Actionable Steps and Mindset from a Fastlane Millionaire!

[fastlane_dad]

OK this isn't a fully thought out post but just some random actionable mindset tidbits that sparked within me this AM reading through some threads on here.

I aim to provide these inputs to help clear up some of the confusion you see and read about! As someone that has built up several companies and sold them all - I am on this forum to inspire and advocate starting from the bottom (with absolutely nothing!), aimed at someone 16+ years of age figuring out how to tackle life post graduation and beyond. These are just some random thoughts I had this AM and I will add more to this list with time.

Quick Background (to know who you are taking advice from) : I am 39 years old and have been entrepreneurial since I have been 14 years old. I sold my last business with @NeoDialectic for an 8 figure sum last year. Being semi-retired now I aim to devote myself to helping others achieve the same, and share my mindset, motivation and any helpful tips that guided me along the way. So let's start!!!

Work towards a degree / slowlane / high income skill

Everything is about chances and risk - and I wanted to make sure I am setup with a high earning skill no matter what. I was not delusional about starting a business that would be an instant success or bring me millions of dollars when I was 18 years old - so I enrolled in a university that was more or less guaranteed to pay me a middle/upper class earning wage for the rest of my life.

There is a lot of gurus and naysayers calling this a waste of time, or many other negative connotations associated with going to college. To me it was an enjoyable time, and an insurance policy that would feed me for the rest of my life. Your 'slowlane' beginnings also will provide you a future paycheck to experiment and try and fail at your other entrepreneurial or fastlane ventures. If you are struggling to put food on the table or cover your mortgage / rent - you will not have the privilege to devote yourself freely to think of and startup businesses - majority of which will be a drain on your wallet and time. This should not be the end goal for you, rather a stepping stone in guaranteeing consistent cash flow and employability.

The time to do this is when you are young! You will have time for it all - part time jobs, gf, side-hustle, partying and learning additional skills. I clamor for those days as I had little to no 'real' responsibility during that time (no wife, no house, no kids, no aging parents, etc). THIS is the time to invest all you can in yourself, and a high-income skill through college is a good first plan! Remember to choose your major carefully though !!

Be Entrepreneurial minded all along

During my high school / college journey I was always entrepreneurial. I looked at various facets of business and tried to figure out how I can insert myself into them or be a part of it. As opportunity is everywhere, I always tried to figure out how I can profit wherever I was. As an example - working at Abercrombie for a season (in my younger years) I decided to look at what their quarterly catalogs sold for on eBay. Figuring out they went for twice (or more) the price they sold in store - I quickly bought out every single catalog in every single Abercrombie store across town. I potentially made more money on these catalogs then the season of working at the store for many many hours!

This wasn't a sizeable amount of money - but was moving me inch by inch into the right direction of thinking in terms of profit, business, opportunity, flipping items etc.

Make $5 before you make $10

So much of today's media, headlines and propaganda revolves around the 'succesful exit', 'investors', 'venture capitalists' and multi million dollar incomes. There is so much of it so that it is discouraging to start small and work your way up! Maybe that's the only way I know how to do this thing as I had no rich parents, no handouts, no wealthy circles, and a very low-middle class upbringing - but to me the principle of making $5 before you make $10 applied so well every time! That was also the start of probably close to a dozen of businesses that turned a profit! Yes I'm all for 'dreaming' and 'acting' big - but doing so don't land yourself in a landmine risking everything you got to achieve the story in the headlines you read about. Start small and learn, improvise and built and you will get to where you want.

Invest early and invest often

One of the things I wish I did more of was get used to the ride of the ups and downs of the market, at my earlier age. Understood that its OK when swings occur. Long term planning includes playing with the various FIRECALC simulators to figure out what is the actual figure you might need to sustain you for life. It doesn't matter how comfortable with investing you are or aren't - I advise EVERYONE on this board to open a vanguard/ameritrade/etc account and invest something small even to the tune of $100 - whatever you got.

Your plan is NOT to get rich off this (as you will not) - rather have it as a tool in your arsenal to develop investing acumen to grow and preserve the money you DO make (from your fastlane business).

Your natural response will be to put this off, or leave it for another day. Trust me when I say there is no better day then TODAY to start this and get used to the ebbs / flows and emotions of being in the market. Avoid financial advisors and read up / learn about some of this on your own. No matter WHAT path you take in life, this tool will come in helpful for you to know especially the more time passes.

Know that not everything will work out

Just something else to ponder - Just because you had success in one venture does not mean you will have success in another. Key is to keep going, and thinking about your risks and long term plans. Don't put yourself into something that can put you into a bad situation permanently (MJ talks about this in his books and please heed the advice on it thoroughly) - but take SOME asymmetric risks that can yield great benefit and returns to you into the future.

Be cautious who and how you take advice from others

Many clamor to be mentored by millionaires/ billionaires - but that does not necessarily mean it's right for your situation to help you where you are at. Many of those are way past you financially, age wise, and in mentality -- will advise and speak to their current mindset, and not what it was like when they were starting of at 18+ years of age.

------------------------------------------------------------

I will add more through this thread as my brain allows! I seek to find disconnects of all that I see around me and in the news/online space and try to transform it into small actionable steps for you guys to make progress. Will keep updating with more.

 

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[NeoDialectic]

It seems like each one of these deserve to eventually be fleshed out in their own thread!

 

[ArmanK]

It seems like each one of these deserve to eventually be fleshed out in their own thread!

this is great stuff @fastlane_dad and thank you for sharing!

i am 29 years old and it is always nice to be reminded of the basics.

the complex can be seductive but first we must MASTER the basics.

 

[Antifragile]

OK this isn't a fully thought out post but just some random actionable mindset tidbits that sparked within me this AM reading through some threads on here.

I aim to provide these inputs to help clear up some of the confusion you see and read about! As someone that has built up several companies and sold them all - I am on this forum to inspire and advocate starting from the bottom (with absolutely nothing!), aimed at someone 16+ years of age figuring out how to tackle life post graduation and beyond. These are just some random thoughts I had this AM and I will add more to this list with time.

Quick Background (to know who you are taking advice from) : I am 39 years old and have been entrepreneurial since I have been 14 years old. I sold my last business with @NeoDialectic for an 8 figure sum last year. Being semi-retired now I aim to devote myself to helping others achieve the same, and share my mindset, motivation and any helpful tips that guided me along the way. So let's start!!!

Work towards a degree / slowlane / high income skill

Everything is about chances and risk - and I wanted to make sure I am setup with a high earning skill no matter what. I was not delusional about starting a business that would be an instant success or bring me millions of dollars - so I enrolled in a university that was more or less guaranteed to pay me a middle/upper class earning wage for the rest of my life. There is a lot of gurus and naysayers calling this a waste of time, or many other negative connotations associated with going to college. To me it was an enjoyable time, and an insurance policy that would feed me for the rest of my life. Your 'slowlane' beginnings also will provide you a future paycheck to experiment and try and fail at your other entrepreneurial or fastlane ventures. If you are struggling to put food on the table or cover your mortgage / rent - you will not have the privilege to devote yourself freely to think of and startup businesses - majority of which will be a drain on your wallet and time. This should not be the end goal for you, rather a stepping stone in guaranteeing consistent cash flow and employability.

The time to do this is when you are young! You will have time for it all - part time jobs, gf, side-hustle, partying and learning additional skills. I clamor for those days as I had little to no 'real' responsibility during that time (no wife, no house, no kids, no aging parents, etc). THIS is the time to invest all you can in yourself, and a high-income skill through college is a good first plan! Remember to choose your major carefully though !!

Slow lane may be a “hated option” here by 20 y/o kids, but some of us made 7 fugues in slow lane before going fastlane.

I like how you describe it as “insurance” because that’s how I saw it too. It served us well.


Be Entrepreneurial minded all along

During my high school / college journey I was always entrepreneurial. I looked at various facets of business and tried to figure out how I can insert myself into them or be a part of it. As opportunity is everywhere, I always tried to figure out how I can profit wherever I was. As an example - working at Abercrombie for a season (in my younger years) I decided to look at what their quarterly catalogs sold for on eBay. Figuring out they went for twice (or more) the price they sold in store - I quickly bought out every single catalog in every single Abercrombie store across town. I potentially made more money on these catalogs then the season of working at the store for many many hours!

This wasn't a sizeable amount of money - but was moving me inch by inch into the right direction of thinking in terms of profit, business, opportunity, flipping items etc.

Isn’t this typical?

I often wonder if maybe entrepreneurs are just born wired to experiment like this.

Back at the University, I did a bunch of side hustles. One easy and fun was around parking. Stalls were reserved and very few available, they came up for first come first serve every semester. I organized an overnight “camp out” with poor friends and paid them, provided food. The allotted stalls I pre-sold to rich kids with cars, for a hefty premium.

Make $5 before you make $10

So much of today's media, headlines and propaganda revolves around the 'succesful exit', 'investors', 'venture capitalists' and multi million dollar incomes. There is so much of it so that it is discouraging to start small and work your way up! Maybe that's the only way I know how to do this thing as I had no rich parents, no handouts, no wealthy circles, and a very low-middle class upbringing - but to me the principle of making $5 before you make $10 applied so well every time! That was also the start of probably close to a dozen of businesses that turned a profit! Yes I'm all for 'dreaming' and 'acting' big - but doing so don't land yourself in a landmine risking everything you got to achieve the story in the headlines you read about. Start small and learn, improvise and built and you will get to where you want.

I failed more than I succeeded. In fact, there was a time when I thought business was just luck because I couldn’t make it. Looking back, it was because I didn’t know what you just said above. I tried to do a mega deal before I knew how to make a small deal. It didn’t work because I wasn’t ready! The world knew it and I didn’t. I failed.

