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TheProcess

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I want to be working on something right now, on something that I like. But no matter hard or how much I try I can't seem to figure it out. I started this online business a couple months ago, but it never went anywhere. I've tried things dropshipping and created an online store for t-shirts a couple years ago but quickly gave up.I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm tired and frustrated.

All I'm trying to do right now is work on a cool project where I can work on my skills and make progress. But I don't know what. I don't know what I like or what I'm passionate about. I've read dozens of success and business books but to no avail. I'm tired of thinking. I'm tired of reading. I just want to get to work, but I just can't figure out what to work on. My mind goes blank. Every idea that I think of, I either don't like, don't have the means to do it, or the idea is garbage. I don't know what to do.

Has anyone ever been in my shoes? How did you figure things out?

Edit: Spelling.
 
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Odysseus M Jones

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What are your skills & what kind of thing do you think is cool?
 

MJ DeMarco

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I want to be working on something cool right now, on something that I like. But no matter hard or how much I try I can't seem to figure it out. I started this online business a couple months ago, but it never went anywhere. I've tried things like dropshipping and creating an online store for tshirts a couple years ago but quickly gave up. I grow to hate those things. I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm so tired and frustrated.

All I'm trying to do right now is work on some cool project where I can work on my skills and make progress. But I don't know what. I don't know what I like or what I'm passionate about. I've read dozens of success and business books but to no avail. I'm tired of thinking. I'm tired of reading. I just want to get to work, but I just can't figure out what to work on. My mind goes blank. Every idea that I think of, I'm either don't like, don't have the means to, or the idea is garbage. I don't know what to do.

Has anyone ever been in my shoes? How did you figure things out?

Gee, all those words and not one mention of value. Perhaps there's a correlation there.
 

TheProcess

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Gee, all those words and not one mention of value. Perhaps there's a correlation there.
I'm just going through a tough time man. I can't always be giving out value. I wish I could, but no one should be hearing advice from me right now. I don't have any mentors or anything. I know I sound whiny but I just figured I'd post here and see if anyone has been in a similar situation.
 
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Phikey

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How are you actually adding value with your businesses?
Who are you helping?
How are you helping them?
What problem are you solving?
How does your product or service solve that problem?

Money is just a way to signify value that can be transferred. People will give you that value-ticket if you give them something they perceive as more valuable.
If you change your mindset to giving back as much as possible then you'll be surprised at how the money flows in.

Your post was very "Me, Me, Me". A lot of people want to start a business so they can live a life of freedom. That's totally fine, but don't forget that your business doesn't exist in a vacuum and it REQUIRES other people to interact with it. If you structure your whole business so it just allows you to make easy cash with little effort then you'll be limited to only a few business models and they are incredibly competitive anyway because everyone else has the same mindset.

If you check out the successful businesses talked about here on the FLF, they're really giving back and focusing on how they add value. It's a real mindset shift. Have you read TMF and Unscripted ? Both books go into this in detail.
 

Phikey

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I'm good at some sports. I'm good at public speaking. What do I think is cool? I don't know.
A couple of ideas right here:
  • Start a youtube channel that helps people learn different parts of the sport - maybe some part that you're very good at like the technical aspects of a baseball swing. (you can sell a course/ebook)
  • Start a podcast where you interview coaches for teenage sporting teams and help other coaches learn how to deal with the big problems they face (you can sell a course/ebook)
Once you get that first subscriber, comment, sale or bit of feedback from the market - you know you're onto the right path (or if you need to change your strategy a bit). These feedback loops are really important for figuring out how your business adds value. If you just try to create a business idea and execute from scratch without any feedback from the market, it's going to be very very very hard to succeed.
Make something basic, get it out there, and see what people say. Keep tweaking it until you create something that really helps people and they'll line up to give up their cash.
 
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TheProcess

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How are you actually adding value with your businesses?
Who are you helping?
How are you helping them?
What problem are you solving?
How does your product or service solve that problem?

Money is just a way to signify value that can be transferred. People will give you that value-ticket if you give them something they perceive as more valuable.
If you change your mindset to giving back as much as possible then you'll be surprised at how the money flows in.

Your post was very "Me, Me, Me". A lot of people want to start a business so they can live a life of freedom. That's totally fine, but don't forget that your business doesn't exist in a vacuum and it REQUIRES other people to interact with it. If you structure your whole business so it just allows you to make easy cash with little effort then you'll be limited to only a few business models and they are incredibly competitive anyway because everyone else has the same mindset.

If you check out the successful businesses talked about here on the FLF, they're really giving back and focusing on how they add value. It's a real mindset shift. Have you read TMF and Unscripted ? Both books go into this in detail.
Yes I've read both books, twice.

I wrote this post when I was frustrated and angry. I've calmed down a bit now. I think I lose myself in what I want and forget about the adding of value, which is the very basis of what MJ's work is based upon. Thank you, this is what I was looking for.
 

TheProcess

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A couple of ideas right here:
  • Start a youtube channel that helps people learn different parts of the sport - maybe some part that you're very good at like the technical aspects of a baseball swing. (you can sell a course/ebook)
  • Start a podcast where you interview coaches for teenage sporting teams and help other coaches learn how to deal with the big problems they face (you can sell a course/ebook)
Once you get that first subscriber, comment, sale or bit of feedback from the market - you know you're onto the right path (or if you need to change your strategy a bit). These feedback loops are really important for figuring out how your business adds value. If you just try to create a business idea and execute from scratch without any feedback from the market, it's going to be very very very hard to succeed.
Make something basic, get it out there, and see what people say. Keep tweaking it until you create something that really helps people and they'll line up to give up their cash.
I like sports, but I don't like to talk about it. It's just something that I like to do.
 

