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Holy shit is this real life?!

salva101

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I've been talking to my friends who have suggested I need some more hobbies. I work too much, allegedly. But I find value, pleasure, and some sense of self worth in the work I do. On days that I don't have my kids, given the choice between working or doing something else, I choose work 3 times out of 4.

you just described me...
 
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Process

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So here's the story.

I'm standing in Starbucks this morning to get some anti-depression juice before I go to my day-long slog through the rat race. I'm bitching to myself about how I don't want to do this anymore and am thinking about the Fastlane business I am working on in my off-hours. I readjust my belt as my pants aren't fitting properly because of the inflammation from the fast food I convinced myself to buy the night before as a deal for $1000 didn't go through at work, and I also generally just feel like shit. The body I had when I was fit and healthy with no job is gone and I lament this fact for a minute or two. There seems to be no break from the drudgery of work, sleep, eat, shit, repeat. With off days just being prep days for the workdays that follow and vacation days being the only form of respite, though they are only temporary shots of morphine to numb the dull ache of my mundane-beat-my-head-against-the-wall life.

But then in a moment of clarity, I look around me. I see people, most of them also overweight and most much more unhealthy than I am, also getting some sugary caffeinated concoction to get them through their own rat races. I try to put myself in the shoes of every person I see and try to imagine the life that they live. In my head, it seems like these people are just like me. The same problems and the same mundane life, with office drama, what's on TV, who they are f*cking, who their spouses are secretly f*cking, and other bullshit that keeps them occupied.

Playing through what I think their lives are like I come to a conclusion about each one of them. How the f*ck can you do this and not want to kill yourself? Like seriously. I'm only 25 and the thought of having to do this for as long as I've been alive and STILL not being done with it when I'm 50 stuns me! How can people exist like this? Am only one of a few people who just isn't satisfied? does that make me ungrateful for the relative comfort that I have been giving having been born in America?

Has life always been like this for people even back in prehistoric times? Did we just trade burdens from finding food and running from predators to going to the 9-6 rat race or did we just construct a gilded prison of our own design? If it is the former then I and the good people on this forum only part of the few who think that this is complete and utter bullshit? If this is the case then what is the point for even existing if this is reality? If this is the latter then the statement is...I need out of this like shit like I need the air that I breathe.

I suppose the only thing I want an answer to is...Do people actually like living like this? Is this enjoyable for most people? or are we outliers for not liking the common track?

Thanks for reading ;)

Steeltip
Welcome to the awakened. Keep chiseling day by day. It is 100% worth it.
 
D

Deleted78083

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What if work days and leisure days where just "days" and you didn't label the things you do that day as anything more than "what do I need to accomplish today"?

To be fair, I think what matters at the end of the dat is to do the things you want to do. Some want to spend their lives playing guitar on the beach, others want to save the world. That is all fine.

I think though many people are afraid to go behind what they want.

"The most dangerous threat to your goal is a lesser goal".

I think everyone should do what they want to do, or at least, try.

That's it.
 

Tourmaline

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I once met a man, in one of the poorest areas of the world, completely happy and content with himself.

Sure he had less stuff than most of my friends have in their garage...regularly couldn't afford rice to eat...had little chance of having a family or building anything.

Yet he was completely happy and content with himself.

With his life.
 
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Kelly!

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So here's the story.

I'm standing in Starbucks this morning to get some anti-depression juice before I go to my day-long slog through the rat race. I'm bitching to myself about how I don't want to do this anymore and am thinking about the Fastlane business I am working on in my off-hours. I readjust my belt as my pants aren't fitting properly because of the inflammation from the fast food I convinced myself to buy the night before as a deal for $1000 didn't go through at work, and I also generally just feel like shit. The body I had when I was fit and healthy with no job is gone and I lament this fact for a minute or two. There seems to be no break from the drudgery of work, sleep, eat, shit, repeat. With off days just being prep days for the workdays that follow and vacation days being the only form of respite, though they are only temporary shots of morphine to numb the dull ache of my mundane-beat-my-head-against-the-wall life.