Heed this advice folks. Like a kid, crawl, walk … then run… bike, drive… fly

Invest early and invest often

One of the things I wish I did more of was get used to the ride of the ups and downs of the market, at my earlier age. Understood that its OK when swings occur. Long term planning includes playing with the various FIRECALC simulators to figure out what is the actual figure you might need to sustain you for life. It doesn't matter how comfortable with investing you are or aren't - I advise EVERYONE on this board to open a vanguard/ameritrade/etc account and invest something small even to the tune of $100 - whatever you got. Your plan is NOT to get rich off this (as you will not) - rather have it as a tool in your arsenal to develop investing acumen to grow and preserve the money you DO make (from your fastlane business). Your natural response will be to put this off, or leave it for another day. Trust me when I say there is no better day then TODAY to start this and get used to the ebbs / flows and emotions of being in the market. Avoid financial advisors and read up / learn about some of this on your own. No matter WHAT path you take in life, this tool will come in helpful for you to know especially the more time passes.

I don’t fully agree with this. My experience had been to focus on your cash flow, not investing. I believe having access to cash (be it savings, or a line of credit) gives us opportunities. We saved all we could to create access to cash.

Cash for business is like oxygen for people, you can only hold your breath so long.

Know that not everything will work out

Just something else to ponder - Just because you had success in one venture does not mean you will have success in another. Key is to keep going, and thinking about your risks and long term plans. Don't put yourself into something that can put you into a bad situation permanently (MJ talks about this in his books and please heed the advice on it thoroughly) - but take SOME asymmetric risks that can yield great benefit and returns to you into the future.

Be cautious who and how you take advice from others

Many clamor to be mentored by millionaires/ billionaires - but that does not necessarily mean it's right for your situation to help you where you are at. Many of those are way past you financially, age wise, and in mentality -- will advise and speak to their current mindset, and not what it was like when they were starting of at 18+ years of age.

Follow the money! If the person giving you advice is doing so to earn a hefty amount, maybe they don’t have your best interest at heart.

Also try to stay away from “make it quick and easy” advice. If what you do requires no effort, offers no benefit / value, solves no problems … then odds are you won’t succeed.

I just posted this in Random thread, but worth repeating:

"Conventional thinking leads talented and driven people to believe that if they simply work hard, luck will eventually strike. That’s like saying if a surfer treads water in the same spot for long enough, a wave will come; it certainly happens to some people, once in a while, but it’s not the most effective strategy for success. Paradoxically, it’s actually a lazier move." (Shane Snow, Smartcuts)

------------------------------------------------------------

I will add more through this thread as my brain allows! I seek to find disconnects of all that I see around me and in the news/online space and try to transform it into small actionable steps for you guys to make progress. Will keep updating with more.

Dude, this is excellent! Keep adding please. Exactly what we need more of here. Thanks.

 

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[fastlane_dad]

I don’t fully agree with this. My experience had been to focus on your cash flow, not investing. I believe having access to cash (be it savings, or a line of credit) gives us opportunities. We saved all we could to create access to cash.

Cash for business is like oxygen for people, you can only hold your breath so long.

Thanks for all the feedback and numerous other examples!

With investing maybe I wasn't particularly clear. Yes - cash flow , fastlane , creating income streams , learning, experimenting, testing the market etc...should ALWAYS come #1 ...

And @NeoDialectic and I were HEAVILY focused on that side of the equation for 15+ years, and believed that to be the correct route (and for us it worked out great!). We had regular discussions whether to look at and learn the investing world - and everytime we vetoed that as the returns (5-8%/year) would pale in comparison to the millions we were bringing in each year with our business. 'What's the point' we thought !!

BUT - and I have a lot of passion towards the subject now, I believe investing SOME time to look at the way the market works, and make errors with MINIMUM amount of real money, especially starting when you are young, will pave way for a much larger successful investing career and longetivity when you are older. If you start at 15 by the time you are 40 you would have 25 years of experience of being in the market, what a headstart that would be!!

With investing, it's not so much someone telling you what the 'right thing to do is', or getting the latest 'hot stock tip' - its learning how your own mind works in conjunction with risk, media, perception, market 'noise', headlines and the overall economy! And the sooner you start on that journey the better.

** I wish someone (that someone being the older me mostly) would of sat down with 15 year old me, opened an investing account, and literally would drop feed $10 or so into that monthly ** . The investments could of been MINOR, but the lessons would of been MAJOR - especially if I had someone to backcheck my thoughts and reasonings with during all that time. My perception of investing growing up was formed by those around me mostly 'gambling' or trying to pick the latest 'hot stock tip' -- and it's those same tendencies and mindsets that I had to shed and adopt a whole new OS moving forward now. For decades the stories I told myself were not the truth - but merely a reflection of those around me, media 'noise', financial advisors (who do not have your best interest in mind), parents who 'lost money' in the market and many others who purely just 'did not know any better!'.

With investing many times you gotta learn by *some* trial and error, but mostly longetivity!! It's a marathon and not a sprint - and that particularly does not make this a 'sexy' topic , or a 'get rich quick' scheme --- but a VERY notable skill and mindset to learn.

What's best about all this is you can literally start experiencing all the above emotions and perceptions with a minimal investment (take even $500 or $1000 to start).

I have held off on figuring these things out about myself until my late 30s - and - although I wouldn't call it a financial 'mistake', as I placed my bets of spending time where I thought would pay off the highest - it was more so of a emotional mistake that I did not build up my perceptions and investing acumen during all of my teens / 20s / early 30s. If I would have then I would today be SEVERELY more ahead today in net worth and understanding of how the markets work.

YES - save majority of your extra cash to invest in yourself / business etc BUT don't neglect the investing side of things as the time will come where you will / might partially rely on that portion to hold on and grow your wealth with your early retirement!

Bottom Line: I bet EVERYONE on this forum has $100 to start and begin learning (and if you don't you should get your a$$ a slowlane job until you do, and stop reading these forums!). You can literally take action today to set this up, as the process on almost every brokerage is extremely easy to get started. Don't focus on the pennies that you might make (or lose) - focus on what you will learn by riding out that $100 or more for years or decades into the future. Some of the things you will learn is return on investment, dividend income, market cycles, inflation, dollar cost averaging vs lump sump investments, comparison between housing/financial markets, 'gambling' vs 'investing', history and performance, safe withdrawal amounts, greed, panic, human emotions, market reaction to news of all sorts ---- and MUCH MUCH MORE!

For beginners, look at some current index funds. I guarantee you this will be one of the best things you can spend $100 on today! I have advised this now to countless 20 year olds - and have always been dismayed with the response and interest in this advice (and I can only shout so much or so loudly now at my age!). But if you are **LOST** for action you can take today to move you into a better financial situation tomorrow and many decades into the future - THIS IS THAT!

Learning to see and understand how the markets work is an essential part of the fastlane equation. How else do you think you will be able to indefinitely live on hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, without working an additional day in your life once you achieve your fastlane exit? Get started on getting your mindset and skillset right on this topic EARLY on, and you will have that much more of a headstart in setting yourself free.

Yes - I totally understand that the current 'hot topic' is crypto, flipping homes, renting out airbnbs and the latest marijuana stock. And that's all good and dandy if you want to individually dabble or try your hand at any one of those! AND the media today makes it seem like the sky is falling everywhere. You will soon learn to tune out all that BS and still act. What I'm advising is looking and learning the financial markets, which have existed for many many decades and not going anywhere - as a 'TOOL' in your fastlane arsenal that will serve you for decades into the future.

There are several ways also of going about all this and using it as a tool, and @MJ DeMarco calls this the 'paycheck pot', advocating using 'options' as one of the methods of doing so. BUT don't leave this off until later to figure out and establish some emotional resiliency to.

I will make a separate post on this, and try to make it as clear as I can -- as I view this topic now as SO important for everyone here to understand.

 

[Mathuin]

With investing, it's not so much someone telling you what the 'right thing to do is', or getting the latest 'hot stock tip' - its learning how your own mind works in conjunction with risk, media, perception, market 'noise', headlines and the overall economy! And the sooner you start on that journey the better. ** I wish someone would of sat down with 15 year old me, opened an investing account, and literally would drop feed $10 or so into that monthly ** . The investments could of been MINOR, but the lessons would of been MAJOR - especially if I had someone to backcheck my thoughts and reasonings with during all that time.

Good point

I will make a separate post on this, and try to make it as clear as I can -- as I view this topic now as SO important for everyone here to understand.

This would be great thanks.

 

[Albert KOUADJA]

OK, ce n'est pas un article entièrement réfléchi, mais juste quelques informations aléatoires sur l'état d'esprit qui ont déclenché en moi cet AM en lisant certains fils de discussion ici.

Mon objectif est de fournir ces informations pour aider à dissiper une partie de la confusion que vous voyez et lisez! En tant que personne qui a créé plusieurs entreprises et les a toutes vendues - je suis sur ce forum pour inspirer et préconiser de commencer par le bas (avec absolument rien !), destiné à une personne de plus de 16 ans qui découvre comment aborder la vie après l'obtention du diplôme et au-delà. Ce ne sont que quelques pensées aléatoires que j'ai eues ce matin et j'en ajouterai d'autres à cette liste avec le temps.

Bref historique (pour savoir de qui vous prenez conseil) : J'ai 39 ans et je suis entrepreneur depuis l'âge de 14 ans. J'ai vendu ma dernière entreprise avec @NeoDialectic pour une somme à 8 chiffres l'année dernière. Étant semi-retraité maintenant, je vise à me consacrer à aider les autres à atteindre le même objectif et à partager mon état d'esprit, ma motivation et tous les conseils utiles qui m'ont guidé tout au long du chemin. Alors commençons !!!

