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Do you feel like giving up? Read this...

Simon Angel

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Most of the best advice and care for being Motivated and get things done has been given in this thread by all the legendary posters. The words in this thread are gems, dropped from sky, 1 by 1.

How @Bekit deconstructed his mindset and showed a path to start.
How @Andy Black shared thread links to get out of that limited mindset.
How @ZCP (thank you) gave him the only thought process he needs to achieve his desire life.
How @sparechange pointed action faking. Utilized his anger to motive him. The way he kicked his a** so that he starts taking actions. The 'CARE' sparechange showed made me remember our 'Eric Cheescakes" buddy. How ZCP gave the similar 'CARE' to him.

How @everyone else has told him that nothing is stopping you than yourself. How failure is a part of the process. how you need to grit and dedication & how to achieve these.

In this thread, each and every post is filled with what newcomers with the limited mindset needed to start something on their Entrepreneur journey.

@TheProcess so buddy, show us what have you done? If you haven't, what will you do? don't let the advice go to waste for you. I am sure others will feel blessed after reading this read(i am). What will you take from all this and take action?

Let us know what have you done?

I was the one that referred Eric's Cheesecakes to this forum years ago, before I was even active. I have to catch up with him on Facebook.

We were internet buddies with a 30 year difference and shared passion for bodyweight exercises.
 
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BlackMagician

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I was the one that referred Eric's Cheesecakes to this forum years ago, before I was even active. I have to catch up with him on Facebook.

We were internet buddies with a 30 year difference and shared passion for bodyweight exercises.
Its been some months i contacted him also. Time to ask how his cheesecakes are.
 

sparechange

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Another time waster, what a shame. Great thread though, lots to learn.

Mindset is very important! A lot of wealthier people in the modern world aren't exactly ''smart'', just regular folk with the right mindset and work ethic.

At my local dollar store a worker there mentioned wanting to make a YT channel, yet every time I ask how its going, they mention not having time.....ah

Some people are just meant for jobs and careers, nothing wrong with that. Entrepreneurship itself is quite difficult, and for a select few people with the stubbornness to keep on going, I think there is sort of a madness to it, the ability to go failure to failure, flirt with bankruptcy and be judged by peers for going against the grain.
 

sparechange

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Holy cow this thread is dripping in gold. Thank you to all the contributors posting helpful thread one after the other, this is going directly on my bookmark bar to keep looking back on when I get stuck.

@Andy Black We got one
 

Ing

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You can likely use a smartphone if you have one. A wee tripod can help, but isn't necessary. Just don't go down the rabbit-hole of buying equipment. Get something recorded and uploaded tonight?

Watch the video here. It's only 2 mins.

You can likely use Zoom or Loom to record video from your laptop. I did a quick video here this morning with just my headphones as the mic. Sure, sound isn't great, but I didn't let that stop me hitting record when I thought the discussion might have helped others.

last year I wanted to start a youtube chanel together with my son. About small dirt bikesˋ tuning.
Any time I just started. Took my phone and sayd: take a video of me doing that ...
Answer: no, you need intro, need logo, need .....
Nevertheless I insisted to do it now.
A bad video. Many likes, many answers. Done!

We didn’t go much further, but we did something. With no real equipment.
But with Andyˋs advice. Thanks Andy!
 
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Last edited:

Andy Black

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Holy cow this thread is dripping in gold. Thank you to all the contributors posting helpful thread one after the other, this is going directly on my bookmark bar to keep looking back on when I get stuck.
This is why we all keep coming back to the forum. Thank you for your feedback. Thank you to all the contributers in this thread.
 

Mariana P

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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.

Sometimes we need a quiet space with ourselves to figure out what we really want to do. We're all usually good at something or have an inclination to something, but it's sometimes hard to figure it out in all the external noise that goes on around us.
 

MaxKhalus

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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.
Well, let's go piece by piece.
1. You may not know what you want to do because there's too much to choose from. If you want to find your thing, at least you need to think clearly. By that, I mean Dopamine Detox, which means a distraction free environment. It helped a lot.


2. What I'm about to say my sound illogical but works. Why do you want success? What if you didn't care? For example, my only focus is becoming a stronger(skilled) person, whatever that may mean. That may include:
- Learning about business.
- Learning about copywriting, coding, video editing, closing.
- Eating healthy and working out every day.
- Beating my marks at work.
- Getting to bed on time and maximizing energy.
- Removing distractions permanently.
- Meeting valuable people


When you focus on getting stronger, success becomes a side effect. You start getting happy and creative.

