Don't Question Life Wisdom

[MJ DeMarco]

There's an old saying... don't take advice from anyone you wouldn't trade places with.

And by places, it means everything... happiness, wealth, freedom, health ...

Also, be suspicious if someone recommends a course of action that THEY PROFIT FROM.

For example, the "wealth coach" in this thread. How can you take his advice seriously when he gets paid a commission if you follow it?

If you read any of my books and act upon them, I profit nothing more than the cost of the book. There's nothing more to buy. No courses, no advanced seminars, no workshops. In other words, my compensation/reward for people who either follow or ignore my advice is exactly ZERO. If someone goes on to become a billionaire with my advice, their cost for the advice is exactly the same as someone who does nothing. That's how you know if the advice you're getting is genuine-- when it isn't salted with a back-end profit motive, or serving up as a "trip wire" into someone's huge marketing funnel.

 

[Saad Khan]

Today, after 5 months of setting off the Fastlane journey, I realized I haven't gotten the results I expected. Why? It's because I questioned wisdom. I chose to act like a high intellect guy that knows everything and plans everything with mathematical precision. I chose to follow baseless decisions. I chose to follow my ego. That ego failed me. But I learned a lesson far more valuable.

I chose to question my mentors' wisdom, @MJ DeMarco , and Sunny Ali, and I paid the price.

I learned today, that theory doesn't even come close to wisdom.

I learned today, that wise people make money. Intelligent people don't.

For any young folks like me, let the wisest be your guide. May God bless all of us with wisdom.




Side note: For some of you wondering if I've changed directions, I haven't. I changed my approach and my mindset for the better.

 

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[Andy Black]

don't take advice from anyone you wouldn't trade places with.

And by places, it means everything... happiness, wealth, freedom, health

What super advice.

 

[Andy Black]

Maybe. I noticed I got lazy with outreach since I started getting work from the agency. A sale would definitely help, but I have so much time in a day.

I can definitely get a sale or a gig this week, but it will mean pushing my time to the extreme.

Or I can find more time by setting up a timetable.

Right now, when I come back home from college, I work till 7 pm, then I focus on other things like taking courses etc. I don't have any kind of schedule at the moment, which isn't a good sign.

I just remembered I haven't read a book for a week. Need to write my schedule.

Would you recommend any apps that let you build a schedule? Or would the paper method do?

I haven’t read a book in ages.

I use my Google Calendar for my schedule.

What if you weren’t to take any courses unless it was to solve a problem for a new client, and you focused on getting a new client?

 

[WJK]

To be honest, I felt like posting this. I didn't make a severe mistake, rather I learned from the mistakes of others and my "foolproof" thought process at the time.

In a nutshell, I wanted to share a lesson I learned.

In March, I was deciding which skill to learn. I had and have more than 100+ skills, ready to learn at my disposal, thanks to Sunny Ali. He recommended students to choose amazon VA as a skill to gain capital and venture into businesses quickly.

I know this saying, every skill makes you money. I'm just laughing at my naive brain's thought process.

This is where my malfunctioning brain started working, in an opposite way XD . I thought, "Hmm maybe if I go into copywriting, I can make money faster than a VA". This should be easy, lets gooo!

Guess what, my naive brain didn't know at the time that it takes a lot of time and effort into becoming a copywriter, than an Amazon VA managing client's stores. I was disappointed. Then I discovered Fastlane. Luckily, I chose a skill that benefits me long-term so I decided that I'm going to go with copywriting, then snowball my way from there.

This post seems irrelevant to me, since you guys asked, I decided to share what was going through my head at the time of posting this thread.

Yes, success has a long time line and a steep learning curve. It's very rare to compress those factors. Yes, with a lot of diligence, you can SOMETIMES find your way by trial and error. You are right, it's much easier IF you can find someone to mentor and direct you.

The starting point for your journey was your basic problem. At that level, you don't know that you don't know -- the steps, finding the path, and the direction. It sounds like you are now at Level 2 -- you know that you don't know. So, you are seeking information about how to take your journey.

