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A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

Harman

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As a brief history. I’ve spent the last 12 years of my life as a slow laner, working the 9-to-5 grind for various companies. Granted, I used this time to get a college degree and managed to do so without accumulating any debt. Last year I decided to strike out on my own (kinda sorta) and started an SEO agency, I have the technical know-how and got a business partner who specializes in marketing and sales and after just 6 months we’ve acquired 5 jobs, 4 of which are paying us a monthly subscription service fee. We’re focusing on building up a portfolio right now so we’re charging practically nothing but we’re learning a ton as we go. I discovered the wonderful world of MJ DeMarco thanks to a YouTube video by James Jani (@Valier) just about a month ago, bought and devoured both TMF and Unscripted , joined the forum and benefited greatly from you all. You guys are inspirational to the nth degree.
I want to give back to the community and thought documenting my journey here would be a great way to do it. I’m going to use this thread as a sort of business journal of sorts and welcome any feedback, criticism, glowing praise, random tidbits, and cat pics. I’ll respond apropo.
 
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Harman

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Let’s start with my backstory.


I turn 34 next month. It’s a solid age and I can look back at my years of experience and pick out the exact path that got me to where I am today. More importantly, I can use that path and get a good idea of what my future will look like if I were to continue on as I have been. But you know what? F*ck that path. I was following the path the 99% follow and I can tell you exactly where it leads. Mediocrity, regret, and a bull sh*t life with no legacy or merit beyond the small handful of people that depended on you to not screw things up. One could argue that such a life has security, safety, and such, but that kind of BS is a roll of the dice, you can follow that path and still end up in the crapper. My dad followed that path, he went to college, got his degrees, got his mountain of debt that plagued our family for a hefty chunk of my life. I grew up living off welfare and food stamps, my mom spent her Sundays clipping coupons and bargain shopping for the cheapest food stuff, often hitting 5 or 6 stores because Store 1 had the cheapest bread, Store 2 had the cheapest milk, and Store 10 had the cheapest whatever. Hand-me-downs and PB&J’s were the norm, I remember the A/C in our house was so pathetic, the coils would freeze over in the summer and we’d have to run a hair dryer to thaw it out. Arizona gets hot AF guys. I’d get a wet washcloth, stick it in the freezer before bed, then put it over my head while in bed and hope I fell asleep before the damn thing unfroze, otherwise I’d be up all night, sweaty and miserable. For all that I was a content kid.

How could I know there was any other way? Then cancer happened, seriously, F*CK cancer, F*CK it to F*CK’N Hell….After my mom's funeral I got my first exposure to a richer lifestyle, something that was impossible before hand because F*ck cancer. We went to stay for a week at my Aunt and Uncle's cabin, it was enormous, beautiful, and my older siblings would mention that it was because they were rich, because Uncle was a lawyer. But this was all just an experience that didn’t amount to anything. We were still poor and it never struck me that we didn’t have to be poor, dad was poor because he was an engineer while Uncle was rich because he was a lawyer so nothing to do about that.

I set out to follow the same path as my dad. I went to college, got married, had a couple kids and managed to do all this while working a full-time job building helicopters. I graduated debt free and was able to land a decent paying job which elevated our lifestyle. No more food stamps and welfare, no more scrimping and saving every penny to keep the lights on. We were comfortable. I can’t tell you how much of a relief it was to be at this point in my life but it was pretty short-lived. God damned cancer, again, this time it took my dad. The man was 2 years away from retirement, then he was gone and I was looking down into a freaking black pit. I followed in his footsteps, and I could see the future. F*ck that path. It would be 5 more years till I finally realized there was another way, I was so heavily scripted that even though I could see the future, I could see what was in store for me and my family, I still kept chugging along the path of mediocrity and regret like that stupid little train. My FTE happened about a year ago when my Uncle came into town to visit and I just asked him how he had so much money. How could he afford the big beautiful cabin, the cars, the toys, the boats. Up till then I thought he was just a lawyer, I was dead wrong. Sure he got a law degree and was technically a lawyer, but he OWNED his own law practice with several practicing attorneys working under him, working for him. He also opened several hair salon schools and made a killing there as well. He owned dozens of properties, rentals, and apartments. He told me of one property, a hospital that he owns and leases out to the government for $180K a month, A MONTH!? I couldn’t fathom that kind of wealth. My entire perception of the man was flipped upside-down. He was an entrepreneur.

