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Borrowing Money to Attend 2018 Fastlane Summit

Raoul Duke

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I am insanely stupid. Or, incredibly smart.


This isn't a how to guide or anything. Just letting some thoughts come out. Hopefully this'll meet one of @LightHouse actions.


We are going to need some back history for this thread. Maybe this belongs in the introduction section?

In 2006 I started working with a friend, doing autobody. Something that I was very very very good at. In 2008 we formed a LLC, and got our dealer licenses. We started buying wrecks. At first, it was salvage title vehicles. Both of us quickly realized that people didn't want rebuilt salvage vehicles. We switched our strategy. Starting buying wrecks with clear titles.

Everything was going smoothly. Until, one day I realized... My friend/business partner was stealing from me. I was crushed. Depressed. Everything you can think of. I had it in spades. This was in 2010. I practically did nothing until April 14th, 2011.

April 14th, 2011 - When I started working for Lowes Home Improvement. I'll briefly go over this. From April 14th, 2011 to March 1st, 2014. I worked these positions; Seasonal Lumber, Part-Time Lumber, Full-Time Lumber, Over-Nights Lumber, lastly Sales Specialist Millwork. I quit March 1st, 2014 as a Sales Specialist.

Between 2011 - 2014 I found The Millionaire Fastlane forum & book. I read a ton. Thought of ideas. Thought being the operative word. I never tried anything. If you were at the 2018 Fastlane Summit. @Get Right has more failed business than I do.

When I was working at Lowes as a Sales Specialist, I was making decent money. While reading the book. I quickly realized some of the pitfalls I was in. With the autobody business, etc.

One thing came out of working for Lowes. I was able to buy a plot of land sale. With the plot of land. I was able to get a small loan. I bought a mobile home. With some money left over. I renovated the mobile home. I am currently living in it now. Was able to pay off my car loan as well.

During 2014 I started buying things off craigslist and reselling them. I am still doing this. I needed to get a job again. So, July 2015. I was proudly a Freight Associate for The Home Depot. During which I quit the forum around this time.

I did absolutely nothing in for about a one year. Not even reselling items on craigslist. I'm not sure what prompted me into rejoining the forum.

When I came back to the forum. Feb 26th, 2016. First thread I noticed getting some serious attention was @SinisterLex Gold thread: Copywriting. I knew a few things about copy. I read stuff about copy. I'll give that try. I read a lot of books about copy. I joined his copywriting course in like July or August 2017.

Now this is where some major bullshit occurs.

Lex was very generous working with me over skype. I was accepted onto UpWork. Know how actionable I was? Zero. Zero. Zero. I say zero, because I basically wasted Lex's time for about a month. In which a user on this forum contacted me about writing copy for them during this time with Lex.

Know what happened? I blew him off as well. It gets better. Another user wanted copywriting as well. A very RESPECTED user at that. Guess what happened? I essentially blew this person off.

Let that set in for a moment.... Ready?

This was from September to December of 2017. Guess what? I quit my job at Home Depot in November 2017.

I was able to get a ticket to go to the 2018 Fastlane Summit. From which at that time. My money was slowly depleting. You would think, urgency would kick in at this point. Nope. I tried all of January to buy/sell on craigslist. I was moderately successful. But... No cigar.

How would I pay for the summit? Plane, Hotel, etc... I went to my bank. Asked for a 6 month loan for $1,500.00 dollars. I got the loan.

So, I goto the summit. Here I am in a room with people much much much successful than I am. You would think I would be beating the door down... to do what? Build relationships. I made some friends. but I could have been more successful.

I am completely uncomfortable. Embarrassed. Lazy. @Kung Fu Steve would you say those are limiting beliefs?

@million$$$smile made some very nice things to say about me. That I was listener. Which, I can agree with. Not entirely true though. I see myself as not bringing any value to the table.

@Eskil you asked what my takeaway was from the summit? If I took a stab at this question. It would be that everyone goes through ups and downs. We all get up and put our pants on the same way.

I may not have the right mentality right now. To actually see what should be my biggest takeaway would be. I just know one thing. I will be at the 2019 Fastlane Summit. I had a great time. Despite some things I could have done better.

For those who read all of this... I hope you find value.

Thank you @Red @Eskil @AllenCrawley @MJ DeMarco for putting on the event.

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Lex DeVille

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Dude, you're a great guy, but when I read posts like this it seems like you're searching for external motivation and validation when those things have to come from within.

  • Paying for courses didn't motivate you.
  • Working with respected forum members didn't motivate you.
  • Quitting your job didn't motivate you.
  • Taking out a loan to go to the summit didn't motivate you.
  • Buying all those INSIDERS subs didn't validate you

The way I see it, you're comfortable and you don't know exactly what you want. So you never get motivated to really go after it and therefore you can't experience any level of success that might let you feel validated and motivate you to continue when you reach the point of discomfort and beyond.

Even getting clear about what you want is uncomfortable because it requires serious thought and action to write it down. But as long as comfort is prioritized over discomfort, this loop continues.

Maybe someone will chime in and tell you it will be okay. Maybe it will be if this is all you want from life. But let me ask you this, assuming you die someday, would this thread be a satisfying eulogy for you?

"Here's all the things I didn't do and all the people I failed. What I learned from it was??? What I did about it was???"

Your motivation to figure out what you want from life, and to take any steps to get it, has to come from inside you. Donating INSIDERS subs feels good and rewards you, but doesn't motivate or validate you.

