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Fastlaners and MJ kicked my a$$ into gear..

A post of a ranting nature...

punkcityrocker

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WARNING: This is not a short post, however, you guys are responsible for it and I want to put this out there for anyone lurking here and in frustration. This is my rant, my story and my decision to man up to the Fastlane.

Let's start at the beginning and move forward to today. Before MJ, before I started lurking here and before I decided to grow a pair and take the steps I needed to to be a man and drive myself to where I want to be.

One year ago I decided enough was enough and left my dream job, yes really it was my dream job. Nothing made me happier and gave me greater sense of meaning. A chain of events led me to that decision and in many ways it was that very chain that became a precursor to my mindset of today and to the mindset that led me to the Fastlane logic and re-education. You see I was working in a country and region where the salaries were infamously the lowest in Europe and although I had work coming in the money was either next to nothing or really nothing once I took a flight home and came back for a week.

I learnt many things during that job though, I became tough and learnt to love the grind. However, I was satisfied with very little (in terms of cash). At subzero temperatures my housemates and I would joke about if we would eat or drink the last few days of the month, we could not to both adequately.

A breakup with my then partner of six years after I found out she had cheated on me meant it was time to take a break since I could not focus on my career. I took a few weeks off and spent time alone on the road, couch surfing and making my dollars last. That was an expensive lesson; a lesson in economics (or lack thereof), getting back into meeting women for the first time in six years and also where I was and where I really wanted to be going. Yes, going out and, having a drink and re-learning how to attract beautiful women was crucial to rebuilding my confidence and mindset.

Skip forward to the end of the trip I finished the two contracts I had as a freelancer at my old career and made a promise to myself to get things in order. I had two highly successful performances at those very two contracts; already my mindset was changing the way I see things. I moved back home and spent some time rethinking how to pay off my minimal debt. I had the skills and knowledge to work in Asia as an English teacher; a bad job at best but I took a few interviews anyway. To pay the flight over to China I worked in a sandwich shop for less than 400 dollars a month, this was the lowest of the low for me. I was not phased because I knew where I was going. I negotiated a job with MINIMAL hours, it was no more than 15 hours a week and paid just under 2500 dollars a month. I started the job teaching English and my first goal was to streamline is as much as possible so as to give myself a minimal workload and maximum time to invest in myself. In addition to this I had 3 months vacation per year.

I started to use every waking minute of non work time to invest in myself. This forum led me to The Fastlane Millionaire, which I devoured twice. Once reading through it and the second time taking notes. I immediately began reading and studying copy and started selling myself to much higher paying private gigs, close to 100 dollars an hour. This was not true fastlane as I was still selling time but it was indeed a Fastlane skill of SELLING that I began to hone more and more. All the way up to landing university jobs for a NYSE listed company and made over 8k in the two months off.

In addition I started grafting seriously to learn Mandarin and got back under the barbell for the first time in years. Now I am finishing my first niche ebook, getting ready to get my level 2 HSK Mandarin certification and breaking new records (in the gym and in my bank account). I paid off all my debt, negotiated a much higher paying job for my second contact and have set the bar high. By the end of 2016 I will for the first time make at least 60k from my day job. My goal is to supplement it with a modest 15k from true Fastlane methods such as the book and selling knowledge instead of time. Keyword selling. Now I am not rich by any means, but I live well below my means and my time is valuable. So valuable that I prefer to invest it in myself rather than the corporate ladder logic of invest in "my" company.

Am I where I want to be? No, but I am a hell of a lot closer than I was a year ago making 400 dollars a month and miserable. I have taken the red pill which was administered to me by the members of this very forum, by MJ DeMarco and by the bitterness of my former self.

Gentlemen, I salute you! 2016 will be my last salaryman year and 2017 will be my first fully Fastlane year.