Travaillez vers un diplôme / slowlane / compétence à revenu élevé

Tout est une question de chances et de risques - et je voulais m'assurer que je suis configuré avec une compétence de gain élevée, quoi qu'il arrive. Je ne délirais pas à l'idée de démarrer une entreprise qui serait un succès instantané ou me rapporterait des millions de dollars - alors je me suis inscrit dans une université qui était plus ou moins assurée de me payer un salaire de classe moyenne/supérieure pour le reste de ma vie. Il y a beaucoup de gourous et d'opposants qui appellent cela une perte de temps, ou de nombreuses autres connotations négatives associées au fait d'aller à l'université. Pour moi, c'était un moment agréable et une police d'assurance qui me nourrirait pour le reste de ma vie. Vos débuts sur la «voie lente» vous fourniront également un futur chèque de paie pour expérimenter et essayer d'échouer dans vos autres entreprises entrepreneuriales ou rapides. Si vous avez du mal à mettre de la nourriture sur la table ou à couvrir votre hypothèque / loyer - vous n'aurez pas le privilège de vous consacrer librement à la réflexion et au démarrage d'entreprises - dont la majorité sera une ponction sur votre portefeuille et votre temps. Cela ne devrait pas être votre objectif final, mais plutôt un tremplin pour garantir un flux de trésorerie et une employabilité constants.

Le moment de le faire, c'est quand vous êtes jeune! Vous aurez du temps pour tout - emplois à temps partiel, gf, bousculade, faire la fête et acquérir des compétences supplémentaires. Je réclame ces jours car j'avais peu ou pas de "réelle" responsabilité pendant cette période (pas de femme, pas de maison, pas d'enfants, pas de parents vieillissants, etc.). C'est le moment d'investir tout ce que vous pouvez en vous-même, et une compétence à revenu élevé grâce à l'université est un bon premier plan ! N'oubliez pas de bien choisir votre majeure !!

Avoir l'esprit d'entreprise tout au long

Au cours de mon parcours lycée / collège, j'ai toujours été entreprenant. J'ai examiné diverses facettes de l'entreprise et j'ai essayé de comprendre comment je pouvais m'y insérer ou en faire partie. Comme les opportunités sont partout, j'ai toujours essayé de comprendre comment je pouvais en profiter où que j'étais. À titre d'exemple - travaillant chez Abercrombie pendant une saison (dans mes jeunes années), j'ai décidé de regarder à quoi se vendaient leurs catalogues trimestriels sur eBay. J'ai compris qu'ils coûtaient deux fois (ou plus) le prix qu'ils vendaient en magasin - j'ai rapidement acheté chaque catalogue dans chaque magasin Abercrombie de la ville. J'ai potentiellement gagné plus d'argent sur ces catalogues que sur la saison de travail au magasin pendant de nombreuses heures !

Ce n'était pas une somme d'argent considérable - mais cela me faisait avancer petit à petit dans la bonne direction en termes de profit, d'affaires, d'opportunités, de retournement d'articles, etc.

Gagnez 5 $ avant de gagner 10 $

Une grande partie des médias, des gros titres et de la propagande d'aujourd'hui tourne autour de la « sortie réussie », des « investisseurs », des « capital-risqueurs » et des revenus de plusieurs millions de dollars. Il y en a tellement qu'il est décourageant de commencer petit et de progresser! C'est peut-être la seule façon que je connaisse de faire cette chose car je n'avais pas de parents riches, pas de dons, pas de cercles riches et une éducation de la classe moyenne très basse - mais pour moi, le principe de gagner 5 $ avant de gagner 10 $ s'appliquait si bien à chaque fois! Ce fut aussi le début de probablement près d'une douzaine d'entreprises qui ont réalisé des bénéfices ! Oui, je suis tout à fait pour "rêver" et "agir" en grand - mais ce faisant, ne vous atterrissez pas dans une mine terrestre en risquant tout ce que vous avez pour réaliser l'histoire dans les gros titres que vous lisez. Commencez petit et apprenez,

Investissez tôt et investissez souvent

L'une des choses que j'aurais aimé faire davantage était de m'habituer aux hauts et aux bas du marché, à mon plus jeune âge. Compris que c'est OK quand les balançoires se produisent. La planification à long terme consiste à jouer avec les différents simulateurs FIRECALC pour déterminer quel est le chiffre réel dont vous pourriez avoir besoin pour vous soutenir toute la vie. Peu importe à quel point vous êtes à l'aise d'investir ou non - je conseille à TOUS les membres de ce forum d'ouvrir un compte vanguard/ameritrade/etc et d'investir quelque chose de petit, même à hauteur de 100 $ - tout ce que vous avez. Votre plan n'est PAS de devenir riche grâce à cela (car vous ne le ferez pas) - plutôt de l'avoir comme un outil dans votre arsenal pour développer un sens aigu de l'investissement afin de développer et de préserver l'argent que vous GAGNEZ (de votre entreprise fastlane). Votre réponse naturelle sera de reporter cela ou de le laisser pour un autre jour. Faites-moi confiance quand je dis qu'il n'y a pas de meilleur jour qu'AUJOURD'HUI pour commencer et s'habituer aux flux et reflux et aux émotions d'être sur le marché. Évitez les conseillers financiers et lisez/renseignez-vous sur certaines de ces questions par vous-même. Quel que soit le chemin que vous empruntez dans la vie, cet outil vous sera utile pour savoir en particulier plus le temps passe.

Sachez que tout ne s'arrangera pas

Juste quelque chose d'autre à méditer - Ce n'est pas parce que vous avez réussi dans une entreprise que vous aurez du succès dans une autre. La clé est de continuer et de réfléchir à vos risques et à vos projets à long terme. Ne vous mettez pas dans quelque chose qui peut vous mettre dans une mauvaise situation de façon permanente (MJ en parle dans ses livres et s'il vous plaît tenez compte des conseils à ce sujet) - mais prenez CERTAINS risques asymétriques qui peuvent vous apporter de grands avantages et vous ramener dans le avenir.

Faites attention à qui et comment vous suivez les conseils des autres

Many clamor to be mentored by millionaires/ billionaires - but that does not necessarily mean it's right for your situation to help you where you are at. Many of those are way past you financially, age wise, and in mentality -- will advise and speak to their current mindset, and not what it was like when they were starting of at 18+ years of age.

------------------------------------------------------------

I will add more through this thread as my brain allows! I seek to find disconnects of all that I see around me and in the news/online space and try to transform it into small actionable steps for you guys to make progress. Will keep updating with more.

really, it's excellent. I really appreciate your basic advice for a future fastlaner. Thanks very much. I will use it

" Pratice make perfect"

I will make a separate post on this, and try to make it as clear as I can -- as I view this topic now as SO important for everyone here to understand.

I would love to read..

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Thanks for sharing your wisdom, upgraded to NOTABLE.

 

[DarkZero]

Very underrated thread for those that need to hear this. These are absolute fundamentals. Many that I didn't follow early on.

 

[Issi007]

Thanks for all the feedback and numerous other examples!

With investing maybe I wasn't particularly clear. Yes - cash flow , fastlane , creating income streams , learning, experimenting, testing the market etc...should ALWAYS come #1 ...

And @NeoDialectic and I were HEAVILY focused on that side of the equation for 15+ years, and believed that to be the correct route (and for us it worked out great!). We had regular discussions whether to look at and learn the investing world - and everytime we vetoed that as the returns (5-8%/year) would pale in comparison to the millions we were bringing in each year with our business. 'What's the point' we thought !!

BUT - and I have a lot of passion towards the subject now, I believe investing SOME time to look at the way the market works, and make errors with MINIMUM amount of real money, especially starting when you are young, will pave way for a much larger successful investing career and longetivity when you are older. If you start at 15 by the time you are 40 you would have 25 years of experience of being in the market, what a headstart that would be!!

With investing, it's not so much someone telling you what the 'right thing to do is', or getting the latest 'hot stock tip' - its learning how your own mind works in conjunction with risk, media, perception, market 'noise', headlines and the overall economy! And the sooner you start on that journey the better.

** I wish someone (that someone being the older me mostly) would of sat down with 15 year old me, opened an investing account, and literally would drop feed $10 or so into that monthly ** . The investments could of been MINOR, but the lessons would of been MAJOR - especially if I had someone to backcheck my thoughts and reasonings with during all that time. My perception of investing growing up was formed by those around me mostly 'gambling' or trying to pick the latest 'hot stock tip' -- and it's those same tendencies and mindsets that I had to shed and adopt a whole new OS moving forward now. For decades the stories I told myself were not the truth - but merely a reflection of those around me, media 'noise', financial advisors (who do not have your best interest in mind), parents who 'lost money' in the market and many others who purely just 'did not know any better!'.

With investing many times you gotta learn by *some* trial and error, but mostly longetivity!! It's a marathon and not a sprint - and that particularly does not make this a 'sexy' topic , or a 'get rich quick' scheme --- but a VERY notable skill and mindset to learn.

What's best about all this is you can literally start experiencing all the above emotions and perceptions with a minimal investment (take even $500 or $1000 to start).

I have held off on figuring these things out about myself until my late 30s - and - although I wouldn't call it a financial 'mistake', as I placed my bets of spending time where I thought would pay off the highest - it was more so of a emotional mistake that I did not build up my perceptions and investing acumen during all of my teens / 20s / early 30s. If I would have then I would today be SEVERELY more ahead today in net worth and understanding of how the markets work.

YES - save majority of your extra cash to invest in yourself / business etc BUT don't neglect the investing side of things as the time will come where you will / might partially rely on that portion to hold on and grow your wealth with your early retirement!

Bottom Line: I bet EVERYONE on this forum has $100 to start and begin learning (and if you don't you should get your a$$ a slowlane job until you do, and stop reading these forums!). You can literally take action today to set this up, as the process on almost every brokerage is extremely easy to get started. Don't focus on the pennies that you might make (or lose) - focus on what you will learn by riding out that $100 or more for years or decades into the future. Some of the things you will learn is return on investment, dividend income, market cycles, inflation, dollar cost averaging vs lump sump investments, comparison between housing/financial markets, 'gambling' vs 'investing', history and performance, safe withdrawal amounts, greed, panic, human emotions, market reaction to news of all sorts ---- and MUCH MUCH MORE!

