Totally agree. .maybe add NDT to the list, a great ways to fabrication work for non trade folk with brainsIn high school I did 2 years of diesel mechanics and also had an internship repairing boats and rebuilding the motors. I also took one full year of engineering in high school as well and learned to read mechanical drawings.
After dropping out of college, my dad helped me get a machinist job even though I had zero experience running milling machines and lathes. Within a week, I was trained enough to be comfortable with all of the machines and did what I had to do. The pay was quite good for a 19-year-old. The job sucked due to the heat but couldn't beat seeing a wad of cash at the end of each week.
Now I sit around and run my software company, but still find myself working on my wife's car or building mechanical contraptions as a hobby.
I wish that after 9th or 10th grade they would say hey, are you going the trade route or the college route? If you're going the college route, stay here. If you're going the trade route, you get sent to a training center to be trained on whatever it is you're interested in and stop taking other useless classes.
At my school we had a "career center" where we could learn:
Each of these classes lasted from 11th grade to 12th grade and you had the chance to be at least partially certified in your trade within 2 years of schooling.
- Diesel Mechanics (what I took) - me and 3 other students. Talk about a shortage.
- Automotive Repair
- Automotive Body work & painting
- Welding + Pipe Welding
- Mechatronics
- Masonry
- Hair salon
- A few other things
After going through this, I realized that most people just don't want to do hard work. They're scared to death of it or look down on it.
Some of the best times I had in school was working in the shop.
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Access Restricted: Unlock 1,000,000+ Posts
Stop Peeking Through the Keyhole.
Open the Door.
You hit a wall because the best advice isn't free—it's earned. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has been active here daily (99.9% active rate), building a war room for entrepreneurs who refuse to settle for mediocrity.
- Active Daily: Life-changing content posted dozens of times every day. No dead threads.
- MJ's Inner Circle: Direct access to the author of The Millionaire Fastlane.
- Vetted Network: Connect with founders scaling to 7 and 8 figures.
- Proven Roadmaps: Strategy over motivation. Execution over "hustle porn."
"SCALED TO 6-FIGURE MONTHS"
"Tips and advice here saved me from huge mistakes, others allowed me to scale my business to 6-figure months."— User MitchC
"INSANE QUALITY OF PEOPLE"
"The number of high quality people I've met from this forum has been insane. All of it predicated on building real value."— User Richard Peck
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with."
Are you surrounding yourself with success?
