Because I Can

[Kak]

LOVE IT!!! I totally get where you are coming from. I recently am having a problem finding friends to golf with, you guessed it, they are all at work.

 

[EN_VY]

As a person who works in IT, people always try and get free advice/work from me. After reading TMF and joining these forums, I now see how time is the most important asset I have. No longer doing it unless I'm compensated financially.

Oh and some people would even complain about free advice/work. The nerve.

Sent from my iOS powered Android.

 

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[Vigilante]

It's a jarring mindset for people sometimes that they live in a prison of their own making.

You --- don't --- have --- to --- live --- like --- that.

 

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[Kak]

For reference, a quick google search suggests that they've given away $28 Billion to date ans saved roughly 5.8 Million lives through vaccinations and healthcare.

These are staggering numbers.

They are not obligated to give a dime to charity. Fricking people.

 

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[JEdwards]

People don't really want your help. They want you to do all the work.

That is sadly the truth 99.99% of the time..

All you have to do is look at a thread from a year ago. 99% of the people that posted are gone. They want a free idea and when they don't hear it, they go to being the, "I can do that if I wanted to" guys.

 

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[Vigilante]

My wife had an equally interesting point. The more you expose your life to people, the more vulnerable you become to their assumptions.

 

[Kak]

In the men's restroom at my lawyer's office.

 

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[Kak]

Time is ALWAYS limited, it will never change. Life will always come to an end. Money isn't limited.

Things in this world are valuable because they are scarce... Diamonds, Gold, etc. Time is a limited resource, make the most of it.

 

[JAJT]

People often criticize Bill and Melinda Gates for not giving more to charity.

For reference, a quick google search suggests that they've given away $28 Billion to date ans saved roughly 5.8 Million lives through vaccinations and healthcare.

These are staggering numbers.

 

[JAJT]

People don't really want your help. They want you to do all the work.

People have this tendency to think that work and mistakes shouldn't have to be repeated. They feel cheated when they ask "how" and are told "work".

They believe you made the mistakes and took the time to learn so they shouldn't have to. They lose interest very quick when you aren't handing them a repeatable template that lets them slap their name on the front door.

When you don't provide a turn-key business to them they assume you must clearly be selfish and are trying to prevent them from being successful. They then move on to the next success story - maybe they will be more understanding of their difficulties.

 

[Vigilante]

 

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[Vigilante]

This thread epitomises everything I've ever wanted out of life in three little words

You can get there. I started from well below zero.

 

[ALSL]

you sound rude, just to rub it in her face.

she ask the wrong questions though.

The words alone may be rude. However, you weren't there to hear his tone of voice, which is huge.
Regardless of whether or not he's rude, pointing that out doesn't seem to really add anything to the discussion. For a business forum, I don't really think personality traits that do not contribute to/deter business and financial success should be the focus here.

Vigilante was bringing up a situation and a conversation that he may or may not have had and may or may not have simply paraphrased in order to show the newer members and people who are thinking of becoming entrepreneurs what someone who HAS freedom could be qualified to say.

It's more of a motivational thing and should be seen as such.

 

[Vigilante]

"Leave me alone" sounds rude to me. That wouldn't help her.

I would prefer to give her a perspective to set her mind free. She got more than she asked for.

She made a comment or two about the great life that we have (we're Facebook friends) and this was yet another piece of the puzzle for her.

And please reread and notice that the answers I gave were in response to questions that she asked.

 

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[1PercentStreet]

"Why do you even want a billion?" Because I can.

Nice, being direct and concise is the best medicine you can give.

 

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[Kak]

I think it is arrogant for her to ask why you are going home if you didn't have to be there in the first place.

About the whiskey I would have said something along the lines because I pay for this building or because I make the rules.

 

[Vigilante]

Questions I was asked and Things said to me

This past week:
What do you do for a living?
What are your payments on that?
You are one lucky guy to have a Ferrari!
Find me something to sell online. - I love this one!

Things said to me during the real estate boom:
If you find anything good, let me know.
I'm in on your next purchase.