Andy Black

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I want to be working on something right now, on something that I like. But no matter hard or how much I try I can't seem to figure it out. I started this online business a couple months ago, but it never went anywhere. I've tried things dropshipping and created an online store for t-shirts a couple years ago but quickly gave up.I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm tired and frustrated.

All I'm trying to do right now is work on a cool project where I can work on my skills and make progress. But I don't know what. I don't know what I like or what I'm passionate about. I've read dozens of success and business books but to no avail. I'm tired of thinking. I'm tired of reading. I just want to get to work, but I just can't figure out what to work on. My mind goes blank. Every idea that I think of, I either don't like, don't have the means to do it, or the idea is garbage. I don't know what to do.

Has anyone ever been in my shoes? How did you figure things out?

Edit: Spelling.
Maybe listen to this:
> HOT TOPIC - (Audio) Who have you helped?
 
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TheProcess

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Ok so I've listen to the first half of it. This is my question to you. The person that you were talking to was able to help people because of his LinkedIn knowledge. How can you help people if you feel like you don't have that knowledge. I have no idea how I can help people.
 

Odysseus M Jones

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How old are you?
Where have you been, what have you done?
Do you go out much, see what's happening around you?
Engaged in activities with people from different walks of life?
Sports are great for that.

Ideas come from what you experience.
Get out & about, do stuff, that's where you'll find your interests, new experiences, that's where the best ideas come from.
 

Andy Black

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TheProcess

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How old are you?
Where have you been, what have you done?
Do you go out much, see what's happening around you?
Engaged in activities with people from different walks of life?
Sports are great for that.

Ideas come from what you experience.
Get out & about, do stuff, that's where you'll find your interests, new experiences, that's where the best ideas come from.
I'm 20. Been to some countries in europe. I live in canada. Theres the quarantine now so can't go out much.

What are some examples of such activities?
 

manth0ny

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I can relate(I think). I know in my heart of hearts that I want to be financially free and realized a long time ago that I wouldn't get there working 9-5 M-F or in my case usually 4-2 Tue-Sa as I worked in the restaurant industry for years. I'd get serious anxiety thinking of having to do that for the next 40-60! To abate that feeling I'd have a self-imposed shelf life for any current job, usually working in one place for no more than 2-3 years...the new restaurant would give me "new"challenges(new menu items, new staff to get to know, new route to work) but the newness would eventually wear off and I'd get that panic feeling again. I started thinking that in order for my situation to fundamentally change that I needed to change, my mindset needed to change...I pretty much needed a wholesale change. So I read all the books, listened to some tapes and started to brew up some brilliant ideas that would lead me to my destiny. NOPE! All I did was create more anxiety by brainstorming ideas that I had no clue on how to develop, start, market or see to fruition, giving me even worse anxiety (If I can't do this than I WILL have to work for the man until I'm 90!). I have a pretty good idea of what the rest of my life would like if I remain scripted and it ultimately gives me a way bigger NO EFFING WAY feeling than maybe being uncomfortable thinking of creating something myself and struggling sometimes. When I'm working and and something irks me, I take it and vision myself writing it down on paper and then throwing it into a furnace that burns inside me to fuel my pursuit. Maybe that sounds too new age for some, but believe me whenever I need a little kick in the butt I think of the encyclopedia's worth of paper notes that I've tossed into that furnace and I can see how big the flames have grown, how hot the fire has become and I know I can't succumb to mediocrity...I have to strive for more! So I keep on thinking up new ideas and I still have no idea how to facilitate 90% of them. I just keep taking the next easiest step whenever I'm dead stuck and keep plugging away. Listen, I don't know if anything I've written will or can help...but just know that you're not alone in your posted thoughts.
 

Bekit

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I took a quick look through your threads just now.

Your intro:

You felt lost and wanted to quit college.

I know I want to live a great extraordinary life, I want to be recognized as a great figure.
I recently told my parents about these thoughts I’m having about dropping out. They didn’t take it well. My dad has been pretty depressed since I told him a week ago. He thinks I’m getting brainwashed online and that I have no idea how the real world works. He doesn’t know if I’m even made for business and entrepreneurship. I don’t know either, all I know is that I want to be great. However, my actions have not supported this. I have been very lazy, and even though I did well (in terms of marks) in my first year of university, I have yet to make money on my own, and I have yet to start working on any business.
I spend time watching sports and tv shows and being pissed off about my life. I pretty much don’t have any real skills. I do dish washing as a part time job. However, I sense that I have something “special” inside of me.

Fortunately, you decided not to quit.

I'm studying business at school. One of the top schools in my country. It opens doors in terms of networking and there a lot of opportunities around. Honestly, I was considering quitting school (just finished my first year). I decided against it for now.

You tried Lex's Upwork tutorial, but gave up the same day.

