyle commission for a Halloween haunted house.
8. Let go of the videogame unpaid project I was in. Told them I don't have time for it.
9. Told the school I'm teaching on not to count on me on a regular basis, as I will have very little availability from now till June.

Overall, about 48 hours of work/study, 25h of self care (social events, doctor appointments, and two 2,5h walks) and 13 hours of procrastinating.



SECOND WEEK PLAN:

1. I'll be starting a mandatory master's degree for my teaching job. 4 hours a day + commuting, monday to friday from now until June. YAY. Not sure how I'll combine it with my other jobs. Not sure if it was the right decision (not much actual knowledge there, it is mostly a bureaucratic procedure, but you need to have it to get hired full-time in any school).
2.I need to finish the weapons for the prop shop (the texturing, moulding, and casting + painting of about 60 pcs total, all due in a couple weeks, probably not gonna meet the deadline but the shop owner is not in a rush either. Nevertheless I'll try to have it on time, as I want to give out a good first impression.)
3. Some testimonial work on the fibreglass beast (right now a polystyrene sculpture) for the clients to see progress. But not the focus this week.
4. Decide whether or not I renovate my yearly subscription to my investor club. On one hand it's what lead me to Unscripted , to the FLF, and there are some very strong individuals and resources, especially in estate investing and flipping skills.
On the other, I feel that it isn't providing me enough value, that most members are hardly proactive, that the mentors are much more distant compared to MJ here, and that college won't leave me time to actively participate there this 2020. Besides, the yearly subscription fee is 700€, which, despite not being a large sum, is quite expensive for someone that earns barely 1000 a month, and super expensive compared to the value the FLF is offering me, which is maybe 10x or 20x.
5. Maybe tidy up some small chunk of my room/workspace. No more than 2-3 hours.
6. Resume my usual sleep schedule. I feel better when waking up before 7:00, and these christmas holidays have been a bit messy in this aspect.
7. Delete all the games from my computer. I feel it'll help me be more focused and increase my awareness on how I spend my free time. I'll delete all the porn as well.

If, and just IF, the weapons are finished, I'll put all my remaining work hours in the big beast sculpture. Trying to get the shape finished as soon as possible, as I'm not sure how many work hours are remaining (bc new process it should be no more than 80, but last beast were 400).

So that's it! I don't want to make other plans. Maybe I'll use some of the lecture time to work on something, not sure still.

Anyway,
I'm leaving it for today, it's getting late.


I'll try to post once weekly! On Sunday or Monday evenings.
Thanks for reading!
It's nice to see another artist on here! Good luck with everything!
 

Abrodos

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So! I'm here again!!! This week has been like a rollercoaster.
But overall, i can say that....

MY FIRST FASTLANE VENTURE....

HAS STARTED!!!!


So I'm really happy and excited for it.
This is the link:
I'm finishing digital assets and making promotion through Facebook right now.

This is the Facebook page! I'd be super happy if people on the FL forum gave a like to it, I haven't still shared the project with my friends and acquaintances so now it's my first "opening" to the public.

Basically I'm selling a digital sculpture for people for 3D print, and I also will produce physical copies of it.
I'm aiming to reach 7000€(at least) in a month, it's quite a lot for a first timer but I'll try it anyway. And several other pieces will be made available if bigger sums are reached.

Lots of different suff to be working on right now, graphic design, rendering, more 3D modelling, physical sculpting, digital marketing...

And other than that, I've got a new small comission (500$, for theatre prop production), put my highschool teacher job appliance on a halt, and had an argument with my parents bc of that, but it helped me share the project with them so everthing's cool.

Haven't counted my hours! I have more important stuff to focus on!
:)
 

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BellaPippin

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How had I not ever heard of miniature wargaming!!!

giphy.gif


That looks amazing dude! Can't wait to hear more!
 
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Abrodos

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Hi everyone! This last weeks I've been updating my first Fastlane project in the other thread:


At first I thought that the weekly self-accounting thread I'm running here since January was bullshit and action-faking, bc I wasn't actually working much towards the FL project for most of the year.