PS: about jobs in China: DO NOT SETTLE for the measly jobs foreigners start out with. I've seen many a jobless university grad make that year count and go back home to buy a house and start a business but the majority WASTE IT. Fastlaners from ANY English speaking country and with ANY college/university diploma can PM me for legit, free advice based on my knowledge and experience if you are serious. Pay your debts, learn Chinese and make those high paying privates instead of working for cents on the dollar. That's for slowlaners.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Nice to see you understand the process and the value of making small, incremental improvements. Fastlane starts in your head, not with an idea to start the next Facebook.

Welcome. :)
 

ilrein

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@punkcityrocker I take it the dream job you were describing was teaching English overseas? TEFOL style?

It was also something I was considering quite heavily, but I saw the numbers and knew with plane tickets you pretty much ain't making shit.

Great job on the progress!
 

Fathazard

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Congrats on your journey so far. I am just in the process of re-gearing for the fastlane too :)

How has your ebook sold so far? where are you distributing it?
 

punkcityrocker

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@punkcityrocker I take it the dream job you were describing was teaching English overseas? TEFOL style?

It was also something I was considering quite heavily, but I saw the numbers and knew with plane tickets you pretty much ain't making shit.

Great job on the progress!

No the dream job was conducting orchestras. I still do one concert now and then, but for myself and not to get rich. Next one is in Athens.
 

punkcityrocker

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Congrats on your journey so far. I am just in the process of re-gearing for the fastlane too :)

How has your ebook sold so far? where are you distributing it?

I will launch 2 ebooks this month and post up on the progress. It's a learning process as far as sales but i'm confident that we have more than enough information from fellow fastlaners to make at least a small substantial amount per month ONCE it's streamlined
 
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punkcityrocker

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Jan 13, 2016
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@punkcityrocker I take it the dream job you were describing was teaching English overseas? TEFOL style?

It was also something I was considering quite heavily, but I saw the numbers and knew with plane tickets you pretty much ain't making shit.

Great job on the progress!

TEFOL can be a good starting step but as I said make the right job negotiation to start with. You should get start up costs such as plane tickets covered and then also don't settle from low wage jobs unless it give you the free time to cash in on privates. PM me for any advice on that, I have my connection in Beijing.
 

punkcityrocker

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Thank you gentlemen. If ever we shall cross paths one day the whisky is on me. This forum has been instrumental. I know it's a small step but I feel I have progressed so much over this last year and my confidence for the incoming year is concrete.
 

punkcityrocker

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If someone wants me to breakdown the maths for examples sake at how I paid my debt and still walked off after the year with a good amount of savings let me know. Didn't add it because it's beside the point (growing balls and mindset).

Also, for anyone who is in a struggling economy the broken situation in several countries around Europe; it is in your power to step out of it or work around it. I was surrounded by too many people blaming the economy to pull my head up. That's partly why the TRIP to Asia was time and money well spent. @Fathazard and I were just chatting about getting away from poison like that. Hat tip to you sir and enjoy the sun...
 
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amp0193

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No the dream job was conducting orchestras. I still do one concert now and then, but for myself and not to get rich. Next one is in Athens.

I was studying to be a professional musician in college, but abandoned the idea. I teach school music now, which is ok, but I will be quitting at the end of this term to do my business full-time. Looking around at the 30-somethings I know still trying to make it as an orchestral musician, doing one-off $150 gigs and teaching private lessons for $17/hour, I'm glad I never went down that path.
 

punkcityrocker

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I was studying to be a professional musician in college, but abandoned the idea. I teach school music now, which is ok, but I will be quitting at the end of this term to do my business full-time. Looking around at the 30-somethings I know still trying to make it as an orchestral musician, doing one-off $150 gigs and teaching private lessons for $17/hour, I'm glad I never went down that path.

I'd get high paying jobs but they were far and few, and the workload was a joy but intense to say the least. Now i'm in a position to make a few calls, get my concert organised and not worried about making my annual so it's a different position completely. I do need it in my life, but my real money comes from other doors
 

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