Hello. Below is a story of how I ended up here.

[starlessn1ght]

Hello. I'm a 23M guy working a day job as a software engineer while also starting my first business.

About 2-3 years ago, I was in a really dark place. I was in college at the time, suffering from depression. The #1 thing that weighed the most on my mind was that I would spend the rest of my life shackled to a job after college and would lose all the freedom I had until then. I had no friends and spent all of my free time browsing Reddit. I had the scripted mindset and had no idea it was possible to be free from the rat race. My parents are well off but they're also slowlaners who have spent all of their lives working their asses off and, as of now, in their mid-fifties, my dad still hasn't retired. They preached the slowlane to me but I didn't see the point of wasting all my youth penny-pinching just so I could be rich when I was 60. I didn't see the point of following their advice if I didn't want to end up like them. At that time, I felt hopeless and thought about suicide very often.

After I graduated, I spent a while working full-time, which was as draining and soul-sucking as I expected. Much like MJ, though, the place I lived also contributed to my unhappiness. I was sick of Brazil. I was sick of being forced to have a car and drive (which I hate) because every other option would involve your getting mugged. I was sick of the stifling heat and of not being able to take a stroll to clear off my head because of how dangerous it is. I couldn't bring myself to do anything more than work and the household chores because of how utterly unhappy I was. So I moved. I got a new remote job from America, packed my bags and went to Ecuador.

It's been 6 months since I arrived here and things have been great. The city I live in is very safe, I don't need to drive, I can stroll and enjoy the beautiful scenery, the spring-like climate is great, and I even have a couple of friends, which I didn't have back home.

I still had the scripted mentality, though, and just learned to be content with the slowlane. But a lot of my life was still about what I couldn't do, either because I lacked the time or I lacked the money. I realized I was interested in many things I had never thought of before, when my depression made me view everything as pointless and dull. Unfortunately, working full-time for the rest of my life, I would never have the time to do what I truly wanted.

After about a month in Ecuador, I met a very eccentric American lady at a restaurant. It was a long conversation because she really enjoyed talking, but at the end of the conversation, she was able to guess pretty specific things about my life that I still have no idea how she managed to guess. She told me I was going to start a business. I don't believe in clairvoyance or anything supernatural. At the time, I thought she was completely off track because I was completely absorbed in the scripted dogma and starting a business didn't even cross my mind. I thought it was super risky and anyone who was successful with a business was just very lucky.

Fast forward a couple of months and I come across an article on the web about an entrepreneur in his early 30s who was making 60k per month with his business. In the article, he recounts his very painful journey towards success. His secret? Keep trying. You may need some luck to have a successful business, but the more you try (while actually trying to solve people's problems), the more you're likely to get lucky. After reading that article, I wondered how I had never thought about it that way. It was simple probability. Much like you need to actively try several times before you can land a job, you may also need to do the same as an entrepreneur.

From one of the Twitter profiles that guy linked to, I saw a tweet recommending TMF . I decided to give it a try and was completely blown away. Finally something that actually makes sense! Finally someone who recognizes the lunacy that is the slowlane that my parents preached! A lot of MJ's story resonated with me, including his need to move to greener pastures before being able to work towards his goals. On the other hand, though, I'm opposite to MJ in that I abhor cars and driving and would rather just walk, cycle and use public transportation for the rest of my life. I also love suits and ties.

Fast forward to now and I've constituted a company (with all the bureaucratic headaches that entailed) and, for the past month or so, have been programming a mobile application whose goal is to solve a particular problem I (and I imagine others) have when getting around in the city. There have been plenty of obstacles, but I'm excited to launch this service in the next month or so.

I look forward to exchanging ideas and getting useful advice from this community.

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)