Entering the Fastlane in 2018! Happy New Year!

[Mattie]

Just some thoughts for everyone going into 2018.

Since it's Fast Lane, Rev Up Your Engines, and get ready for a wild ride!
A new year always means new beginnings, new projects, a new life, a new chance to reach your goal. It takes one project, one book, one invention to make it to the top.

Perfectionism can get the best of us, and we can worry too much about having everything perfect. We can find ourselves doing things over and over again trying to perfect things, waste time by thinking it's not good enough. Believe it or not perfectionism can be a form procrastination.

None of us need permission to succeed in life. No one's going to give you permission to be a Millionaire.

Stalling becomes an issue, when you know you have everything you need right in front of you, you already have all the tools, the knowledge, insight, wisdom, materialism, and you find every excuse in the book not to execute.

Laser focus helps you get in the rhythm, in the zone, and one of the biggest challenge is not allowing others in your environment distract you, discourage you, interfere in your motivation to move forward.

If the roads clear ahead of you, move forward without any self-doubts. have self-confidence. Be determined to reach your goals. Find the inner drive within in yourself instead of outside of yourself.

Accept Entrepreneurs is all about the lone wolf, no one is going to do the work for you, invest the time, patience, understanding, or effort in your project, but you.

No one's going to drive you to victory lane accept you.

If you ever see race car drivers, there's no one else in the car with them, they have to be focused on where they're driving, every turn, avoid hitting other cars, swerve in and out of lanes, and sometimes get in collisions, some times wipe out, sometimes spin around in a circle, and get back on the track.

Sometimes the car breaks down, there are pit stops, and it's all about getting back on the track as fast as you can, and not looking back at the errors, mistakes, and not focusing on the failures, but staying focused on the road, no matter how many laps you have to go.

There are moments when the work is repetitive, and you have to do the same thing over and over again. It might seem boring, mundane, but yet, it's part of the journey.

There's always growth in the process, you change as an Entrepreneur every year.

In 2018, who do you desire to be by the end? What are you goals? What are your obstacles? What are the solutions?

Disappointment comes along with the process, there are times when you may get mad, because there are delays, not making any progress, and times you may get tired of the whole process. Getting back up and do it anyway.

Fast lane, means learning as fast as you can, failing as fast as you can, and evaluating the situation, adapting, adjusting, and fixing the issue.

There's nothing stopping you from succeeding in life, but yourself. Self-sabotage is probably the number one thing that causes the most pain in Entrepreneurship. Forgive yourself, learn from the experience, and do something new and different. Get out of your old emotional and mental patterns. Stretch your mind. The brain is amazing if you learn to push your boundaries, and expand your intellect.

Appreciate the value you have inside yourself, the gifts, talents, innovation, creativity, and know you have everything it takes to get there. If you didn't you wouldn't be in the fast lane. You're here for a reason. Don't waste it. Learn everything you can. Challenge yourself to be one of the greats in this world. Don't waste your life giving up the opportunity of a life time. One day you will regret it if you never see your action now makes things happen, and every day you take an an action the closer you are to the goal.

We all sacrifice something in life for a better life. Leave the past behind, the future awaits you!

Cheers to all my fellow Entrepreneurs! May 2018 be the greatest year ever for all of us!
Let's burn some rubber, leave skid marks, and make an impact on humanity in a positive way. When I started the forum in 2014 this was M.J's. profile pic. Cheers to the guy who made it all happen for us with this forum.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Appreciate the value you have inside yourself, the gifts, talents, innovation, creativity, and know you have everything it takes to get there. If you didn't you wouldn't be in the fast lane. You're here for a reason.

Why I love the sentiment, I disagree here because this is too EVENT oriented over PROCESS -- I do believe you have the ABILITY to harness all the talents, and innovation, creativity and everything else to get there -- but that takes WORK -- the dreaded PROCESS, the grind, the struggle.

As I made clear in my Star Wars rants, I never like the implications that we are "born" with certain talents or abilities -- invariably, we must put forth an effort that others won't. The others are "waiting" for that talent to show up like a bad vacuum salesman at the front door.

Cheers to all my fellow Entrepreneurs! May 2018 be the greatest year ever for all of us!

+1, Cheers to all!

There's nothing stopping you from succeeding in life, but yourself. Self-sabotage is probably the number one thing that causes the most pain in Entrepreneurship. Forgive yourself, learn from the experience, and do something new and different. Get out of your old emotional and mental patterns. Stretch your mind. The brain is amazing if you learn to push your boundaries, and expand your intellect.