Imagine how many more subs you could donate with a lot of money. Not the bank's money, but your own.

Sometimes I wonder if you've considered letting your desire to give fuel your business pursuits. Who would you give to if you had an international non-profit? Even non-profits can be fastlane. I dunno, maybe that's something to explore in the future.

I'm not mad at you. I want you to succeed and I'm glad you're comfortable right now.

You have to decide if that's enough for you.
 

Gary

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@Raoul Duke , putting all of this out there for the forum to read may be the catalyst for you to make some permanent changes in your life.

I'm glad we met, albeit briefly. I also saw how excited people were to meet you, particularly MJ.

Find some more grit. Most folks that you perceived as being wildly successful go through the exact ups and downs you're going through...on a daily basis.

I'm definitely pulling for you.
 
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minivanman

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Somebody help me out here. He seems to have this thing about titles. Could this be some how related to what he is feeling inside? I'm feeling something from it but I can't put my finger on what it is.

Also, it seems that you liked the auto body business..... lots of money in that business. Helping people with good cars that won't have the bondo fall out while driving down the road is huge business! Why did you move away from that business?

1 more time.... the bottom of the ocean is full of sunken partnerSHIPS.
 

Scot

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Somebody help me out here. He seems to have this thing about titles. Could this be some how related to what he is feeling inside? I'm feeling something from it but I can't put my finger on what it is.

Also, it seems that you liked the auto body business..... lots of money in that business. Helping people with good cars that won't have the bondo fall out while driving down the road is huge business! Why did you move away from that business?

1 more time.... the bottom of the ocean is full of sunken partnerSHIPS.


Plus 1 on the why not go back into autobody work?

What the industry needs is a clean professional looking shop.

Every time I’ve ever needed body work or gone by an auto body shop, I feel like I’m going to get stabbed in the area. Every shop I’ve seen is in a sketchy part of town, covered in rusted out junk, and it’s just not an enjoyable experience.

Why not create a body shop that’s like the Carmax of body shops? That’s definitely a scalable model for sure.
 

Niptuck MD

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Everything was going smoothly. Until, one day I realized... My friend/business partner was stealing from me. I was crushed.

Been there before brother.... definitely hate a thief. No remorse but you took the right proactive action. You went and did something. Small actionable steps increasing your probability in the equation of MJ.

Plus 1 on the why not go back into autobody work?

What the industry needs is a clean professional looking shop.

.

@Scot agreed.

However Based on what I know with my old HS buds that went and opened up body shops, there is a lot of pullback from insurance companies. Payment issues, etc. Of course the underlying problem are the parasitic insurance companies in medical auto etc...
 
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ZCP

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@Raoul Duke Did we speak during this event? If we did, get me info and I am sending you $100 to refund part of the cost because I failed to do my job while there.

What did you intend to give or get out of this post? Did you give or get it? Good.

Now go sell something. Don't give a damn what it is. Turn $1 into $2. Do not do anything, ANYTHING else until you do. DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER UNTIL YOU DO.
------------------------
Back? You have created a success. Give your self credit. No longer judge yourself on what you have or have not done in the past. You are now judged on 'WHAT YOU DO NEXT'. Get to it.

Go start or update a progress thread. Put a link to it here. We'll come over with you and help you along the way.
 

Eskil

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Again, it was nice meeting you at the summit. What it sounds like you are struggling with is a sense of direction and purpose. Some people have lots of it, while others not so much. Nothing wrong with that since we are all different.

You said you're not sure what your biggest takeaway would be other than we all have ups and downs. I really think a missing sense of direction is what you are lacking. So what I would do if I was you is sit down one quiet evening by yourself (no distractions), take out a piece of paper, and write down what the future version of yourself is doing 1 year from now. Then revisit the chapters in Unscripted that talks about how to discover markets and opportunities. It may also help you stay accountable if you give yourself hard deadlines and milestones where you have to complete task x,y,z by.
 
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Get Right

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@Raoul Duke - Actually I had a great time talking with you Saturday! I was impressed with your ability to hustle, your good money moves and willingness to put yourself out there. I sincerely believe that if you take just one baby step a day toward any goal you will achieve it!

Please PM me if I can help in anyway. You have the tools to make it happen man!
 

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You have an entire forum of friends and fans cheering for you. Now stop with the self deprecation. Even taking out a loan and attending the conference (it was great to meet you by the way) can be looked at as a tremendous mother of all action fakes if it doesn't result in decisive action. You're smart. You're thoughtful. You're capable.

Have you listened to the podcast I did when I was at rock bottom? You are starting from a much stronger base than I had 6-7 years ago. If you haven't listened to it, find it and listen to it.

Put one foot in front of the other and start climbing. You are one of us. You are on our team. You might be momentarily lost, but bounce off the mat and get back up again. Start climbing again.

Failure is completely acceptable, but inaction is ridiculous. You're better than this history above.

Leave everything in your OP in the past. Start from today. Buy 10 lots and 10 mobile homes one at a time if you have to. Figure this shit out. You're smarter than 99% of the people working at XXXXX, because you happen to have an inside information that they don't have. F*cking use what you know. You need some capital? Get some.

Your honesty is honorable, but it starts there... it doesn't end there. We all missed a huge opportunity while we were in Scottsdale, and I wish I had that half hour back when we were at lunch so I could have kicked your a$$ in the right direction. My fault.

