Hi there! Committing my self to 2020 being the year everything changes for me

[StruttinGus]

Hi there, I'm StruttingGus! I am 28 years old and for the past 4.5 years I have been working as an Engineer. About two years into the job I knew something wasn't right. I had wanted to be an Engineer since early in High School but everything that I thought the job would entail; Designing and Innovating, Creating real solutions, Fixing broken things in creative way turned out to be exactly the opposite. What the job turned out to be was mind numbing days of endless document reviews and useless report writing. One after another. I began to read about business and ways that I could escape the monotony of 9-5 (which was really 5:30- 4 for me). Recently I have started a new position which will require me to work a rotating 12+ hour long shift alternating Days/Nights and weekends which does come with a pay increase but ultimately it is just trading more time for dollars. I am committing myself to execution in 2020 so that I can escape the corporate bureaucracy and regain my freedom.

Currently I am rereading Unscripted so that I can fully grasp what has gotten me into the situation that I am in. As well as to understand TUNEF so that I can implement it effectively. I have been one of those personal development/entrepreneurship junkies who reads every new book on amazon. I realize that I have not put a single thing into practice so I am committing myself to fully understand Unscripted so that I can use it and identify which choices to make daily that fit the frame work. I have made it through the Scripted OS and evaluated myself against it (I am on the sidewalk, surprise!) This was a hard thing to cope with because I thought I was doing the right things, Good job, 401(k), savings account, etc... But I still felt like I could never get ahead. The good thing about my evaluation was that it identified where I am at. Because I can't get onto the Fastlane until I know my starting point.

My next step has been to work on my Beliefs, Biases, and Bullshit (the 3Bs). I am working to change my identity from "I want to quit my job and be an entrepreneur" to "I am an entrepreneur who works as an engineer." These are the foundation of TUNEF and must be built properly for the framework to work.

My goal for this Forum are as follows:

• To LISTEN to you and understand the How and more importantly the WHY of decisions that you have made that have made you successful so that I can achieve a life that provides value to the world as well as being more meaningful.
• I am also not going to assume that I know anything. I am going to build the foundation of a successful entrepreneur and build it brick by brick.
• I am also going to use this forum to keep myself accountable and to prevent action faking.

My personal goals for 2020:

• Create a business that allows me to get off the sidewalk. My first step in leaving my job is to become a value provider instead of a value consumer.
• Develop the foundation of a successful entrepreneur by creating a business that grows to $10K per month in profit by the end of the year.

I have read all the things that 1 year on this forum can do if you put the advice and lessons into practice. I can't wait to see the progress I have made 1 year from now. To me it always seems like a long time but I have to start somewhere. I am committed to making this year the year that I put my foot on the gas. I know it's not going to be easy but nothing worthwhile ever is.

I would love to hear from you have ever been in a similar situation or if you have any advice!

Cheers,
StruttingGus

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[lowtek]

Welcome aboard, Gus. Thanks for sharing your story.

I'm not trying to put a damper on your enthusiasm, but I am going to. Since it's your first go around with creating a venture, I would advise focusing less on a monthly $$ goal and more on just striving for being profitable your first year. The reason being is that there are only a limited number of paths:

1) Sell a physical product: it takes ~4-6 months or so to source suppliers, get the product, review the quality and make changes, and then get the final product shipped to your house (assuming you source from overseas). Then you have to sell it on a market, either Amazon or to some other audience that you've already built. that leaves 6 - 8 months to achieve the 10k/month target, which isn't realistic (though not impossible).

2) Sell a digital product: This cuts down on the time required to produce the widget, but just shifts it over to the time required to build an audience to sell to.

3) Sell services: This is actually the easiest and quickest path to $10k/month (assuming you have valuable skills, which it sounds like you do), but it's the least scalable and most like a job.

Your mileage may vary. This is just all based on my personal experience and observations around what others have done here.

 

[StruttinGus]

Thanks for the feedback @lowtek. I think this is a good way to look at it for me. In the past when I have started (I'll use that for a lack of a better word) creating a monthly goal has made it seem like I could never get there so I would ultimately spin my wheels not actually doing anything.

 

[Primeperiwinkle]

This is one of the best introductions I’ve seen. Welcome to the forum!

I look forward to hearing the questions you ask and steps you take as it already sounds like you have a great attitude and determination to DO something.

What problem can you solve this month for a company that has a horrible engineer? You could be a consultant, maybe. What other problems can you solve?

Or possibly, you could decide to sell something this , but what? A product or a service?

If it’s a product this thread about sales is a great place to brainstorm.

At the very least I think you should commit to one idea IN ANYTHING like flipping items or e-commerce or buying a small service business or real estate ASAP because you need to get some experience under your belt soon to halt your current pattern of just learning.

The faster you fail, the faster you’ll succeed. Also, if there’s any way you can get to the Summit, you should come! It’s going to be awesome.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[StruttinGus]

Thanks for the kind words @Primeperiwinkle. Committing to a single idea has been a struggle for me and the reason that I have been stuck on the sidewalk still. That is going to be my first step. Any suggestions on how to evaluate ideas?

 

[Primeperiwinkle]

Thanks for the kind words @Primeperiwinkle. Committing to a single idea has been a struggle for me and the reason that I have been stuck on the sidewalk still. That is going to be my first step. Any suggestions on how to evaluate ideas?

Which one makes you shy away from it and start “analyzing” other possibilities? Which one can you set out to do today and start moving forward on steps 1-10?


That’s prolly the one you should do, cuz it’s simple. I know it sounds annoying af or not smart but really that’s the idea you need to do... whichever one you can start on, now. Your goal isn’t too write a treatise on entrepreneurial ideas, it’s to actually be one. If you’re stuck analyzing you’re not really moving forward.

Just FYI, if I had taken my own advice nine months earlier I’d have a lot more experience than I do right now. Good luck.

 

[MHP368]

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too."

WH Murray

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.