+1!

Excellent write up.

Thanks, +REP, +MARKED NOTABLE.

 

[Mattie]

Why I love the sentiment, I disagree here because this is too EVENT oriented over PROCESS -- I do believe you have the ABILITY to harness all the talents, and innovation, creativity and everything else to get there -- but that takes WORK -- the dreaded PROCESS, the grind, the struggle.

As I made clear in my Star Wars rants, I never like the implications that we are "born" with certain talents or abilities -- invariably, we must put forth an effort that others won't. The others are "waiting" for that talent to show up like a bad vacuum salesman at the front door.

I see your point. Yes... Waiting around for life to happen, never happens. I think this was the biggest point I learned myself. The most important part is doing everything other people aren't doing and this makes all the difference. Life gets wasted when you're focused on the wrong things in life. In many cases, you may think you're going in the right direction, but still following the herd mentality. And effort isn't just making any effort, but as you always stated, taking the right actions.

There's so much to gain in the process, the journey, and wow! I started in 2014, and not anything like I was when I entered the forum. One hell of a transformation, and still 2018 will do some major shifts. !I believe there is some merit, in the phrase, "Just Do it!" How many times do you hear people talk and talk about doing something, but never do it! And how many keep educating themselves and believe there doing something, but actually doing nothing? And bottom line your words (Action) is all it takes

Perhaps a huge sticky note on the top of the Laptop should remind us all to take Action every day! Actual execution. Big Bold Letters! Action! Nothing else really matters if you're not movement, in the flow. People procrastinate too much. And let the opportunity pass by.

Thanks M.J. Happy New Year!

 

[DeletedUser052]

Good Post, @Mattie.

Since it's Fast Lane, Rev Up Your Engines, and get ready for a wild ride!
A new year always means new beginnings, new projects, a new life, a new chance to reach your goal. It takes one project, one book, one invention to make it to the top.

I watched this video yesterday and wanted to share it here for all who are scared of doing what they always wanted to but didn't.

Happy 2018 Fastlaners!

 

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[ZF Lee]

Happy New Year!
Good to get back to work and work for more value and our freedom!

How many times do you hear people talk and talk about doing something, but never do it! And how many keep educating themselves and believe there doing something, but actually doing nothing? And bottom line your words (Action) is all it takes

Christmas and the last part of 2017 was pretty toxic. I had to work overnight on Upwork and products development, and reread TMF and UNSCRIPTED to wipe that shit off my mind.

With my pre-university studies over, now I am expected to go for university. I'm getting all kinds of advice on 'finish your degree first', 'just learn these things on the side' and 'have a balance in life and wait'.

If I wait, I'll not only deny myself the rewards of a working Fastlane, but also deny VALUE to the marketplace.

The latter angers me. To wait four years in college, and ten years in a job for that to 'gain experience' before you can become a person of worth is insane.

Can I provide value while 'waiting'? Nope.

 

[Zedd9165]

As I made clear in my Star Wars rants, I never like the implications that we are "born" with certain talents or abilities -- invariably, we must put forth an effort that others won't.

@MJ DeMarco I agree with you, in my childhood I used to hear this a lot from people that everyone is born with a set of abilities, talents and skills. But no, the human mind is a very powerful weapon(organ) if used in a right way we can conquer anything. I'm one example of this.

When I used to fail at something or face endeavours that others used to clear easily I used to think maybe they are better than me because they are born with such talents or skill sets. But as grew up I learned that with hard work and dedication a man can turn himself into anything he wishes. I'm a student of science, pursued MBA in marketing. Later on, i went for supply chain management and operations management as I accomplished each goal I kept pushing my self for more. Now I'm into fashion designing

Bottom line is that there is never an end to education or the process of learning. Some have it in their seventeens and some have it in their 70tees.

 

[Mattie]

The latter angers me. To wait four years in college, and ten years in a job for that to 'gain experience' before you can become a person of worth is insane.

I hear you on this part. I'm a perfect example of this as many Millennials have found out, that your degree doesn't really mean anything at times, while you might gain a piece of paper, and it might back you up and make you legit in a profession, since I'm been in the forum, I went to Yale, Harvard, Stanford courses free online, and educated myself in a lot of different ways as a self-learner.

When I go in the Academic forums, I get into it with their mindset, because they're kind of still stuck in the herd mentality and in their ego's, thinking somehow being politically correct and academically correct there some how above Entrepreneurs. I think you just have to remember you have different stages of human development and growth, and even between Academics and Entrepreneurs you have a stage where one may be faster paced, and actually pass up the Academic individuals in certain ways. Everyone serves their purpose but on different platforms.