 

[Simon Angel]

Maybe. I noticed I got lazy with outreach since I started getting work from the agency. A sale would definitely help, but I have so much time in a day.

I can definitely get a sale or a gig this week, but it will mean pushing my time to the extreme.

Or I can find more time by setting up a timetable.

Right now, when I come back home from college, I work till 7 pm, then I focus on other things like taking courses etc. I don't have any kind of schedule at the moment, which isn't a good sign.

I just remembered I haven't read a book for a week. Need to write my schedule.

Would you recommend any apps that let you build a schedule? Or would the paper method do?

If you're happy with the amount you're earning AND the time you're spending on earning it, then keep on doing what you're doing.

And if not, then none of that external stuff you're focusing on is going to help you.

I haven’t read a book in ages.

I use my Google Calendar for my schedule.

What if you weren’t to take any courses unless it was to solve a problem for a new client, and you focused on getting a new client?

Exactly. Your biggest problem is not your skill level but your (as of current) inability to sell and adapt.

You need to be working with, not working for clients.

You need to be solving THEIR problems WHEN they arise.

Right now, you're still self-focused i.e seeking to perfect your skills BEFORE you take on bigger and better clients. It's literally procrastination disguised as productivity.

No course, book, coach, or other medium will prepare you for what comes next. It's just you, your brain, your client, and your communication.

Just start doing. I've done a MUCH better job and gotten way better results for my clients than every copywriter that I've run into so far and I keep getting asked what courses I've taken and what books I've read.

The answer is none. None whatsoever. I just use my brain to figure out what's needed and I fill in the gaps.

When 99% of copywriters regurgitate the same shit it's not exactly hard to stand out.

 

[Andy Black]

Not relying just on Copywriting. Getting freelance clients. Not just relying on agency clients.

I do know marketing but I feel like taking a course or two so I get to know the jargon and techniques since I have these courses right now.

When I master marketing and branding, I will move on to some technical skills like coding, UI/UX dev, becoming an Amazon VA, building e-commerce stores, etc, especially since the e-commerce market is booming here. I want to have an edge above all others so I can land some serious deals.

I'm ok with not making much with copywriting at the moment since I know it pays dividends...

I’m a bit worried about your use of the phrase “master marketing and branding”.

It sounds a bit like your problem is not enough sales rather than not enough technical skills? What if you already know enough technically and you focused on making sales this week?

 

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[woken]

You’d be amazed at how well people do if they stop overthinking.

What are you trying to do ?

 

[Saad Khan]

You’d be amazed at how well people do if they stop overthinking.

What are you trying to do ?

What kind of mistake did you make? Can you share details of the story?

To be honest, I felt like posting this. I didn't make a severe mistake, rather I learned from the mistakes of others and my "foolproof" thought process at the time.

In a nutshell, I wanted to share a lesson I learned.

In March, I was deciding which skill to learn. I had and have more than 100+ skills, ready to learn at my disposal, thanks to Sunny Ali. He recommended students to choose amazon VA as a skill to gain capital and venture into businesses quickly.

I know this saying, every skill makes you money. I'm just laughing at my naive brain's thought process.

This is where my malfunctioning brain started working, in an opposite way XD . I thought, "Hmm maybe if I go into copywriting, I can make money faster than a VA". This should be easy, lets gooo!

Guess what, my naive brain didn't know at the time that it takes a lot of time and effort into becoming a copywriter, than an Amazon VA managing client's stores. I was disappointed. Then I discovered Fastlane. Luckily, I chose a skill that benefits me long-term so I decided that I'm going to go with copywriting, then snowball my way from there.

This post seems irrelevant to me, since you guys asked, I decided to share what was going through my head at the time of posting this thread.

 

[Andy Black]

If you're happy with the amount you're earning AND the time you're spending on earning it, then keep on doing what you're doing.

And if not, then none of that external stuff you're focusing on is going to help you.



Exactly. Your biggest problem is not your skill level but your (as of current) inability to sell and adapt.

You need to be working with, not working for clients.