3. Obsession requires all your free time. The way breakthroughs work is, you deeply focus on the problem or idea you want to find. Look at it exponentially:
- If you spend less than 80% of your daily time, you get no results.
- If you spend around 90-95%, you get mediocre/average/acceptable results.
- If you spend about 99%, you get stellar results.


This obsession thing could be the hardest challenge on the list. I'm still trying to master it. But once you're there, you will solve any problem you encounter, including lack of ideas. Also, as you approach that 99%, your motivation grows exponentially as well.

If you want to trigger that, go back to step one first. No distractions.


You know what I mean. Try it.
 
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M11105

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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. 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]

Thank you for this! Amazing value!!

Also it's really savvy of you that you pinpointed a neurological component on this as well (e.g. ADD). People with ADD or ADHD literally process the world differently so the executive function presents a MAJOR challenge — often times they or others say: "you just lack motivation" or "I can't ever get anything done, maybe I'm just lazy"... which is sad because with the right techniques (like some of the above)and/ or medication (Concerta or any of the ritalin cousins) and/or exercise (to pump more oxygen to the brain), folks with ADHD/ADD can and do make excellent entrepreneurs!
That's because of the flipside of the same coin (since stimuli is filtering much faster to their brains) there a lot of creativity ready to be unlocked.

Aside from this point, I loved in general how you brought up the value of agency — e.g. taking responsibility for your own destiny. Thanks again for spending the time to do this post.
 

TSM

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With ADHD there is a lot you can do that doesn't include prescriptions. The main one is to find an activity that works for you. This condition has really been a problem for me in my work as an artist and as a technical writer/web developer. The prospect of a big slot of time and a big project is extremely stressful for someone with this condition. Most likely you'll procrastinate all day and then work late and wreck the next day.
When I stopped these activities and became a massage therpist (very unfast lane but that's another story), all my symptoms disappeared. I discovered that I needed appointments, people, short deadlines and something that I was genuiney interested in (health and psychology).
Now I am developing webistes again and the symptoms are back -- so even if I am good at this work and I want to do it, it simply doesn't fit my personality. I've realised that no matter how determined I am, I cannot change my basic nature and each time I've tried it, I've put up a real struggle and got nowhere. It's really important to choose something that fits how you work best, otherwise you end up wasting a lot of energy and self-esteem.
 

PraiseDominic

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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. 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]
This is an answer to a question I didn't even have the words to ask. Thanks
 

cv_guimara

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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. 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]
Jee @Bekit nailed it with this response. Even as a bystander on the thread i got so much out of this feedback, amazing contribution.

Lots of great feedback overall as well, GG guys.
 
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TheProcess

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As promised, @sparechange, here is an update. @BlackMagician also asked for an update, so here it goes.

Why I left:

First of all, I think I need to start by talking about why I "left" and became inactive in the first place. It's not because I had given up. I left because I was overwhelmed. I had all you amazing people commenting on my thread giving amazing advice, such as @Bekit and @Andy Black, but I was not able to put any of it into action. I even had @sparechange who was commenting and who was harsh but quite motivating. I spent days reading and analyzing and making notes of every single gold and notable thread on this forum, but still, unable to actually put anything into action. "Every idea had a flaw. Every project was not worth it." I know that's bullshit, but that's how I felt emotionally.

I needed to take some time off. To get some clarity of mind. I had a good summer. I spent time with family. I spent time with friends. I did many things that I enjoyed. Of course, this can be framed in a different way. One can say that I "ran away", that I "made excuses". And these people would not be wrong. But what's done is done. At the time I felt I needed time away, and that's what happened. No need to dwell on the past. What's important is that I have not given up. I still believe in my vision, and I know I can still be successful and provide immense value to people.

What am I working on right now?