I thought like many people you get a degree, get a job, and you're set in life. It doesn't really work that way anymore in life, and you probably have Baby Boomer parents who lived in a different era. This is becoming an issue in the lower and middle class, because they taught Generation X, you go get a degree, work somewhere for 25 years, have your retirement plan, and I'm not even sure there is a business anymore that keeps employees for 25 years, gives them benefits, and health care. M.J'.s first book talked about this mentality.

If you were lucky enough to come from an Entrepreneur family, you might have been taught differently, but frankly, they can also give you half-baked information, because things get upgraded, updated, and change at a fast pace every year. I am way ahead of my business school trying to keep up to date from being in this forum. You can tell by the Alumni emails you get, when they're trying to update you.

The world is changing, and people just have to navigate themselves, and drive their own car in the right direction even if in their environment other individuals try to persuade them to go in a different direction. Education is never bad, but yes, there are Entrepreneurs who save a lot of time, money, and by pass the herd, because they're not willing to take the risk, allow their fears to get in the way, and want to play it safe. Although being cautious ends up slowing you down majorly, and you miss the boat because you sit on the sidelines waiting for life to happen. What they're really waiting for is enough ESTJ's and ENTJ's to come along, give them some tough love, and usually they start moving, because they don't want experience the emotional and mental pain of arguing and fighting with them. Usually when you have one of these top dog's around you'll move, because they'll slice and dice you, basically fire you if you're not going to take certain actions and get the job done in life. And this is what they wait for, to be thrown out on the curb, because then it becomes a traumatic event, and it wakes them up when their shit out of luck.

That's just been my theory, and experience. Even in college a good portion of my professors had this personality type, and first day, they would say, "You miss one class, You're done." They meant business, and had a whole list of expectations because it was a Business School. You didn't have your phones on and text.

Life's going to hit your hard naturally, because we just have to learn to be responsible for the life we choose to create for ourselves and how it impacts the family. You can see Entrepreneurs in here, that teach the same principles to their children right from the start. While you may have a 5 year old kid, or 12 year, they're teaching them to create a project, and sell it. It may not be huge, but they're learn a lot just by using their mind to create something, and than how do you sell it? And they learn to get past their fears, feel self-confident, and as they grow up, they learn to socialize, network, and and grow into an top entrepreneur at times.

One of the hardest things I believe for an Entrepreneur to learn as not let others in their environment effect their performance, emotions, and throw them off course. Even if it is children or spouse. It takes a lot of focus, determination, drive, and everyone doesn't understand the dynamics of building real wealth. Other people always want your attention, insecurities, and afraid of things in life, and try to sabotage the Entrepreneur. Some are made to get to the end zone, where others are not. The only want to find out is by entering the ranks and putting your 100% in and give it your best shot. That's all you can do.

I personally had to learn to emotionally detach from my environment at times, and ignore what other people say or do. It's not about you at all, and it's their choice to be where they are. If we found this Entrepreneur, it's just as easy for other people to find it if they choose too. Entrepreneurs have it in their blood, and they just naturally do whatever it takes to get there. I can tell you I get bored easily when I try to do what the average person does, I always feel like I'm wasting my time. And sometimes to maintain relationships you do have to participate, but there's always this urge to do something.

Breaking out of the conditioning of society isn't an easy task at first, but it gets easier the more you discipline your emotions, thoughts, and feelings, an know how to separate yourself from other individuals in your environment, and not allow them to effect you. This also has to do with teaching boundaries, and respecting boundaries, and being true to yourself, and being straight forward and say you have things to get done, and will make time for them when it's appropriate.

 

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[ZF Lee]

I hear you on this part. I'm a perfect example of this as many Millennials have found out, that your degree doesn't really mean anything at times, while you might gain a piece of paper, and it might back you up and make you legit in a profession, since I'm been in the forum, I went to Yale, Harvard, Stanford courses free online, and educated myself in a lot of different ways as a self-learner.

When I go in the Academic forums, I get into it with their mindset, because they're kind of still stuck in the herd mentality and in their ego's, thinking somehow being politically correct and academically correct there some how above Entrepreneurs. I think you just have to remember you have different stages of human development and growth, and even between Academics and Entrepreneurs you have a stage where one may be faster paced, and actually pass up the Academic individuals in certain ways. Everyone serves their purpose but on different platforms.