For beginners, look at some current index funds. I guarantee you this will be one of the best things you can spend $100 on today! I have advised this now to countless 20 year olds - and have always been dismayed with the response and interest in this advice (and I can only shout so much or so loudly now at my age!). But if you are **LOST** for action you can take today to move you into a better financial situation tomorrow and many decades into the future - THIS IS THAT!

Learning to see and understand how the markets work is an essential part of the fastlane equation. How else do you think you will be able to indefinitely live on hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, without working an additional day in your life once you achieve your fastlane exit? Get started on getting your mindset and skillset right on this topic EARLY on, and you will have that much more of a headstart in setting yourself free.

Yes - I totally understand that the current 'hot topic' is crypto, flipping homes, renting out airbnbs and the latest marijuana stock. And that's all good and dandy if you want to individually dabble or try your hand at any one of those! AND the media today makes it seem like the sky is falling everywhere. You will soon learn to tune out all that BS and still act. What I'm advising is looking and learning the financial markets, which have existed for many many decades and not going anywhere - as a 'TOOL' in your fastlane arsenal that will serve you for decades into the future.

There are several ways also of going about all this and using it as a tool, and @MJ DeMarco calls this the 'paycheck pot', advocating using 'options' as one of the methods of doing so. BUT don't leave this off until later to figure out and establish some emotional resiliency to.

I will make a separate post on this, and try to make it as clear as I can -- as I view this topic now as SO important for everyone here to understand.

Fantastic thread !

Thanks for sharing these pratical steps to FL.

 

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[fastlane_dad]

Very underrated thread for those that need to hear this. These are absolute fundamentals. Many that I didn't follow early on.

Fantastic thread !

Thanks for sharing these pratical steps to FL.

Thanks for the feedback. Will add more shortly!!

 

[Ronnie Bryan]

Thanks for all the feedback and numerous other examples!

With investing maybe I wasn't particularly clear. Yes - cash flow , fastlane , creating income streams , learning, experimenting, testing the market etc...should ALWAYS come #1 ...

And @NeoDialectic and I were HEAVILY focused on that side of the equation for 15+ years, and believed that to be the correct route (and for us it worked out great!). We had regular discussions whether to look at and learn the investing world - and everytime we vetoed that as the returns (5-8%/year) would pale in comparison to the millions we were bringing in each year with our business. 'What's the point' we thought !!

BUT - and I have a lot of passion towards the subject now, I believe investing SOME time to look at the way the market works, and make errors with MINIMUM amount of real money, especially starting when you are young, will pave way for a much larger successful investing career and longetivity when you are older. If you start at 15 by the time you are 40 you would have 25 years of experience of being in the market, what a headstart that would be!!

With investing, it's not so much someone telling you what the 'right thing to do is', or getting the latest 'hot stock tip' - its learning how your own mind works in conjunction with risk, media, perception, market 'noise', headlines and the overall economy! And the sooner you start on that journey the better.

** I wish someone (that someone being the older me mostly) would of sat down with 15 year old me, opened an investing account, and literally would drop feed $10 or so into that monthly ** . The investments could of been MINOR, but the lessons would of been MAJOR - especially if I had someone to backcheck my thoughts and reasonings with during all that time. My perception of investing growing up was formed by those around me mostly 'gambling' or trying to pick the latest 'hot stock tip' -- and it's those same tendencies and mindsets that I had to shed and adopt a whole new OS moving forward now. For decades the stories I told myself were not the truth - but merely a reflection of those around me, media 'noise', financial advisors (who do not have your best interest in mind), parents who 'lost money' in the market and many others who purely just 'did not know any better!'.

With investing many times you gotta learn by *some* trial and error, but mostly longetivity!! It's a marathon and not a sprint - and that particularly does not make this a 'sexy' topic , or a 'get rich quick' scheme --- but a VERY notable skill and mindset to learn.

What's best about all this is you can literally start experiencing all the above emotions and perceptions with a minimal investment (take even $500 or $1000 to start).

I have held off on figuring these things out about myself until my late 30s - and - although I wouldn't call it a financial 'mistake', as I placed my bets of spending time where I thought would pay off the highest - it was more so of a emotional mistake that I did not build up my perceptions and investing acumen during all of my teens / 20s / early 30s. If I would have then I would today be SEVERELY more ahead today in net worth and understanding of how the markets work.

YES - save majority of your extra cash to invest in yourself / business etc BUT don't neglect the investing side of things as the time will come where you will / might partially rely on that portion to hold on and grow your wealth with your early retirement!

Bottom Line: I bet EVERYONE on this forum has $100 to start and begin learning (and if you don't you should get your a$$ a slowlane job until you do, and stop reading these forums!). You can literally take action today to set this up, as the process on almost every brokerage is extremely easy to get started. Don't focus on the pennies that you might make (or lose) - focus on what you will learn by riding out that $100 or more for years or decades into the future. Some of the things you will learn is return on investment, dividend income, market cycles, inflation, dollar cost averaging vs lump sump investments, comparison between housing/financial markets, 'gambling' vs 'investing', history and performance, safe withdrawal amounts, greed, panic, human emotions, market reaction to news of all sorts ---- and MUCH MUCH MORE!

For beginners, look at some current index funds. I guarantee you this will be one of the best things you can spend $100 on today! I have advised this now to countless 20 year olds - and have always been dismayed with the response and interest in this advice (and I can only shout so much or so loudly now at my age!). But if you are **LOST** for action you can take today to move you into a better financial situation tomorrow and many decades into the future - THIS IS THAT!

Learning to see and understand how the markets work is an essential part of the fastlane equation. How else do you think you will be able to indefinitely live on hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, without working an additional day in your life once you achieve your fastlane exit? Get started on getting your mindset and skillset right on this topic EARLY on, and you will have that much more of a headstart in setting yourself free.

Yes - I totally understand that the current 'hot topic' is crypto, flipping homes, renting out airbnbs and the latest marijuana stock. And that's all good and dandy if you want to individually dabble or try your hand at any one of those! AND the media today makes it seem like the sky is falling everywhere. You will soon learn to tune out all that BS and still act. What I'm advising is looking and learning the financial markets, which have existed for many many decades and not going anywhere - as a 'TOOL' in your fastlane arsenal that will serve you for decades into the future.

There are several ways also of going about all this and using it as a tool, and @MJ DeMarco calls this the 'paycheck pot', advocating using 'options' as one of the methods of doing so. BUT don't leave this off until later to figure out and establish some emotional resiliency to.

I will make a separate post on this, and try to make it as clear as I can -- as I view this topic now as SO important for everyone here to understand.

What are some strong and long tail keywords I can type in search engines to investigate "MARKETS" better? I am 53 ,but it is only a excuse to say age matters IMO. I want to learn so LEAD ON BROTHER!

 

[fastlane_dad]

What are some strong and long tail keywords I can type in search engines to investigate "MARKETS" better? I am 53 ,but it is only a excuse to say age matters IMO. I want to learn so LEAD ON BROTHER!

There are a few resources you need to look at --

1 - Bogleheads.com

While @NeoDialectic and I disagree with many of their (FIRE) and get rich slow philosophies - their collective 'investing' advice is top notch. Many arguments have been dissected to pieces there, and leaves no stone unturned when it comes to KEEPING and GROWING your wealth. Remember to start small and start early (like TODAY), but do not count on the 'market' to make you rich!!!

2 - Open a Vanguard / Ameritrade / Fidelity account (one of those will suffice). Allocate $10 / $100 / $1000 a week to religiously allocate into your desired portfolio and allocation.

3 - Google / Lookup the Three Fund Portfolio. You will have to think about and assess your risk tolerances, but as far as investing (for the average individual) that's close to AS GOOD AS YOU WILL GET towards having a long term, sound financial plan.

4 - Don't forget that working ON or towards a FASTLANE BUSINESS should still be the majority of your 'get rich' plan day to day.

REMEMBER! Investing isn't suppose to be 'sexy' or produce results overnight. You are looking at a 10-50 year horizon. The challenge here is to start riding out some of the 'highs' and 'lows' the market produces AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. You need to condition your emotions, mind and thoughts to ride out the good and the bad.

There is no excuse to not start. It doesn't matter if you have $5 or $5K to invest. JUST START NOW.

 

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[NeoDialectic]

What are some strong and long tail keywords I can type in search engines to investigate "MARKETS" better? I am 53 ,but it is only a excuse to say age matters IMO. I want to learn so LEAD ON BROTHER!

There are a few resources you need to look at --

1 - Bogleheads.com

While @NeoDialectic and I disagree with many of their (FIRE) and get rich slow philosophies - their collective 'investing' advice is top notch. Many arguments have been dissected to pieces there, and leaves no stone unturned when it comes to KEEPING and GROWING your wealth. Remember to start small and start early (like TODAY), but do not count on the 'market' to make you rich!!!

2 - Open a Vanguard / Ameritrade / Fidelity account (one of those will suffice). Allocate $10 / $100 / $1000 a week to religiously allocate into your desired portfolio and allocation.

3 - Google / Lookup the Three Fund Portfolio. You will have to think about and assess your risk tolerances, but as far as investing (for the average individual) that's close to AS GOOD AS YOU WILL GET towards having a long term, sound financial plan.

4 - Don't forget that working ON or towards a FASTLANE BUSINESS should still be the majority of your 'get rich' plan day to day.

REMEMBER! Investing isn't suppose to be 'sexy' or produce results overnight. You are looking at a 10-50 year horizon. The challenge here is to start riding out some of the 'highs' and 'lows' the market produces AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. You need to condition your emotions, mind and thoughts to ride out the good and the bad.

There is no excuse to not start. It doesn't matter if you have $5 or $5K to invest. JUST START NOW.