So a few weeks ago I decided to sit down and write my thoughts on a notepad. I really dove deep into my fears and my insecurities, and I asked myself honestly what it is that is stopping me from starting a business or at least working on a project like a YouTube channel. I wrote down every single reason and came up with solutions for every single one of these fears. I realized that I am not in fact "stuck" in life. Despite maybe not having the level of urgency that I wish I had, or the free space that I wish I had (I live with my family), I still have control over things, and I can still come up with solutions. Despite the fact that I haven't had my FTE Moment (I believe that's how it's written right?), I can still build good habits and work on creating something and providing value. The first thing I asked myself was what did I want to start? What kind of business? I realized that my natural instinct was to start a YouTube channel. I already had bought all the equipment, and I've always been really good at speaking, and writing, and philosophy and story telling. All I needed was to get good at video editing and a couple other YouTube skills. I had 3 problems.

1) I didn't like the fact that my family was always home and I never had the quiet/private space to make my videos without anyone listening in or "judging" me. Yes, it's an irrational fear, but it's still something that bothered me.

I came up with the following solutions. First, I spoke to my family about this issue and they were very understanding. They told me if I needed a few hours in the house alone every week, they could all go outside and leave me be. Second, I decided to start walking outside and finding parks and other places where I could film in peace and privacy. I've been going in the early mornings for example, where I know there will be nobody there.

2) I was torn on the following two options. Gary V, (@Andy Black also recommends this approach from what I remember), says that we should focus on quantity over quality when it comes to making videos. Essentially, we should just pick up a camera and start filming and go from there, without overthinking.

However, someone like @Valier recommends a different approach. He says that we should focus on quality over quantity, at least at first. The music, the writing, the clips are all very well edited and taken into account. We should focus on creating a great catalogue of videos. Apparently this is what the YouTube algorithm prefers nowadays.

Both of these approaches are good, for their own reasons. On one hand I'm an overthinker so approach 1 is better for me. On the other hand I'm a perfectionist so approach 2 is better in its own way.

The solution I came up with is to create two separate channels. My first channel goes with the first approach. I will upload videos daily and the filming will be very casual. I can simply pick up the camera and talk about interesting thoughts, my habits, my progress, and things like that. I won't put much effort into the editing and the music and the filming. This will help me, first of all, to get a good feel for filming and for producing content. This past week I've been making clips and filming every single day. I talk about my habits, about interesting concepts that I notice, and things like that. Sometimes I even vlog. I've got a lot of really cool ideas for this first channel and I think it has great potential.

I also decided to create a second channel. This one is similar to what @Valier has done with his brilliant channel (my ideas will be different of course). Essentially this channel is about create great videos. Everything will be analyzed, things like music, and the filming, and the angles, and the writing and story telling. Essentially creating mini documentaries on interesting and relevant topics. The goal is to create a great catalogue of well made videos, not about posting regularly like with channel 1.

I'll see which channel picks up. Maybe they can both help each other. One channel is more so about my process, about documenting my journey, the other channel is about creating great entertaining content. I believe both can create value for people and we'll see how it goes. I might make an execution thread or something discussing these things in detail. It's still very early on right now, still learning how to video edit properly but it shouldn't take too long to get the hang of things.

3) The third thing I needed to do was to fix my habits. I was waking up late and sleeping late and had other bad habits too. So I decided to do something I had never done before. In the past, I always went through this cycle: I'd indulge in bad habits, and then try to fix everything at once. This lead to me getting overwhelmed, and then I'd go back to indulging in bad habits. This made me unhappy, then I went to trying to fix everything at once.

This will never work, because I was putting too much stress on myself and I wasn't able to fix everything at once. If I focus on exercise, and sleep, and diet, and working hard, and school and on all these things all at once then I'm bound to fail because none of these behaviours have the time to become automatic and to become habits.

So lately I've been trying something new. I focus on one big habit at a time. This month, I made it a goal that I would wake up early, at the same time, every single day no matter what, no matter how hard it was. And so far I've been following through with it every single day. It feels automatic now. The first couple days were brutal but now I'm used to it. Next month, I'll add a new habit to the mix and once that was is ingrained in me, i'll add another one the month after that. In a year, maybe I'll be superman haha.

In the past I was never able to fix my sleep schedule because I always tried to fix other things at the same time, and I always gave up within a few days. It's remarkable how well I've been doing with my sleep lately. It's been my "one thing" as Gary Keller would say.

Conclusion:
I'm currently working on two YouTube channels. I'm back on the Fastlane Forum after a several months absence, and once again I want to thank everyone who has commented on this thread or who has helped me in general on this forum. I'm excited to be back!
 