If you can't move past stage 1, contact someone you met from the forum that you can connect with and grind it out with them until you get some traction. You're too cool to become one of them, because you're one of us.
 

Andy Black

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Wow. Amazing response. I’m proud to be a TFLF member.


@Raoul Duke.

In some ways we’re similar. I’m comfortable. I like helping people.


Want to know my dirty little secret?

Monetary goals don’t motivate me in the slightest.

Building a bigger business doesn’t motivate me in the slightest.

Building stuff just doesn’t do it for me.


Want to know my “hack” that keeps me working on my business every day of every week? The hack that results in me actually wanting to grow my business?

Find people who need my help. Help them.

When I’ve found people who need my help then it’s suddenly no longer about me and what I want or don’t want.

This may work for you, it may not.

Can you test it somehow?



Maybe you can spend time in a charity helping people? Find out if that fulfills you more than, say, just “copywriting”?

From there you may start seeing inefficiencies you could solve and therefore help even more people?



I’ve spent a lot of time recently with a local charity and couldn’t help but notice they have lots of shops with donated products sitting in them.

I’ve offered to help them get the products in their shops online, setup for Google shopping, and so they can avail of the 10k/mth spend Google will give to registered charities.

If they take me up on it (I’m not holding my breath) then I could somehow build a business to help charities be more efficient helping people in need. I consider this a very worthy cause and I’d move mountains to make it work - even though I personally am comfortable.



Something else that might help you is to work out what you can’t NOT do.

What are things you can’t help but do? Every single day?

I noticed I can’t stop helping folks in forums.

Every . Single . Freaking . Day.

Even when I try not to!

Soooo... I doubled down on it instead. I stopped trying to stop myself and let it rip. I even allowed myself to build a wee forum - to harness that thing I can’t NOT do - even though I have no intention of a forum being my business. I’ll start it and see where it goes.


I can’t remember where I read it, but someone said the best reason to start a business is because you can’t NOT start it.



Sometimes it’s not obvious what your thing is. Sometimes it’s easier to work out what it isn’t.

The video in this thread really helped me:


And this thread may help too:


Also... happy to have a recorded or unrecorded chat anytime.
 
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D

DeletedUser052

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You have the tools to make it happen man

This.

That's true for every one of us here. That statement by @Get Right made me reflect my past year since joining this forum. Sure, my mindset has slowly changed, thanks to the GOLD threads, but when it came to taking necessary action - ZERO. I invented new excuses always and when I felt 'inspired' by some phenomenal posts, all the action later was actually action-fakes.

This forum has info/values that could make anyone millionaire/to the of 'F*ck You' stage or whatever they desire in their life. Even after knowing this, I did nothing.

But, not anymore.

Ok. Do you have a plan?

Yes for me. I hope @Raoul Duke has too.

I’m proud to be a TFLF member.

I feel the exact same too! It's good to see that people are ready to help fellow forum members even when they are super busy with their lives.

Amazing people make this forum amazing.
 

MJ DeMarco

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Man I understand your struggle. Sounds like you're searching for meaning and purpose. That's different for everyone and only you know what it could be. But in the end, we all struggle with the same things: Laziness, a mix of comfort/uncomfort, lack of confidence, uncertainty (will this business work?) but as @Vigilante mentioned, you have a group of people here that WANT to see you succeed.

What does that success look like a year from now?

It could be anything, but it all shares the same common theme: Positive movement toward a positive direction. That could be a streamlined Craigslist hustle (not Fastlane) a new set of skills, improvement of health, anything that signifies that you are engaged in the process. You don't need to own some huge business or have some recognizable monument to the year -- you just have to look at yourself 1 year from now and say, "Wow, I've changed."

Until then, you are prohibited from donating any more INSIDERS subs!

It's time to be an advocate for YOURSELF!!!

And BTW, the type of commitment you shown to get to the Summit is the type of commitment that will help you "WIN" the Unscripted life.

Remember, you can WIN over and over and over again, and not be lucky. ;)
 

Contrarian

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Wow.

What an inspiring show of support.

@Raoul Duke , I wasn't at the Summit but I've gone through the same cycle of inaction and indecision.

It's over three years since I found TMF and the forum (wow, time flies). Back then I was deeply dissatisfied with my status quo, and desperately wanted an escape. The Fastlane vision was a life-changing inspiration for me, and yet...that's not enough.

I didn't want to do the work I was doing anymore.

I had no idea what else I wanted to do.

I just wanted to lose the obligations and be free.

So, I read, and dabbled, and halfheartedly cast my net in a few ponds. But for a long time all I managed to achieve was to upgrade to a job masquerading as entrepreneurship. Which I grew to dislike almost as much as what I had before.

The problem was, I knew all the things I didn't want, but I wasn't really clear on what I did want.

The only thing I knew for sure about that was the end vision - financial freedom.

And it can be a long, lonely road from taking those first steps to reaching the end vision.

Once I figured out what I DID want to do, and accepted the daily challenges that would be required, purpose became clarified and action came naturally.

Now it's no struggle to get everything done each day, because I'm already doing what I want to do.

What I'm trying to say is: having the goal inspires you, but the path has to work for you too. There are lots of businesses I could have started, and seriously considered, but where the idea of the process bores me to tears and doesn't jive with my personality (like the Amazon product dev & importing model).

What IS your vision?

And then: Can you also find a path there which you actually want to walk?

Find a day to day process that you can learn to love and the rest will take care of itself.

