feel like I am skydiving without a parachute

[brianm4289]

I really need the opinions of fellow fastlaners, I cannot get good advice from anybody around me as 99.99999999999% of the world has the corporate job / slowlane mentaility... ok my current situation is I work at a car dealership 55 hours a week (mandatory) and get paid flat rate (paid per job not per hour).... time is EVERYTHING to me, I cannot express this enough. I understand just as MJ says in his book, that time is the most precious asset any of us have and for me to sit there and waste it while not even being paid for all hours I am at a job is a living hell in my mind. I went to school for auto mechanics when I was younger and not tuned into the fastlane so it is one of the only respectable jobs I can get right now. I absolutely hate it and really want to get on the fastlane and start making a good deal of income from another source such as a monetized website. I am 24 and engaged and really cannot risk having zero income in my current situation of trying to save for a house, wedding, etc. here are a few options I have floating around in my head and I want to know what you guys think is the best one...

1.) Continue to work 55 hour weeks and use the very few hours a week of free time I have to work on a fastlane plan (hard due to lack of free time, but some income)

2.) Completely quit working for somebody else and go 100% into a fastlane venture (very risky as it may fail completely and I have no job to fall back on)

3.) start a small cleaning company to create my own schedule while also working on a fastlane idea (cleaning companies are always needed and a very low start up cost)

just looking for some opinions guys so feel free to let me know what you think thanks everybody :smxF:

 

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[Kung Fu Steve]

Welcome.

It sounds to me like you may be lacking in the clarity department. Remember clarity is power. The question is what do you want? What specifically? And what will that give you? It always start with some sort of goal setting. Some idea of where you are headed. Then you can do what you are doing now which is the gathering of knowledge.

On the time thing, you will get no sympathy from me my friend. I am the same age, I work 80+ hours per week (that would be equivilent to your work schedule, just 7 days a week with no breaks) on just one of my businesses. I am working on starting up my other so that eats up a couple hours a day. Yes I don't get much sleep but I don't need a lot especially when I'm extremely excited about my dream and making it come true.

So you work 7am-7pm. What are you doing from 7pm-2am? That is another whole work day you could be utilizing. Now granted. Most people don't take on life at the speed I do but what about committing 2 hours per day to your project? Starting simply with research and the gathering of skills and knowledge (this can even be considered research) until you are ready to make some definite decisions?

I will venture to tell you that if you had a plan you KNEW would work you probably wouldn't hesitate in quitting your job (if you even had to) and doing it. If you are looking to reduce risk, it comes down to the amount of knowledge and the quality of that knowledge.

Sure, you could make a cleaning business fastlane, but without clarity it is just another "get rich quick" scheme instead of a true Fastlane plan.

That all being said, remember that people fall into the trap of saying "my economic life is not where I want it, I will focus on that!" Now all of a sudden your relationships will suffer. I can tell you that one from first hand experience. The balancing trick is to decide what is most important on your list of values and be comfortable with those decisions.

There are many a person who reach their ultimate goal of fame and fortune, come to the end of their life, and say they would give it all back for the chance to renew that relationship or extra time with family, or experiences, whatever it may be.

Kind of deep for a first response to your question I know, but if we fail to plan for the future we plan to fail :smxB:.

So if that doesn't give you a chunk of raw meat to chew on... How about you just keep us updated on your progress? Have you read MJ's book yet??

 

[Runum]

Yep, flatrate sucks. I do know that not all auto repair shops are going to require 55 hours. Most I have heard of do pay flat rate but you can work less hours if you want. If you flag enough hours you go home.

You could find a place like that to work for while you work a fastlane plan. Yes, you will make less money but you will have enough to survive.

How bad do you want it?

 

[ZCP]

You seem to be more focused on 'making a good deal of income' than on solving a problem. Find a problem, determine a solution, sell it / teach it / license it / franchise it. From that the income will come.

As for time....when at work, be the absolute best you can be. (See Tim Ferriss) When away from work, ask yourself each moment 'am I doing the most important thing I need to be doing?'

Now get to it.

 

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[Felix II]

Word of advice: Forget the wedding and the house for now. I don't think I need to provide an argument as to why.

 

[Guest3722A]

Brian, it seems you have pain from working 55 hours with only a flat rate. Have you considered making flyers and driving through neighborhoods, apartment complexes and trailer parks and putting your flyers on the windshields of vehicles that may need repair? Or, better yet, knock doors and ask people. While you're doing that, let them know you have a cleaning business too.

Why not order some cheap business cards from vistaprint.com and pass them out everywhere you go? Maybe put on your cards you'll repair their vehicles at their homes? I guess what I'm getting at here is if you're getting paid by the job, at 55 hours a week, why do you need to split the money with someone?

From here, what is your plan? How much in living expenses do you need saved up to let go of your job and work towards your fastlane ambitions? How long will it take for your fastlane plan to support your lifestyle?

With me, I read repeatedly that for what I wanted to do, 2 years of living expenses saved was a requirement seeing that the building stages of my ambitions takes 60+ hours a week, thus, the need for the saved living expenses.

Figure out your plan, get rid of the pain, and move forward!

 

[brianm4289]

Thanks for the input everyone.. My long term goal is to have enough money spread around in investments to live comfortable on thr interest. Money for material things means zero to me. I could drive a 10 year old car and live in an average home and be very happy as long as I have the freedom to use my time to enjoy life and spend it with loved ones. So money to me is a ticket to freedom. Not a ticket to an exotic car or mansion I think mansions and cars are cool but it's not my main motive

 

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