dilarak
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- Dec 29, 2023
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Hi everyone! I am halfway through the book Millionare Fastlane. I want to talk a bit about my experience here & get to know people with similar experiences & backgrounds so we can grow together.
A little bit about me: I'm a 24 young woman living in Turkey. I have been coding for (I think more than) 8 years now. I have done Robotics, Cyber Security, Game Development & Machine Learning. I have been in MarTech for 3+ years now & I am very passionate my field. My favorite part is working on my clients' compatibility with privacy frameworks like GDPR, CCPA, etc.. Growing up, my dad was working dangerous jobs on minimum wage & my mom was a stay-at-home mom. They both had very tough working conditions, especially mom after my brother was born. I am always grateful for their sacrifice but safe to say that I didn't get any financial education. I was lacking even on the classical Slow-lane advices. Naturally, I thought I'd be working a 6-figure job after graduation prior to college. So I got into Boğaziçi University, ranking at the 730th place in the nationwide university entrance exams. However, I've realized right away something was off. I decided not to attend classes in my first year there (except for some like Philosophy 101). Instead of studying like everyone else, I've decided to learn life from scratch. I made mistakes; I worked different jobs doing Sales, teaching English on a popular YT channel, and translating books; I went to networking events & attended seminars on stuff like Android Development or Entrepreneurship; most importantly, I met a lot of new people. I do not regret my mistakes, I've learnt a lot. One of my mistakes is that I went back for a second year at college. To be honest, I cannot recall anything significant from that second year. I felt so lost. I decided to shift my mentality in 2020 when the pandemic hit. I've dropped out of college, started learning Data Science at home & got my first internship in my field in August 2020. I switched the agencies I was working for within months to up my salary & I had the chance to work with 50+ big clients closely so I experienced different edge cases in my work area for different kinds of businesses. Then in 2022 I got an offer for a nice position in a big tech company & accepted it. Afterwards, 2023 has been a very wild run for me. Things are starting to turn around & face North. To summarize everything:
I started reading Millionaire Fastlane after a friend recommended it to me. I am halfway through the book & I love it. It motivates me by disagreeing with most of the financial advices I've received since I've known myself. Deep down, I feel like I've read Demarco's words a long while ago. It somehow matches with my own mindset back when I was in high school. That was the mindset that got me into programming. That was the mindset that got me winning hackathons, got me investing my time more wisely when time was my only resource... That mindset was hurt by me applying the advices I've received from people with the slow lane mindset. His words, however, empower me to heal that mindset & teach it the ways of the fast lane.
Here are some of the things I'll do next:
I am now ending this (very long) post without oversharing further, haha. If you read it this far, thanks for sticking with me. I appreciate it. This is not the whole story, of course. We all have things like past traumas etc. that we'd not want to put on the internet & I cannot change my username for a month. That - and the fact is that I also don't want to trauma-dump on anyone. Anyways, no one has a pair of goggles that shows them the future events but I look at where I am now & I see that I am headed in a nice direction. Having executive dysfunction sucks a bit but I believe in myself. I will now go sell my time for some bucks (I have some hourly contracts) so that I can fund marketing for my tool in the close future. I'll come back to read the Gold Threads & replies to this post, of course. Nice meeting you all!
A little bit about me: I'm a 24 young woman living in Turkey. I have been coding for (I think more than) 8 years now. I have done Robotics, Cyber Security, Game Development & Machine Learning. I have been in MarTech for 3+ years now & I am very passionate my field. My favorite part is working on my clients' compatibility with privacy frameworks like GDPR, CCPA, etc.. Growing up, my dad was working dangerous jobs on minimum wage & my mom was a stay-at-home mom. They both had very tough working conditions, especially mom after my brother was born. I am always grateful for their sacrifice but safe to say that I didn't get any financial education. I was lacking even on the classical Slow-lane advices. Naturally, I thought I'd be working a 6-figure job after graduation prior to college. So I got into Boğaziçi University, ranking at the 730th place in the nationwide university entrance exams. However, I've realized right away something was off. I decided not to attend classes in my first year there (except for some like Philosophy 101). Instead of studying like everyone else, I've decided to learn life from scratch. I made mistakes; I worked different jobs doing Sales, teaching English on a popular YT channel, and translating books; I went to networking events & attended seminars on stuff like Android Development or Entrepreneurship; most importantly, I met a lot of new people. I do not regret my mistakes, I've learnt a lot. One of my mistakes is that I went back for a second year at college. To be honest, I cannot recall anything significant from that second year. I felt so lost. I decided to shift my mentality in 2020 when the pandemic hit. I've dropped out of college, started learning Data Science at home & got my first internship in my field in August 2020. I switched the agencies I was working for within months to up my salary & I had the chance to work with 50+ big clients closely so I experienced different edge cases in my work area for different kinds of businesses. Then in 2022 I got an offer for a nice position in a big tech company & accepted it. Afterwards, 2023 has been a very wild run for me. Things are starting to turn around & face North. To summarize everything:
- I quit my 9-to-5 job at a big tech company. My notice period ended in December 2022. I was sick of not having the freedom to choose wherever I work from, not having the freedom to wake up when the sun's up AND have a nice, healthy breakfast & a little bit of mobbing.
- After interviewing with Uber for 2 months I was not offered the manager position I was interviewing for at the last step because they initially thought the title 'Growth Manager' meant I managed a team at my old company.
- I decided to take January 2023 off to work on myself a bit & spend some time with my loved ones. My plan was to either accept another offer & move abroad or set up my own consulting business in February.
- I woke up in 6th of February, 2023 with devastating news of an earthquake in Turkey. I volunteered & led data operations for the earthquake aid during the entire month of February. I was in shock of the entire event for the entire month of February.