But then in a moment of clarity, I look around me. I see people, most of them also overweight and most much more unhealthy than I am, also getting some sugary caffeinated concoction to get them through their own rat races. I try to put myself in the shoes of every person I see and try to imagine the life that they live. In my head, it seems like these people are just like me. The same problems and the same mundane life, with office drama, what's on TV, who they are f*cking, who their spouses are secretly f*cking, and other bullshit that keeps them occupied.

Playing through what I think their lives are like I come to a conclusion about each one of them. How the f*ck can you do this and not want to kill yourself? Like seriously. I'm only 25 and the thought of having to do this for as long as I've been alive and STILL not being done with it when I'm 50 stuns me! How can people exist like this? Am only one of a few people who just isn't satisfied? does that make me ungrateful for the relative comfort that I have been giving having been born in America?

Has life always been like this for people even back in prehistoric times? Did we just trade burdens from finding food and running from predators to going to the 9-6 rat race or did we just construct a gilded prison of our own design? If it is the former then I and the good people on this forum only part of the few who think that this is complete and utter bullshit? If this is the case then what is the point for even existing if this is reality? If this is the latter then the statement is...I need out of this like shit like I need the air that I breathe.

I suppose the only thing I want an answer to is...Do people actually like living like this? Is this enjoyable for most people? or are we outliers for not liking the common track?

Thanks for reading ;)

Steeltip
Steeltip...sometimes when you hit rock bottom, the only place to go is up! Hang in there! You’re young and have your whole life in front of you! Try thinking about the positive and being thankful for all you have in your life. It’s easy to let your mind wander down a negative path, but it’s so much more difficult to train your brain to think positively. However, the more you redirect your brain to view things in a positive light, the more apt your brain will be to see the glass half full. Try the 21/90 rule, it states that it takes 21 days to make a habit and 90 days to make it a permanent lifestyle change. ... Commit to your goal for 21 days and it will become a habit. Commit to your goal for 90 days and it will become a part of your lifestyle.
Think of this as preparation for becoming your own boss and running a successful business someday! Running a company takes MUCH perseverance, patience, mindful strength and incredible amounts of determination!
Write your goals down, post it in a place you see every day (like your bathroom mirror) and make that shit happen!!! You’re the only one that can push yourself and drive yourself to be where you need and want to be! So make the commitment to change your life starting NOW!! YOU GOT THIS!!
 

jerryB

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Has life always been like this for people even back in prehistoric times? Did we just trade burdens from finding food and running from predators to going to the 9-6 rat race or did we just construct a gilded prison of our own design? If it is the former then I and the good people on this forum only part of the few who think that this is complete and utter bullshit? If this is the case then what is the point for even existing if this is reality? If this is the latter then the statement is...I need out of this like shit like I need the air that I breathe.

I suppose the only thing I want an answer to is...Do people actually like living like this? Is this enjoyable for most people? or are we outliers for not liking the common track?

So you have awaken
For 90-95% of the people life looks like you've described. Do they like it? Most of them no, but are not able to even imagine that there's more to life than participating in the rat race because that's what schools have taught them, because that's what governments and corporations want - a race of obedient slaves who have no idea what real freedom is.
Real freedom is when you can wake up without the alarm clock every day. But they don't want you to know that because free people have time to think. And the more you think, the more you realise how f*cked up this world is in terms of politics, bureaucracy, taxes, public health, etc. You realise that you're in minority that nobody cares about, because politicians care only about the average voters, who mostly are 9-5 workers.
 

sparechange

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Drugs, alcohol, hyper realities and the weekend..... Thank GOD it's Friday!
 
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SaharaSnow

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Herewith 12 guidelines I try to live by. It keeps my heart warm and my soul alive. For me ... this is real life.
  1. Keep it simple. Once a week, ask yourself: "How can I simplify?". Simplify your work, your home, your finances, your life, your thoughts, your beliefs, and your feelings.