Alright, I'm committing. Thanks man.
  • Why are you doing this?
I want freedom over my life. I'm 19 and I grew up in a family that is stuck in the SCRIPTED perspective. I don't want to live that life. I want control and power over my circumstances. I want time to be on my side. I want to have fun and enjoy myself. I want to bring positive change to people and to humanity. I want to grow to my full potential and I know how difficult that is going to be. Entrepreneurship is the way to to do that, and I need to start somewhere. I haven't done shit so far. I've just been reading books since I was 16 when I discovered this forum and TMF. It's time for action. Since you're such a big member of this forum, I will give this a shot.
  • Describe your endgame in specific detail...
My endgame in life? Sure I'll give it a shot. I want to be remembered as one of the greatest people of all time. I want a real legacy behind my name, one where I helped many people. But I also want to feel as though I lived life to my full capacity.
Hey I'm sorry. Just watched the first couple videos and seems like I got the wrong idea about what this thread was going to be. Unfortunately I don't think I can freelance at Upwork because I don't have any freelancing skills. I thought this video series was going to be teaching some of those skills so that I could use them when freelancing. Anyways, my bad.

You started a progress thread and got some really good advice.

You had a minimum wage job as a dishwasher and landed a better-paying job that allowed you to work from home on a company laptop. This sounds like a dream to give you the flexibility to pursue entrepreneurship.
- Working as a dish washer, minimum wage (14 bucks an hour for 42 hours bi-weekly). Been working there for over a month. So I make 294$ a week on 21 hours.
- Had a job interview at a prestigious company (connection from parents). Got the job. Training starts in 2 weeks. I will be working 40 hours a week there as a technician help-desk person. I have no experience in tech or in a professional setting so this will be good for me. Also, the pay will be 18$/hour instead of 14$, and will rise to 22$/hour once school starts in September (they want me to work 10 hrs/week during the school year). Also, this is a job where I will be working from home on a laptop they give me, so no cost of transportation. So I will be making 720$ a week on 40 hours soon. And 220$ a week on 10 hours when the school year starts.

The job apparently brought you good things.
So I got a job, made some good money. Then I got some nice fitting clothes. I went to the gym consistently. Then I made big strides socially. Pretty much I improved my overall confidence and happiness in life.

You don't have a clear goal and don't really know how to set one.

My goals are super vague long-term goals. As for specific short-term ones, those are difficult as of now because I still haven't figured out what product/service/business to focus on. I'm going to be trying a bunch of things and seeing what works and go from there.
The thing is, these lifetime goals are so vague. I know I want to have a big audience, I know I want to run successful businesses, I know I want to reach my highest potential in all areas of life. But these vague goals can't get more specific because most of the specifics are learned during the process, and these specifics are always changing.

Your schedule is not very disciplined.

I usually wake up at 10-11 am. I do, however, unfortunately consume too much and produce too little (or nothing at all). Definitely something I need to change.

You do have high expectations for yourself.

the very fact that I'm even existing is a freaking miracle, and to be in this poisition, at 19 years of age, in a great developed country with a healthy body is something to be very grateful for. I've had very high expectations for myself and this has led to a form of paralysis. I've been trying to let go of those expectations and live more so in the moment.

You realize that you need discipline and work ethic.

- Wasted most of my time doing stuff like watching TV. Utter waste of time. I need to be better. I need to have more precise goals/commitments and create an environment that makes it easier for me to make good progress. Discipline is the most important thing and I'm seriously lacking in this area. My work ethic is garbage.
- I just couldn't bring myself to do anything productive. I tried learning about freelancing from reading some of Lex's posts but I didn't get far. I don't know what's wrong with me. I seem to have no motivation, no urgency, and no energy to do anything productive in reaching financial independence. I'm beating myself up over this.

Today's rating:
- Bad day. Just stayed in bed. Went outside a few times but did nothing productive. At this point, this is worse than action-faking because there isn't even any action being taken. I'm embarrassed.

You've actually had a bunch of really good contacts with potential mentors.

- Was considering dropping out but met with an entrepreneur over coffee two weeks ago who convinced me it would be best to not drop out until I have a business running and making real progress. He also recommended starting the t-shirt Shopify store I will mention soon.
- I've been talking to this entrepreneur who made it big time and who went to my university. We spoke on the phone and he talked about all the different side hustles he did when he was at my uni, stuff I had never thought about, maybe I could do some of those things next year. I set up a meeting at his office. Now he owns a big business.
- Found a guy a few years older who is doing social media for 6-7 businesses. I'm setting something up with him to go under his wing and just to try to add value and to learn as much as I can from him, I don't care about the money right now. Goal should be to learn as much and then to try to replicate what he does with just one business to start with.
- Got in contact with an old friend of mine (who used to be my boss for another job and who's like 10 years older than me). This guy is a true entrepreneur. He's tried it all and seems to be pretty damn successful from what we talked about on the phone. I'm going to look to set up a proper meeting with him and to see if he knows what is a good avenue/industry to focus on at the moment.

You experience a fair amount of anger at times. This reduces your ability to produce.

Those guys all have their own businesses and legit websites. I hate to admit it, but seeing their success really pissed me off. That ruined another big chunk of my day. I tried my best to be stoic and compare myself to who I was yesterday instead of other people but it was hard. I was just super angry the second half of the day.
I'm truly pissed off at things. I just want to have a damn FTE moment. I want to be focused and happy with my process.
- This thread has just become a joke. Like what's the damn point anymore. I feel like everyone reading this probably thinks I'm a dreampreneur, action faker, and the million of other words used to describe wannabe entrepreneurs. I need to pull it together.

You've asked for a fair amount of advice.

You started a business! Yay!
I created an online business with my cofounder a few weeks ago. So far, we've done some market research, an experiment to test our idea, wrote a 10 page business plan, created a prototype website, applied for funding, and interviewed several potential CTOs.

That was April 22, 2020.

By April 28, you and your cofounder had already decided to part ways.

