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(Almost) happy slowlaner here - looking for advice

Topics related to Slowlane, Scripted mainstream dogma

flyingdev

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Hi,
its been few years since I read Fastlane Millionaire, I tried few things in the meantime, but looks like I really enjoy slowlane. I have good job (Software Engineer), making good money and live in Europe, where there are this perks like free health service and lot of holidays days (33 in my case). But I do small steps towards financial independence, and I am really watching every cent spend. I am not after fancy car, expensive electronic etc etc.
I am looking for advice - I have say to spend 10k $ freely and I wonder what should I do. Amazon FBA looks tempting - but not sure if its something that I really want to try, for sure not with more expensive or troublesome products. Looks like I am stuck in my comfort zone, which is not bad, but there is still that itch that I could make better..
 
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Antifragile

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There are some contradictions in your message.
If you are as comfortable as you claim to be, why the itch to spend $10k on FBA?
What is the reason you are coming to this forum and engaging with people here? What is the underlying unhappiness that’s driving you to ask questions here?
What would you like to do in life that you currently cannot do? And what’s preventing you?
By the way, nothing wrong with wanting a steady job and little to no stress in life. That’s a good position too.
 

flyingdev

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Thanks for your posts.

As comfortable as I am, I know, if I won't change something, I won't be able to pursue few dreams of mine - owning a plane (although I will be able to fly 25-50 hours a year with current income), early retirement at 50 yo. Plus, I have the feeling that I should not take current reality for granted - last year showed it very well. I don't know how the IT market will look like in 10-20 years. The more money I have, I will be more independent.
 
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Ernman

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You might want to go back and reread/listen to The Millionaire Fastlane or - better yet - read UNSCRIPTED . MJ speaks to being comfortable and what the "script" does to make us comfortable in the slow lane. If we're comfortable in the slow lane we are less likely to rock the boat.

Having said that, I frequently urge caution to those thinking about entrepreneurship. This is not for the weak of heart or those uncomfortable with uncertainty. Yes it has it's rewards. But there are risks. Having said that - a job and being a "MODEL" citizen also has risks. Only you can decide if it's right for you. And there's nothing wrong with admitting you're comfortable and satisfied in the slow lane as long as it is an informed decision you are willing to live with in the end.
 

MJ DeMarco

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I am not after fancy car, expensive electronic etc etc.

But you want a six- or seven-figure plane? There's really no difference between someone aspiring for a "fancy car" and someone wanting his own plane, in fact, the latter is far more expensive and burdensome.

That said, looks like you got a great skill base to dive into some ideas.

Problem is, you're comfortable. And comfortable people generally don't do what it takes as they lack a driving purpose, or a why.
 

Antifragile

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Thanks for your posts.

As comfortable as I am, I know, if I won't change something, I won't be able to pursue few dreams of mine - owning a plane (although I will be able to fly 25-50 hours a year with current income), early retirement at 50 yo. Plus, I have the feeling that I should not take current reality for granted - last year showed it very well. I don't know how the IT market will look like in 10-20 years. The more money I have, I will be more independent.

All good points.
One day I was having a coffee with a local entrepreneur who's built a number of successful companies, sold them, top 40 under 40 recipient etc. He and I were discussing our businesses and because he's well known people reach out to him often. He gets asked one question more than any other, by people who are not yet business owners: "should I do it?". Meaning, because of his fame, people would tell him "this is what I do, I am thinking of going on my own, being my own boss etc. should I do it?" His answer is always "if you are asking, that means the answer is no, you should not."

We debated this for a while and I understood his position and this is why I am sharing it with you. Entrepreneurship is not all sunshine and roses. It's a gruelling, at times downright depressing. And other times easy money and happy times. It is a roller coaster of emotions, crazy work hours and unpredictable outcomes. Some people love that roller-coaster and go "Yeah, let's do it again" and others come off puking and saying "never again". If you don't have the fortitude to march on during the hard times, you will give up too soon and likely fail.

In short - most of us are not rational in our pursuit of entrepreneurship. We are driven by either the inspiration (of nice things or freedom) or the desperation (having to act because we have no other option). That type of energy helps succeed when others give up.

As long as you are comfortable - I am not sure you'll have enough energy to push through to get to the other side. But stay on here and maybe that itch that brought you to make this post will grow bigger and bigger, one day so big you won't be able to ignore it and become very uncomfortable :).
 
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SEBASTlAN

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I am looking for advice - I have say to spend 10k $ freely and I wonder what should I do.

As a software engineer, surely you have seen a problem or two pop up in your industry. Why not solve those? It could at the very least make your life & workload much easier.
 
D

Deleted74925

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Hi FlyingDev, it is great to be thinking this way.
It is possible to be comfortable while building a company if it is moving you closer to your goals. This is a state of mind. Imagine that you are in a luxury hotel, with the finest food and drink, but in the back of your mind you know that it is costing you $20,000/night. Would this still be comfortable?
If you have a dream of building empires, then working for someone else is not comfortable.
 

flyingdev

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And another 18 months passed. Reached this forum again in a state of melancholy ;)
All your advises are good and I am not sure if I have what it takes to be an entrepreneur.
I am bit frustrated, that's all I guess. Little brag - bought a 3d printer and managed to learn 3d design to quite good level - which in a way is frustrating as I see I have skill, but can't really get round to monetize anything...

As a software engineer, surely you have seen a problem or two pop up in your industry. Why not solve those? It could at the very least make your life & workload much easier.
Well, there is. I even build one and even paid for marketing. But I really lack the consistency to market it and explain why it's needed.
Plus, companies love to create their own solutions, because 'everyone is doing so'.