Since then the path has changed. It’s been an absolute slog to reprogram my mindset, I’ve devoured books on business, marketing, and sales. I started out following Ramit Sethi and his Zero To Launch and his Earnable courses, soaking up everything I could. Reading books by Greene, Brunt, Hill, Robbins, Kiyosaki, Newport, Covey, Gilkey and many many more. I put together a rudimentary business plan, filed for my first LLC and got to work.

My Uncle graciously mentored me and not long after I landed my first gig as a freelance web developer. It was a simple job and I nailed it! I was ecstatic, but something weird happened at this point. I had completed the job, the client was happy but I couldn’t bring myself to send the invoice. I can’t explain what was going on in my mind, it took me nearly 3 weeks after work was complete to finally send the bill. Like I was terrified that they would refuse to pay me, that they would criticize me in some way, that I was crossing some illusionary line. Nothing of the sort happened and I was paid well for the job. Thrilled but chagrined at my hesitancy, I moved on to acquiring my second client, which took some time but eventually a local trophy shop asked me to do some re-work for their website and this is where things fell apart. Blinded by my first success I dove into the work and promised to knock their socks off. I was excited to get paid again, I was already shopping for a new computer, new office chair, and more. So much so that my promise to ‘knock their socks off’ fell flat and what I produced was lackluster at best. I still charged them full tilt though and the response was blistering. I failed to deliver an exceptional service and charged them like I did. I was chasing money and while the client was still happy, there was this unshakable feeling that I had missed something, that I had failed. No matter, I got paid. Bought the computer, bought the chair, funds were low but hey I could find another client, no problem. I spent the next 2 months searching and came up short, I was losing motivation and getting frustrated. The business was failing miserably and I didn’t know what to do. Should I just give up? Go back to my cushy comfy 9-to-5? Maybe I wasn’t doing what I loved. This is about when I came across a YouTube video that showed some know-it-all type guy named MJ something or other giving a lecture. In it, this MJ guy said something that hit me like a sledgehammer,

“Discipline Pains weigh ounces, Regret Pains weigh tons”.

I don’t know why it hit me so hard but I decided to learn more and came across his books and his forum. It was like Manna from heaven. I read and re-read his books, I joined this forum and revel in the wealth of knowledge, experience, and expertise of this amazing community. I closed shop on my first failed business and decided to start a new business and this time I'm going to do it right.
 

Harman

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Part II - Where I Swallow The Red Pill


I filed for my first LLC on October 5th, 2020. I could’ve framed my calendar with that date prominently circled in red marker, but as that venture spiraled downward in a slow death that date took on a different significance. I still want to frame it somehow though because what can I say?

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

We live in a very weird time, I mean, kids get participation trophies just for showing up. Every kid is a genius in their parents’ eyes, they can do no wrong and in a lot of instances are handed whatever they want on a silver platter. Societal implications aside, this sets us up to believe that we cannot fail, that if we fail we weren’t passionate enough, we just weren’t doing “what we love” (Said with as much sarcasm and derision as I can muster). In my head I thought my business was a grand slam, that businesses would line up to partake in my unparalleled service. While it’s great to have the ‘I will succeed’ mindset I feel it has to be tempered against the proverbial hammer and anvil of reality. You have a great business idea but is it viable? Is there a need? Is there a demand? Or did you just dream up something while sitting on the crapper and decided to run with it because hey, if it entered your mind randomly and without any real prompt then heck-n-hell it must be a winner.

The market has plenty of need for another freelance web developer, making the venture viable, because my business skill was literally zero I was bound to make costly mistakes. The trick is to learn from those mistakes and get better as you go. The real trick is see failure not as failure but as a blessed source of information you were lacking and you now have.