People don't really want your help. They want you to do all the work. I go in the office from 11am to 2pm usually. Why... because I...

Your message made me smile. Thanks for that.

The BEST question I have EVER been asked from a family friend inquiring about my business was :

"Where can I get a list of things I can sell on Amazon...is there like a list somewhere?" (direct quote, not a paraphrase).

Hope to see you at B&P Bio.

 

[santa]

Great article posted by chickenhawk in another thread, that has some relevance to some of the (now expanding) themes in this great thread;

I Will Not Read Your F*cking Script - New York - News - Runnin' Scared

But I will not read your F*cking script.

At this point, you should walk away, firm in your conviction that I'm a d!ck. But if you're interested in growing as a human being and recognizing that it is, in fact, you who are the dick in this situation, please read on.

Yes. That's right. I called you a d!ck. Because you created this situation. You put me in this spot where my only option is to acquiesce to your demands or be the bad guy. That, my friend, is the very definition of a dick move.

.

Comments section

I'm a software engineer by day (27 years), writer by night/weekends (9 scripts - 1 produced) and people ask me all the time to fix their Windows systems.

I used to help people because I want to be a nice guy and I know more than 99% of the people on the planet about technology, but after a while I got sick and tired of dealing with doing free work on my own (limited) time.

My new response to that request is "Get a Mac."

I too have become a d!ck. And you dear public/friends/family have made me such.

the other John B. misses the point. Professional writers, even ones breaking in, act like professional writers. you can turn them down and you are not being a dick because they understand you've determined there is nothing in it for you as a professional to read their material. they don't feel you owe it to them as a friend. they believe that sooner or later someone will be impressed with them enough as a person -- with their intelligence, dedication, knowledge of the film biz or what have you -- to invest a bit of time to find out if their writing is equally impressive. Huge difference between that and asking me to read your script, via my mother, because you happen to be her hairdresser.

He's writing so bluntly as a contrast to the fact that he has to be polite to people who are endlessly asking him to effectively be their script editor for free. It's a fair point, viscerally made. And the reality is that most people can't write and a lot of people who are trying to write, just don't get the message. .......

Anyway, I found the article therapeutic. I've been professional comedy writer for about ten years and people do ask me to read their stuff - but I live in Britain where people are a lot less pushy. So it doesn't happen that often. And sometimes I offer. And sometimes I don't.

Edited, I couldn't resist adding two more;

I'm an attorney who has clients in the film industry. I also moonlight as a writer and producer. No, I'm not going to give you my real name because I enjoy my privacy and don't want you bothering me. To that extent, I understand the point of this article.

That said, Josh Olson is a self-important windbag who thinks far more of himself than he should...

Having worked in law and film, I think I'm qualified to assess Mr. Olson's analogy. There are people in both fields who will callously dismiss you if you dare to ask them for advice, which I believe stems from nothing more than their own deep rooted insecurity. There are many more good, decent and hardworking people who will help you if you go about approaching them in the correct way.

Step one, don't solicit advice in the manner described by Mr. Olson. Step two, don't solicit advice from someone like Mr. Olson. People like Josh Olson only care about themselves.

I too have learned the hard way that people not to "help" others in this way. The morning a major project was due, I discovered I had to re-do my parts for a score. We were to rehearse our pieces with a major jazz artist that afternoon (the artist was doing a week-long residency at our school). Well, my roommate needed her score and parts printed NOWNOWNOW because her printer wasn't "cooperating." It wound up sucking up 45 minutes of my time - time I should have been spending proofreading my parts against my score. Instead, I ran out of time, wound up with major mistakes in my parts, and embarrassed my professor.

What I've found with people like her - too late - is that it's a habit. Once you've been inconveniencing other people for a while, it becomes something you expect and to which you even feel entitled. But you know what? You're not.

So if you're one of those people who has no problem eating up others' time with your "it'll only take a few minutes," you're a dick. Why? Not just because you think nothing of inconveniencing someone else, but because you wouldn't bother taking the time to find the other options that are right at your fingertips. There are other options to getting your script read. Google is your friend here, folks.