- In March I slowly started getting out of the shock. I was traumatized heavily but responding to therapy & psychiatric treatments. One day, I couldn't sleep & had something similar to a panic attack for 4 hours. I got out of my bed once I had the chance to escape from its grasp, I took my phone & my coat and I ran to the street. I was able to breathe after hours of whatever the f*ck that was & I was also in the middle of a street, very close to a dangerous neighbourhood in Istanbul, at 5 AM. Not the ideal condition to be in for a woman tbh. Hell, not the ideal condition for anyone to be in. Turns out I forgot my keys. After calling 17 locksmiths I found one & I was in that house at 6 AM. It was the 8th of March. I slept 1 hour, woke up & left the house at 7 AM. I have decided to establish my company that day & I made it. I got to have breakfast at 7 PM.
- I signed my first client that week, he was a close friend with a small local pest control business & wanted me to integrate marketing platforms for his website. He has also taught himself Media Buying & SEO at the age of 46 & he is now rejecting leads until he hires more people! I made him take a look at my copy of the Millionare Fastlane book the other day, he loved it! I'll get him a copy as a New Year's gift.
- Anyways, I came up with a roadmap & I signed my first big contract in April. They're one of the biggest Digital Marketing Agencies in Turkey. We're still working together & collaborating on projects for big clients like BMW, Pegasus Airlines etc..
- While I was not working in February, March & most of April, my debt had piled up. It wasn't just my living expenses. Do you remember that MJ DeMarco mentioned something in his book Millionare Fastlane along the lines of "When people in the slow lane face failure they tend to feel weak & this feeling of weakness will push them towards Lifestyle Servitude."? I spent some amount of money in the shooting ranges & occasional massages. It wasn't much, though. I had some necessary expenses too: I bought a laptop to last me years while building my business, spent some money on my accountant & while registering my business. Biggest individual part of my debt was that I took out a loan for a friend whose family used to live in the earthquake area. His credit score wasn't that good for the banks but he's a close friend so I don't mind it. He paid some of it back, I told him to pay the rest when he's in a better place financially but I don't intend to take his money for a few years to be honest. I am now paying my debt & I'll be debt-free in June 2024. I earn a great amount compared to last year & people my age but I am spending 90% of my earnings on paying off my debts. However, I am paying less taxes thanks to 2 government incentives. Since I'm under 29, I am exempt from a small amount of income tax for the first 3 years of my business. Also, I now have international clients (will talk about this below) so I am exempt from paying the 20% VAT due to an incentive on e-export of my services. I also register my expenses. Bought a plane ticket to visit a client's HQ? I send the receipt to my accountant. Immediately. (Honestly, best part about registering expenses is knowing that RTE's wife will then have less fundings for her new Hermes Kelly.).
- I have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder this summer. I am getting to know a new me, the me that was here all along but had to be masked so I could please everyone else around me. I'd write longer about this but maybe another time. I'd recommend you check out r/Autisminwomen to learn more about our struggles.
- I was overwhelmed with the earthquake scare in Istanbul so I moved to another city. I have been living with my family. My mom had a heart surgery, she's all good now.
- I decided to expand my services internationally via Upwork. I started sending out proposals & working on my profile in 19th of October. I now have 3 completed job reviews (all 5 stars), 4 open contracts & a 100% Job Success Score. This way I don't pay the 20% VAT on my earnings due to the E-Export Incentive in Turkey. I also write off 10% platform cuts as expenses.
I started reading Millionaire Fastlane after a friend recommended it to me. I am halfway through the book & I love it. It motivates me by disagreeing with most of the financial advices I've received since I've known myself. Deep down, I feel like I've read Demarco's words a long while ago. It somehow matches with my own mindset back when I was in high school. That was the mindset that got me into programming. That was the mindset that got me winning hackathons, got me investing my time more wisely when time was my only resource... That mindset was hurt by me applying the advices I've received from people with the slow lane mindset. His words, however, empower me to heal that mindset & teach it the ways of the fast lane.
Here are some of the things I'll do next:
- Set myself free of my current debts. ETA: June 2024. Debt is putting a lot of pressure on me right now. I won't take on any debt for a while afterwards unless it's necessary for growing my business at some point.
- Get my driver's license (finally). Deadline: March 2024
- Embark on my 2nd digital nomad journey. I'll start with another trip to Dubai. My first trip there was funded by my previous big tech company to visit their HQ there. I have some business connections I want to meet first. Then I'll fly directly to Bali or Thailand from there. ETA: April 2024 (I am a night owl & Dubai Media City is pretty safe to walk around at nights.)
- Publish that Martech tool I've been working on for the past 3 years. Deadline: Beginning of 2025
- Retirement at 30. In high school I wanted to retire at 25 but I took some wrong steps. I have pushed my deadline 5 years forward. This is all fine, it gives me some time to experience romance & grow together with my partner. It also gives me some time to find that partner. I want to find someone I can experience living a multiplayer life with & travel the world together with him while we're young & childless. After my retirement at 30 I want to set camp somewhere I picked with my partner & have a few kids, experience a family life broken free of generational trauma. Deadline for retirement: August 2029
I am now ending this (very long) post without oversharing further, haha. If you read it this far, thanks for sticking with me. I appreciate it. This is not the whole story, of course. We all have things like past traumas etc. that we'd not want to put on the internet & I cannot change my username for a month. That - and the fact is that I also don't want to trauma-dump on anyone. Anyways, no one has a pair of goggles that shows them the future events but I look at where I am now & I see that I am headed in a nice direction. Having executive dysfunction sucks a bit but I believe in myself. I will now go sell my time for some bucks (I have some hourly contracts) so that I can fund marketing for my tool in the close future. I'll come back to read the Gold Threads & replies to this post, of course. Nice meeting you all!
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