I’ve grown up hating failure. Every time I messed up there was some kind of scolding, discipline, or form of negative reinforcement. It got to the point where I wasn’t willing to try new things because I knew that A) I wouldn’t be good at it and would make mistakes, and B) Mistakes are bad. I was scripted from a young age to view failure as a negative and re-wiring this has been HARD.

The thing is, when you’ve lived this way you become really good as coming up with excuses (read: action-faking, thrashing, procrastination, laziness, etc.), so much so that any attempt to change the way you think about it becomes a battle against your belief system and man alive can people get stubborn when belief systems are challenged. I was wrong but I didn’t want to admit I was wrong, I needed to change but I didn’t want to admit that change needed to happen. Society doesn’t help, society reads from the same script I grew up with.

The image of a salmon run comes to mind. You’re a salmon and your goal is to get up that damn river. The current is constantly pushing back momentum, for miles and miles you are fighting that current with its unpredictable ebbs, speeds, placement and then you come up to a freaking waterfall. You’re still not up that river so now you have to drive forward and fling yourself willy-nilly up this barricade, striving for just a tiny bit of purchase on the upside so you can continue forward. You try and fail, try again and fail again, over and over till you finally get that purchase and you power forward so you don’t fall back. This repeats over and over again, a constant battle and it only gets harder because the water is full of predators waiting to terminate your attempt. Bears, Eagles, and the sheer difficulty of the journey all coalesce to block you.

I’m sure there are ways to interpret this into our lives and overcoming trials or something but I’m not going there. I just like the image of a salmon run when it comes to adopting a new way of thinking, of throwing off the script and truly changing the way you see the world around you. It’s not as simple as taking the red pill.

You fight against the pressures of societal norms and their script (the current), you come across real, soul crushing obstacles and barriers (waterfalls) in the way of pride and holding onto hyperrealities, and we can easily fall prey to poor decisions that set us back.
 

Harman

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Part III - You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know Until You Know It


I’ve grown a lot in the last year. Thanks Covid. Seriously though, in the last year my bookshelf has probably experienced a major identity crisis. Two years ago it contained mostly fiction novels; fantasy, sci-fi, westerns, and such. Now it’s loaded with the Harvard Classics and books on personal finance, business, investments, leadership, sales, and marketing. I’ve learned more about long-term investments strategies and personal finance in the last year then I thought possible! Same goes for all the other areas mentioned above. Why the change though?

I remember a time where the idea of owning my own business was outrageous, who would want that kind of stress and headache in their lives? Not me man. But here I sit today, owning my own business and soaking up as much information and wisdom on the subject as possible. A common theme I see, especially in this forum is, “I wish I discovered this forum XX years ago. Blah Blah Blah.” I used to think this as well, especially when I first started out on this path but as time passed I’ve realized the truth. If I had discovered this stuff 10 years ago it would have changed nothing for me because I wasn’t READY for it.

It’s nice to think that if I’d read XYZ book or learned about ZYX so many years ago that I would now be so many years further along the path but it’s just not true. At least not for me anyways. 10 years ago I was living the scripted dream! Married and with a newborn kid, just starting my 2nd year of college, working full-time for the man and using my sliver of free time to play Call of Duty. I guarantee that if a friend told me to read TMF , which came out a decade ago, I would’ve passed. I wasn’t ready. Sure it would’ve been life changing, sure I could be one of those semi-retired by 25 guys. To think that the years of struggle, the fights over finances, and all that would not have happened had I only read the book is folly (in my case). I wasn’t ready, but guess what, I don’t regret it at all! It’s because of the years of struggle, the fights over finances, the hours spent clipping coupons and receiving welfare, it’s because of those things that I am NOW ready. Better late than never.

I didn’t know there was a different way to pursue life and I’m okay with that. I don’t have regrets. I followed the scripted life and honestly guys, it was okay, at least for me. Both my wife and I graduated debt free. We bought a small house in a great neighborhood for a steal and sold it for a 100k profit 4 years later. We bought my wife’s childhood home, a full acre of land and a beautiful home. We used the money to pay off my wife’s car and I drive a little versa with killer gas miles. My drive to work was all of 5 minutes and the work, while mostly boring, was satisfying. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. Things changed. I grew up. I wanted more for my wife, more for my kids. I just FELT like there was more so I started to look for the answer. It took some time but I eventually discovered TFM and FLF, it was the answer I was looking for. An answer to a question that I had only JUST started to ask myself.