You need to be solving THEIR problems WHEN they arise.

Right now, you're still self-focused i.e seeking to perfect your skills BEFORE you take on bigger and better clients. It's literally procrastination disguised as productivity.

No course, book, coach, or other medium will prepare you for what comes next. It's just you, your brain, your client, and your communication.

Just start doing. I've done a MUCH better job and gotten way better results for my clients than every copywriter that I've run into so far and I keep getting asked what courses I've taken and what books I've read.

The answer is none. None whatsoever. I just use my brain to figure out what's needed and I fill in the gaps.

When 99% of copywriters regurgitate the same shit it's not exactly hard to stand out.

Yep. Continuously consuming courses instead of engaging the market. This is the service provider’s equivalent of product creators tinkering with their product instead of unveiling it to the world.

We even mention it in this episode:

• Sales For Techies, Creators, and The Introverted

 

[Itizn]

I am from Pakistan. Why is this important? Because Paypal isn't available here.

Consider yourself lucky...

As someone who assumed PayPal would be ideal for business transactions, I can suggest you seek other alternatives. They are very problematic in my experience.

Since I deal with international and domestic I currently just rely on wire transfer. Yeah the fees can be greater, but the peace of mind is enough to convince me.

Also, commit to a course of action and don't flip flop. Pick between your agency and FBA. Then go all in.

 

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[Andy Black]

I chose copywriting because it's a crucial skill for an entrepreneur.

I don’t think copywriting is a crucial skill for an entrepreneur.

Is there a single instance of an entrepreneur being successful without being skilled at copywriting? If there’s just one example then it’s not an *essential* skill.

Being able to communicate is probably essential. But you seem well able to do that already.

I’d argue that what IS essential is you help, entertain, or otherwise add value to people … and get paid to do so.

Figure out a way to help people / add value. Figure out a way to get paid.

Figure out how to solve your payment problem. Entrepreneurs are almost by definition problem solvers.

it seems like making money as a VA is far easier than what I am doing at the moment.

Personally, I’d do whatever needs done to keep a roof over my head, then get a bit of breathing room, then figure out how to scale.

Part of me says stick to copywriting, stick to the agency, and find clients on upwork, other part says, learn Amazon VA, make money, then progress further.

Find something that works for you. Grow some MRR if you can. Then expand from there, maybe sideways or deeper, but ideally building somehow on what you’ve already created.

Just my 2c.

 

[WJK]

My takeaways:

If there was one thing to learn from this podcast, I'd say it is understanding that sales is a substitute word for "Helping other people solve their problems"

1. Some people think of sales at door-to-door cold calling, which isn't comfortable for a lot of people.
2. Sales is a learnable skill, just like copywriting, which is selling by text. You're not born with sales skills.

When I told my college classmate about me learning marketing, he instantly said, "Oh, do you know that people have natural marketing skills? They're born marketers, look at you man, you can spend your time in a better way. Come study these formulas and theorems we have a test for tomorrow..."

3. Sales is a mindset. What I mean by this is that sales look like a tedious process when you're shoving something up their faces, but if you believe your offer solves their problem and benefits them, you're helping them as well as doing sales. Or you can say, "I'm doing them a favor by presenting my solution to their problem."

4. This one really hits home, you don't need to read books to solve problems. Nor do you need a course. You should start selling the moment you have an idea. Sell the idea, get feedback, act, assess, and adjust.

5. I've been thinking like a perfectionist subconsciously, which is dangerous. Guess what, you need communication skills. If you're good enough at communicating, they'll trust you with the technical work as well.

6. Sales is a screening process. You don't have to sell to everyone you come across, rather you help them instead.

You don't have to be a perfectionist in order to be good at sales. The winning technique is SO simple. You use your ears and your mouth in the proportions that God gave them to you. Listen twice as much as you talk. Use you mouth to ask them questions about themselves. Then listen to their answers with your whole heart. They will tell you everything that you need to know in order to serve them.

 

[Andy Black]

You’ll learn to drop demanding clients like that as soon as they show their colours. You may even be able to spot them in advance now.