I know it's likely not the answer you were looking for, but this is the correct answer. Unless you work on wall street, manage OTHER people's money for profit, or have INSIDERS knowledge (illegal) you shouldn't view the "MARKETS" as a way to make money fast or make enough money to make you rich. The "MARKETS" should be viewed as a way to make money on the large fortune that you made from your FASTLANE business. When I say large fortune, I mean a number big enough that 2%-4% of it is enough to pay for your desired lifestyle. Then if you never do attain a large enough fortune; At minimum, it ensures you saved money for old age retirement and benefited from the growth of the USA while sleeping.

I am also all for putting money into stocks/crypto (what you were likely looking to do?) under certain circumstances. It should be money you are willing to lose, and part of your gambling budget. Literally treating it the same as money you would take into a casino to HAVE FUN and play blackjack. If you win it's exciting, if you lose you paid to have fun. It should be treated as part of your entertainment budget for the year.

@fastlane_dad 's point is that you need to start investing today, so that when you get your fortune you are already a weathered investor that will responsibly handle your money and not lose it. Your own emotions will ultimately be your worst enemy and biggest roadblock from having a successful longterm investment portfolio. Then, as previously mentioned, if your fastlane plans don't come through, you will still enjoy the benefits of compound interest over long periods of time.

 

[Ronnie Bryan]

I know it's likely not the answer you were looking for, but this is the correct answer. Unless you work on wall street, manage OTHER people's money for profit, or have INSIDERS knowledge (illegal) you shouldn't view the "MARKETS" as a way to make money fast or make enough money to make you rich. The "MARKETS" should be viewed as a way to make money on the large fortune that you made from your FASTLANE business. When I say large fortune, I mean a number big enough that 2%-4% of it is enough to pay for your desired lifestyle. Then if you never do attain a large enough fortune; At minimum, it ensures you saved money for old age retirement and benefited from the growth of the USA while sleeping.

I am also all for putting money into stocks/crypto (what you were likely looking to do?) under certain circumstances. It should be money you are willing to lose, and part of your gambling budget. Literally treating it the same as money you would take into a casino to HAVE FUN and play blackjack. If you win it's exciting, if you lose you paid to have fun. It should be treated as part of your entertainment budget for the year.

@fastlane_dad 's point is that you need to start investing today, so that when you get your fortune you are already a weathered investor that will responsibly handle your money and not lose it. Your own emotions will ultimately be your worst enemy and biggest roadblock from having a successful longterm investment portfolio. Then, as previously mentioned, if your fastlane plans don't come through, you will still enjoy the benefits of compound interest over long periods of time.

Thank you , and I had no pre-set ideas .I am a empty vessel just seeking knowledge. I have not even done any business on LinkedIn as I was wanting to see all options and make a informed choice.This post alone could be worth thousands in a live seminar. The entire thread is something a lot of us in this forum couldn't even afford. I am grateful to see it without having to pre pay for it.

 

[Amogh]

OK this isn't a fully thought out post but just some random actionable mindset tidbits that sparked within me this AM reading through some threads on here.

I aim to provide these inputs to help clear up some of the confusion you see and read about! As someone that has built up several companies and sold them all - I am on this forum to inspire and advocate starting from the bottom (with absolutely nothing!), aimed at someone 16+ years of age figuring out how to tackle life post graduation and beyond. These are just some random thoughts I had this AM and I will add more to this list with time.

Quick Background (to know who you are taking advice from) : I am 39 years old and have been entrepreneurial since I have been 14 years old. I sold my last business with @NeoDialectic for an 8 figure sum last year. Being semi-retired now I aim to devote myself to helping others achieve the same, and share my mindset, motivation and any helpful tips that guided me along the way. So let's start!!!

Work towards a degree / slowlane / high income skill

Everything is about chances and risk - and I wanted to make sure I am setup with a high earning skill no matter what. I was not delusional about starting a business that would be an instant success or bring me millions of dollars when I was 18 years old - so I enrolled in a university that was more or less guaranteed to pay me a middle/upper class earning wage for the rest of my life.

There is a lot of gurus and naysayers calling this a waste of time, or many other negative connotations associated with going to college. To me it was an enjoyable time, and an insurance policy that would feed me for the rest of my life. Your 'slowlane' beginnings also will provide you a future paycheck to experiment and try and fail at your other entrepreneurial or fastlane ventures. If you are struggling to put food on the table or cover your mortgage / rent - you will not have the privilege to devote yourself freely to think of and startup businesses - majority of which will be a drain on your wallet and time. This should not be the end goal for you, rather a stepping stone in guaranteeing consistent cash flow and employability.

The time to do this is when you are young! You will have time for it all - part time jobs, gf, side-hustle, partying and learning additional skills. I clamor for those days as I had little to no 'real' responsibility during that time (no wife, no house, no kids, no aging parents, etc). THIS is the time to invest all you can in yourself, and a high-income skill through college is a good first plan! Remember to choose your major carefully though !!

Be Entrepreneurial minded all along

During my high school / college journey I was always entrepreneurial. I looked at various facets of business and tried to figure out how I can insert myself into them or be a part of it. As opportunity is everywhere, I always tried to figure out how I can profit wherever I was. As an example - working at Abercrombie for a season (in my younger years) I decided to look at what their quarterly catalogs sold for on eBay. Figuring out they went for twice (or more) the price they sold in store - I quickly bought out every single catalog in every single Abercrombie store across town. I potentially made more money on these catalogs then the season of working at the store for many many hours!

This wasn't a sizeable amount of money - but was moving me inch by inch into the right direction of thinking in terms of profit, business, opportunity, flipping items etc.

Make $5 before you make $10

So much of today's media, headlines and propaganda revolves around the 'succesful exit', 'investors', 'venture capitalists' and multi million dollar incomes. There is so much of it so that it is discouraging to start small and work your way up! Maybe that's the only way I know how to do this thing as I had no rich parents, no handouts, no wealthy circles, and a very low-middle class upbringing - but to me the principle of making $5 before you make $10 applied so well every time! That was also the start of probably close to a dozen of businesses that turned a profit! Yes I'm all for 'dreaming' and 'acting' big - but doing so don't land yourself in a landmine risking everything you got to achieve the story in the headlines you read about. Start small and learn, improvise and built and you will get to where you want.

Invest early and invest often

One of the things I wish I did more of was get used to the ride of the ups and downs of the market, at my earlier age. Understood that its OK when swings occur. Long term planning includes playing with the various FIRECALC simulators to figure out what is the actual figure you might need to sustain you for life. It doesn't matter how comfortable with investing you are or aren't - I advise EVERYONE on this board to open a vanguard/ameritrade/etc account and invest something small even to the tune of $100 - whatever you got.

Your plan is NOT to get rich off this (as you will not) - rather have it as a tool in your arsenal to develop investing acumen to grow and preserve the money you DO make (from your fastlane business).

Your natural response will be to put this off, or leave it for another day. Trust me when I say there is no better day then TODAY to start this and get used to the ebbs / flows and emotions of being in the market. Avoid financial advisors and read up / learn about some of this on your own. No matter WHAT path you take in life, this tool will come in helpful for you to know especially the more time passes.

Know that not everything will work out

Just something else to ponder - Just because you had success in one venture does not mean you will have success in another. Key is to keep going, and thinking about your risks and long term plans. Don't put yourself into something that can put you into a bad situation permanently (MJ talks about this in his books and please heed the advice on it thoroughly) - but take SOME asymmetric risks that can yield great benefit and returns to you into the future.

Be cautious who and how you take advice from others

Many clamor to be mentored by millionaires/ billionaires - but that does not necessarily mean it's right for your situation to help you where you are at. Many of those are way past you financially, age wise, and in mentality -- will advise and speak to their current mindset, and not what it was like when they were starting of at 18+ years of age.

------------------------------------------------------------

I will add more through this thread as my brain allows! I seek to find disconnects of all that I see around me and in the news/online space and try to transform it into small actionable steps for you guys to make progress. Will keep updating with more.

Thank you for this post.

 

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[DavidePaco00]

Slow lane may be a “hated option” here by 20 y/o kids, but some of us made 7 fugues in slow lane before going fastlane.

I like how you describe it as “insurance” because that’s how I saw it too. It served us well.


Be Entrepreneurial minded all along


Isn’t this typical?

I often wonder if maybe entrepreneurs are just born wired to experiment like this.

Back at the University, I did a bunch of side hustles. One easy and fun was around parking. Stalls were reserved and very few available, they came up for first come first serve every semester. I organized an overnight “camp out” with poor friends and paid them, provided food. The allotted stalls I pre-sold to rich kids with cars, for a hefty premium.

Make $5 before you make $10


I failed more than I succeeded. In fact, there was a time when I thought business was just luck because I couldn’t make it. Looking back, it was because I didn’t know what you just said above. I tried to do a mega deal before I knew how to make a small deal. It didn’t work because I wasn’t ready! The world knew it and I didn’t. I failed.

Heed this advice folks. Like a kid, crawl, walk … then run… bike, drive… fly



I don’t fully agree with this. My experience had been to focus on your cash flow, not investing. I believe having access to cash (be it savings, or a line of credit) gives us opportunities. We saved all we could to create access to cash.

Cash for business is like oxygen for people, you can only hold your breath so long.

Know that not everything will work out


Follow the money! If the person giving you advice is doing so to earn a hefty amount, maybe they don’t have your best interest at heart.

Also try to stay away from “make it quick and easy” advice. If what you do requires no effort, offers no benefit / value, solves no problems … then odds are you won’t succeed.

I just posted this in Random thread, but worth repeating:

"Conventional thinking leads talented and driven people to believe that if they simply work hard, luck will eventually strike. That’s like saying if a surfer treads water in the same spot for long enough, a wave will come; it certainly happens to some people, once in a while, but it’s not the most effective strategy for success. Paradoxically, it’s actually a lazier move." (Shane Snow, Smartcuts)



Dude, this is excellent! Keep adding please. Exactly what we need more of here. Thanks.

I competely agree with You , this is the reason why I cut my expectation to a third. I don't want to be focused on the outcome rather than the work.