(Tons of interesting stuff in the comments too, but I'll leave it there)

 

[Supa]

thanks @Vigilante and all the other great members in this thread. You all gave me some goosebumps while reading through it, y'all gave me the feeling of being within like-minded people, that already are what I want to become.

And to the people complaining about Vig's direct and honest attitude. He propably did more for that girl than anybody else in her life did before. If you cant handle the truth then better get a soft pillow, because you are going to sit another 40 years at your desk in another person's company.

 

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[Jake]

There's a guy over on a luxury forum who was asked why he owns two Bugatti Veyrons. His answer? Because I can.

Powerful statement

 

[Vigilante]

1. I drink. Like a fish.

2. I generally don't drink here... in the office. I just have the means to drink.

3. Today, it just seemed... right.

 

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[Kak]

Bump this gem.

 

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[bkypes]

That is a hard mindset to grasp for people who trade their time for time based compensation.

My friends always ask me how many hours a week I work and it's impossible to give them a straight answer on that. My time is so divided up between everything that I am doing that it's not possible to quantify how many hours I put in per week. When you're working on the clock you do everything you can to do a little work as possible and still get paid. When you're working for yourself you bust a$$ to do as much as possible in the time you have.

 

[safff]

You can get there. I started from well below zero.

And do you know know what? Because of this forum and the people within it, for the first time in life I genuinely believe that and see it as more of an inevitability than a possibility.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Somehow I've missed this thread all these years. The first few pages were hilarious. When I first joined the forum I was an idiot and I got berated by half the forum, but within the first month Vigilante gave me a personal phone call. We talked for 5 minutes or so, and his advice has been life changing for me. My wife has been able to stay at home with our son, and it's thanks to his advice. If you get advice from someone like Vig or MJ take it and run with it. If it offends you then you're in the wrong place.

Curious... WTF is your avatar? It looks like some kind of torture chamber.

 

[Vigilante]

Vigilante was bringing up a situation and a conversation that he may or may not have had and may or may not have simply paraphrased in order to show the newer members and people who are thinking of becoming entrepreneurs what someone who HAS freedom could be qualified to say.

Glad you are tracking with my thought process. Definitely paraphrased. It really happened, but it was hopefully more inspiring and less demeaning than the words look on the printed page.

 

[oddball]

Bar none... if you remember nothing else from this thread...

(and this wasn't the point of the discussion, but...)

time is the single most important asset that you own.

There are dozens of people that want to "bounce their ideas" off of entrepreneurs. Usually what that means is they hope you will work for them, or their idea, or chase their dreams with them.

To most clock punchers, an entrepreneur is unemployed. I went home at noon today, so I should volunteer my time to their project. (By the way, they are sleeping when you are on the phone with Asia at 2AM, and they're in their pajamas sipping mimosas while you are in your warehouse Saturday morning at 6AM taking inventory... but nobody sees that.) Most people assume you're their free career coach. 99% of them are either moochers or action fakers. The 1% that are action takers reveal themselves as such over time.

Protect your time. Absolutely volunteer your time to worthwhile efforts including teaching people... but on YOUR schedule.

The single most important factor that larger companies don't get is how much time is wasted in non-productive meetings, in singing happy birthday to Patty from seven cubicles over, or in recapping business analysis that is never read by anyone.

Entrepreneurs.. guard your time. That's why you can do more in 2 hours than most "employees" can do in a day.

One of the best posts on this forum

 

[DeletedUser2]

"Because I can. That's the difference between you and me."

ah my new quote

Ill have to find a good place for that one




Z

 

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[vtlambo]

Vigilante is the real winner here. Look at this thread, he's still making $$ while replying back to all these posts. Yet many of us are taking time out to hit the reply button on this forum.

Keep doing what you're doing sir, definitely an inspiration.

 

[Kak]

People don't really want your help. They want you to do all the work. I go in the office from 11am to 2pm usually. Why... because I...

Employees would rather you hold their hand every time. When you are not around they have to figure things out for themselves. I have noticed this works better for everyone.

 

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