I don't know if this resonates with you, but it worked for me!
 
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LightHouse

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Man I understand your struggle. Sounds like you're searching for meaning and purpose. That's different for everyone and only you know what it could be. But in the end, we all struggle with the same things: Laziness, a mix of comfort/uncomfort, lack of confidence, uncertainty (will this business work?) but as @Vigilante mentioned, you have a group of people here that WANT to see you succeed.

What does that success look like a year from now?

It could be anything, but it all shares the same common theme: Positive movement toward a positive direction. That could be a streamlined Craigslist hustle (not Fastlane) a new set of skills, improvement of health, anything that signifies that you are engaged in the process. You don't need to own some huge business or have some recognizable monument to the year -- you just have to look at yourself 1 year from now and say, "Wow, I've changed."

Until then, you are prohibited from donating any more INSIDERS subs!

It's time to be an advocate for YOURSELF!!!

And BTW, the type of commitment you shown to get to the Summit is the type of commitment that will help you "WIN" the Unscripted life.

Remember, you can WIN over and over and over again, and not be lucky. ;)
This is by far my favorite and most genuine MJ post of all time.

I also love the fact that you used the word uncertainty and I think you know why ;)
 

csalvato

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So I posted something here, which was deleted by the mods. Something along the lines of:

"I see you posting a bunch of memes and teardown posts, but you're borrowing money to come to the summit."

For understandable reasons, that post was deleted, because it was very direct, and can be perceived as a bit harsh. That wasn't my intention, but I get it.

Even though it was deleted, you likely received an email with the full content, so the damage was done, and it probably makes sense for me to follow up.

So before I go on, let me make it clear: I am 100% committed to your success. That's why I made that post. It was not intended to be a tear down.

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

So, I goto the summit. Here I am in a room with people much much much successful than I am. You would think I would be beating the door down... to do what? Build relationships. I made some friends. but I could have been more successful.

I may not have the right mentality right now. To actually see what should be my biggest takeaway would be. I just know one thing. I will be at the 2019 Fastlane Summit. I had a great time. Despite some things I could have done better.

To me these are the two quotes in your post that carry the most weight.

You are being faced with immense challenges, and are taking whatever measure necessary to raise the standard and get out of your funk. But a big part of it is that you don't even know what your funk actually is.

You have dozens of invisible forces acting all around you, holding you into a box, and you have no idea how to break free. You're trapped.

Sound about right?

What do animals in in boxes do? They lash out. They flail.

In humans, it's not uncommon for "trapped" people bring other people down to elevate themselves. This is how they achieve significance, one of the needs @Kung Fu Steve mentioned during his talk.

But that causes your love and connection to deplete. To disappear. And in this game of life, you need people around you who can help you and elevate you.

This is a hard lesson to swallow. One that took me over a decade.

The way out? Break the pattern. Take hold of yourself before you tear someone down and post that hurtful and negative meme, even if they are a total moron. Aim to elevate, grow and contribute.

From what I've seen of you, this one small change could rocket you to the next level.

That was what I meant from my original post. I hope it helps.
 

MJ DeMarco

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"I see you posting a bunch of memes and teardown posts, but you're borrowing money to come to the summit."

For understandable reasons, that post was deleted, because it was very direct, and can be perceived as a bit harsh. That wasn't my intention, but I get it.

Even though it was deleted, you likely received an email with the full content, so the damage was done, and it probably makes sense for me to follow up.

So before I go on, let me make it clear: I am 100% committed to your success. That's why I made that post. It was not intended to be a tear down.

Vig deleted the post which BTW, he did not see your first presentation on ... what was it ... Radical Candor?

I see that is your aim here and the overall objective is goodness. No worries.
 
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Dunkafelics

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@Raoul Duke great to see you putting yourself out there by attending the Summit and taking action immediately.

Also, thank you for the Kindle, it was much appreciated and I will put it to good use.

Now the hard part about putting yourself out there, in a sense... is that we are going to hold you accountable now. There is no more staying behind the computer screen because we will call you out if you aren't following through.

One of the best principles I've heard is adopting the mentality of kaizen or CANI - Constant and Neverending Improvement

As @MJ DeMarco has mentioned countless times — small steps taken forward each and every day will result in the development of a person who a year from now, will almost be unrecognizable in a positive way.

Determine what is important to you in your life. Is it to be wealthy? Is it to be healthy and fit? Is it to have a thriving social life with deep and meaningful relationships? Is it all of these things?

Then take small, but take actionable steps so that you can start achieving these things.

If you want to talk more about it, we can definitely do that too.

We are in your corner man! Start making things happen.
 

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@Raoul Duke man...it had to be hard to write this post. I think we've all been there but to admit it in such a public way takes intestinal fortitude.

Based on the replies it looks like you have a lot of people in your corner and high profile people at that. Makes me glad I joined this forum and listened to my inner voice telling me what MJ was preaching in his books was true and the motivation I needed to get started and over my own fears.
 
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Raoul Duke

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Dude, you're a great guy, but when I read posts like this it seems like you're searching for external motivation and validation when those things have to come from within.

  • Paying for courses didn't motivate you.
  • Working with respected forum members didn't motivate you.
  • Quitting your job didn't motivate you.
  • Taking out a loan to go to the summit didn't motivate you.
  • Buying all those INSIDERS subs didn't validate you

The way I see it, you're comfortable and you don't know exactly what you want. So you never get motivated to really go after it and therefore you can't experience any level of success that might let you feel validated and motivate you to continue when you reach the point of discomfort and beyond.