My cofounder and I decided it would be best to part ways.

On May 4, you were still excited about the business and asking about how to build your social media presence.

By May 6, you were losing interest. You're not even really sure why or what to do about it.
I've quickly lost passion for the business I started a month ago. I used to work all day on it. Now It's hard for me to sit down even for half an hour.
I started a business a month ago, and I was really into it and working all day everyday on it. But about a week ago I just lost all passion it seems. I can't even sit down for an hour to work on it. Why do you think that happened?

And on May 12, you shared your observation that you work better with others.
I've noticed that I can't work alone. I start thinking instead of doing. I start over analyzing every single decision and start doubting myself.

But when I work with others, or with a partner, everything is put into perspective. It's almost as though I don't want to let my partner down, or my partner's image of me down. A business partner keeps me accountable, and I work hard without over analyzing every decision.

Is anyone else like this?

I'm curious to understand why I'm like this. It isn't even just business. For school, for example, I'm 10 times more productive if I have a study buddy, if I head to the library with someone.

With some other things I'm different. When it comes to working out, for example, I'm very self-motivated and can work out every single day.

Here's what stands out to me the most from all this. This is the common thread I see running through your posts.

I think you struggle with self-motivation. And that defeats your progress, which leads to self-hatred and beating yourself up.

(I say this out of kindness, not out of accusation or "piling on" to the self-beating you're already giving yourself. I am very similar. I know how it feels. I know how frustrating it can be to just not be able to MAKE YOURSELF DO WHAT YOU KNOW IS IN YOUR BEST INTEREST.)

Is there a way to manufacture urgency? I've noticed that the time when I was most willing to work hard and concentrate on creating a Fastlane business was when I told my parents I was dropping out of University. They told me I would be kicked out of the house. That created great pressure for me and I had pretty great focus for like a week. But then I decided I'd go back for a second year, and I found that I was back in the comfort-feeling of my own home. I'm trying to figure out a way to create that same urgency but without making such a reckless decision.
How do you think I should deal with the negative emotions associated with wanting so much but making so little progress?
How are you able to stay focused all day long and sustain the level of energy you need to both do your job and work on your business/life? Does it get difficult sometimes?
I wish I were like you... my goals so desirable that I can't stop working toward them. For some reason it seems to have the opposite effect on me. I find it hard to feel motivated and "alive" during the process. Perhaps it's a biological issue. Or maybe this will change once I get some momentum going my way, once I start to see results.
I have felt that feeling a "flow" a few times in my life, however. When something is so compelling that you just don't want to stop.

So - here are some practical thoughts that I think can help you get out of the negative feedback loop you're currently stuck in, and change it for a positive one.

  1. You will likely continue to experience failure and frustration until you man up and develop self-discipline. It is urgent that you do this now. Otherwise, you could end up twice your age, still leaning on other people to crack the whip over you to get you to produce. 40-year-old you WILL NOT FIND THIS FUN. I would recommend a dopamine fast to kick off the process. Hike the Appalachian Trail or something. Get yourself outdoors and away from devices and TV, at least for a few days. Detox your brain from the dopamine drip you've been feeding it. Dig up the soil and plant a garden. Whatever. Interact with the physical world, not the digital one, for a few days.
  2. Design a setup where you can START winning and KEEP winning. Find the smallest possible WIN that contributes to your goals. In your old execution thread, your "WIN" that you were working for was "Making a sale." No. Break it down further than that. What do you need to do prior that sale, in order to lead up to a sale? Who do you need to BE in order to get that sale? Maybe you say, "OK, my win will be waking up at 6:00 AM every day for a week." No. Break it down even further, because waking up like that is not going to be a slam dunk. So you say, OK, my win will be waking up ONCE at 6:00 AM. No. Break it down even before that. Because you'll be going to bed too late to get up at 6:00 AM. So you say, "OK, my win will be to go to bed by 9:00." But then, you're not going to be tired at 9:00, so you're going to be tempted to stay on your computer. So you back up to the REAL step. "OK, my win will be that every time I catch myself wasting time on a distraction, IN THAT SAME MOMENT, I'm going to STOP and do something productive." (Define what it is so it's concrete. Also define a reward, and deliver that reward to yourself consistently. Even if it's just a silly reward like one chocolate chip.). NOW you're on track. This is defining your wins in a direction that will serve you.
  3. Verbal thrashings will not make you more productive or more motivated. What you're trying to do is alternatively hype yourself up into action (works for a while and then fails) and then scold yourself for not acting up to your standards (works for a while and then fails). This is not the solution.
  4. There may be a biological component to what you're experiencing. The way you describe yourself sounds similar to ADHD. Read about the executive function in the brain. Your executive function is the part of you that says, "OK, I'm going to do this now." You maybe be struggling to get the executive function to turn on. If this is the case, there are two easy ways to self-medicate. Try experimenting with yourself with these two things to see if it helps. One is caffeine. Try drinking coffee shortly before doing a task you struggle with. See if this improves your ability to DO what you've DECIDED to do. The second one is vigorous exercise (whatever level of physical exertion that will leave you breathless and sweating). Try exercise immediately before you sit down to do something that requires focus.
  5. There may be a psychological component to what you're experiencing. I suspect depression. There is so much help to be found in therapy, and the outcome can be removing that mysterious inner "boredom" that causes you to reject idea after idea.
  6. There may also be an inner resistance to the idea of what "working" and "adulthood" means. I have had to deal with this. Everything on the inside of me would be screaming, "NO! I don't consent to this. I want to be GREAT! I want to do things that are COOL! I want to be amazing! I reject drudgery! I reject monotony. I'm not ok with the next few decades of my life being dedicated to toiling and slaving away." It can be very difficult to come to terms with this, square your shoulders, look work in the face, and say, "OK. This is my existence until I make it. Deal." Work is not fun or pretty or sexy. It's the RESULTS of work that we like. As children, we enjoyed the results of our PARENTS' work without having to put in the work. As adults, we don't get to skip ahead to the results. It's a rude awakening.
[edit: This posted prematurely while I was still fleshing out my thoughts on #2]
 
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TheProcess

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I took a quick look through your threads just now.