I thought like many people you get a degree, get a job, and you're set in life. It doesn't really work that way anymore in life, and you probably have Baby Boomer parents who lived in a different era. This is becoming an issue in the lower and middle class, because they taught Generation X, you go get a degree, work somewhere for 25 years, have your retirement plan, and I'm not even sure there is a business anymore that keeps employees for 25 years, gives them benefits, and health care. M.J'.s first book talked about this mentality.

If you were lucky enough to come from an Entrepreneur family, you might have been taught differently, but frankly, they can also give you half-baked information, because things get upgraded, updated, and change at a fast pace every year. I am way ahead of my business school trying to keep up to date from being in this forum. You can tell by the Alumni emails you get, when they're trying to update you.

Thank you for your detailed answer. I needed this.
And yes, the emails. Although I don't have a single dime in Bitcoin, I find out I, even as a bystander, KNOW MORE about it than my peers.

Ditto for copywriting and certain segments of products and marketing.

My focus however, is on transforming as much of these nuggets into actual business that makes money. Already, it is starting to pay off. One of my first clients on Upwork is going to approve my first batch of ads. It's not much, but I look at my peers, and wonder on the fact that they need to wait for four to six years for that 'glory moment', when you can begin to provide real-world value.

I am glad I went to look for 'tough love' instead of waiting. People avoid it most of the time, and dismiss it as 'swearing' or 'rude behaviour'. I don't.

Even in college a good portion of my professors had this personality type, and first day, they would say, "You miss one class, You're done." They meant business, and had a whole list of expectations because it was a Business School. You didn't have your phones on and text.

Not true.
I skipped about like 10+ classes in a semester in my recent pre-uni course.
I even got a warning slip to go see the head of department.
Turns out that she didn't really think much of me.
She looked at me, looked at my past scores (which were decent) and waved me off.

Still did well
I found resources that were BETTER than the class ones.

 

[dgr]

Happy new year everybody! My best wishes for all of you: I hope you'll be able to mantain your grit in your quest for the "unachievable".

Why I love the sentiment, I disagree here because this is too EVENT oriented over PROCESS -- I do believe you have the ABILITY to harness all the talents, and innovation, creativity and everything else to get there -- but that takes WORK -- the dreaded PROCESS, the grind, the struggle.

As I made clear in my Star Wars rants, I never like the implications that we are "born" with certain talents or abilities -- invariably, we must put forth an effort that others won't. The others are "waiting" for that talent to show up like a bad vacuum salesman at the front door.

I cannot disagree with your dislike (obviusly) but I've found some truth in the notion of being born with certain talents or abilities.

Everyone have different strengths. Every mind perceives and processes the information in its own way. Some of us are more naturally talented for the creative process, others more for the organization process, others are great in everything involving kinestethics.

As you said, are the "implications" of this what is noxious. People take for granted their natural abilities and never put the effort to push themselves beyond them.

In highschool I was terribly frustrated every time that some classmate or friend become better than me in a field for which I was "a natural" and he was kind of suck in it at first. He put the effort and paid his dues.

Me? Just relax.

There's a lot of things we think are "unachievable" for us. But as you said, it's only a matter of work, grind, struggle.

My point is: if we put that same amount of work, grind and struggle in our natural abilities, how far can it take us?

... Asuming there's a place for our talents in the marketplace.

I asume that. I believe in that. At least, I asume that you can find a place for them.

And, oh, yeah. You still will have to conquer abilities in which you suck.

invariably, we must put forth an effort that others won't.

This is true for your natural abilities and for the ones in which you suck.

A toast for a year with lots of effort!

 

[Mattie]

I am glad I went to look for 'tough love' instead of waiting. People avoid it most of the time, and dismiss it as 'swearing' or 'rude behaviour'. I don't.

I think you're correct here. And this is something I personally will be sending the message out there to a lot of Millennials and Gen Z.

Opposition can't be avoided in life. And the more they avoid opposition, they self-sabotage themselves and others at the same time. Opposition is not going away ever! And I had to make peace with this myself, and probably the number one lesson I had to learn as INFJ and Generation X. Our whole Generation had to learn to take our personal power back, and stand in our authentic truth.

I can't speak for the whole Generation, but this is what I noticed, Baby Boomers love stealing the show, being on top, and they're the one's who led the way of Entrepreneurship, made sacrifices, and played their part in evolving humanity, but Generation X is a different breed, and we do things a bit different.