I don’t regret the last decade. It was hard but there were good times too. But now I know what I didn’t know and I cannot go back to where I was.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Wow just started reading, almost missed this. That's for sharing -- your Uncle sounds bad a$$.
 

Harman

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Part IV - Progress Report

Okay, I’m tired of writing all the preachy, philosophical garbage. I’m half expecting a mod to put this in the miscellaneous/Off-topic threads.

A month ago I closed shop on my first business and partnered up with an old friend in a 50/50 digital marketing and solutions venture. My core skill set lies with web design, app development, and all things IT while my business partners’ lie in sales, marketing, and systems engineering.

Our idea is that we have complimentary skills and we’ve already experienced the fruits of joining forces. My weakness is in marketing my skills and finding new clients (I’m working on improving this and have already started pitching our services alongside my partner). With his help we’ve successfully contracted two local businesses and are working in providing long-term value to them through our services.

Our first client took us on and we are charging him just $200/mo for new lead generation. In just 1 month we’ve already optimized his website (which was dead), integrated SEO (non-existent), setup automated systems to make his and his employees lives easier, and run a successful Google Ad campaign that generated several leads that converted to clients for him. In short, we nailed it. Client is thrilled and we are thrilled that our model worked well for him.

Mistakes were definitely made, it wasn’t all rainbows and cupcakes. Don’t get me started on all the issues I had with the website, communication with the client, and missed deliverables. We look at each of these missteps as opportunities to improve our own system and thereby provide greater value in the future.

Our second client has been more difficult and provided plenty of challenges we didn’t face with the first. They are a more established business with a decent following and good success in the local community. Communication has been a challenge with them as well as getting the information/assets we’ve requested. We have shifted our main focus to them now that the first is completely set up and in the last week we’ve made strides. This makes me ask the question; How do you guys handle multiple clients at the same time? What tips do you have for time management and such? We only have the two clients right now so it’s not an issue but what about if you have several? Do you limit how many active clients you work with at a time?

Client #2 is making strides. We’ve already generated several new leads for them, we’re in the process of optimizing their website and improving their email systems. Up to now they’ve seemed content with our services but I’m not content with them being content, I want to knock their freaking socks off! Like, I picture the owner going out to lunch with his other dentist friends (client #2 is a dental office) and his buddies being like, “Dude, you’re crushing it, what changed?” and our guy being like, “DUDES Let me tell you about this digital marketing and solutions company we hired!”

Okay I’m letting my ethos get the better of me but I’m determined to make that the reality. On a side note I also imagine bumping into Jeff Bezos while out to lunch and handing him MY autograph and telling him to hang that on the wall in his office because someday soon I’m going to surpass him.

Our central focus right now is to improve our service and work out the kinks. Both client #1 and client #2 are happy with what we’re providing and we’re going to continue what we’re doing. We will be able to tap these clients for referrals and reviews while continuing to cold-call for our next clients. My partner is courting other potential clients right now and we’re allowing our price to go up to reflect the value we offer and we have the data to back it up.

The idea is this:
  1. Find a new client
  2. Provide long-term value and amazing results
  3. Repeat steps 1 and 2
It’s a slow process but we’re laying the foundation for a life changing fastlane business.
 

Harman

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Wow just started reading, almost missed this. That's for sharing -- your Uncle sounds bad a$$.
He is, and the man is incredibly generous. I've listened in on him during consult calls for his law firm and he's comfortably charging $600 for a 30 minute call. But he's mentoring me, spending hours on calls and such and tells me he's just happy to help.
 