But again, I am comfortable and don't have what it takes, of lack of motivation.

Oh, and I am a hard case of an introvert, that could explain some stuff.

PS.
I am posting this for my own sanity.
 
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UnnamedBeast

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And another 18 months passed. Reached this forum again in a state of melancholy ;)
All your advises are good and I am not sure if I have what it takes to be an entrepreneur.
I am bit frustrated, that's all I guess. Little brag - bought a 3d printer and managed to learn 3d design to quite good level - which in a way is frustrating as I see I have skill, but can't really get round to monetize anything...


Well, there is. I even build one and even paid for marketing. But I really lack the consistency to market it and explain why it's needed.
Plus, companies love to create their own solutions, because 'everyone is doing so'.

But again, I am comfortable and don't have what it takes, of lack of motivation.

Oh, and I am a hard case of an introvert, that could explain some stuff.

PS.
I am posting this for my own sanity.
I'm no real entrepeneur yet, but why don't you start printing something you think might be useful and try to sell it? or ask around if someone needs something printed, for example you might have friends or other people that might want something that requires 3d printing but they don't know yet necessarily, maybe you got a friend who's big into buying figurines? I'm not very knowledgeable of the area but you can probably give value to people with it with much simpler things than you might think
 

MJ DeMarco

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I wish I could do a better job in advising people who are comfortable.

I cannot. I have no advice or wisdom to impart, which is why for many people, an FTE is an absolute necessity.

Pain is a far better motivator than mediocre comfort.
 

socaldude

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Comfort is dangerous. It’s like a deal with the devil.

Real entrepreneurs get a “high” just by knowing where they are going. Even with no money, skills or connections. We have a vision and know everyday our actions lead us toward that goal.
 
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OutofPoverty

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Comfort is dangerous. It’s like a deal with the devil.
I agree. Before I joined the forum back in July 2018, I was unemployed for one year after dropping out of college in May 2017. I was in the house playing games all day being non-productive. The only thing that got me off my butt was an email I received about my student loans being due soon. This made me get off my butt and get a job.

More info here: INTRO - How I went from a College Student to Janitor In One Year

The same thing happened after I got my new job. I had a huge amount of money in my bank account and was earning a good paycheck every two weeks. Instead of investing that money into a business, I splurged it on strippers, escorts, and for instant gratification (I spent $10,855 total). The only thing that made me stop was the inflation increase (rent, food, clothes, and more) and retrospection. I realized that I wasted a year of my life doing nothing to help me get out the rat race because I was comfortable. That's when I spent a few days to work on my 1/5/10 Planasy and use that to give my life direction to avoid what I did in 2021.

More context: EXECUTION - HEALTH - My Two Year Planasy - Planning the Phase of my Life
 

flyingdev

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But you want a six- or seven-figure plane? There's really no difference between someone aspiring for a "fancy car" and someone wanting his own plane, in fact, the latter is far more expensive and burdensome.
Yes, I shouldn't say that. Planes are much, much more expensive.

That said, looks like you got a great skill base to dive into some ideas.
Execution is something that holds me. I built a product. But it is hard to explain what exactly it does. Finding customers was hard. I even emailed like 20 people ;) ;) ;)

There is lot of ideas. Like recent article I read about cloud vs self bare metal servers. Lot of companies is using cloud in areas where they could use bare metalservers. They could safe a lot, a lot of money. Cloud server can be much more expensive. Now, they cant move all of their stuff to self metal servers, but testing/development environment - why not? Amazon AWS (biggest cloud provider) had profit of 18.5B $ in 2021. 500B revenue. Those 500B are companies paying amazon to use their products. And sure - those products are excellent, but as I wrote above - to some extend you can use bare metal server, that you can install in your company IT room.
Running strongest amazon server for a month cost as much as buying 2 such servers.

I could create:
* a course how to replace cloud with bare metal servers
* some tools - after I will do research and feel the problems and solve them

The thing is, there was pain using bare metal servers like 5-8 years ago. People move to the cloud. But during this time, a lot of tools were born. Like docker - born in 2013. Now it is used virtually by each software company and developer. Bringing those tools back to bare metal servers might be multi-milion idea.

I really need 'little' money. Would love to earn as entrepeneur say 500k $. Its little part of multi-trilion cake. As not only Amazon offers cloud servers - Microsoft, Google and few smaller companies.

BUT.
Finding customers, and selling the idea is where I feel the pain and literally want to go to bed. Or scroll facebook to the end of my wall ;)

And the saddest part is, if I get into client for whom I will solve this issue, for my salary/consultant rate - which is very fair - I might help them to save lot, sometimes A LOT of money. And I will be happy as I solve the problem.
Fun fact though - tech companies LOVE to burn money.
Problem is, you're comfortable. And comfortable people generally don't do what it takes as they lack a driving purpose, or a why.
I wish I could do a better job in advising people who are comfortable.

I cannot. I have no advice or wisdom to impart, which is why for many people, an FTE is an absolute necessity.

Pain is a far better motivator than mediocre comfort.
Not sure if I am ready for the pain, but things seem to slow down, also in IT. Maybe finding a job will finally take more than a week or two ;)
I'm no real entrepeneur yet, but why don't you start printing something you think might be useful and try to sell it? or ask around if someone needs something printed, for example you might have friends or other people that might want something that requires 3d printing but they don't know yet necessarily, maybe you got a friend who's big into buying figurines? I'm not very knowledgeable of the area but you can probably give value to people with it with much simpler things than you might think
In general, there is money in 3D printing, but I have little time to investigate. I might for example try to find an interesting product and pay for the design and then sell it as Home - 3dsets.com do.
 

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