How do you say this, without getting a Baby Boomer upset. Generation X just never measured up to the Baby Boomers vision. We've always broke out of following their path, and misunderstood. I remember when I graduated, we were told we were the worst class ever in our school in 1989, and we were rebels and revolutionaries, and always getting in trouble with the Baby Boomers if we didn't follow their footsteps.

Through the years, all the Generation X I know are entrepreneurs in different ways with music, art, literature, technical, communication, health, fitness, and deal with the organics of life. Even in my family, they're builders, excavators, work in industries I mentioned above.

I remember my history teacher threw a wooden apple at my head for being a slacker in class. Ha ha! He stated after I went to College, "You're the last person I ever thought would go to college." Now if he saw me in here today in this forum, he'd probably flip out. Since I did pay attention to his quotes he made us learn in class, that had to do with being a success in life.

I was thrown out of Year Book Class because I stood up to the teacher, because I was supposed to be the editor that year, but because I was't the rich kids daughter, that was passed on to someone else. And the teacher was an ESTJ. She sent me to the office and I said good, that's a great Idea. And I went up to bat with the Baby Boomers and complained about her. Now that was opposition.

I've always been in trouble with this personality type, and it was funny, because this forum actually taught me to make peace with Baby Boomers and Opposition.

I gained respect for for them and realized they were just pulling out my leadership qualities, and were teaching me to stop being so Introverted, Quiet, and remaining docile and submissive. While they're dominate, it wasn't them telling me to be quiet and docile, it was me choosing to allow them to effect me emotionally and mentally. My attitude, my reaction, and I just had to learn to use that rebel, revolution, in a more positive way, than literally making Baby Boomers ticked off with me.

It's necessary to be an Entrepreneur to be in a time of change in our world, but usually when we have opposition with another individual, it's not really about whether they're a Baby Boomer, Generation X, Millennial, Generation Z, it's just how you perceive the situation, the angle, the agenda, the motivation, the intention, and whether you're done with the inner war inside yourself.

I did laugh, because when I first started this forum people went to town with some of us in here, but I knew they were breaking down the ego, and shaping my character as a leader. Opposition is important, because without it, you can't reach the top. And while it may be painful at times, it's building your strength.

Running away from life, avoiding life, and escaping life may work for a short-time, but frankly, you will have to face every obstacle, opposition, and learn to show up in life, whether you like it or not. There is no way out of it. What most people do is believe life will happen for them, sit back and enjoy themselves, have fun, slack, and as INFJ, I will tell you it's not the answer. It's a dead end.

 

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[dgr]

Running away from life, avoiding life, and escaping life may work for a short-time, but frankly, you will have to face every obstacle, opposition, and learn to show up in life, whether you like it or not. There is no way out of it. What most people do is believe life will happen for them, sit back and enjoy themselves, have fun, slack, and as INFJ, I will tell you it's not the answer. It's a dead end.

Some people know deep inside themselves that something is missing. But is easy to silence that voice with a marathon of Netflix and chips, or partying hard, or whatever.

I think everyone discover her truth someday. For some of them, that day is too late.

One side note: sometimes you have to run away. Sometimes you are not ready yet. In that moments the best strategy is to retreat, and then learn and grow and go for it again.

Opposition is important, because without it, you can't reach the top. And while it may painful at times, it's building your strength.

Haha, a very graphic image has came to my mind reading this: Opposition as the steps in a stair, or the rocks you climb to the top.

 

[ZF Lee]

Running away from life, avoiding life, and escaping life may work for a short-time, but frankly, you will have to face every obstacle, opposition, and learn to show up in life, whether you like it or not. There is no way out of it. What most people do is believe life will happen for them, sit back and enjoy themselves, have fun, slack, and as INFJ, I will tell you it's not the answer. It's a dead end.

I wouldn't say it's a dead end.
It's more like the road to hell.

There was a saying I heard recently:
'If you die and face hell, hell is the person that you could have become.'

Recently I just broke off from a call with another university sales call. Ugh.
Then I realised something.

Kids won't do calls. They will just let their parents do all the calls and paperwork for them, to even go register for an education.

My mind went back to the early months of my pre-uni briefing, in which the old head of department was complaning, 'Some of you college kids don't even fill your own forms to register for college. You ask your parents to do it for you.'

I was like WTF?

Now I'm wondering if we'll have graduates fresh out of university who can't even answer a damn phone. Or even can't do face-to-face transactions.

Let's hope that somehow, people will learn things up, late or not...

 

[Mattie]

Now I'm wondering if we'll have graduates fresh out of university who can't even answer a damn phone. Or even can't do face-to-face transactions.