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Harman

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Part V - A Conversation I Will Never Forget

As I’m building my business and throwing my hat in with other entrepreneurs, I am also working a full-time job as a software engineer. Since last March I’ve been fortunate to be able to work from home (thanks Coronavirus), and it was during this time I decided to take action (finally). While I’ve been building my business I’ve still had to work the 9-to-5 slog and not a day goes by that I don't count the days till I can hand in my 2-weeks notice. I would do it today but for my a-typical excuses of bread-winner and bacon-bringer.

As per my job role I am subject to dozens of meetings on a weekly basis. Some more palatable than others. My least favorite are the one-on-one meetings I have with a group leader in my department. These insufferable wastes of time occur monthly and while I like the guy well enough, every bone in my body wants to scream during those meetings because this upstanding citizen is the embodiment of slow lane platitudes and indoctrination. Today’s meeting is a wonderful example.

To start off the conversation, which has been slated to eat away the next 30 minutes of my life, I’m asked how things at work are going.

“Great! I’m going to quit this job as soon as possible. I’d quit this second if I could!” I snarkily reply in my head

“Not too bad, I’ve got a lot on my plate” is my actual response, desperately hoping he will take the hint and not give me additional tasks to do.

After some back and forth I decide to be at least partially polite.

“How are you doing?” I ask. “Just back-to-back meetings all day every day.” is his reply, a painfully regular occurrence, I guess. Sheer exhaustion soak his face, I know he's had to work extra hard since his boss is leading several teams and relies on him to carry the additional load.

Not only is he spending almost every waking work moment in meetings, he was also informed that he was passed up for a promotion because our company is putting a "freeze" on any promotions this year. This despite our last year being the most profitable in the company's history.

He proceeds to tell me that in order to receive this promotion would require him to work at the level of an individual two-pay grades higher for the rest of this year to possibly get that promotion next year.

I tremble with horror but my chummy chum is game to go for it because he really wants that promo.

The conversation turns to what tasks I’m working on, problems I’m dealing with, plans of action and so on. After 15 minutes of this I’m hoping we can just call things early so I can go back to not caring about this job in peace. ‘Tis not to be so.

My peer then brings up some recent news about our dear old CEO who is finally retiring after 35+ years with the company. Having spent the last 10 years as CEO he has accumulated much prestige (and wealth).

The discussion turns to his wealth and how amazing it would be to retire at 60, to have the kind of money our dear CEO has. Then my friend says this,

“I can only hope that when I’m old enough to retire, I have enough money to actually do it”

It was so casually stated, so submissively defeatist, so very very very very wrong.

As I’ve reflected on the conversation, there were multiple red flags and each one solidified my resolve to quit not just this job, but the entire slowlane mindset.

The look in his eyes as he stated such flawed “truths” was nothing short of terrifying. He completely submitted to the script. There was no way to move forward without busting his a$$ for a possible promotion in the hopes that he could maybe, possibly, one day retire.

My great takeaway is that even though I have to put up with these kind of semi-torture sessions, they are an incredible source of motivation. After these meetings I will spend several days working harder than ever on my business (working w/ clients, cold calls and emails, building the brand, etc.).

The script is real and it nails home the absolute truth. What @MJ DeMarco has given us; the books, this forum, his knowledge and experience, is priceless. It is more valuable than all the gurus, motivational speakers, celebrity endorsements, school scholarships, and job promotions put together. ONLY IF YOU ACT.

I never want to forget this conversation, I want the words said, the dead look in my colleagues eyes, the tones, the body language, I want it all ingrained in my brain because that is a life not worth living. That is a hell I never, ever will go back to no matter how challenging the road ahead is.
 

Harman

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Part VI - REAL Education

I don’t think anyone here would argue with me when I say that the education system is broken.

Broke AF.

Math, English, Social Studies, History, Language, in theory one could walk away with a basic understanding of the material and thrive but how is it going to help us in the long term?

Education = Higher Paying Job

Okay, sure, if you say so.

Higher Education = Even Higher Paying Job

I get it but what’s the cost?

There is always a cost and as a guy who has spent a good deal of time optimizing computer algorithms, is this system optimal?

H-E-Double Hockey Sticks No

This is stated by so many people that are way smarter than me, and way more eloquent so I’ll stop there.