  2. Find a positive aim and consistently direct your energy towards it. Like a gentle wind consistently blowing in one direction.

  3. Be kind to yourself - trust yourself. Do not absorb or buy into the emotions and hysteria of the world around you. Don't beat yourself up over flaws. Accept them and gently improve them. When you feel overwhelmed by unexplained emotions, quietly ask yourself: "Are these feelings mine, or are they someone else's?". Most of the random stuff we feel are absorbed from others.

  4. Learn to discern between truth and bullshi!t. Be selective with what you choose to read, look at / watch, listen to, speak, and people you hang with. Do not pollute yourself with unnecessary crap. You will end up with a spammed brain, and no authentic you.

  5. Apply yourself and build something useful - it builds confidence within. One step at a time gets you there. Go for quality.

  6. Whenever your thoughts are in a flat spin or you find yourself in negative self-talk ... Ask yourself one simple question: "Is it true, is it rational?". You will feel yourself immediately calm down.

  7. Free yourself from society's perceptions. Be aware of group pressures, whether family group, work group, social group, city group, ethnic group, gender group, national group, or even group of humanity. You don't have to be subjective.

  8. Believe in something bigger than you, purer than you ... something to strive towards. For me ... nature. I strive to be peaceful and natural like nature.

  9. Conserve your energy - stop wasting it by oversharing, over-giving, over-shopping. We have been conditioned to give our energy away. No wonder most people feel so drained. Stop scattering yourself all over the place. Pull yourself towards yourself.

  10. Humility guides you towards wisdom and perspective - keep an eye on your ego. Let it not be in the driver-seat.

  11. Take time every day to be peaceful, rejuvenate, renew and reflect - just be.

  12. Conduct yourself in a graceful and just way with integrity.
 
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PapaGang

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Has life always been like this for people even back in prehistoric times? Did we just trade burdens from finding food and running from predators to going to the 9-6 rat race or did we just construct a gilded prison of our own design? If it is the former then I and the good people on this forum only part of the few who think that this is complete and utter bullshit? If this is the case then what is the point for even existing if this is reality? If this is the latter then the statement is...I need out of this like shit like I need the air that I breathe.

I suppose the only thing I want an answer to is...Do people actually like living like this? Is this enjoyable for most people? or are we outliers for not liking the common track?

Jordan Peterson, Marcus Aurelius and Nietzsche would tell you that the secret is to find work that is meaningful and serves a higher purpose for you, and to fall in love with that work.

None of us will escape pain, loss, and death. Facing it and working to create something bigger than yourself will help ease the pain of realizing we're here for too short a time to fully absorb life. Working just to collect wages to spend on status objects simply doesn't cut it.
 
Last edited:

Steeltip

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Herewith 12 guidelines I try to live by. It keeps my heart warm and my soul alive. For me ... this is real life.
  1. Keep it simple. Once a week, ask yourself: "How can I simplify?". Simplify your work, your home, your finances, your life, your thoughts, your beliefs, and your feelings.

  2. Find a positive aim and consistently direct your energy towards it. Like a gentle wind consistently blowing in one direction.

  3. Be kind to yourself - trust yourself. Do not absorb or buy into the emotions and hysteria of the world around you. Don't beat yourself up over flaws. Accept them and gently improve them. When you feel overwhelmed by unexplained emotions, quietly ask yourself: "Are these feelings mine, or are they someone else's?". Most of the random stuff we feel are absorbed from others.

  4. Learn to discern between truth and bullshi!t. Be selective with what you choose to read, look at / watch, listen to, speak, and people you hang with. Do not pollute yourself with unnecessary crap. You will end up with a spammed brain, and no authentic you.

  5. Apply yourself and build something useful - it builds confidence within. One step at a time gets you there. Go for quality.

  6. Whenever your thoughts are in a flat spin or you find yourself in negative self-talk ... Ask yourself one simple question: "Is it true, is it rational?". You will feel yourself immediately calm down.

  7. Free yourself from society's perceptions. Be aware of group pressures, whether family group, work group, social group, city group, ethnic group, gender group, national group, or even group of humanity. You don't have to be subjective.