Even getting clear about what you want is uncomfortable because it requires serious thought and action to write it down. But as long as comfort is prioritized over discomfort, this loop continues.

Maybe someone will chime in and tell you it will be okay. Maybe it will be if this is all you want from life. But let me ask you this, assuming you die someday, would this thread be a satisfying eulogy for you?

"Here's all the things I didn't do and all the people I failed. What I learned from it was??? What I did about it was???"

Your motivation to figure out what you want from life, and to take any steps to get it, has to come from inside you. Donating INSIDERS subs feels good and rewards you, but doesn't motivate or validate you.

Imagine how many more subs you could donate with a lot of money. Not the bank's money, but your own.

Sometimes I wonder if you've considered letting your desire to give fuel your business pursuits. Who would you give to if you had an international non-profit? Even non-profits can be fastlane. I dunno, maybe that's something to explore in the future.

I'm not mad at you. I want you to succeed and I'm glad you're comfortable right now.

You have to decide if that's enough for you.


I really needed to read this. When you asked me to write down what I wanted. I briefly jotted down what I "wanted". It was hard for me to do so. As I wrote it down. I would mark a line through it. Not quite sure if that was the right thing.

If I were to perish today. I wouldn't want what I wrote above as my eulogy. I am capable of so much more.

The only charity I have given to is Make A Wish & my local humane society. I really love animals.

@Raoul Duke
Thank you for your honest post! I recognize myself in your behaviour (will update my progress thread after I post this:clench:).
I am sure after a few days when you processed all the info from the summit, the "ups" will start. Wish you all the best

This is the reason why I posted this. I was never trying to have a poor me or self pity party. :D

@Raoul Duke , putting all of this out there for the forum to read may be the catalyst for you to make some permanent changes in your life.

I'm glad we met, albeit briefly. I also saw how excited people were to meet you, particularly MJ.

Find some more grit. Most folks that you perceived as being wildly successful go through the exact ups and downs you're going through...on a daily basis.

I'm definitely pulling for you.

Likewise, Gary. Will you be coming to the 2019 Fastlane Summit? If you do, I look forward to having a long conversation with you!

Somebody help me out here. He seems to have this thing about titles. Could this be some how related to what he is feeling inside? I'm feeling something from it but I can't put my finger on what it is.

Also, it seems that you liked the auto body business..... lots of money in that business. Helping people with good cars that won't have the bondo fall out while driving down the road is huge business! Why did you move away from that business?

1 more time.... the bottom of the ocean is full of sunken partnerSHIPS.

Plus 1 on the why not go back into autobody work?

What the industry needs is a clean professional looking shop.

Every time I’ve ever needed body work or gone by an auto body shop, I feel like I’m going to get stabbed in the area. Every shop I’ve seen is in a sketchy part of town, covered in rusted out junk, and it’s just not an enjoyable experience.

Why not create a body shop that’s like the Carmax of body shops? That’s definitely a scalable model for sure.

Been there before brother.... definitely hate a thief. No remorse but you took the right proactive action. You went and did something. Small actionable steps increasing your probability in the equation of MJ.



@Scot agreed.

However Based on what I know with my old HS buds that went and opened up body shops, there is a lot of pullback from insurance companies. Payment issues, etc. Of course the underlying problem are the parasitic insurance companies in medical auto etc...

I having been talking with @Scot for the past few days. I liked auto body. The brief period in which I had a business. I'm not going to pursue that ever again.

Ok. Do you have a plan?

Yes. He was very gracious during the time I was suppose to present him with the copy. When I saw him at the summit. I shook his hand and apologized for being complete idiot.

I went back to him later. Asking if I could retry this. He agreed. That's what I am doing currently. I'll have a progress thread started, shortly.

@Raoul Duke Did we speak during this event? If we did, get me info and I am sending you $100 to refund part of the cost because I failed to do my job while there.

What did you intend to give or get out of this post? Did you give or get it? Good.

Now go sell something. Don't give a damn what it is. Turn $1 into $2. Do not do anything, ANYTHING else until you do. DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER UNTIL YOU DO.
------------------------
Back? You have created a success. Give your self credit. No longer judge yourself on what you have or have not done in the past. You are now judged on 'WHAT YOU DO NEXT'. Get to it.

Go start or update a progress thread. Put a link to it here. We'll come over with you and help you along the way.

I pm'd you. You did not fail me. I failed myself. I never intended to receive anything from this. What did come about: Huge weight off my chest. I'll tag you once I get my progress up.

Again, it was nice meeting you at the summit. What it sounds like you are struggling with is a sense of direction and purpose. Some people have lots of it, while others not so much. Nothing wrong with that since we are all different.

You said you're not sure what your biggest takeaway would be other than we all have ups and downs. I really think a missing sense of direction is what you are lacking. So what I would do if I was you is sit down one quiet evening by yourself (no distractions), take out a piece of paper, and write down what the future version of yourself is doing 1 year from now. Then revisit the chapters in Unscripted that talks about how to discover markets and opportunities. It may also help you stay accountable if you give yourself hard deadlines and milestones where you have to complete task x,y,z by.

I really enjoyed talking to you @Eskil! I wrote down what the future would be like for me. What i'll do now is make those into smaller goals. Write out a list of 5 things to accomplish that day. I won't put my goals on the 5 things I need to do. I really need to make it a habit of rereading Millionaire Fastlane & Unscripted . Probably every three months.