Let's hope that somehow, people will learn things up, late or not...

I think this is something I am trying to master presently how to communicate effectively with Millennials and Gen Z, because I have the patience, and I understand even with me an INFJ, they still get polarized, and I'll let them bat hard at me, get away with there ego's and excuses, and then I'll point out to them, okay, that didn't work with me, and this is why. And every time they learn something from the experience.

1. They automatically assume I won't listen to them.
2. They assume they know everything.
3. They assume because they have a degree and education the rules change for them.
4. They think they can win be attacking Generation X and Baby Boomers by getting a group together and firing away together at once.
5. The think they don't have to work hard and become an over night success.

I know one I've been working with and wants to do projects, but doesn't want to do the work. I say well you have to have content every day of the week and take action. And than they back off, come back, and I say the same thing again, and we go in this circle, 50 times because they don't like the answer, things have to be don a certain way.

If there not ready to accept the answer, they'll keep avoiding what must be done to succeed. And I'll be honest and tell them why they're not succeeding and still it goes in one ear and out the other.

I'm not a hard hitter either like an ESTJ and ENTJ, so this is a huge issue as you pointed out, when I'm INFJ and they still don't want to move in the right direction, be self-reliant, self-confident, and Independent. Personally, I have a Millennial, but I never baby him, and I've always taught him to be independent and get up off the floor on his own, and I do that purposely, because he's INFP. I already know this world is survival of the fittest, and the younger crowd doesn't like hearing it, but frankly, they do have start taking personal responsibility for their life.

We can't say all of them, because you see plenty of them out their working on projects and in here. So, some of them are ahead of their peers. It's something I think all of us are working on even if there are peers trying to help other Millennials, they're still getting resistance.

You do have to remember it's a personal choice, and although we'd love to bring friends and family along, there not always strong enough for Entrepreneurship or made for it. And I pointed out to someone what they could do with their property, and it just wasn't there thing. So, we have to accept other people may not enjoy Entrepreneurship, or want to be like us. And perhaps if they're happy with that, we just have to allow them to be where they want to be.

 

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[dgr]

There was a saying I heard recently:
'If you die and face hell, hell is the person that you could have become.'

Wow, that's one of my deepest fears. I love that quote.

2. They assume they know everything.

Too much use of Google

3. They assume because they have a degree and education the rules change for them.

This is funny. Usually this is what their parents have told them. At least here in Spain.

5. The think they don't have to work hard and become an over night success.

Too much videoclips, too much tweets, too much success stories in the media. Sigh...

Now that I though about it... I think I am inside the Millennial generation, so I'd must talk about "we" instead of "they . But I was breed more like the previous generation...

 

[Mattie]

I was breed more like the previous generation...[/QUOTe
I am sure this is true. I know I'm different than my older cousins who are Generation X. And I believe there are subgroups within the generations, and I think there is a balance of Extroverts and Introverts in each generation. I don't think we really generalize everyone in any social group. Just like you have Entrepreneurs in each generations, and those who are in the side walk mentality, slow lane, and fast lane. We all play our part in humanity. And I can tell you my son being born in 1995, is quite different than the Millennials who were born first in the 80's. Some of my friends who are Millennials born in 1989, 1986, approach life differently.

Some have been raised by Baby Boomers and some Generation X. So, I do laugh sometimes when Millennials shout out all the Baby Boomers are there parents all of Millennials. And I always correct them and say "NO...some of us are Generation X." The go after me thinking I'm a Baby Boomer, so that is a good sign they are getting confused with misinformation online about the generations.
I just believe we have to have a sense of humor, when I read the information we're throwing back and forth about generations, because I've had great mentors, professors, and teachers who were Baby Boomers, and others who weren't so swell, and I've grown up with the diversity of Generation X, so, when Millennials project where we've been, it's kind of a distorted picture.

And I know a bit about Millennials because I have one, and of course being a parent you watch them grow up together, and when there grown up, you can just see how our parents probably were looking at Generation X, and we thought we knew everything too, invincible, and ready to conquer the world with out the awareness, real life would throw us a lot of curve balls, obstacles, and we didn't know as much as we thought at the time.

The world's fascinating in 2018. Nothing like when I was the same age as my son 23 years ago. Just give it your 100% best. That's all you can do as an individual.

 

[LiveEntrepreneur]

I'm really looking forward to 2018, feeling very optimistic about it. Hoping to make as much progress as possible, and will finish my project and have it released.

 

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[LiveEntrepreneur]

Wow, that's one of my deepest fears. I love that quote.