In the spirit of optimizing the algorithm of education let’s take a look at what you’ll commonly see on this forum:

  1. Future entrepreneur is living unfulfilling life
  2. Future entrepreneur (henceforth dubbed FE) has a FTE (F*ck This Event)
  3. FE Looks for options/opportunities
  4. FE takes tentative first steps
  5. FE fails miserably
  6. Repeat 3, 4 and 5 until...
  7. Something Clicks (CENTS, personal experience, or skill recognition)
  8. FE graduates to Entrepreneur

What happens after that point depends on the individual but let’s hone in on what’s happened over the course of the FE lifecycle.

A lot of business books and how-to guides will attempt to expedite the life-cycle of the FE,

“I wrote this book so you could learn from my mistakes”

“Save yourself the pain and heartache I suffered”

“Took me XX years to learn this and you can have it now”

It’s like a never ending stream of projectile vomit.

Step 6 is so insanely invaluable, so inconceivably important, so nominally underrated that I had to rack my brain for 10 whole minutes to come up with pithy adverbs to make me feel smart.

Sure the process can be "sped up" but it's not like reading this guys book will automatically bake into you the ability to start a multi-trillion dollar business tomorrow.

What takes place over the course of your feeble attempts and failures? What happened over those XX years that Mr. Book Writer is "hoping" to save you from? It’s not like nothing happens! You’re creating neural pathways that didn’t exist because at your most fundamental, basic core, you are a problem solver.

When a problem arises and you fail in the execution of the solution you mind will go into overdrive to find out what went wrong and how to fix it. Millions of years of evolution have gotten us to this point because your brain KNOWS that in order to SURVIVE it must find the SOLUTION to the PROBLEM.

When you make an entrepreneurial attempt, and said attempt crashes and burns, your brain has thoroughly dissected what happened and the more crash and burns you experience the better your brain gets at resolving the problem.

It gets so good that eventually you solve the problem, you discover the secret sauce, you crack the code. That would NOT have happened on your first go around (unless you’re like, God, or something)

Even entrepreneurs whose first business was a grand slam can look back over the course of their lives and pinpoint the FE lifecycle in some form.

I guess I’m just saying that if you want to “make it” you’ve got to put the books down, stop the YouTube/Udemy self-education loop, and just step out that front door of yours and start.

Alright, I’m done

TL;DR - Go out and take action.
 

Harman

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Part VII - Progress Report Again

Okay. I want to start off by thanking @Kak. Your podcast has been enlightening, informative, highly educational, and incredibly entertaining. You are killing it with each episode and I can’t thank you enough for what you are doing. If you haven’t started listening to his podcast, do yourself a favor and start. Pure Gold.


It’s been a few weeks since my last update and boy-howdy have I struggled. Business is doing well, my partner and I have secured one new additional contract, pitched 4 other companies (waiting to hear back), and started talks with a referral from one of our current partners that is looking very promising!

Despite this I’m struggling. Focusing on the tasks at hand is hard and I’m recognizing hardcore thrashing in my actions lately. Instead of working on a direct task I’ll push it off for something non-productive. Instead of researching potential leads I’ll “take a break”. These are the exact kind of things that have caused me to fail in multiple other ventures.

I was hoping this behavior wouldn’t show itself. Afterall, I’m now successfully providing value and the coffers are filling each day. In previous business ventures I would be going at it alone, with no real ‘Why’ except that it could potentially be successful. However after a few months I’d give in to my baser drive and lose myself in Netflix or CoD.

The work is still getting done, but I know I could be doing more. I have such high expectations for myself yet I’m not holding myself accountable for when I fail to do the work required to meet those expectations.

I was in a long and boring meeting with my 9-to-5 and spent the entire meeting writing the words, ‘Do More’, ‘Be Better’, ‘Try Harder’, and ‘Stop Wasting Time’ over and over again. It is seriously such a ludicrously difficult struggle for me to stay focused and a challenge that I need to overcome if I want to make my mark on the world.