Thanks

 

[Gabbe18]

Thanks for the great post!

I have been investing about $300 every month in index funds for several years now and I am really happy I started!

I basically just have an automatic transaction every month so I don't have to think about it and then I rebalance every 6 months around New Year and the 4th of July.

In terms of allocation, I just subtracted my age from 100 and invested that amount in stocks and the rest in bonds. So for example, I am 29 today which means I would invest 71% in stocks and 29% in bonds. Is this something you have also done or heard about @fastlane_dad?

 

[fastlane_dad]

Thanks for the great post!

I have been investing about $300 every month in index funds for several years now and I am really happy I started!

I basically just have an automatic transaction every month so I don't have to think about it and then I rebalance every 6 months around New Year and the 4th of July.

In terms of allocation, I just subtracted my age from 100 and invested that amount in stocks and the rest in bonds. So for example, I am 29 today which means I would invest 71% in stocks and 29% in bonds. Is this something you have also done or heard about @fastlane_dad?

You grasped all the lessons really well. The 'investing' portion (action of it) is simple and easy. It's the mental fortitude behind it that is the difficult part to grasp.

Very happy to hear all that you're following! Yes - your allocation is definitely fine, following a good rule of thumb that will stick well with you through the years. I'm a decade older, hence use the 60/40 split.

Sounds like you are on the correct track, and be happy you have heeded all this advice young and started early. In another 10 years or so you will be very glad that you started when you did. Keep on staying the course!!

 

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[CEO of Money]

Work towards a degree / slowlane / high income skill

Everything is about chances and risk - and I wanted to make sure I am setup with a high earning skill no matter what. I was not delusional about starting a business that would be an instant success or bring me millions of dollars when I was 18 years old - so I enrolled in a university that was more or less guaranteed to pay me a middle/upper class earning wage for the rest of my life.

The time to do this is when you are young! You will have time for it all - part time jobs, gf, side-hustle, partying and learning additional skills. I clamor for those days as I had little to no 'real' responsibility during that time (no wife, no house, no kids, no aging parents, etc). THIS is the time to invest all you can in yourself, and a high-income skill through college is a good first plan! Remember to choose your major carefully though !!

Hi! Thank you very much for the detailed post, I am 20 y.o. and this couldn't be more helpful!
I'm currently in my first year of university in business school, and I'm not sure this is the right place for me, especially since I want to start building my fastlane business (or any business) as soon as possible. I want to get a degree but I don't know if studying business is really a good idea.

I'm curious to know if you think having more free time during my studies (that I can use to start building something) is more valuable than getting a degree that has better earning potential for my slowlane years (I'm considering switching to computer engineering, but that would also take up a LOT more of my time while in university).

 

[Fastlane_boy]

OK this isn't a fully thought out post but just some random actionable mindset tidbits that sparked within me this AM reading through some threads on here.

I aim to provide these inputs to help clear up some of the confusion you see and read about! As someone that has built up several companies and sold them all - I am on this forum to inspire and advocate starting from the bottom (with absolutely nothing!), aimed at someone 16+ years of age figuring out how to tackle life post graduation and beyond. These are just some random thoughts I had this AM and I will add more to this list with time.

Work towards a degree / slowlane / high income skill

Everything is about chances and risk - and I wanted to make sure I am setup with a high earning skill no matter what. I was not delusional about starting a business that would be an instant success or bring me millions of dollars when I was 18 years old - so I enrolled in a university that was more or less guaranteed to pay me a middle/upper class earning wage for the rest of my life.

There is a lot of gurus and naysayers calling this a waste of time, or many other negative connotations associated with going to college. To me it was an enjoyable time, and an insurance policy that would feed me for the rest of my life. Your 'slowlane' beginnings also will provide you a future paycheck to experiment and try and fail at your other entrepreneurial or fastlane ventures. If you are struggling to put food on the table or cover your mortgage / rent - you will not have the privilege to devote yourself freely to think of and startup businesses - majority of which will be a drain on your wallet and time. This should not be the end goal for you, rather a stepping stone in guaranteeing consistent cash flow and employability.

The time to do this is when you are young! You will have time for it all - part time jobs, gf, side-hustle, partying and learning additional skills. I clamor for those days as I had little to no 'real' responsibility during that time (no wife, no house, no kids, no aging parents, etc). THIS is the time to invest all you can in yourself, and a high-income skill through college is a good first plan! Remember to choose your major carefully though !!

Be Entrepreneurial minded all along

During my high school / college journey I was always entrepreneurial. I looked at various facets of business and tried to figure out how I can insert myself into them or be a part of it. As opportunity is everywhere, I always tried to figure out how I can profit wherever I was. As an example - working at Abercrombie for a season (in my younger years) I decided to look at what their quarterly catalogs sold for on eBay. Figuring out they went for twice (or more) the price they sold in store - I quickly bought out every single catalog in every single Abercrombie store across town. I potentially made more money on these catalogs then the season of working at the store for many many hours!

This wasn't a sizeable amount of money - but was moving me inch by inch into the right direction of thinking in terms of profit, business, opportunity, flipping items etc.

Make $5 before you make $10

So much of today's media, headlines and propaganda revolves around the 'succesful exit', 'investors', 'venture capitalists' and multi million dollar incomes. There is so much of it so that it is discouraging to start small and work your way up! Maybe that's the only way I know how to do this thing as I had no rich parents, no handouts, no wealthy circles, and a very low-middle class upbringing - but to me the principle of making $5 before you make $10 applied so well every time! That was also the start of probably close to a dozen of businesses that turned a profit! Yes I'm all for 'dreaming' and 'acting' big - but doing so don't land yourself in a landmine risking everything you got to achieve the story in the headlines you read about. Start small and learn, improvise and built and you will get to where you want.



Know that not everything will work out

Just something else to ponder - Just because you had success in one venture does not mean you will have success in another. Key is to keep going, and thinking about your risks and long term plans. Don't put yourself into something that can put you into a bad situation permanently (MJ talks about this in his books and please heed the advice on it thoroughly) - but take SOME asymmetric risks that can yield great benefit and returns to you into the future.

Be cautious who and how you take advice from others

Many clamor to be mentored by millionaires/ billionaires - but that does not necessarily mean it's right for your situation to help you where you are at. Many of those are way past you financially, age wise, and in mentality -- will advise and speak to their current mindset, and not what it was like when they were starting of at 18+ years of age.

------------------------------------------------------------

I will add more through this thread as my brain allows! I seek to find disconnects of all that I see around me and in the news/online space and try to transform it into small actionable steps for you guys to make progress. Will keep updating with more.

What an realistic Advice, I completely sold out & Agree with all your points. it's best mindset for those who are in their teens & who are below 22 year..

But, i am an 24 years old lad who is still in 2nd year of collage, i am in this situation because of some tragedies happend with me, here i explained it in detail and Asked for advice from fastlaner's like you sir.

please throw some wisdom on me whenever you get time, your 10 mins will save my years.

 

[TheWalker]

Thank you @fastlane_dad for this perspective and the value you dropped here.

Make $5 before you make $10

So much of today's media, headlines and propaganda revolves around the 'succesful exit', 'investors', 'venture capitalists' and multi million dollar incomes. There is so much of it so that it is discouraging to start small and work your way up! Maybe that's the only way I know how to do this thing as I had no rich parents, no handouts, no wealthy circles, and a very low-middle class upbringing - but to me the principle of making $5 before you make $10 applied so well every time! That was also the start of probably close to a dozen of businesses that turned a profit! Yes I'm all for 'dreaming' and 'acting' big - but doing so don't land yourself in a landmine risking everything you got to achieve the story in the headlines you read about. Start small and learn, improvise and built and you will get to where you want.

I couldn't agree more, but I need to confess that I sometimes get trapped in this kind of thinking and question if I'm aiming high enough. Because if you aim high, you are more likely to hit something, even if it's only 80% of your goal, which is still a good result if you aimed high enough. Unfortunately, I had to end a project myself because it would have put me in a very uncomfortable position if I had continued.

Do you ever find yourself needing to hold back and say that this opportunity or situation is not something you should pursue right now? Or, may I ask, have you been in this situation in the past? How did you deal with it, if I may ask?

 

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[Vasudev Soni]

OK this isn't a fully thought out post but just some random actionable mindset tidbits that sparked within me this AM reading through some threads on here.

I aim to provide these inputs to help clear up some of the confusion you see and read about! As someone that has built up several companies and sold them all - I am on this forum to inspire and advocate starting from the bottom (with absolutely nothing!), aimed at someone 16+ years of age figuring out how to tackle life post graduation and beyond. These are just some random thoughts I had this AM and I will add more to this list with time.

Quick Background (to know who you are taking advice from) : I am 39 years old and have been entrepreneurial since I have been 14 years old. I sold my last business with @NeoDialectic for an 8 figure sum last year. Being semi-retired now I aim to devote myself to helping others achieve the same, and share my mindset, motivation and any helpful tips that guided me along the way. So let's start!!!

Work towards a degree / slowlane / high income skill

Everything is about chances and risk - and I wanted to make sure I am setup with a high earning skill no matter what. I was not delusional about starting a business that would be an instant success or bring me millions of dollars when I was 18 years old - so I enrolled in a university that was more or less guaranteed to pay me a middle/upper class earning wage for the rest of my life.

There is a lot of gurus and naysayers calling this a waste of time, or many other negative connotations associated with going to college. To me it was an enjoyable time, and an insurance policy that would feed me for the rest of my life. Your 'slowlane' beginnings also will provide you a future paycheck to experiment and try and fail at your other entrepreneurial or fastlane ventures. If you are struggling to put food on the table or cover your mortgage / rent - you will not have the privilege to devote yourself freely to think of and startup businesses - majority of which will be a drain on your wallet and time. This should not be the end goal for you, rather a stepping stone in guaranteeing consistent cash flow and employability.