Last edited:

Bekit

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As promised, @sparechange, here is an update. @BlackMagician also asked for an update, so here it goes.

Why I left:

First of all, I think I need to start by talking about why I "left" and became inactive in the first place. It's not because I had given up. I left because I was overwhelmed. I had all you amazing people commenting on my thread giving amazing advice, such as @Bekit and @Andy Black, but I was not able to put any of it into action. I even had @sparechange who was commenting and who was harsh but quite motivating. I spent days reading and analyzing and making notes of every single gold and notable thread on this forum, but still, unable to actually put anything into action. "Every idea had a flaw. Every project was not worth it." I know that's bullshit, but that's how I felt emotionally.

I needed to take some time off. To get some clarity of mind. I had a good summer. I spent time with family. I spent time with friends. I did many things that I enjoyed. Of course, this can be framed in a different way. One can say that I "ran away", that I "made excuses". And these people would not be wrong. But what's done is done. At the time I felt I needed time away, and that's what happened. No need to dwell on the past. What's important is that I have not given up. I still believe in my vision, and I know I can still be successful and provide immense value to people.

What am I working on right now?

So a few weeks ago I decided to sit down and write my thoughts on a notepad. I really dove deep into my fears and my insecurities, and I asked myself honestly what it is that is stopping me from starting a business or at least working on a project like a YouTube channel. I wrote down every single reason and came up with solutions for every single one of these fears. I realized that I am not in fact "stuck" in life. Despite maybe not having the level of urgency that I wish I had, or the free space that I wish I had (I live with my family), I still have control over things, and I can still come up with solutions. Despite the fact that I haven't had my FTE Moment (I believe that's how it's written right?), I can still build good habits and work on creating something and providing value. The first thing I asked myself was what did I want to start? What kind of business? I realized that my natural instinct was to start a YouTube channel. I already had bought all the equipment, and I've always been really good at speaking, and writing, and philosophy and story telling. All I needed was to get good at video editing and a couple other YouTube skills. I had 3 problems.

1) I didn't like the fact that my family was always home and I never had the quiet/private space to make my videos without anyone listening in or "judging" me. Yes, it's an irrational fear, but it's still something that bothered me.

I came up with the following solutions. First, I spoke to my family about this issue and they were very understanding. They told me if I needed a few hours in the house alone every week, they could all go outside and leave me be. Second, I decided to start walking outside and finding parks and other places where I could film in peace and privacy. I've been going in the early mornings for example, where I know there will be nobody there.

2) I was torn on the following two options. Gary V, (@Andy Black also recommends this approach from what I remember), says that we should focus on quantity over quality when it comes to making videos. Essentially, we should just pick up a camera and start filming and go from there, without overthinking.

However, someone like @Valier recommends a different approach. He says that we should focus on quality over quantity, at least at first. The music, the writing, the clips are all very well edited and taken into account. We should focus on creating a great catalogue of videos. Apparently this is what the YouTube algorithm prefers nowadays.

Both of these approaches are good, for their own reasons. On one hand I'm an overthinker so approach 1 is better for me. On the other hand I'm a perfectionist so approach 2 is better in its own way.

The solution I came up with is to create two separate channels. My first channel goes with the first approach. I will upload videos daily and the filming will be very casual. I can simply pick up the camera and talk about interesting thoughts, my habits, my progress, and things like that. I won't put much effort into the editing and the music and the filming. This will help me, first of all, to get a good feel for filming and for producing content. This past week I've been making clips and filming every single day. I talk about my habits, about interesting concepts that I notice, and things like that. Sometimes I even vlog. I've got a lot of really cool ideas for this first channel and I think it has great potential.

I also decided to create a second channel. This one is similar to what @Valier has done with his brilliant channel (my ideas will be different of course). Essentially this channel is about create great videos. Everything will be analyzed, things like music, and the filming, and the angles, and the writing and story telling. Essentially creating mini documentaries on interesting and relevant topics. The goal is to create a great catalogue of well made videos, not about posting regularly like with channel 1.

I'll see which channel picks up. Maybe they can both help each other. One channel is more so about my process, about documenting my journey, the other channel is about creating great entertaining content. I believe both can create value for people and we'll see how it goes. I might make an execution thread or something discussing these things in detail. It's still very early on right now, still learning how to video edit properly but it shouldn't take too long to get the hang of things.