There’s a Japanese term that has made its way through many professional circles called ‘Kaizen’. It simply means ‘improvement’ and it’s something that has been on my mind lately. The idea is that if you can improve by just 1% everyday. You don’t have to go from zero to one-hundred overnight, but small, incremental improvements each day will see you reach new heights. I like that.

So if you spend 3 hours out of the day staring at your phone (non-productive work) and 5 hours on task (productive work) maybe the next day you shift 10 minutes, spending 2hrs and 50 minutes on your phone and the reset on task. Do that every day for a week and you’ll spend 1 hour more on task each day.

Heck, I’m willing to give it a shot. How about you?
 
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Kak

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Thanks so much for the shout out brother! I am thrilled to be helping people.

I love how many companies you’re pitching. Keep racking them up, it’s a numbers game!
 
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This is amazing. Have you thought about blogging all of this on medium? I am sure you'd made some additional $$$$
 

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This is amazing. Have you thought about blogging all of this on medium? I am sure you'd made some additional $$$$
Hehe, nah, I'm using this thread almost like a personal journal (albeit one that is quite public).

I've only been on this forum for a short time but I've gained so much. This is something I'm trying to do to give back to the community.
 
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Thanks so much for the shout out brother! I am thrilled to be helping people.

I love how many companies you’re pitching. Keep racking them up, it’s a numbers game!
Dude, @Kak, I can't thank you enough for what you've done!

I've been binging your radio show harder than anything media I've ever consumed. I'm talking Harry Potter levels of binging here. Each episode is pure gold.

Your show has been essential in helping me shift my mindset from 'how much can I make' to 'how much can I help'.

You rock my man!
 

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Part VIII - My First Sale

I’ve been reading the E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber (read it!) and have been re-working my inner dialogue to be more in-line with the entrepreneur mindset. Finding the balance between the entrepreneur mindset, the manager mindset, and the technician mindset has been a total game changer for me.

I’ve got a way to go but it’s wild to be driving down the road and see the world with new eyes. Instead of just mindlessly going from point A to point B I’m looking and SEEING the business opportunities everywhere, from the broken road signs, worn out barriers, heck even the paint on the road, opportunity is everywhere!

I fall directly into the technicians mindset, maybe not fully but it’s definitely there.

Reading the portion of the book where Mr. Gerber talks about the people starting a business because they already did the work and figured if the idiot boss could do it so could they, well that hit so close to home it gave me chills. Fortunately I’ve got a business partner that pushes me out of my comfort zone and multiple threads on this forum are helping me make the paradigm shift necessary to do this right!

Up to now my role in the business has been as the technician. I’ve handled some managerial work but that’s all. I’ve been reading good books, studying marketable skills, and improving in all the areas I need to grow to produce value where needed.
The test came last week.

I made the solicitations to a local business, got my foot in the door and set up a meeting with the business manager. Made a pathetic pitch that somehow worked well enough to get me in front of the business owner and blundered my way through that meeting like a bull in a china shop.

I walked away from that meeting feeling like I should drown myself.

Talked to my partner and we both agreed to take it as a learning experience and get better. Two days later, the business owner called and hired us (go figure)

Don’t be afraid to throw yourself out there, the absolute WORST thing that can happen is they will say no. So why not give it a shot when there is the slightest chance they will say yes?

This is a big client for us and it’s going to take a lot of work but guys (and gals) if I can make the shift from a technicians mindset to the entrepreneurs’ so can you! It’s terrifying, thrilling, and exhilarating.

There’s the chance of humiliating yourself but you need to embrace the struggle with your whole heart and soul, that’s the key to improvement. I’m learning each and every day that if this was easy, everyone would be doing it. I can’t be content with mediocrity or ease because if I want to grow as a person, to meet and surpass my potential, I am going to have to struggle, I am going to have to go all out, I am going to have to make sacrifices.

I’m realizing that I have the ability to provide incredible value to others. We all do. It’s something that Jordan Peterson hits on pretty frequently. He talks about how there is the potential for incredible cruelty within each one of us, but we also have the potential for incredible acts of generosity and kindness. It’s entirely up to us to decide how we will act, which path we will follow.