But I haven't been updating these last weeks, and, especially since the FL campaign ended, I've been leaving my day tracker notebook empty, and by doing so, falling again in procrastination and bad habits.

These last 4 weeks have been intense, but nevertheless I could have done much more. Training period at high school has occupied me a lot of time.
First week was the only really intense one (57 hrs in total, between working as a teacher and studying for an online marketing exam). But after that, during the following weeks, athough they were emotionally intense, i relaxed much more. Binge-played a couple videogames, re-installed time-stealer apps, didn't do any sports as well, watched lots of twitch streams, put on 10 lbs, didn't work as much (about 36 hrs second week, didn't record the third, and 25 on this fourth)...

So let's start putting things in order again. Time-stealer apps are already uninstalled, and today I've started eating properly again.

Good stuff that has happened:
- Ran my first Kickstarter campaign selling a FL product! Made 1250€. Not a super big number but not bad either for a first try.
- Finally finished my online marketing course that I started on 2018! One less thing to worry about.
- Finally finished everything related to the Secondary School Teacher's Master! 3 training weeks and a 20 page essay on them. I'm just waiting for the qualifications to be published.
- Geting up at 6:30 every day during the training period helped me a lot. Felt more tired overall but with less headaches.
- Had an awesome time at that high school (great teachers and methods, excellent students) that gave me a lot more hope for pursuing this career as my real mission in life.
- A couple comissions/day jobs, that have given me about 200€ more.

And, stuff that still is pending :
- Still have to finish the big goat sculpture (this week I've been sanding it)
- Still have to produce and deliver all the products people bought in my KS campaign, both the digital ones and the physical ones.
- Helping a scientific team with some illustrations (i plan on limiting a lot the amount of time spent on it).

All three things are due January 2021. As soon as I finish them, I'll make myself available again on the public education job pool, to try and take a "vacation" from all the freelance pressure and wholly design the second crowdfunding project in my free time.

If I manage to run these final stages of the two main projects at a good pace, I want to reprise my investing club activities. Be more active in their forum, look more actively for opportunities, etc. I'm not sure how much of my cash I want to save for a land plot/home for me either.

Anyway, see you next Sunday! Hopefully with a good amount of work done, and better habits mantained!
 
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Abrodos

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Update from these last two weeks.
I just discovered Minecraft (I wanted to know why my students were so hyped about it) and spent a lot of time playing it (40 hrs each week). A very nice experience but very absorbing.
So very little work done. Just about 20-25 hours each week.
Also I've had no social life and no exercise, and reprised some of the bad habits I had stopped months ago.
I had to refuse a 2-3 week vacancy at the school I usually work bc I was too overwhelmed with my pending comissions, but I have hardly worked on them.

And, I suppose due to altering my sleep schedule because of that, and also to anxiety about the deadlines of the comissions and feeling guilty for turning down a teaching job, I've been having strong migraines that wouldn't go away with my usual meds, and they would last every day, so I've felt pretty much like shit, too tired or in pain to do anything useful.

So pretty bad dynamics overall. I suppose that's why I didn't post last week. But this one has been the same and I have to confront it and self-account for it if I want these dynamics to stop.

Good things that happened:
- Had a couple nice mushroom-picking mornings with family, so some exercise.
- Made silicone molds of the first pieces of my kickstarter and posted pics for the clients/folllowers to see, so at least one project is being updated on time.
- I've arranged a hike with my best friend this afternoon.
- Almost no skin-picking for these last 2 weeks.
- I've supressed some social media bad habits (even though it was bc my time was on Minecraft).
- Woke up before 9:30 all of the last week.
- Almost no snacks for these two weeks. I lost 1kg.

Current goals for this week:
- Be super strict with my sleep schedule. Go to sleep before 12, wake up at 7:30.
- Work enough on the big sculpture to be able to update my clients.
- Work on the science illustrations layout and share it with the team.
- Make the cases for the silicone molds and cast the first test pieces.
- No more than 2hr/day on Minecraft.
- Go exercise another day (apart from today), and keep the good eating habits.
- Have a phone call I've been delaying with my 3D teacher (I want to comission him to polish my 3D models for the campaign).
- Work on some designs/rough sketches for the next Kickstarter project.
 