Your intro:

You felt lost and wanted to quit college.



Fortunately, you decided not to quit.



You tried Lex's Upwork tutorial, but gave up the same day.




You started a progress thread and got some really good advice.

You had a minimum wage job as a dishwasher and landed a better-paying job that allowed you to work from home on a company laptop. This sounds like a dream to give you the flexibility to pursue entrepreneurship.


The job apparently brought you good things.


You don't have a clear goal and don't really know how to set one.




Your schedule is not very disciplined.



You do have high expectations for yourself.



You realize that you need discipline and work ethic.




You've actually had a bunch of really good contacts with potential mentors.






You experience a fair amount of anger at times. This reduces your ability to produce.





You've asked for a fair amount of advice.

You started a business! Yay!


That was April 22, 2020.

By April 28, you and your cofounder had already decided to part ways.



On May 4, you were still excited about the business and asking about how to build your social media presence.

By May 6, you were losing interest. You're not even really sure why or what to do about it.



And on May 12, you shared your observation that you work better with others.


Here's what stands out to me the most from all this. This is the common thread I see running through your posts.

I think you struggle with self-motivation. And that defeats your progress, which leads to self-hatred and beating yourself up.

(I say this out of kindness, not out of accusation or "piling on" to the self-beating you're already giving yourself. I am very similar. I know how it feels. I know how frustrating it can be to just not be able to MAKE YOURSELF DO WHAT YOU KNOW IS IN YOUR BEST INTEREST.)





So - here are some practical thoughts that I think can help you get out of the negative feedback loop you're currently stuck in, and change it for a positive one.

  1. You will likely continue to experience failure and frustration until you man up and develop self-discipline. It is urgent that you do this now. Otherwise, you could end up twice your age, still leaning on other people to crack the whip over you to get you to produce. 40-year-old you WILL NOT FIND THIS FUN. I would recommend a dopamine fast to kick off the process. Hike the Appalachian Trail or something. Get yourself outdoors and away from devices and TV, at least for a few days. Detox your brain from the dopamine drip you've been feeding it. Dig up the soil and plant a garden. Whatever. Interact with the physical world, not the digital one, for a few days.
  2. Design a setup where you can START winning and KEEP winning. Find the smallest possible WIN that contributes to your goals. In your old execution thread, your "WIN" that you were working for was "Making a sale." No. Break it down further than that. What do you need to do prior that sale, in order to lead up to a sale? Who do you need to BE in order to get that sale? Maybe you say, "OK, my win will be waking up at 6:00 AM every day for a week." No. Break it down even further, because waking up like that is not going to be a slam dunk. So you say, OK, my win will be waking up ONCE at 6:00 AM. No. Break it down even before that. Because you'll be going to bed too late to get up at 6:00 AM. So you say, "OK, my win will be to go to bed by 9:00." But then, you're not going to be tired at 9:00, so you're going to be tempted to stay on your computer. So you back up to the REAL step. "OK, my win will be that every time I catch myself wasting time on a distraction, IN THAT SAME MOMENT, I'm going to STOP and do something productive." (Define what it is so it's concrete). NOW you're on track. This is defining your wins in a direction that will serve you.
  3. Verbal thrashings will not make you more productive or more motivated. What you're trying to do is alternatively hype yourself up into action (works for a while and then fails) and then scold yourself for not acting up to your standards (works for a while and then fails). This is not the solution.
  4. There may be a biological component to what you're experiencing. The way you describe yourself sounds similar to ADHD. Read about the executive function in the brain. Your executive function is the part of you that says, "OK, I'm going to do this now." You maybe be struggling to get the executive function to turn on. If this is the case, there are two easy ways to self-medicate. Try experimenting with yourself with these two things to see if it helps. One is caffeine. Try drinking coffee shortly before doing a task you struggle with. See if this improves your ability to DO what you've DECIDED to do. The second one is vigorous exercise (whatever level of physical exertion that will leave you breathless and sweating). Try exercise immediately before you sit down to do something that requires focus.
  5. There may be a psychological component to what you're experiencing. I suspect depression. There is so much help to be found in therapy, and the outcome can be removing that mysterious inner "boredom" that causes you to reject idea after idea.
  6. There may also be an inner resistance to the idea of what "working" and "adulthood" means. I have had to deal with this. Everything on the inside of me would be screaming, "NO! I don't consent to this. I want to be GREAT! I want to do things that are COOL! I want to be amazing! I reject drudgery! I reject monotony. I'm not ok with the next few decades of my life being dedicated to toiling and slaving away." It can be very difficult to come to terms with this, square your shoulders, look work in the face, and say, "OK. This is my existence until I make it. Deal." Work is not fun or pretty or sexy. It's the RESULTS of work that we like. As children, we enjoyed the results of our PARENTS' work without having to put in the work. As adults, we don't get to skip ahead to the results. It's a rude awakening.
Wow. Thank you. I'm going to DM you.
 

sparechange

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I want to be working on something right now, on something that I like. But no matter hard or how much I try I can't seem to figure it out. I started this online business a couple months ago, but it never went anywhere. I've tried things dropshipping and created an online store for t-shirts a couple years ago but quickly gave up.I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm tired and frustrated.