I see the same possibilities in business. Each one of us is capable of creating incredible things, building businesses that can change the world. Each one of us is also capable of stopping the car, getting out, and walking with the 99% who are content to stay sidewalkers their whole lives.

I talked about improving myself, even if it’s just 1% each day. I have a lot of mental barriers to tear down, a lot of scripts that were drilled into me that I have to nuke. Each day I’m getting more confident in the path I’ve chosen. God, the future looks so much more exciting. Bring on the challenges and obstacles, I’m ready.

Holy Crap, I think I’m realizing my ‘Why’.
 

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Part IX - Open Wide

Sweet, sweet validation ladies and gentlemen. What more can I say?

I was having a conversation with my wife last night about this past week and the blur of motion that has signified its passing. For nearly 4 months, we had only acquired a grand total of 2 new clients, neatly doubling our clientele list since launch.

For those months we worked solely for those 4 clients, you might think we stagnated but we were growing, we were learning, we were educating ourselves in the school of hard-knocks and real life.

Our offering points pivoted multiple times, our organization required a thorough examination and restructuring, we hit a few home runs, but the vast majority have been pop-flies, and ground outs.

I’m sure I’ve completely let go of the bat a time or two and it careened into the crowd.

We learned, we adapted, we grew. We didn’t let any of our mistakes, or miscalculations, or errors break us and I’m actually enjoying those mistakes MORE than the times we got it right.

Crazy as it sounds, by making mistakes it’s almost like we’re forced into course corrections that we can then use to anticipate other issues and problems and begin to act proactively instead of reactively.

I’m working more hours consecutively than I’ve ever worked before. I’m going to bed each night exhausted but excited for the challenges tomorrow will bring.

What really makes me smile, though, is the fact that it is all somehow WORKING. I don’t know what changed, what happened but in the last week something changed, something happened and it’s like a freakin fire hose is pumping at us at full power.

Our focus has always been providing value, making ourselves useful, solving problems. It’s taken me quite a lot of mental gymnastics to change my personal perspective to match that focus.

I wanted to make a lot of money, I wanted to be rich, wealthy, successful even. I wanted the toys, the gadgets, the big house and expensive car. I’ve learned there’s nothing inherently wrong with that...But I know me, it’s taken A LOT of personal reflection to understand that it’s okay to want those things, but if that’s my drive, then I just might be willing to do ANYTHING to get them.

I don’t want to go down that path, it’s a bad place for me.

I’m learning that there is honor in what we do so long as it falls in line with the principles we choose to follow in our lives.

I’ve narrowed it down to these three for myself
  • I will provide value to the marketplace.
  • I will continually educate and improve myself.
  • I will provide for and protect my family.

I have so much more to learn about being an entrepreneur.
I have so much more to learn about being a leader.
I have so much more to learn about who I am, and what I am capable of (for better or worse).

At the end of the day, though, I want to sit down with my wife; hold her hand and look her in the eye and speak honestly.

There is honor in what we do. The world at large is looking at us like capitalism is worse than any Hitler, Stalin, or Mao. But we know the truth. The world wouldn’t be what it is today if it weren’t for the likes of us.

For years I lived my life on default. Just getting through the day. Looking for any petty distraction to keep me from waking up and realizing that I was a shriveled husk of what I could be. I wasn’t meeting my potential, I wasn’t even trying.

No more. My eyes are open wide.

These past few months have been every bit as fulfilling and satisfying as teaching my children to read and write. I’ve worked hard to create something that helps somebody somewhere live a better life.

There have been mistakes. There will be so many more it should cripple my nerve to continue, maybe if I weren’t a bit mad it would.

Doesn’t matter, because validation has happened and I think I might know why.

In the last week something changed. We have something people want, we can help solve their problems, and they are practically throwing their money at us to help them.

It isn’t about becoming rich for me, not anymore. Money is just a marker that value is being provided for and changing my mindset has been worth the struggle to learn that lesson.

My goal isn’t to earn $10k/month, or to quit my job, or become a millionaire.

It’s to help people.

Funny how making that shift is at the epicenter of the flood that is pouring in now.
 
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