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Abrodos

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Accidental double post, don't know how to delete it so I'll use it for next week's update.

Monday Nov 23rd:

Ok, so this week has been waaay better than the previous one.
I haven't worked more hours (21 as the previous one) but I've been able to progress on all open fronts.
Also I've done double the sports/social time, halved my time on Minecraft and reduced social media/idling time.
And more importantly I ve been able to maintain a consistent sleep schedule, so headaches have mostly gone away this week and I'm in an overall better mood.
Better weight as well, less snacks, mostly no skin picking.
Also, previous week goals have been met at 90%!

This week's goals are:
- Get from 25 h weekly on Minecraft to 15.
- Stop browsing reddit/ig before sleep.
- Stop snoozing my alarm (I'll put my phone far away from my bed)
- Get productive an hour after waking up.
- 10 hours a week maximum on social media,
- And overall reprise the hustling attitude I had some weeks ago.
 
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Gepi

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Accidental double post, don't know how to delete it so I'll use it for next week's update.
Hi there Abrodos,
amazing to read your journey, your progress and your hard work.
I find it inspiring to see your first Kickstarter taking off so well :)
By coincidence (or not? who knows for sure...) I am a 3D (jewelry) artist, as well. Freelancing,
building, hustling. Just as you. And another coincidence, also doing a degree, but for me it is a bachelor in economics :)
If you want, we can stay in touch to cheer each other on.
My progress thread.
Myself building online courses for 3D modeling for printing right now :D
If you want to check the first one out, even though your skills are probably by now far beyond those covered there - but who knows ;) : Modeling for 3D printing for absolute beginners (and where to sell the models online)
The second one will come soon.
Maybe it will inspire you.

Best wishes,
Gesa
 

Abrodos

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Hi there Abrodos,
amazing to read your journey, your progress and your hard work.
I find it inspiring to see your first Kickstarter taking off so well :)
By coincidence (or not? who knows for sure...) I am a 3D (jewelry) artist, as well. Freelancing,
building, hustling. Just as you. And another coincidence, also doing a degree, but for me it is a bachelor in economics :)
If you want, we can stay in touch to cheer each other on.
My progress thread.
Myself building online courses for 3D modeling for printing right now :D
If you want to check the first one out, even though your skills are probably by now far beyond those covered there - but who knows ;) : Modeling for 3D printing for absolute beginners (and where to sell the models online)
The second one will come soon.
Maybe it will inspire you.

Best wishes,
Gesa
Thank you Gesa! I'll take a look at your thread :)
 

Abrodos

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Here I am again!!!
A very good week overall. Almost no migraines, and I've been able to get to work early and finish early for the whole week (i had construction workers at home 8am-5pm every day so I've tried to match their schedule and not be around while they were working. That definitely helped focus in the sculpture.
A total of 36 hours, 23 with the big goat sculpture the outside of which is mostly finished, and clients informed about. Right now I'm emptying it so it weighs less and it's easier to make it dance/parade. Reduced time on Minecraft to 17h, still a bit too much idling/fb browsing/yt watching when I finished my work time at 5pm (very physical work, I was arriving home very tired).
I'll try to maintain the same schedule this week but substituting idling with added work time on the evenings. Maybe something more creative like designs for the next KS campaign, or polishing the 3d files that need to be sent.
Regarding habits, it's been same or better than last week in all except browsing reddit before sleep.

Anyway I'm happy because all the open fronts I had are mostly under control and updated, and with the goat project I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!!

Here are some pics of it:
IMG20201124161516.jpgIMG20201124161435.jpgIMG20201124153130.jpg
 
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Abrodos

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Here I am again!