All I'm trying to do right now is work on a cool project where I can work on my skills and make progress. But I don't know what. I don't know what I like or what I'm passionate about. I've read dozens of success and business books but to no avail. I'm tired of thinking. I'm tired of reading. I just want to get to work, but I just can't figure out what to work on. My mind goes blank. Every idea that I think of, I either don't like, don't have the means to do it, or the idea is garbage. I don't know what to do.

Has anyone ever been in my shoes? How did you figure things out?

Edit: Spelling.

Noone needs another drop shipping store first of all.

Second of all, noone needs another tshirt store (there is millions of them already) You are chasing a cat with tuna when you need to be doing the opposite.

You are ''pushing money'' away from you by chasing it, attract it with creating real value, not chasing it away by offering crappy t shirts or Chinese dropped shipped garbage like all the millions of bozos in the online space. As MJ always says noone cares about your passions or what you want to do, people are selfish, exploit their selfishness by PROVIDING to them.

Your making it harder than it is.
 

JHZ

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I would suggest that first of all, stop beating yourself up. You are 20, I get that you are hungry and want to jump straight into doing some cool projects, but things take time. I've been in your shoes. Everyday I was tired of being a wantpreneur, an action-faker, and it only made me more miserable, and the self loathing intensified.

It seems that your lack of clarity is originated by a lack of a clear objective. It seems that right now, your focus is "I just want to start a business that makes money", whereas your focus should be "I noticed this problem/possible improvement and I want to offer a solution". When your objective is clear, the next steps you have to take become crystal clear. MJ talks about it in this video:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19zXV4Tptcw


If your focus is on "start a business" no wonder why you can not figure out what to do next! Thats a very broad focus (Should I drop ship, learn to code, find a supplier in China, cold call businesses?) but if your focus is say "Make a device that helps you find your lost AirPods" (happened to me the last week, spent about 3 hours turning my house upside down, super frustrating, and also a potential business idea) then what to do suddenly becomes super clear! (find out if there is already an existing solution out there, figure out what could be done better, learn how something like that could be designed and manufactured, make your own design, etc.)

Note that I said clear, not easy or convenient.

I started this online business a couple months ago, but it never went anywhere. I've tried things dropshipping and created an online store for t-shirts a couple years ago but quickly gave up

It seems that so far in your entrepreneurial journey, you have started projects that are easy and convenient, not necessarily businesses that are solving a problem or focused on a need. Which is fine! You are still learning (as am I) and sometimes those projects, although not very profitable, can help with your growth. So you can later start pursuing bigger and better things.

Every idea that I think of, I either don't like, don't have the means to do it, or the idea is garbage. I don't know what to do.

Again, just guessing, but I get the feel like the ideas you have could actually be good, but maybe are things that are too difficult, or things you don't know how to do. But, if you remember, that IS the opportunity! Building solutions that are hard, take time, and force you to learn and grow.

Overall, from what I've seen on the last posts, it seems that you are doing fine, you are just still learning (again, as I'm also am :) ) If you only get one thing from this message let it be that beating yourself up is not helping you becoming the version of yourself that you want (if you want more info about being more compassionate with yourself, I suggest you read "Self Compassion" By Kristin Neff ) and that you need to shift your focus from money to value and problem solving.

Perhaps you could start with a side hustle that helps/offers value to people, makes you learn new things, grow and acquire some capital that you can then use to fund other projects (note that all of this will take some time and effort!)

Keep it going man, I bet that you have already taken more action than a lot of people, you just need to shift that action into the correct things. If you ever feel down or want to talk with someone about feeling stuck just PM me. I'm not an expert by any means, but I see myself in a lot of what you said and I know how bad it can feel.

Hope that helps, have a great day
 
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TheProcess

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I would suggest that first of all, stop beating yourself up. You are 20, I get that you are hungry and want to jump straight into doing some cool projects, but things take time. I've been in your shoes. Everyday I was tired of being a wantpreneur, an action-faker, and it only made me more miserable, and the self loathing intensified.

It seems that your lack of clarity is originated by a lack of a clear objective. It seems that right now, your focus is "I just want to start a business that makes money", whereas your focus should be "I noticed this problem/possible improvement and I want to offer a solution". When your objective is clear, the next steps you have to take become crystal clear. MJ talks about it in this video:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19zXV4Tptcw


If your focus is on "start a business" no wonder why you can not figure out what to do next! Thats a very broad focus (Should I drop ship, learn to code, find a supplier in China, cold call businesses?) but if your focus is say "Make a device that helps you find your lost AirPods" (happened to me the last week, spent about 3 hours turning my house upside down, super frustrating, and also a potential business idea) then what to do suddenly becomes super clear! (find out if there is already an existing solution out there, figure out what could be done better, learn how something like that could be designed and manufactured, make your own design, etc.)

Note that I said clear, not easy or convenient.



It seems that so far in your entrepreneurial journey, you have started projects that are easy and convenient, not necessarily businesses that are solving a problem or focused on a need. Which is fine! You are still learning (as am I) and sometimes those projects, although not very profitable, can help with your growth. So you can later start pursuing bigger and better things.