The time to do this is when you are young! You will have time for it all - part time jobs, gf, side-hustle, partying and learning additional skills. I clamor for those days as I had little to no 'real' responsibility during that time (no wife, no house, no kids, no aging parents, etc). THIS is the time to invest all you can in yourself, and a high-income skill through college is a good first plan! Remember to choose your major carefully though !!

Be Entrepreneurial minded all along

During my high school / college journey I was always entrepreneurial. I looked at various facets of business and tried to figure out how I can insert myself into them or be a part of it. As opportunity is everywhere, I always tried to figure out how I can profit wherever I was. As an example - working at Abercrombie for a season (in my younger years) I decided to look at what their quarterly catalogs sold for on eBay. Figuring out they went for twice (or more) the price they sold in store - I quickly bought out every single catalog in every single Abercrombie store across town. I potentially made more money on these catalogs then the season of working at the store for many many hours!

This wasn't a sizeable amount of money - but was moving me inch by inch into the right direction of thinking in terms of profit, business, opportunity, flipping items etc.

Make $5 before you make $10

So much of today's media, headlines and propaganda revolves around the 'succesful exit', 'investors', 'venture capitalists' and multi million dollar incomes. There is so much of it so that it is discouraging to start small and work your way up! Maybe that's the only way I know how to do this thing as I had no rich parents, no handouts, no wealthy circles, and a very low-middle class upbringing - but to me the principle of making $5 before you make $10 applied so well every time! That was also the start of probably close to a dozen of businesses that turned a profit! Yes I'm all for 'dreaming' and 'acting' big - but doing so don't land yourself in a landmine risking everything you got to achieve the story in the headlines you read about. Start small and learn, improvise and built and you will get to where you want.

Invest early and invest often

One of the things I wish I did more of was get used to the ride of the ups and downs of the market, at my earlier age. Understood that its OK when swings occur. Long term planning includes playing with the various FIRECALC simulators to figure out what is the actual figure you might need to sustain you for life. It doesn't matter how comfortable with investing you are or aren't - I advise EVERYONE on this board to open a vanguard/ameritrade/etc account and invest something small even to the tune of $100 - whatever you got.

Your plan is NOT to get rich off this (as you will not) - rather have it as a tool in your arsenal to develop investing acumen to grow and preserve the money you DO make (from your fastlane business).

Your natural response will be to put this off, or leave it for another day. Trust me when I say there is no better day then TODAY to start this and get used to the ebbs / flows and emotions of being in the market. Avoid financial advisors and read up / learn about some of this on your own. No matter WHAT path you take in life, this tool will come in helpful for you to know especially the more time passes.

Know that not everything will work out

Just something else to ponder - Just because you had success in one venture does not mean you will have success in another. Key is to keep going, and thinking about your risks and long term plans. Don't put yourself into something that can put you into a bad situation permanently (MJ talks about this in his books and please heed the advice on it thoroughly) - but take SOME asymmetric risks that can yield great benefit and returns to you into the future.

Be cautious who and how you take advice from others

Many clamor to be mentored by millionaires/ billionaires - but that does not necessarily mean it's right for your situation to help you where you are at. Many of those are way past you financially, age wise, and in mentality -- will advise and speak to their current mindset, and not what it was like when they were starting of at 18+ years of age.

------------------------------------------------------------

I will add more through this thread as my brain allows! I seek to find disconnects of all that I see around me and in the news/online space and try to transform it into small actionable steps for you guys to make progress. Will keep updating with more.

Thank you for these valuable insights.

 

[Lusungu]

OK this isn't a fully thought out post but just some random actionable mindset tidbits that sparked within me this AM reading through some threads on here.

I aim to provide these inputs to help clear up some of the confusion you see and read about! As someone that has built up several companies and sold them all - I am on this forum to inspire and advocate starting from the bottom (with absolutely nothing!), aimed at someone 16+ years of age figuring out how to tackle life post graduation and beyond. These are just some random thoughts I had this AM and I will add more to this list with time.

Quick Background (to know who you are taking advice from) : I am 39 years old and have been entrepreneurial since I have been 14 years old. I sold my last business with @NeoDialectic for an 8 figure sum last year. Being semi-retired now I aim to devote myself to helping others achieve the same, and share my mindset, motivation and any helpful tips that guided me along the way. So let's start!!!

Work towards a degree / slowlane / high income skill

Everything is about chances and risk - and I wanted to make sure I am setup with a high earning skill no matter what. I was not delusional about starting a business that would be an instant success or bring me millions of dollars when I was 18 years old - so I enrolled in a university that was more or less guaranteed to pay me a middle/upper class earning wage for the rest of my life.

There is a lot of gurus and naysayers calling this a waste of time, or many other negative connotations associated with going to college. To me it was an enjoyable time, and an insurance policy that would feed me for the rest of my life. Your 'slowlane' beginnings also will provide you a future paycheck to experiment and try and fail at your other entrepreneurial or fastlane ventures. If you are struggling to put food on the table or cover your mortgage / rent - you will not have the privilege to devote yourself freely to think of and startup businesses - majority of which will be a drain on your wallet and time. This should not be the end goal for you, rather a stepping stone in guaranteeing consistent cash flow and employability.

The time to do this is when you are young! You will have time for it all - part time jobs, gf, side-hustle, partying and learning additional skills. I clamor for those days as I had little to no 'real' responsibility during that time (no wife, no house, no kids, no aging parents, etc). THIS is the time to invest all you can in yourself, and a high-income skill through college is a good first plan! Remember to choose your major carefully though !!

Be Entrepreneurial minded all along

During my high school / college journey I was always entrepreneurial. I looked at various facets of business and tried to figure out how I can insert myself into them or be a part of it. As opportunity is everywhere, I always tried to figure out how I can profit wherever I was. As an example - working at Abercrombie for a season (in my younger years) I decided to look at what their quarterly catalogs sold for on eBay. Figuring out they went for twice (or more) the price they sold in store - I quickly bought out every single catalog in every single Abercrombie store across town. I potentially made more money on these catalogs then the season of working at the store for many many hours!

This wasn't a sizeable amount of money - but was moving me inch by inch into the right direction of thinking in terms of profit, business, opportunity, flipping items etc.

Make $5 before you make $10

So much of today's media, headlines and propaganda revolves around the 'succesful exit', 'investors', 'venture capitalists' and multi million dollar incomes. There is so much of it so that it is discouraging to start small and work your way up! Maybe that's the only way I know how to do this thing as I had no rich parents, no handouts, no wealthy circles, and a very low-middle class upbringing - but to me the principle of making $5 before you make $10 applied so well every time! That was also the start of probably close to a dozen of businesses that turned a profit! Yes I'm all for 'dreaming' and 'acting' big - but doing so don't land yourself in a landmine risking everything you got to achieve the story in the headlines you read about. Start small and learn, improvise and built and you will get to where you want.

Invest early and invest often

One of the things I wish I did more of was get used to the ride of the ups and downs of the market, at my earlier age. Understood that its OK when swings occur. Long term planning includes playing with the various FIRECALC simulators to figure out what is the actual figure you might need to sustain you for life. It doesn't matter how comfortable with investing you are or aren't - I advise EVERYONE on this board to open a vanguard/ameritrade/etc account and invest something small even to the tune of $100 - whatever you got.

Your plan is NOT to get rich off this (as you will not) - rather have it as a tool in your arsenal to develop investing acumen to grow and preserve the money you DO make (from your fastlane business).

Your natural response will be to put this off, or leave it for another day. Trust me when I say there is no better day then TODAY to start this and get used to the ebbs / flows and emotions of being in the market. Avoid financial advisors and read up / learn about some of this on your own. No matter WHAT path you take in life, this tool will come in helpful for you to know especially the more time passes.

Know that not everything will work out

Just something else to ponder - Just because you had success in one venture does not mean you will have success in another. Key is to keep going, and thinking about your risks and long term plans. Don't put yourself into something that can put you into a bad situation permanently (MJ talks about this in his books and please heed the advice on it thoroughly) - but take SOME asymmetric risks that can yield great benefit and returns to you into the future.

Be cautious who and how you take advice from others

Many clamor to be mentored by millionaires/ billionaires - but that does not necessarily mean it's right for your situation to help you where you are at. Many of those are way past you financially, age wise, and in mentality -- will advise and speak to their current mindset, and not what it was like when they were starting of at 18+ years of age.

------------------------------------------------------------

I will add more through this thread as my brain allows! I seek to find disconnects of all that I see around me and in the news/online space and try to transform it into small actionable steps for you guys to make progress. Will keep updating with more.

Thanks @fastlane_dad, i wish i had this advice 10 years ago!

 

[DreamLund]

OK this isn't a fully thought out post but just some random actionable mindset tidbits that sparked within me this AM reading through some threads on here.

I aim to provide these inputs to help clear up some of the confusion you see and read about! As someone that has built up several companies and sold them all - I am on this forum to inspire and advocate starting from the bottom (with absolutely nothing!), aimed at someone 16+ years of age figuring out how to tackle life post graduation and beyond. These are just some random thoughts I had this AM and I will add more to this list with time.

Quick Background (to know who you are taking advice from) : I am 39 years old and have been entrepreneurial since I have been 14 years old. I sold my last business with @NeoDialectic for an 8 figure sum last year. Being semi-retired now I aim to devote myself to helping others achieve the same, and share my mindset, motivation and any helpful tips that guided me along the way. So let's start!!!

Work towards a degree / slowlane / high income skill

Everything is about chances and risk - and I wanted to make sure I am setup with a high earning skill no matter what. I was not delusional about starting a business that would be an instant success or bring me millions of dollars when I was 18 years old - so I enrolled in a university that was more or less guaranteed to pay me a middle/upper class earning wage for the rest of my life.