They don’t know what they want and are wasting everyone’s time, including their own.

Can you get the agency owner to drop them as a client? They should have done this already so they could use their resources better.

“Sales is a screening process” right? That’s both ways.

Loved your takeaways from that podcast episode. I’m delighted some of it clicked with you. Would love it if you could add those to the bottom of the podcast episode thread.

Maybe check out the other chats linked to in my signature too.

 

[Mattie]

Today, after 5 months of setting off the Fastlane journey, I realized I haven't gotten the results I expected. Why? It's because I questioned wisdom. I chose to act like a high intellect guy that knows everything and plans everything with mathematical precision. I chose to follow baseless decisions. I chose to follow my ego. That ego failed me. But I learned a lesson far more valuable.

I chose to question my mentors' wisdom, @MJ DeMarco , and Sunny Ali, and I paid the price.

I learned today, that theory doesn't even come close to wisdom.

I learned today, that wise people make money. Intelligent people don't.

For any young folks like me, let the wisest be your guide. May God bless all of us with wisdom.




Side note: For some of you wondering if I've changed directions, I haven't. I changed my approach and my mindset for the better.

Seems it's not a young problem. I just read unscripted . I believe we all miss the mark at times no matter what age. I have some habits I formed to cut off after reading this book the next 21 days. Form new habits the next 21 days.

 

[WJK]

Not relying just on Copywriting. Getting freelance clients. Not just relying on agency clients.

I do know marketing but I feel like taking a course or two so I get to know the jargon and techniques since I have these courses right now.

When I master marketing and branding, I will move on to some technical skills like coding, UI/UX dev, becoming an Amazon VA, building e-commerce stores, etc, especially since the e-commerce market is booming here. I want to have an edge above all others so I can land some serious deals.

I'm ok with not making much with copywriting at the moment since I know it pays dividends...

I have 2 degrees in merchandising (marketing) and I'm not sure that one ever masters market and branding. It's kind of like trying to catch a greased pig. Just about the time you think you've got your hands on it, it wiggles away into another corner of its pen.

As far as copy writing goes, that's a multi-prong problem. One issue is simply write all the time. Keep a notebook in your pocket to record your ideas. Challenge yourself with products and situations you see during your day. The second prong is to simply be a sponge for everything that you see and hear. How are other writers doing it? How would you do it? What would you change? And then the biggie -- how would you put your idea onto the page? How would it look? How would you draw the customer into your text and layout?

 

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[deepneuralnet]

I believe that wisdom should be criticized and ridiculed.. That's how the scientific method works.. but that's just my world view. Otherwise any guy who is older than you, much experienced than you or even more successful than you can come and fool you. That's how dogmas and scams spread. But I agree that overthinking sucks. You become wise when you question your own beliefs and learn from others. 'I could be wrong about everything that I believe in right now'... that takes some effort because high ego is a problem for a lot of people and to me that's wisdom.

 

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[Andy Black]

“Wisdom is earned.”

(Some wise person)

 

[Simon Angel]

@Andy Black @WJK I need your help on this one.

I'm going to actually come out clear about what I'm thinking at the moment. I felt shy talking about this but now I don't care. This is what was ACTUALLY going on in my head when posting this thread.

I'm not satisfied with what I have made so far with content writing/copywriting. I'm not satisfied with knowing that I have spent so much time learning a high-end skill (I don't regret any second learning copywriting, I only regret not making much money).

I chose copywriting because it's a crucial skill for an entrepreneur. I know that I haven't tried hard enough, but it seems like making money as a VA is far easier than what I am doing at the moment.

This thing is messing with my head really bad. Part of me says stick to copywriting, stick to the agency, and find clients on upwork, other part says, learn Amazon VA, make money, then progress further.

But here's the twist....

I am from Pakistan. Why is this important? Because Paypal isn't available here. And the only payment I can currently receive is within Pakistan. I know, you can make a payoneer account, but I don't want to trouble my dad for making a payoneer account. I can't receive payments from outside of Pakistan.