Too much use of Google


This is funny. Usually this is what their parents have told them. At least here in Spain.


Too much videoclips, too much tweets, too much success stories in the media. Sigh...

Now that I though about it... I think I am inside the Millennial generation, so I'd must talk about "we" instead of "they . But I was breed more like the previous generation...

Reading this part "Too much videoclips, too much tweets, too much success stories in the media" was very interesting for me, every time I would watch that sort of content or read it, it would just give me a headache lol. I find it best personally to ignore all that stuff and just focus on what ever your working on. Like watching these guys in their 20's having million dollar companies, makes me more impatient so I try to stay away from that sort of stuff.

 

[dgr]

and ready to conquer the world with out the awareness, real life would throw us a lot of curve balls, obstacles, and we didn't know as much as we thought at the time.

The world's fascinating in 2018. Nothing like when I was the same age as my son 23 years ago. Just give it your 100% best. That's all you can do as an individual.

"ready to conquer the world" -> I think this is great for every generation. The real awareness is a fantasy, until you are with your feet in the mud. And is the "stupidity" what creates innovation. ("Stupidity" in the sense of not self-judging your ideas and goals)

When "not knowing" meets experience, good things happen.

"The world's fascinating in 2018." -> The world was fascinating in the 80's and 90's (when I was a kid). Also in the 20's and 30's and every generation. There's always, always challenges and endless possibilities.

Yes, sometimes I also look back and think "I hope I had this opportunities for learning/be understood/whatever" when I was kid/adolescent/whatever." But I also look to the present and think "I'm really grateful for growing up in a world so different to this one."

Each generation has a work to do. For themselves and for the world. It's a journey that never ends. Hopefully.

 

[dgr]

Like watching these guys in their 20's having million dollar companies, makes me more impatient so I try to stay away from that sort of stuff.

That's one of the challenges of every entrepreneur or artist today. Instead of comparing ourselves with our near environment (Dumbar's number of 150 people), we are comparing ourselves in a global scale. Always with the 1% that are the best of the best.

 

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[ahartley]

Perhaps a huge sticky note on the top of the Laptop should remind us all to take Action every day!

I got the "Class Procrastinator" award when I graduated high school, and at the time thought it was a badge of honor (hey, I still graduated, and with a 3.7 GPA, even as a procrastinator!). Over the years, though, I've struggled more and more against it, and have continued to try to find ways to limit and end my procrastination habit. So far, 2018 has been better, and I'm trying to leverage the success I'm having in getting some things done into more.

All of that to say, I had a label machine that I printed out labels and stuck them to my computer monitors years ago: T.A.N.

Take Action Now

I think I'll recreate those labels and put them back up, now that I think about it.... This time, I'll actually follow the instructions!

 

[Mattie]

This time, I'll actually follow the instructions!

Greatest words to ever hear. It means you've learned something from not making that choice previously.

 

[ExecutionisKing]

As I made clear in my Star Wars rants, I never like the implications that we are "born" with certain talents or abilities -- invariably, we must put forth an effort that others won't. The others are "waiting" for that talent to show up like a bad vacuum salesman at the front door.

Completely agree. A late '80's study recently caught my attention on this subject, not to alter the topic too much...but.... See "The Mundanity of Excellence" for the full 20 page article... but here is some context and a 30k foot aerial take...

"Hamilton College Professor Daniel F. Chambliss spent a year and a half conducting a feat of unprecedented sociological research in the world of swimmers – living with coaches, attending practices, going to team meetings and parties, and interviewing over a hundred national and world class athletes..

He did so because swimming is uniquely suited to the measurement of excellence, as an individually segmented sport where classes of athlete are clearly delineated by division, and winners and losers are separated by mere milliseconds. This precision of measurement and segregation of variables provided an extraordinary opportunity to closely observe and painstakingly document the difference between mediocre swimmers and world-class athletes – in other words, to deconstruct excellence.

"Talent Is a Fictional Concept Invented so We Can Be Lazy and Ignorant but Not Feel Bad About Ourselves"

Excellence does not result from some special inner quality of the athlete. “Talent” is one common name for this quality; sometimes we talk of a “gift,” or of “natural ability.” These terms are generally used to mystify the essentially mundane processes of achievement in sports, keeping us away from a realistic analysis of the actual factors creating superlative performances, and protecting us from a sense of responsibility for our own outcomes.