@Raoul Duke - Actually I had a great time talking with you Saturday! I was impressed with your ability to hustle, your good money moves and willingness to put yourself out there. I sincerely believe that if you take just one baby step a day toward any goal you will achieve it!

Please PM me if I can help in anyway. You have the tools to make it happen man!

Thanks you! @Get Right

Your presentation was mind blowing. I really enjoyed talking with you and @GravyBoat!

You have an entire forum of friends and fans cheering for you. Now stop with the self deprecation. Even taking out a loan and attending the conference (it was great to meet you by the way) can be looked at as a tremendous mother of all action fakes if it doesn't result in decisive action. You're smart. You're thoughtful. You're capable.

Have you listened to the podcast I did when I was at rock bottom? You are starting from a much stronger base than I had 6-7 years ago. If you haven't listened to it, find it and listen to it.

Put one foot in front of the other and start climbing. You are one of us. You are on our team. You might be momentarily lost, but bounce off the mat and get back up again. Start climbing again.

Failure is completely acceptable, but inaction is ridiculous. You're better than this history above.

Leave everything in your OP in the past. Start from today. Buy 10 lots and 10 mobile homes one at a time if you have to. Figure this sh*t out. You're smarter than 99% of the people working at XXXXX, because you happen to have an inside information that they don't have. f*cking use what you know. You need some capital? Get some.

Your honesty is honorable, but it starts there... it doesn't end there. We all missed a huge opportunity while we were in Scottsdale, and I wish I had that half hour back when we were at lunch so I could have kicked your a$$ in the right direction. My fault.

If you can't move past stage 1, contact someone you met from the forum that you can connect with and grind it out with them until you get some traction. You're too cool to become one of them, because you're one of us.

On my plane ride back home. I was literally kicking myself. I had the opportunity to really delve deep with you.

I listened to your podcast from the moment it was launched. Printed out everyone's responses. They are going to get framed and mounted on my wall. Thank you @Vigilante for the a$$ kicking!

Wow. Amazing response. I’m proud to be a TFLF member.


@Raoul Duke.

In some ways we’re similar. I’m comfortable. I like helping people.


Want to know my dirty little secret?

Monetary goals don’t motivate me in the slightest.

Building a bigger business doesn’t motivate me in the slightest.

Building stuff just doesn’t do it for me.


Want to know my “hack” that keeps me working on my business every day of every week? The hack that results in me actually wanting to grow my business?

Find people who need my help. Help them.

When I’ve found people who need my help then it’s suddenly no longer about me and what I want or don’t want.

This may work for you, it may not.

Can you test it somehow?



Maybe you can spend time in a charity helping people? Find out if that fulfills you more than, say, just doing “copywriting”?

From there you may start seeing inefficiencies that you could solve and therefore help even more people?



I’ve spent a lot of time recently with a local charity and couldn’t help but notice they have a lot of shops with donated products sitting in them.

I’ve offered to help them get the products in their shops online, setup for Google shopping, and so they can avail of the 10k/mth spend Google will give to registered charities.

If they take me up on it (I’m not holding my breath) then I could somehow build a business to help charities be more efficient helping people in need. I consider this a very worthy cause and I’d move mountains to make it work - even though I personally am comfortable.



Something else that might help you is to work out what you can’t NOT do.

What are things you can’t help but do? Every single day?

I noticed I can’t stop helping folks in forums.

Every . Single . Freaking . Day.

Even when I try not to!

Soooo... I doubled down on it instead. I stopped trying to stop myself and let it rip. I even allowed myself to build a wee forum - to harness that thing I can’t NOT do - even though I have no intention of a forum being my business. I’ll start it and see where it goes.


I can’t remember where I read it, but someone said the best reason to start a business is because you can’t NOT start it.



Sometimes it’s not obvious what your thing is. Sometimes it’s easier to work out what it isn’t.

The video in this thread really helped me:


And this thread may help too:


Also... happy to have a recorded or unrecorded chat anytime.

I know right? This community is awesome! We talking before about having a skype call. When are you free? Thanks @Andy Black!
 
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Raoul Duke

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This.

That's true for every one of us here. That statement by @Get Right made me reflect my past year since joining this forum. Sure, my mindset has slowly changed, thanks to the GOLD threads, but when it came to taking necessary action - ZERO. I invented new excuses always and when I felt 'inspired' by some phenomenal posts, all the action later was actually action-fakes.

This forum has info/values that could make anyone millionaire/to the of 'f*ck You' stage or whatever they desire in their life. Even after knowing this, I did nothing.

But, not anymore.



Yes for me. I hope @Raoul Duke has too.



I feel the exact same too! It's good to see that people are ready to help fellow forum members even when they are super busy with their lives.

Amazing people make this forum amazing.

Thank you for your post!

Man I understand your struggle. Sounds like you're searching for meaning and purpose. That's different for everyone and only you know what it could be. But in the end, we all struggle with the same things: Laziness, a mix of comfort/uncomfort, lack of confidence, uncertainty (will this business work?) but as @Vigilante mentioned, you have a group of people here that WANT to see you succeed.

What does that success look like a year from now?

It could be anything, but it all shares the same common theme: Positive movement toward a positive direction. That could be a streamlined Craigslist hustle (not Fastlane) a new set of skills, improvement of health, anything that signifies that you are engaged in the process. You don't need to own some huge business or have some recognizable monument to the year -- you just have to look at yourself 1 year from now and say, "Wow, I've changed."