2nd method: I learn the amazon VA skill. In Pakistan, we have high demand of this skill, so I can find clients within Pakistan and payment wouldn't be an issue. I will still continue to work with the agency and continue learning copywriting.

Open a bank account and have your clients send you money through Transferwise.

Again, all you're thinking about is how YOU can make money.

Magic happens when you start helping OTHERS by SOLVING problems. Poverty happens when you do the former.

 

[WJK]

@Andy Black @WJK I need your help on this one.

I'm going to actually come out clear about what I'm thinking at the moment. I felt shy talking about this but now I don't care. This is what was ACTUALLY going on in my head when posting this thread.

I'm not satisfied with what I have made so far with content writing/copywriting. I'm not satisfied with knowing that I have spent so much time learning a high-end skill (I don't regret any second learning copywriting, I only regret not making much money).

I chose copywriting because it's a crucial skill for an entrepreneur. I know that I haven't tried hard enough, but it seems like making money as a VA is far easier than what I am doing at the moment.

This thing is messing with my head really bad. Part of me says stick to copywriting, stick to the agency, and find clients on upwork, other part says, learn Amazon VA, make money, then progress further.

But here's the twist....

I am from Pakistan. Why is this important? Because Paypal isn't available here. And the only payment I can currently receive is within Pakistan. I know, you can make a payoneer account, but I don't want to trouble my dad for making a payoneer account. I can't receive payments from outside of Pakistan.

2nd method: I learn the amazon VA skill. In Pakistan, we have high demand of this skill, so I can find clients within Pakistan and payment wouldn't be an issue. I will still continue to work with the agency and continue learning copywriting.

You can always practice your writing as you go along. You can exercise the plan I sent you earlier without missing heart, while you chase your other business endeavors. It's not really a choice between one or the other -- writing and VA. Get yourself some clients and SERVE THEM WELL. Get the dollar signs out of your eyes and go to work. Success in one area or another will lead to more success in related fields. Stop over thinking it and get started.
I can't talk about how you get paid. But, others are talking about that issue.

 

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[WJK]

That's naive of me to use that phrase. No one can master marketing indeed, seems like I forgot what I wanted to say.


What I actually meant was, "When I get assure myself that I can deliver value to someone in marketing and branding"

Then offer to work for free... right now... today... find a need... do some copy and put it onto story boards... submit to the potential client... revise... submit again... revise again... practice on real people with real problems...

 

[Saad Khan]

Get yourself some clients and SERVE THEM WELL.

That's EXACTLY what I aim to do with VA and copywriting. Seems like I've been off track, time to get back on the Fastlane track and think like a Fastlaner rather than a complaining loser.

 

[Saad Khan]

Did you listen to that podcast I linked to above? What were your takeaways?

Maybe also listen to “Who have you helped?” in my signature.

My takeaways:

If there was one thing to learn from this podcast, I'd say it is understanding that sales is a substitute word for "Helping other people solve their problems"

1. Some people think of sales as door-to-door cold calling, which isn't comfortable for a lot of people.

2. Sales is a learnable skill, just like copywriting, which is selling by text. You're not born with sales skills.

When I told my college classmate about me learning marketing, he instantly said, "Oh, do you know that people have natural marketing skills? They're born marketers, look at you man, you can spend your time in a better way. Come study these formulas and theorems we have a test for tomorrow..."

3. Sales is a mindset. What I mean by this is that sales look like a tedious process when you're shoving something up their faces, but if you believe your offer solves their problem and benefits them, you're helping them as well as doing sales. Or you can say, "I'm doing them a favor by presenting my solution to their problem."

4. This one really hits home, you don't need to read books to solve problems. Nor do you need a course. You should start selling the moment you have an idea. Sell the idea, get feedback, act, assess, and adjust.

5. I've been thinking like a perfectionist subconsciously, which is dangerous. Guess what, you need communication skills. If you're good enough at communicating, they'll trust you with the technical work as well.