Not an especially good week. Migraines have returned for half of the week. On two days I was feeling like sh*t, so after arriving to the workshop I just said F*ck it and went back home. Construction workers all around for the whole week as well, probably the constant hammer noise had its part in the migraine.
So overall I have worked 25 hours this week. I've been 15 hours in constant headache literally unable to work, so at least 25+15=40, i was going in the right direction.
Haven't done any sports, have eaten too many snacks as well, and the big goat sculpture hasn't had any significant advancement.

On the good side, I've been going to sleep early every day, getting up at 8:30 every day and getting at work in less than an hour after getting up.
Also I haven't played Minecraft, I just didn't have any interest towards it (been watching Minecraft gameplays for most of my free time though, so not really quitted, but at least it's some change from the previous weeks).
And clients of the campaign have received the first batch of files they paid for. A couple of them PMd me (I hadn't been updating the KS page for several weeks and the due date was Dec 20) so I answered at the moment and shared a couple updates with everyone laying out my production/delivery plans.
That meant I had to work a bit on the models before sharing them this week(no postproduction work yet, but I had to finish some of the details) so I got to sculpt again, and had fun with it which is also important.

And finally I got back to the school I was teaching last year for a 2 hour substitution. Kids were very happy to see me, and I was too (I had missed them a lot).

Also I've reprised contact with a friend I hadn't talked to since summer (my best friend for the last couple of years but suddenly things got cold), and agreed to meet on Christmas.

So goals for next week are:
Change 8:30 for 8:00 every day
Go hiking/jogging a couple days
Cut size of snacks in half
Cut slacking time to max 2 hrs a day.

And the work goals are:
Remove 4kg of styrofoam from the goat (if possible, more)
Work on the wooden parts of it (attachments for the cushions and wheels)
Prepare my first 3D model for printing (add supports, resize, etc).
Cast some more of the smaller physical pieces (if possible, all 6 sets remaining)

See you next week!
 

Abrodos

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Cool progress.

@ Noise - can you use some noise cancelling earplugs? Or ear protection (like random page from google:The Best Hearing Protection While in the Workshop)
Thank you Kid! Reading this tip definitely helped me today go through the last hours of my workshift.
Been since Sunday with this headache (same yesterday) and some studio headphones and soft music kinda have blocked most of the noise (good that there was no heavy machinery involved today from their part). I don't use them often because they press my ears against the legs of the glasses so it starts hurting after half an hour.

Been looking for a long time for good noise-cancelling headphones, but I'm not sure which ones to take, the best ones cost like 400$ and they're too big and heavy, and the earplug-type won't probably block leafblowers, chainsaws or jackhammers.

But I won't be delaying the purchase for long... in a couple weeks my town hall is pulling up all the pavement of my street to find the sewer circuit, that'll be several weeks of jackhammering 8 hours a day, I don't know what I'll do.
 
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On unrelated forum someone suggested wyze, Wyze Noise-Cancelling Headphones - going for $50.
I'm not familiar with brand but it seems legit.
Otherwise they recommended Sony and Bose, but as you noted those are for around $400.
in a couple weeks my town hall is pulling up all the pavement of my street to find the sewer circuit,
hope they'll find it /s
 

Abrodos

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What a messy week. About 16 hours of "work". Both Monday and Tuesday were national holidays (It shouldn't have affected me much in terms of schedule though) but both days I had very strong migraine attacks, and both Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I had a less intense but steadier headache that last all day. It affected me the whole week in the emotional sense as well (a sense of unaccomplishment, irritability, overall feeling like sh*t).
Not having seen anyone/gotten out of home in the whole week contributed as well.


So, on the good side though I was able to "prepare" the 3D models for my clients to print. I did basically nothing to the files and I'm not even sure I've done it correctly but at least I've delivered part of the "finished" product to them. Of course I've told them to report any error and I'll correct it in future updates.