Until then, you are prohibited from donating any more INSIDERS subs!

It's time to be an advocate for YOURSELF!!!

And BTW, the type of commitment you shown to get to the Summit is the type of commitment that will help you "WIN" the Unscripted life.

Remember, you can WIN over and over and over again, and not be lucky. ;)

Success a year from now would be: Making money doing copywriting. 100 pounds lighter. Find a market and need. Which I currently have a idea. Now I need to validate if a need is needed.

Thank you @MJ DeMarco.

Wow.

What an inspiring show of support.

@Raoul Duke , I wasn't at the Summit but I've gone through the same cycle of inaction and indecision.

It's over three years since I found TMF and the forum (wow, time flies). Back then I was deeply dissatisfied with my status quo, and desperately wanted an escape. The Fastlane vision was a life-changing inspiration for me, and yet...that's not enough.

I didn't want to do the work I was doing anymore.

I had no idea what else I wanted to do.

I just wanted to lose the obligations and be free.

So, I read, and dabbled, and halfheartedly cast my net in a few ponds. But for a long time all I managed to achieve was to upgrade to a job masquerading as entrepreneurship. Which I grew to dislike almost as much as what I had before.

The problem was, I knew all the things I didn't want, but I wasn't really clear on what I did want.

The only thing I knew for sure about that was the end vision - financial freedom.

And it can be a long, lonely road from taking those first steps to reaching the end vision.

Once I figured out what I DID want to do, and accepted the daily challenges that would be required, purpose became clarified and action came naturally.

Now it's no struggle to get everything done each day, because I'm already doing what I want to do.

What I'm trying to say is: having the goal inspires you, but the path has to work for you too. There are lots of businesses I could have started, and seriously considered, but where the idea of the process bores me to tears and doesn't jive with my personality (like the Amazon product dev & importing model).

What IS your vision?

And then: Can you also find a path there which you actually want to walk?

Find a day to day process that you can learn to love and the rest will take care of itself.

I don't know if this resonates with you, but it worked for me!

It resonated with me. I thank you for posting this! :D

So I posted something here, which was deleted by the mods. Something along the lines of:

"I see you posting a bunch of memes and teardown posts, but you're borrowing money to come to the summit."

For understandable reasons, that post was deleted, because it was very direct, and can be perceived as a bit harsh. That wasn't my intention, but I get it.

Even though it was deleted, you likely received an email with the full content, so the damage was done, and it probably makes sense for me to follow up.

So before I go on, let me make it clear: I am 100% committed to your success. That's why I made that post. It was not intended to be a tear down.

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





To me these are the two quotes in your post that carry the most weight.

You are being faced with immense challenges, and are taking whatever measure necessary to raise the standard and get out of your funk. But a big part of it is that you don't even know what your funk actually is.

You have dozens of invisible forces acting all around you, holding you into a box, and you have no idea how to break free. You're trapped.

Sound about right?

What do animals in in boxes do? They lash out. They flail.

In humans, it's not uncommon for "trapped" people bring other people down to elevate themselves. This is how they achieve significance, one of the needs @Kung Fu Steve mentioned during his talk.

But that causes your love and connection to deplete. To disappear. And in this game of life, you need people around you who can help you and elevate you.

This is a hard lesson to swallow. One that took me over a decade.

The way out? Break the pattern. Take hold of yourself before you tear someone down and post that hurtful and negative meme, even if they are a total moron. Aim to elevate, grow and contribute.

From what I've seen of you, this one small change could rocket you to the next level.

That was what I meant from my original post. I hope it helps.

I did not get to see your original post. Thank you for posting a summary of what you originally said!!

Two things:

1. Lashing out at people with memes is because I am disgusted with myself. Meaning, I know what to do, but I am lazy. You saying that above. Has gotten me to think. This isn't the best way at communicating. I am simply yelling at MYSELF!

2. Posting memes is the way that I express myself. Wow, I just had a epiphany. Laziness.

My goal now: Stop posting a lot of memes. Actually help those posting having trouble. Give value.

I understand what you are saying to me.

@Raoul Duke great to see you putting yourself out there by attending the Summit and taking action immediately.

Also, thank you for the Kindle, it was much appreciated and I will put it to good use.

Now the hard part about putting yourself out there, in a sense... is that we are going to hold you accountable now. There is no more staying behind the computer screen because we will call you out if you aren't following through.

One of the best principles I've heard is adopting the mentality of kaizen or CANI - Constant and Neverending Improvement

As @MJ DeMarco has mentioned countless times — small steps taken forward each and every day will result in the development of a person who a year from now, will almost be unrecognizable in a positive way.

Determine what is important to you in your life. Is it to be wealthy? Is it to be healthy and fit? Is it to have a thriving social life with deep and meaningful relationships? Is it all of these things?

Then take small, but take actionable steps so that you can start achieving these things.

If you want to talk more about it, we can definitely do that too.

We are in your corner man! Start making things happen.

Really enjoyed meeting you at the summit. I hope the kindle brings you value. I would say it would be all of those: Wealthy, Healthy, Socially and having lasting relationships. Thank you for holding me accountable.

@Raoul Duke man...it had to be hard to write this post. I think we've all been there but to admit it in such a public way takes intestinal fortitude.