3) The third thing I needed to do was to fix my habits. I was waking up late and sleeping late and had other bad habits too. So I decided to do something I had never done before. In the past, I always went through this cycle: I'd indulge in bad habits, and then try to fix everything at once. This lead to me getting overwhelmed, and then I'd go back to indulging in bad habits. This made me unhappy, then I went to trying to fix everything at once.

This will never work, because I was putting too much stress on myself and I wasn't able to fix everything at once. If I focus on exercise, and sleep, and diet, and working hard, and school and on all these things all at once then I'm bound to fail because none of these behaviours have the time to become automatic and to become habits.

So lately I've been trying something new. I focus on one big habit at a time. This month, I made it a goal that I would wake up early, at the same time, every single day no matter what, no matter how hard it was. And so far I've been following through with it every single day. It feels automatic now. The first couple days were brutal but now I'm used to it. Next month, I'll add a new habit to the mix and once that was is ingrained in me, i'll add another one the month after that. In a year, maybe I'll be superman haha.

In the past I was never able to fix my sleep schedule because I always tried to fix other things at the same time, and I always gave up within a few days. It's remarkable how well I've been doing with my sleep lately. It's been my "one thing" as Gary Keller would say.

Conclusion:
I'm currently working on two YouTube channels. I'm back on the Fastlane Forum after a several months absence, and once again I want to thank everyone who has commented on this thread or who has helped me in general on this forum. I'm excited to be back!
Awesome report! Congrats on starting the YouTube channels and building the daily habit of filming yourself for the more informal channel. Also, congrats on working on one habit at a time! That's a great idea, and I'm very happy to hear that you've been getting some wins with a consistent wake up time. Keep up the great work!

I recently ran across the following video that helped me through a recent slump. I love the concept of "Motivation bridge" that's depicted here. It may be helpful to others.

View: https://youtu.be/OM0Xv0eVGtY
 

TheProcess

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Awesome report! Congrats on starting the YouTube channels and building the daily habit of filming yourself for the more informal channel. Also, congrats on working on one habit at a time! That's a great idea, and I'm very happy to hear that you've been getting some wins with a consistent wake up time. Keep up the great work!

I recently ran across the following video that helped me through a recent slump. I love the concept of "Motivation bridge" that's depicted here. It may be helpful to others.

View: https://youtu.be/OM0Xv0eVGtY
Thanks man!

Super cool video, the visualization of a motivation bridge was very interesting.
 
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TheProcess

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Awesome report! Congrats on starting the YouTube channels and building the daily habit of filming yourself for the more informal channel. Also, congrats on working on one habit at a time! That's a great idea, and I'm very happy to hear that you've been getting some wins with a consistent wake up time. Keep up the great work!

I recently ran across the following video that helped me through a recent slump. I love the concept of "Motivation bridge" that's depicted here. It may be helpful to others.

View: https://youtu.be/OM0Xv0eVGtY
Okay so for the longest time I thought I didn't have adhd, and that my lack of action was always a result of laziness or whatever. But I did some research on it today and I might actually have it. Things are starting to click.
 

Bekit

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Okay so for the longest time I thought I didn't have adhd, and that my lack of action was always a result of laziness or whatever. But I did some research on it today and I might actually have it. Things are starting to click.

I have always accused myself of laziness, too. I've been going down the ADHD rabbit hole lately. I recently came across this questionnaire that you can use to rate yourself...
 

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themarkboogie

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Man, this post was a gold mine JHZ. Felt like you were speaking directly to me with a lot of this.

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.
I think this one of my biggest issues. I remember reading somewhere on the forum that the first year or two of entrepreneurship are the most difficult because you're overhauling your entire thought process. And a huge part of that is resisting the temptation to be selfish or rush the process because you aren't seeing consistent income, especially as an early (and likely broke) entrepreneur. Focusing on the value rather than the $$$ takes trust and belief in the process.

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.

Again, embracing the difficulty because THAT'S WHERE THE OPPORTUNITY IS requires trust and belief. Excellent reminder, it's amazing how easy it is to stray away from these values/beliefs. Definitely takes a conscious and consistent effort on your mindset until it becomes second nature.

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.

Another of my pitfalls. Added this book to my reading list.

Much love, brother. Appreciate the words big time.
 
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