Other things I've done (mostly action fakes):
- Emptied 1kg from the 5-10 I want to remove from the goat
- Fixed the remaining clay sculptures (they had warped due to the months in the shelf and had little scratches) and started to make the molds of them,
- Tidied up the porch with the help of my mom (a family issue, Dad with kinda Diogenes Syndrome has been accumulating 30+ years of trash in a garage. The garage is being renovated and everythig was emptied in the porch by the construction workers and has been sitting there, scattered all around, for two weeks. It was nearly impossible to move around and I was unable to do the resin casts for my clients in my usual place. So just rearranged everything without throwing away any of the stuff. Also dealing with Dad's issues towards it (i suggested buying a few shelves to help have everything tidier during these weeks, that got him yelling at me and not speaking to me for a full day, stuff like that).
Took a look at several plots of land/cheap flats outside my area. Didn't take any particular action, just checked if there was anything new. Probably as a way of escapism. Not that I want to buy anything/engage in building a house right now, I mean i'd like, but I'm a bit of a mess right now.
- Started planning my next two months, as well as the yearly recap (I'm still late to most of my goals though),
And the thing I'm proudest, I started fleshing out the designs for the new 3D project I plan, and I cameup with really cool, strong ideas. I was basically procrastinating from my actual KS project, but I've been weeks without doing any creative/design work and I felt like I needed it as a way of recharging/releasing tension. And the stuff looks good. I think it has a lot of potential.
 
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Abrodos

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This week has been much better!
A more regular schedule overall.
38,5 hours of work, most of them kinda "procrastinating" (in the sense that I've been designing next year's FL goals/projects -which I wanted to start on January- and making this year's financial/goal recap instead of finishing current work, so procrastinating but in the FL direction).
On the "real work" side, I'm halfway through silicone molding the 3 remaining Tower pieces, and the Goat has had 1,5 kg of styrofoam removed.
Also I've finished prototypes for some personal projects that I had pending for more than a year, investigated the market for other FL parallel projects, and worked on the maquette for a sculpture contest I'll be participating in.

A comission has also arrived (a painting for Christmas), but I've applied FL premises to get rid of most of the work (they asked me for a painting with a literary quote, I'll be doing the image in Photoshop -a couple hours- and getting it printed on canvas).

There have been a lot less headaches, also weaker (construction workers are doing the finishings so lot less noise overall). And the problem that required the sewer company to open up all the pavement in my street has been solved quickly with clever use of probes, so another good news in that sense.

Overall better mood at home as well, parents are both in better humour and more receptive towards storage ideas.
But I've put on a couple of kgs, so I need to reprise exercising (arranged a walk for tomorrow).
And I've seen my friends today for a couple hours! :)
 
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Abrodos

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Last post of the year...
This last week and a half hasn't been very good. I've been feeling very sad and lonely. No Christmas family dinners, no new year's eve with friends, overall feeling very tired and lost.
I've had some good days with people from my town (rehearsing and acting for a christmas theatre play I'm on each year) but overall I've been very alone, bumped into some friends that were making plans together without me and that made me realize how isolated I've been this year. Haven't spoken to my college friends since June, And of the two close friends I had, one is showing no interest in meeting (today marks one year since we last met, we used to hang out 2-3 times a week) and the other just got a new boyfriend a couple months ago so is a lot less around.
I've been trying to put some order, make a recap of the year (which has brought some good things) but there's this inner thought that tells me everything has been pointless.
I'm trying to do an alignment, to reformulate/upgrade all the goals for 2021, but the more I ask myself about my core values and the deeper I look, the more pointless everything seems.

This week and a half I haven't worked neither on any of the two projects that should be finished by now nor in the 2021 projects I began, and I'm feeling bad for that.

Not sure what to do with the high school teacher job pool. I'm considering of making myself available again on January and just start working and finish both projects after-hours.just as a kick in the a$$, even if I know it will mess up my schedule (which btw is already messed up) and delay both pending projects.
 
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Abrodos

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Here I am again! Feeling much better, thankfully.

I've seen some friends again, and talked with that best friend who kinda "disappeared" for a year. Turned out there wasn't any grudge held or avoiding me from his part, just busy schedules from both of us ( he got a new job, also my FL project had a big part in that). That left me much more at peace.
Things at home are quite well, good attitude from Dad towards cleaning up/ throwing away old stuff, I bought new furniture for the garage, which is to arrive soon.