But talent fails as an explanation for athletic success, on conceptual grounds. It mystifies excellence, subsuming a complex set of discrete actions behind a single undifferentiated concept. To understand these actions and the excellence which they constitute, then, we should first debunk this concept of talent and see where it fails.

[Factors of success] are clearly definable, and their effects can be clearly demonstrated. To subsume all of them, willynilly, under the rubric of “talent” obscures rather than illuminates the sources of athletic excellence.

The concept of talent hinders a clear understanding of excellence. By providing a quick… “explanation” of athletic success, it satisfies our casual curiosity while requiring neither an empirical analysis nor a critical questioning of our tacit assumptions about top athletes… Through the notion of talent, we transform particular actions that a human being does into an object possessed, held in trust for the day when it will be revealed for all to see…

The concept of the eccentric genius is similarly laughable; despite the archetype, there is simply no actual instance of this, and the author barely even dignifies it with a brief mention.

Excellence is not, I find, the product of socially deviant personalities.

Practice Does Not Make Perfect – It Makes You Mediocre

Excellence… is achieved through qualitative differentiation… not through quantitative increases in activity… Athletes move up to the top ranks through qualitative jumps: noticeable changes in their techniques, discipline, and attitude, accomplished usually through a change in settings (e.g., joining a new team with a new coach, new friends, etc.) who work at a higher level.

So we should envision not a… world, but multiple worlds (and changing worlds is a major step toward excellence), a horizontal rather than vertical differentiation… What I have called “levels” are better described as “worlds” or “spheres.” (levels named to be technique, discipline, and attitude).

At the higher levels… something like an inversion of attitude takes place. The very features of the sport that the “C” swimmer finds unpleasant, the top level swimmer enjoys. What others see as boring—swimming back and forth over a black line for two hours, say—they find peaceful, even meditative, often challenging, or therapeutic. They enjoy hard practices, look forward to difficult competitions, try to set difficult goals. Coming into the 5:30 A.M. practices at Mission Viejo, many of the swimmers were lively, laughing, talking, enjoying themselves, perhaps appreciating the fact that most people would positively hate doing it. It is incorrect to believe that top athletes suffer great sacrifices to achieve their goals. Often, they don’t see what they do as sacrificial at all. They like it.

Prioritize the choosing of your world, and spend your efforts to get there; the repetition will then take care of itself.


Excellence is mundane. Superlative performance is really a confluence of dozens of small skills or activities, each one learned or stumbled upon, which have been carefully drilled into habit and then are fitted together in a synthesized whole. There is nothing extraordinary or superhuman in any one of those actions; only the fact that they are done consistently and correctly, and all together, produce excellence.

The winning of a gold medal is nothing more than the synthesis of a countless number of such little things—even if some of them are done unwittingly or by others, and thus called “luck.”

Looking at such subtleties, we can say that not only are the little things important; in some ways, the little things are the only things.

Motivation is mundane, too… even given the longer-term goals, the daily satisfactions need to be there. The mundane social rewards really are crucial. By comparison, the big, dramatic motivations—winning an Olympic gold medal, setting a world record—seem to be ineffective unless translated into shorter-term tasks… [Olympic athletes] found their challenges in small things.

In the pursuit of excellence, maintaining mundanity is the key psychological challenge. In common parlance, winners don’t choke. Faced with what seems to be a tremendous challenge or a strikingly unusual event, such as the Olympic Games, the better athletes take it as a normal, manageable situation… and do what is necessary to deal with it.

The sometimes odd rituals of top performers serve a very practical purpose: maintaining this fluid, unbroken mundanity.

CONCLUSION:
(1) Talent is a useless concept. Varying conceptions of natural ability (“talent,” e.g.) tend to mystify excellence, treating it as the inherent possession of a few; they mask the concrete actions that create outstanding performance; they avoid the work of empirical analysis and logical explanations (clear definitions, separable independent and dependent variables,and at least an attempt at establishing the temporal priority of the cause); and finally, such conceptions perpetuate the sense of innate psychological differences between high performers and other people.

(2) Excellence is a qualitative phenomenon. Doing more does not equal doing better. High performers focus on qualitative, not quantitative, improvements; it is qualitative improvements which produce significant changes in level of achievement; different levels of achievement really are distinct, and in fact reflect vastly different habits, values, and goals.

(3) Excellence is mundane. Excellence is accomplished through the doing of actions, ordinary in themselves, performed consistently and carefully, habitualized, compounded together, added up over time. While these actions are “qualitatively different” from those of performers at other levels, these differences are neither unmanageable nor, taken one step at a time, terribly difficult."

 

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