6. Sales is a screening process. You don't have to sell to everyone you come across, rather you help them instead.

 

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[deepneuralnet]

I am from Pakistan. Why is this important? Because Paypal isn't available here. And the only payment I can currently receive is within Pakistan. I know, you can make a payoneer account, but I don't want to trouble my dad for making a payoneer account. I can't receive payments from outside of Pakistan.

dude, get payoneer. You can get it after your 18th birthday cuz u need a bank account, it will solve all sorts of problems.

 

[Saad Khan]

dude, get payoneer. You can get it after your 18th birthday cuz u need a bank account, it will solve all sorts of problems.

Well, you know Pakistani parents, my age on my birth certificate is 16, while my actual age is 17. So I have to wait two years. But nonetheless, I'll find a way. I heard that you can make a bank account with a smart card, is it true? I can't wait 2 years so I'll make a smart card very soon.

 

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[Saad Khan]

You’ll learn to drop demanding clients like that as soon as they show the it colours. You may even be able to spot them in advance now.

They don’t know what they want and are wasting everyone’s time, including their own.

Can you get the agency owner to drop them as a client? They should have done this already so they could use their resources better.

“Sales is a screening process” right? That’s both ways.

Loved your takeaways from that podcast episode. I’m delighted some of it clicked with you. Would love it if you could add those to the bottom of the podcast episode thread.

Maybe check out the other chats linked to in my signature too.

Thank you, Andy, you're the kind of mentor many of us don't deserve. You go out of your way to help nobodies become somebodies. I saw you even helping @BlackMagician all the way in his execution thread. It doesn't take a genius to know that you're fulfilled and satisfied with life, something that a very few people achieve.

 

[OleksiyRybakov]

I agree on the argument that overthinking is not always useful. I also agree that questioning wisdom might lead people to losing money. However, I completely disagree on the approach that wisdom should not be questioned. What is the difference between a (conventional) wisdom and a SCRIPT? At some point in history, it was considered as "wisdom" to believe that the Sun revolved around the flat Earth. But due to scientific experiments it was possible to disprove those theories. Mathematical models can also be questioned since the assumptions might be flawed. And without questioning wisdom, lots of inventions would be impossible.

 

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[OleksiyRybakov]

I'm talking about the wisdom revolving around aspects of human life.

Believing that the Sun revolved around the earth does not have anything to do with the way a human lives his life. I think that's called science. Science has evolved through trial and error, just like everything does.

OK, I get you. Questioning wisdom sounds similar to the paragraph where MJ talked about people who want rather to be right than rich.

 

[alexkuzmov]

Today, after 5 months of setting off the Fastlane journey, I realized I haven't gotten the results I expected. Why? It's because I questioned wisdom. I chose to act like a high intellect guy that knows everything and plans everything with mathematical precision. I chose to follow baseless decisions. I chose to follow my ego. That ego failed me. But I learned a lesson far more valuable.

I chose to question my mentors' wisdom, @MJ DeMarco , and Sunny Ali, and I paid the price.

I learned today, that theory doesn't even come close to wisdom.

I learned today, that wise people make money. Intelligent people don't.

For any young folks like me, let the wisest be your guide. May God bless all of us with wisdom.




Side note: For some of you wondering if I've changed directions, I haven't. I changed my approach and my mindset for the better.

What kind of mistake did you make? Can you share details of the story?

 

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[WJK]

Today, after 5 months of setting off the Fastlane journey, I realized I haven't gotten the results I expected. Why? It's because I questioned wisdom. I chose to act like a high intellect guy that knows everything and plans everything with mathematical precision. I chose to follow baseless decisions. I chose to follow my ego. That ego failed me. But I learned a lesson far more valuable.

I chose to question my mentors' wisdom, @MJ DeMarco , and Sunny Ali, and I paid the price.

I learned today, that theory doesn't even come close to wisdom.

I learned today, that wise people make money. Intelligent people don't.

For any young folks like me, let the wisest be your guide. May God bless all of us with wisdom.




Side note: For some of you wondering if I've changed directions, I haven't. I changed my approach and my mindset for the better.

At least you know that what you have done doesn't work... What's the next step?