I've decided to start taking a coach from the beginning of the year. If I need external help to be self-consistent with my work schedule, so be it. I've achieved lots of FL-related stuff this last year (got a master's degree in secondary schoool teaching, another degree in Digital Marketing and E-commerce, learned how to 3D model basically from scratch, ran my first Fastlane project-a Kickstarter miniature campaign-, had a try at making foam weapons for the live-action role playing market with a 70-piece commission, and more or less finished a car-sized goat sculpture), but I've also slacked and procrastinated way more than necessary, especially these last two months, when all my free time (and some of my work time too) has been spent playing minecraft and watching youtube streamers.
Probably I'll take a gym coach as well, as I find very difficult to mantain a consistent exercise routine.

To start this path I've made myself a schedule with all the stuff I want to do this year, dividing each day in four 3-hour chunks (leaving enough flexibility for meals, etc.).
Some of these chunks each week will be dedicated to new creative/investing projects with FL potential that I've been delaying for years (they'll be considered "hobbies", though, while the important FL project (orange) (the 3D miniatures crowdfunding project I already started) will be considered "work" and will occupy 21 hours of my weekly time.
I think one of my biggest mistakes has been considering anything creative/that required work as "work time". That made me feel like I was working 40+ hours a week while nearning very little money. The key, for me, is to understand that all this creative work is "hobby stuff", not work, and that I do it just because it fulfills me, but that it needs effort and discipline as well, same as actual work.
Mainly I want to shift from consumer to producer (yellow) by creating comics/illustrations, singing/music producing, photography skills, tattooing... and also start taking investing (green) more consistently.

I'm not sure whether i'll be able to mantain this schedule or not... It's very optimistic and very different from my routine. I know I get exhausted from long work days (especially when teaching), so replacing some after-work couch time with creative work will be difficult. But again, the routine I was holding lately was having a really toxic effect on me. I felt a lot of guilt from being unproductive, and also have been really tired and sad at random times most days, plus several small anxiety attacks this last half of the year, plus the constant migraine/tension headaches that have been especially awful these last months.
So I want to push myself. I know when I'm "ordered" or expected to do something i can do it better and quicker than most. I delivered my master's college tasks to the teachers weeks ahead of time, and when working at a school I have never been late or with unprepared lessons towards my students, but as soon as the institutional presence disappears and I have some "freedom" to organize myself, everything gets messed up.

So regarding the high school teacher job my plan is to start being available for work again. If I'm given short-period or part-time substitutions, my plan is to keep taking them until I've made 3.000€, and if some longer, full-time substitution appears, I'll just take it and remake the schedule from then on. Getting these jobs will put me in a better position towards next year's job selection process, and will also recharge my emotional batteries for the FL project.
Anyway, when I have to take a teacher job, my plan is to readapt my schedule by removing some of the "creative projects" from my schedule (still have to figure out which ones are more important for me and which less), while mantaining the 3D miniature project and other important stuff like exercise, social life and self care (blue), and time for dismantling my sculpture workshop (brown). My plan is also get over my fear of hiring people and start delegating some tasks to 3D sculptors and marketing/social media experts), to become more of a coordinator instead of the guy who does everything. That is both for the 3D miniature project but also for the other "hobby" ones.

Here's the rough schedule for January/June!
timetable 1.jpg

Unrelated to that, one of my goals this year is to take control of my social life by calling friends for meetups instead of being just a member of a group of friends that goes along with any plan we make (my best friend is like a "central hinge", if she's not around, we other ones can be months without talking to each other, and same happens with friends that I don't see often).
To finish this post, I wanted to thank all of you in the forum for accompanying me this year :) it has had some very tough moments but also some very good ones, and most importantly, I've gained consciousness of my fears and flaws, which I feel is the starting point towards any improvement. I feel good and hopeful for this 2021!

Lots of love and see you next week,

David
 
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