Again, just guessing, but I get the feel like the ideas you have could actually be good, but maybe are things that are too difficult, or things you don't know how to do. But, if you remember, that IS the opportunity! Building solutions that are hard, take time, and force you to learn and grow.

Overall, from what I've seen on the last posts, it seems that you are doing fine, you are just still learning (again, as I'm also am :) ) If you only get one thing from this message let it be that beating yourself up is not helping you becoming the version of yourself that you want (if you want more info about being more compassionate with yourself, I suggest you read "Self Compassion" By Kristin Neff ) and that you need to shift your focus from money to value and problem solving.

Perhaps you could start with a side hustle that helps/offers value to people, makes you learn new things, grow and acquire some capital that you can then use to fund other projects (note that all of this will take some time and effort!)

Keep it going man, I bet that you have already taken more action than a lot of people, you just need to shift that action into the correct things. If you ever feel down or want to talk with someone about feeling stuck just PM me. I'm not an expert by any means, but I see myself in a lot of what you said and I know how bad it can feel.

Hope that helps, have a great day
Thank you! I appreciate the encouragement. I have a question.

You said: "whereas your focus should be "I noticed this problem/possible improvement and I want to offer a solution""

I honestly have been thinking and I just can't think of anything. How can I go about finding problems?
 

JHZ

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Thank you! I appreciate the encouragement. I have a question.

You said: "whereas your focus should be "I noticed this problem/possible improvement and I want to offer a solution""

I honestly have been thinking and I just can't think of anything. How can I go about finding problems?
Have you read Unscripted ? There's a whole chapter dedicated to engineering value and finding business ideas.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr_sj4Cq6GM&t=205s


This video by MJ also summarizes it pretty well

As for me, I have a note on my phone where each day a write down things that I notice that could be done better (example, the product that I use to comb my hair does not hold for long, and the fragrance is not that great, I write it down), things that I would like someone to offer (example: I cooked some roast meat on Sunday and the coal made my cloths smell terrible, I wish someone offered something to help me with that, write that down), or random thoughts/complains from others (my mom is on a diet and complained that she had to go a lot so the supermarket, is this something that can be solved?, is there value to offer here?, write it down).

Some people do it on paper, for me its more convenient to do it on my phone.Honestly, finding ideas is a practice, you do it every day, you write down every potential business idea that you get, no matter how dumb you think it is. As you keep doing it every day, you start to become more and more aware of all the ideas that are out there. If you absolutely can't get yourself to do it, allocate 30 minutes of the day to sit down with a piece of paper and a pen and just brainstorm things that can be done better, solutions to existing problems, ways that you can help your fellow humans, stuff you wish someone somewhere could please make.

If you keep struggling with ideas, I suggest you read the book "Steal like an artist" by Austin Kleon. It helped me tremendously with creativity and coming up with "new" ideas.

Hope that helps
 

Phikey

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Wow, holy heck, there's so much high value advice in this thread. @Bekit really broke it down and I hope others see this thread too! A lot people in the same situation (I remember I was too, back in 2013 and it sucked).
 
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sparechange

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Thank you! I appreciate the encouragement. I have a question.

You said: "whereas your focus should be "I noticed this problem/possible improvement and I want to offer a solution""

I honestly have been thinking and I just can't think of anything. How can I go about finding problems?

Man there is so many problems in the world, solve some, and the universe will return what you give to it. Entrepreneurship is totally a give and receive type game, all the people that have won at it have impacted tons of people on a massive scale and likely sold hundreds of thousands if not millions of products, or sold services to other human beings.

Start small, in the community. Sell 10 of something that's valuable, 100 and so on. People will line up and beg you to take their money, look at luxury brands, just the other day I was at the mall, and even during this ''pandemic'' there were dozens of people standing in a crowded mall looking to give away hundreds, if not thousands of dollars of their own hard earned money to Apple, Lululemon and some crappy jewelry stores.

Don't chase money, attract it.. learn the art of sales and why people blow money on useless things, most things on the market are total garbage. People make millions of dollars selling socks and pet rocks (that's perceived value) Which hopefully you understand the difference.

You know whats a problem in my area? Scumbags that break into cars, how about unbreakable windows? How many bazillions of dollars could you make solving that problem?
 

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You sound exactly like me when I was at that age.....

I feel all these boils down to getting no traction in whatever you do.
Put it this way; if you had earned $4k from all those dropshipping hustles you did, would you have given up or continued to scale that bigger?

What you need to do now, at 20 years of age, is to get more life experiences, work for someone, and above all, get good at a skill, be well-versed in whatever domain you work in.

If you look at the successful folks on this forum, most of them had a skill of sorts which they then used to help them make it big. MJ knew programming in his early days; that helped him get his big break. Ravens_shadow does Vfx software; he knew coding and was working in that industry if I remember correctly. Lex_deville was great at copywriting and his business was based on that.
Eliquid - digital marketing. Fox - web design.

Forget about CENTS and Unscripted and Fastlane for now. Focus on a skill first, get good and run with that. When you get good at a skill and are well-versed in your domain, you'll be able to see the problems and solutions in that industry, you'll be so familiar with the target audience of that same indsutry, and then you can create a business to fix that.
 
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Kevin88660

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I want to be working on something right now, on something that I like. But no matter hard or how much I try I can't seem to figure it out. I started this online business a couple months ago, but it never went anywhere. I've tried things dropshipping and created an online store for t-shirts a couple years ago but quickly gave up.I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm tired and frustrated.