  8. Believe in something bigger than you, purer than you ... something to strive towards. For me ... nature. I strive to be peaceful and natural like nature.

  9. Conserve your energy - stop wasting it by oversharing, over-giving, over-shopping. We have been conditioned to give our energy away. No wonder most people feel so drained. Stop scattering yourself all over the place. Pull yourself towards yourself.

  10. Humility guides you towards wisdom and perspective - keep an eye on your ego. Let it not be in the driver-seat.

  11. Take time every day to be peaceful, rejuvenate, renew and reflect - just be.

  12. Conduct yourself in a graceful and just way with integrity.
This is actually the best advice I have heard in a long time I'm going to save this
 

Steeltip

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Jordan Peterson, Marcus Aurelius and Nietzsche would tell you that the secret is to find work that is meaningful and serves a higher purpose for you, and to fall in love with that work.

None of us will escape pain, loss, and death. Facing it and working to create something bigger than yourself will help ease the pain of realizing we're here for too short a time to fully absorb life. Working just to collect wages to spend on objects doesn't cut it.
yes agreed, I am a big fan of Peterson myself
 
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david1024

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So here's the story.

I'm standing in Starbucks this morning to get some anti-depression juice before I go to my day-long slog through the rat race. I'm bitching to myself about how I don't want to do this anymore and am thinking about the Fastlane business I am working on in my off-hours. I readjust my belt as my pants aren't fitting properly because of the inflammation from the fast food I convinced myself to buy the night before as a deal for $1000 didn't go through at work, and I also generally just feel like shit. The body I had when I was fit and healthy with no job is gone and I lament this fact for a minute or two. There seems to be no break from the drudgery of work, sleep, eat, shit, repeat. With off days just being prep days for the workdays that follow and vacation days being the only form of respite, though they are only temporary shots of morphine to numb the dull ache of my mundane-beat-my-head-against-the-wall life.

But then in a moment of clarity, I look around me. I see people, most of them also overweight and most much more unhealthy than I am, also getting some sugary caffeinated concoction to get them through their own rat races. I try to put myself in the shoes of every person I see and try to imagine the life that they live. In my head, it seems like these people are just like me. The same problems and the same mundane life, with office drama, what's on TV, who they are f*cking, who their spouses are secretly f*cking, and other bullshit that keeps them occupied.

Playing through what I think their lives are like I come to a conclusion about each one of them. How the f*ck can you do this and not want to kill yourself? Like seriously. I'm only 25 and the thought of having to do this for as long as I've been alive and STILL not being done with it when I'm 50 stuns me! How can people exist like this? Am only one of a few people who just isn't satisfied? does that make me ungrateful for the relative comfort that I have been giving having been born in America?

Has life always been like this for people even back in prehistoric times? Did we just trade burdens from finding food and running from predators to going to the 9-6 rat race or did we just construct a gilded prison of our own design? If it is the former then I and the good people on this forum only part of the few who think that this is complete and utter bullshit? If this is the case then what is the point for even existing if this is reality? If this is the latter then the statement is...I need out of this like shit like I need the air that I breathe.

I suppose the only thing I want an answer to is...Do people actually like living like this? Is this enjoyable for most people? or are we outliers for not liking the common track?

Thanks for reading ;)

Steeltip
People are conditioned to these lifestyles. Parents, school, society. If they were conditioned for 18-22 years, it's all they know. They have a disempowering belief this is all they can do. You don't know what you don't know. You are in an environment where this is the norm and you feel out of place. Change your environment and you will feel like you need to step up. Crazy how different peoples lifestyles are.
 

MattR82

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I totally read that post with Edward Nortons voice lol. Due to watch that movie again actually.

I remember well when I was one of those people trying to climb a corporate ladder. I wasn't happy but didn't want to end things because I didn't know any better.
 
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Steeltip

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I totally read that post with Edward Nortons voice lol. Due to watch that movie again actually.