There is a lot of gurus and naysayers calling this a waste of time, or many other negative connotations associated with going to college. To me it was an enjoyable time, and an insurance policy that would feed me for the rest of my life. Your 'slowlane' beginnings also will provide you a future paycheck to experiment and try and fail at your other entrepreneurial or fastlane ventures. If you are struggling to put food on the table or cover your mortgage / rent - you will not have the privilege to devote yourself freely to think of and startup businesses - majority of which will be a drain on your wallet and time. This should not be the end goal for you, rather a stepping stone in guaranteeing consistent cash flow and employability.

The time to do this is when you are young! You will have time for it all - part time jobs, gf, side-hustle, partying and learning additional skills. I clamor for those days as I had little to no 'real' responsibility during that time (no wife, no house, no kids, no aging parents, etc). THIS is the time to invest all you can in yourself, and a high-income skill through college is a good first plan! Remember to choose your major carefully though !!

Be Entrepreneurial minded all along

During my high school / college journey I was always entrepreneurial. I looked at various facets of business and tried to figure out how I can insert myself into them or be a part of it. As opportunity is everywhere, I always tried to figure out how I can profit wherever I was. As an example - working at Abercrombie for a season (in my younger years) I decided to look at what their quarterly catalogs sold for on eBay. Figuring out they went for twice (or more) the price they sold in store - I quickly bought out every single catalog in every single Abercrombie store across town. I potentially made more money on these catalogs then the season of working at the store for many many hours!

This wasn't a sizeable amount of money - but was moving me inch by inch into the right direction of thinking in terms of profit, business, opportunity, flipping items etc.

Make $5 before you make $10

So much of today's media, headlines and propaganda revolves around the 'succesful exit', 'investors', 'venture capitalists' and multi million dollar incomes. There is so much of it so that it is discouraging to start small and work your way up! Maybe that's the only way I know how to do this thing as I had no rich parents, no handouts, no wealthy circles, and a very low-middle class upbringing - but to me the principle of making $5 before you make $10 applied so well every time! That was also the start of probably close to a dozen of businesses that turned a profit! Yes I'm all for 'dreaming' and 'acting' big - but doing so don't land yourself in a landmine risking everything you got to achieve the story in the headlines you read about. Start small and learn, improvise and built and you will get to where you want.

Invest early and invest often

One of the things I wish I did more of was get used to the ride of the ups and downs of the market, at my earlier age. Understood that its OK when swings occur. Long term planning includes playing with the various FIRECALC simulators to figure out what is the actual figure you might need to sustain you for life. It doesn't matter how comfortable with investing you are or aren't - I advise EVERYONE on this board to open a vanguard/ameritrade/etc account and invest something small even to the tune of $100 - whatever you got.

Your plan is NOT to get rich off this (as you will not) - rather have it as a tool in your arsenal to develop investing acumen to grow and preserve the money you DO make (from your fastlane business).

Your natural response will be to put this off, or leave it for another day. Trust me when I say there is no better day then TODAY to start this and get used to the ebbs / flows and emotions of being in the market. Avoid financial advisors and read up / learn about some of this on your own. No matter WHAT path you take in life, this tool will come in helpful for you to know especially the more time passes.

Know that not everything will work out

Just something else to ponder - Just because you had success in one venture does not mean you will have success in another. Key is to keep going, and thinking about your risks and long term plans. Don't put yourself into something that can put you into a bad situation permanently (MJ talks about this in his books and please heed the advice on it thoroughly) - but take SOME asymmetric risks that can yield great benefit and returns to you into the future.

Be cautious who and how you take advice from others

Many clamor to be mentored by millionaires/ billionaires - but that does not necessarily mean it's right for your situation to help you where you are at. Many of those are way past you financially, age wise, and in mentality -- will advise and speak to their current mindset, and not what it was like when they were starting of at 18+ years of age.

------------------------------------------------------------

I will add more through this thread as my brain allows! I seek to find disconnects of all that I see around me and in the news/online space and try to transform it into small actionable steps for you guys to make progress. Will keep updating with more.

This advice is magical!!!

I’m 21 and this is pure gold for me!

I want to lean into eCommerce, so I just quit my job, got $22k saved, no college degree and what’s my plan? The fastlane hahah

Right now I’m looking to launch a new kind of sleepmask in Sweden (CJDropshipping probably)

but my gut feeling is not good.

I’ve been following the advice from
Dan Vas(26y/o) and his EcomFreedom shopify course. He suggests to find a product that solves a need, which has market fit. Brand it, scale it through ads, and wham. 6 figures/mo is probable in a year.

It feels like I’m heading toward deep water kind of. I like to be risk-reverse and a college/university education is free in Sweden if you don’t take the student loan (CSN, 0.59% interest) for example. But If I’m not certain about the choice of education it feels stupid too.

Right now I have roof over my head, a male friend who also does eCommerce, and a distance-relationship with a girl who has got the red pill too. So I’m not alone which feels amazing.

If someone replies I would get so happy!

 

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[Chrisrod2597]

OK this isn't a fully thought out post but just some random actionable mindset tidbits that sparked within me this AM reading through some threads on here.

I aim to provide these inputs to help clear up some of the confusion you see and read about! As someone that has built up several companies and sold them all - I am on this forum to inspire and advocate starting from the bottom (with absolutely nothing!), aimed at someone 16+ years of age figuring out how to tackle life post graduation and beyond. These are just some random thoughts I had this AM and I will add more to this list with time.

Quick Background (to know who you are taking advice from) : I am 39 years old and have been entrepreneurial since I have been 14 years old. I sold my last business with @NeoDialectic for an 8 figure sum last year. Being semi-retired now I aim to devote myself to helping others achieve the same, and share my mindset, motivation and any helpful tips that guided me along the way. So let's start!!!

Work towards a degree / slowlane / high income skill

Everything is about chances and risk - and I wanted to make sure I am setup with a high earning skill no matter what. I was not delusional about starting a business that would be an instant success or bring me millions of dollars when I was 18 years old - so I enrolled in a university that was more or less guaranteed to pay me a middle/upper class earning wage for the rest of my life.

There is a lot of gurus and naysayers calling this a waste of time, or many other negative connotations associated with going to college. To me it was an enjoyable time, and an insurance policy that would feed me for the rest of my life. Your 'slowlane' beginnings also will provide you a future paycheck to experiment and try and fail at your other entrepreneurial or fastlane ventures. If you are struggling to put food on the table or cover your mortgage / rent - you will not have the privilege to devote yourself freely to think of and startup businesses - majority of which will be a drain on your wallet and time. This should not be the end goal for you, rather a stepping stone in guaranteeing consistent cash flow and employability.

The time to do this is when you are young! You will have time for it all - part time jobs, gf, side-hustle, partying and learning additional skills. I clamor for those days as I had little to no 'real' responsibility during that time (no wife, no house, no kids, no aging parents, etc). THIS is the time to invest all you can in yourself, and a high-income skill through college is a good first plan! Remember to choose your major carefully though !!

Be Entrepreneurial minded all along

During my high school / college journey I was always entrepreneurial. I looked at various facets of business and tried to figure out how I can insert myself into them or be a part of it. As opportunity is everywhere, I always tried to figure out how I can profit wherever I was. As an example - working at Abercrombie for a season (in my younger years) I decided to look at what their quarterly catalogs sold for on eBay. Figuring out they went for twice (or more) the price they sold in store - I quickly bought out every single catalog in every single Abercrombie store across town. I potentially made more money on these catalogs then the season of working at the store for many many hours!

This wasn't a sizeable amount of money - but was moving me inch by inch into the right direction of thinking in terms of profit, business, opportunity, flipping items etc.

Make $5 before you make $10

So much of today's media, headlines and propaganda revolves around the 'succesful exit', 'investors', 'venture capitalists' and multi million dollar incomes. There is so much of it so that it is discouraging to start small and work your way up! Maybe that's the only way I know how to do this thing as I had no rich parents, no handouts, no wealthy circles, and a very low-middle class upbringing - but to me the principle of making $5 before you make $10 applied so well every time! That was also the start of probably close to a dozen of businesses that turned a profit! Yes I'm all for 'dreaming' and 'acting' big - but doing so don't land yourself in a landmine risking everything you got to achieve the story in the headlines you read about. Start small and learn, improvise and built and you will get to where you want.

Invest early and invest often

One of the things I wish I did more of was get used to the ride of the ups and downs of the market, at my earlier age. Understood that its OK when swings occur. Long term planning includes playing with the various FIRECALC simulators to figure out what is the actual figure you might need to sustain you for life. It doesn't matter how comfortable with investing you are or aren't - I advise EVERYONE on this board to open a vanguard/ameritrade/etc account and invest something small even to the tune of $100 - whatever you got.

Your plan is NOT to get rich off this (as you will not) - rather have it as a tool in your arsenal to develop investing acumen to grow and preserve the money you DO make (from your fastlane business).

Your natural response will be to put this off, or leave it for another day. Trust me when I say there is no better day then TODAY to start this and get used to the ebbs / flows and emotions of being in the market. Avoid financial advisors and read up / learn about some of this on your own. No matter WHAT path you take in life, this tool will come in helpful for you to know especially the more time passes.

Know that not everything will work out

Just something else to ponder - Just because you had success in one venture does not mean you will have success in another. Key is to keep going, and thinking about your risks and long term plans. Don't put yourself into something that can put you into a bad situation permanently (MJ talks about this in his books and please heed the advice on it thoroughly) - but take SOME asymmetric risks that can yield great benefit and returns to you into the future.

Be cautious who and how you take advice from others

Many clamor to be mentored by millionaires/ billionaires - but that does not necessarily mean it's right for your situation to help you where you are at. Many of those are way past you financially, age wise, and in mentality -- will advise and speak to their current mindset, and not what it was like when they were starting of at 18+ years of age.

-------------------------------------------------------------

I will add more through this thread as my brain allows! I seek to find disconnects of all that I see around me and in the news/online space and try to transform it into small actionable steps for you guys to make progress. Will keep updating with more.

Thank you for sharing.