All I'm trying to do right now is work on a cool project where I can work on my skills and make progress. But I don't know what. I don't know what I like or what I'm passionate about. I've read dozens of success and business books but to no avail. I'm tired of thinking. I'm tired of reading. I just want to get to work, but I just can't figure out what to work on. My mind goes blank. Every idea that I think of, I either don't like, don't have the means to do it, or the idea is garbage. I don't know what to do.

Has anyone ever been in my shoes? How did you figure things out?

Edit: Spelling.
Not really a bad start. You have tried things and got your hands dirty. You know how to run business operations in the fields you tried.

Probably you have chosen low barrier of entry business that are already overcrowded today. The not so difficult money was made in the earlier day. These games were like 19 century gold rush stories, by the time everyone was rushing to buy a shovel the only money making business was selling a shovel.

If I were you I would pick a trade or industry that is going to be difficult at the start but you can accumulate long term assets (skill, client base, experience) that acts as a barrier to entry.

I will consider

1) What country do I live in and what are the Stable or growing industries here? What are the trends in consumer behavior?
2) How big is the market?
3) What existing assets do I have? (Skill or network, like an uncle in the industry?)
4) Is it something that I can kick start with low cost so that I do not lose too much if things do not go as well as I wanted?
I am not sure if you have a full time job now. If so You could understand that industry really well.

If not you can brain storm and research..You can also seek to get a job in the industry for 1-2 years to acquire domain knowledge. It is a much easier path if you have bills to pay and it is not so easy to acquire knowledge without working for someone.

Cool project...not sure what skills you have or willing to learn. If you look at Riots in Minnesota And Hong Kong, government demand for riots control and Surveillance will go up and will continue to do so. I talked to a friend working as a policeman he says mass installation of high solution 24-7 cctv is simply financially not feasible. So Private Security or surveillance technology in my opinion are two big trends. Surveillance technology doesn’t have to be super high-tech. It could be an app for Ordinary civilian snitches to upload photos of rioters. The app just need to have basic intelligence that these four photos are pointing to a person and that two photos are point to another person for easy categorization. The GPS on mobile phone can already point to riot locations.
 

TheProcess

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Not really a bad start. You have tried things and got your hands dirty. You know how to run business operations in the fields you tried.

Probably you have chosen low barrier of entry business that are already overcrowded today. The not so difficult money was made in the earlier day. These games were like 19 century gold rush stories, by the time everyone was rushing to buy a shovel the only money making business was selling a shovel.

If I were you I would pick a trade or industry that is going to be difficult at the start but you can accumulate long term assets (skill, client base, experience) that acts as a barrier to entry.

I will consider

1) What country do I live in and what are the Stable or growing industries here? What are the trends in consumer behavior?
2) How big is the market?
3) What existing assets do I have? (Skill or network, like an uncle in the industry?)
4) Is it something that I can kick start with low cost so that I do not lose too much if things do not go as well as I wanted?
I am not sure if you have a full time job now. If so You could understand that industry really well.

If not you can brain storm and research..You can also seek to get a job in the industry for 1-2 years to acquire domain knowledge. It is a much easier path if you have bills to pay and it is not so easy to acquire knowledge without working for someone.

Cool project...not sure what skills you have or willing to learn. If you look at Riots in Minnesota And Hong Kong, government demand for riots control and Surveillance will go up and will continue to do so. I talked to a friend working as a policeman he says mass installation of high solution 24-7 cctv is simply financially not feasible. So Private Security or surveillance technology in my opinion are two big trends. Surveillance technology doesn’t have to be super high-tech. It could be an app for Ordinary civilian snitches to upload photos of rioters. The app just need to have basic intelligence that these four photos are pointing to a person and that two photos are point to another person for easy categorization. The GPS on mobile phone can already point to riot locations.
Thanks! What do you think of real estate? I have an uncle who is doing quite well in real estate.
 

TheProcess

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You sound exactly like me when I was at that age.....

I feel all these boils down to getting no traction in whatever you do.
Put it this way; if you had earned $4k from all those dropshipping hustles you did, would you have given up or continued to scale that bigger?

What you need to do now, at 20 years of age, is to get more life experiences, work for someone, and above all, get good at a skill, be well-versed in whatever domain you work in.

If you look at the successful folks on this forum, most of them had a skill of sorts which they then used to help them make it big. MJ knew programming in his early days; that helped him get his big break. Ravens_shadow does Vfx software; he knew coding and was working in that industry if I remember correctly. Lex_deville was great at copywriting and his business was based on that.
Eliquid - digital marketing. Fox - web design.

Forget about CENTS and Unscripted and Fastlane for now. Focus on a skill first, get good and run with that. When you get good at a skill and are well-versed in your domain, you'll be able to see the problems and solutions in that industry, you'll be so familiar with the target audience of that same indsutry, and then you can create a business to fix that.
Thanks man, super helpful! I'll start looking at trying to find a skill. Not sure what it will be, but I'm searching.
 
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Kevin88660

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Thanks! What do you think of real estate? I have an uncle who is doing quite well in real estate.
I am in financial sales. I have a very positive views of real estates.

It is just a business that will stay with us next 50 years.

Couples need to buy flat when they get married. People love to invest in them.

If you build a client base and serve them well for the first few years the referral will come. But it takes a few years of grind. And you are 20. Time is our your side. Go call your uncle and speak to him. :)
 

sparechange

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I think your better off with a job, not exactly a bad thing. Entrepreneurship isn't for everyone.
 

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