Based on the replies it looks like you have a lot of people in your corner and high profile people at that. Makes me glad I joined this forum and listened to my inner voice telling me what MJ was preaching in his books was true and the motivation I needed to get started and over my own fears.


Let me tell you; a huge weight was lifted.



Thank you! Thank you! Appreciating everyone's time in posting a comment. I understand that only one person can give me what I am looking for. That is me. You can only provide me with the resources. But... You can't make me follow through with it. That is all on me.
 
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Jello

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As I'm reading TMF at the moment and am almost at the end i didn't want to post that soon at this forum and stick to reading threads in between just to get more acquainted with the community.

But this thread is really noteworthy and i want to say that i never saw a group of people so understanding and supporting towards their fellow members.

The book and and the forum are completing each other and although i didn't read unscripted yet (it's at top of the pile waiting to get read by me as soon i'm done with TMF ) i am pretty sure it will change my life or at least inspire me to go a certain direction.

Why? Cause the message is nothing more then common sense and is something that i already had inside of me but somebody or something had to wake it up.

But before i start a book review in the wrong thread and before i even finished the book i just wanted to say that, I'm also struggling with not really know where to start, what i want in life (besides becoming financially independent) to many choices, what's leading to procrastination and so one.

But i'm pretty sure @MJ DeMarco his books and this forum will change that. Matter in fact something did change already. It all came at the right place at the right time.

Back to @Raoul Duke, since it's your thread. I see that a lot of people including some notable members are willing to support you, but I'm more then aware the change to get back on track has to come from inside you.

But sometimes the best thing to do is just to stand up without thinking at all, shake off the dust, and reach for that helping hand...
 
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@Raoul Duke

Even though you and several other fastlane INSIDERS have berated me, been mean to me, or otherwise showed an abrasive attitude I know that deep down we're ALL here to LEARN.

You're a good person. Being honest about your failures is the first step.

I always know that below any troll post is someone who is hurting. That's why I take it in stride as best as I can.

@MJ DeMarco

Said you're trying to find your meaning and purpose.

I'll give you the truth and shortcut.

1. You're NOT broken.

2. The purpose of life is LIVE

3. We all have a unique energetic signature like atoms and molecules in the universe. What resonates is the path. You have to find your resonance.

(Shortcut)

If you choke up thinking about it on a high level then it's probably for you. It's not just all about helping people. Some of it really comes down to who you are, and it can't be measured by a personality test.

(Shortcut 2)

Even the definition of personality includes the word "mask". Take your mask off. Psychiatrists admit that all they can measure is a mask.

4. LOA gets a bad rap on here for a good reason. Most of these guys on here don't even love their self enough to take even all the "action faking" you took and then own up to it.

Let me be clearer. The LOA only works when three things are true:

A. You're deeply appreciative and OK with not being or having whatever it is. This is different from being indifferent. It is equanimity.

B. It only works when you take massive action towards your goal.

C. You love yourself and have the RIGHT end goal in mind.

5. You're fine as you are and don't even know it.

If someone said the only thing you have to so in life is get out of your own way and every wish will come true could you do it?

What if they said that getting out of your own way is tantamount to insanity because you have to beat your head against a wall like 1K times?

What if they said that the feeling is actually like moving through water and you'll know it through focus and effortlessness?

What if they then said that you'll only get this awakening a few times in your life when you're absolutely ready and hit your enough times?

Would you accept all of that and appreciate it for what is? Could you savor the moment?

Could you savor hardwork being effortless with the only thing you having to do is get out of your own way?

What if they said that the HARDEST and ONLY thing you need to do is get out of your own way?

What if they said it would take you 6 years or even 6 LIFETIMES? Could you just accept and appreciate it?

Best of luck to you. I hope you succeed. You have it in you and don't even know it. You just have to read this post carefully.
 

Vermilion

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Man, after this post I realize that I made awesome decision to join this forum that is filled with successful men and women that are willing to help no matter what. It is truly inspiring to have a support by so many people especially in today's world.

I hope everyone will achieve their dreams and live fulfilled lives. Cheers.
 

JAJT

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Success a year from now would be: Making money doing copywriting.

Dude, I was making $100 per gig after basically turning on my Upwork account with zero past history. I turned it off a month later when folks were throwing more work at me than I cared to keep up with (one guy threw literally 70-80 products at me and said once I get through that he'd have a few hundred more).

If you can write (and I believe you can based on your posts), go read the bible on how to setup upwork that @SinisterLex threw together on here, turn on your account and get going.

If you want to focus on Amazon copy specifically I'll show you how I do things personally, if you want. I won't hold your hand but I'll show you what I do, the format I deliver in, and what people are generally happy paying $75-150 per gig for. Caveat: You need to setup your upwork account FIRST, and put good effort into it, before I show you. It's not magic, it's just how I do things (which may very well be different from how anyone else does it).

It's unfortunate I only got to shake your hand at the summit and little else. The attitude I read through your posts on this thread is kind of the impression I got about you from watching you from afar though - lacking a bit of confidence and direction, a little reserved, unsure, safe, etc... However, if I can help you in any way go from "0 to 1" - let me know.
 
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eliquid

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I would highly suggest you read my sig post about depression and alignment.

I AM NOT saying you are depressed or need an alignment, but I think it would be good practice for you if you are in a turning point in life and looking for your path.

Please look it over, even if you have before and passed it up.

It has changed several people's lives already on this forum and another.

Past that, I wish you the best of luck and please reach out anytime if I can help.

.
 

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