I remember well when I was one of those people trying to climb a corporate ladder. I wasn't happy but didn't want to end things because I didn't know any better.
hahaha fight club like a mother F*cker love it
 

Steeltip

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People are conditioned to these lifestyles. Parents, school, society. If they were conditioned for 18-22 years, it's all they know. They have a disempowering belief this is all they can do. You don't know what you don't know. You are in an environment where this is the norm and you feel out of place. Change your environment and you will feel like you need to step up. Crazy how different peoples lifestyles are.
One of the reasons I am on this forum, changing little by little
 

swerving2sucess

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So here's the story.

I'm standing in Starbucks this morning to get some anti-depression juice before I go to my day-long slog through the rat race. I'm bitching to myself about how I don't want to do this anymore and am thinking about the Fastlane business I am working on in my off-hours. I readjust my belt as my pants aren't fitting properly because of the inflammation from the fast food I convinced myself to buy the night before as a deal for $1000 didn't go through at work, and I also generally just feel like shit. The body I had when I was fit and healthy with no job is gone and I lament this fact for a minute or two. There seems to be no break from the drudgery of work, sleep, eat, shit, repeat. With off days just being prep days for the workdays that follow and vacation days being the only form of respite, though they are only temporary shots of morphine to numb the dull ache of my mundane-beat-my-head-against-the-wall life.

But then in a moment of clarity, I look around me. I see people, most of them also overweight and most much more unhealthy than I am, also getting some sugary caffeinated concoction to get them through their own rat races. I try to put myself in the shoes of every person I see and try to imagine the life that they live. In my head, it seems like these people are just like me. The same problems and the same mundane life, with office drama, what's on TV, who they are f*cking, who their spouses are secretly f*cking, and other bullshit that keeps them occupied.

Playing through what I think their lives are like I come to a conclusion about each one of them. How the f*ck can you do this and not want to kill yourself? Like seriously. I'm only 25 and the thought of having to do this for as long as I've been alive and STILL not being done with it when I'm 50 stuns me! How can people exist like this? Am only one of a few people who just isn't satisfied? does that make me ungrateful for the relative comfort that I have been giving having been born in America?

Has life always been like this for people even back in prehistoric times? Did we just trade burdens from finding food and running from predators to going to the 9-6 rat race or did we just construct a gilded prison of our own design? If it is the former then I and the good people on this forum only part of the few who think that this is complete and utter bullshit? If this is the case then what is the point for even existing if this is reality? If this is the latter then the statement is...I need out of this like shit like I need the air that I breathe.

I suppose the only thing I want an answer to is...Do people actually like living like this? Is this enjoyable for most people? or are we outliers for not liking the common track?

Thanks for reading ;)

Steeltip
Life is always extremely complex. I think that the key that you need to have a different vision about the story you described, is simply to put yourself in other people's shoes.
 
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hellolin

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Good post my friend, you should consider a job in writing. :playful:



I'm guessing many don't, deep down their soul knows the truth if left to quiet -- a morning shower, a sleepless night...

But as long as there's a sports game on TV, a new HBO drama, a new video game to be conquered, there is always an readily available medication to bury their sorrows.



Culture has done the labeling for you. You are to give Monday - Friday to the system.
I like the video game bit, it's almost the exact opposite of reality. In video games, you do very little work made up by technology, while completing epic achievements. In life, you have to do very much a lot work, for just a simplest achievement. A nation of young people drowning in video games should tell us a thing or two...
 

CruxisKnight

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It is the natural instinct of wanting to be safe, secure, and being risk averse. Think of what the regular folks you talked about gained by having that kind of "mundane" lifestyle. They go through that routine because they feel it gives them security and they do not have to take risks. Stepping out of that lifestyle means increasing your chances of failure, and that endangers people's ego and sense of safety. As mundane as you think it is, I can see why most people do it. Because being an entrepreneur and pursuing the "fast lane" life means a lot of worry, stress, and uncertainty. But with doing the 9-6, people feel a sense of security in that. So I let people do them if it floats their boat.
 

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