Hello,
I am writing this hoping that other people can learn from it, myself included.
WARNING : This is a long post.
Having read again The Millionaire Fastlane and Unscripted , years after I first found them, I have arrived at a conclusion.
My background.
I moved to the UK from an Eastern European country at 18. I’ll be 25. next month MJ DeMarco’s books would name me a “dreampreneur money chaser”.
I wasn’t always this way.
When I was 18, I noticed a gap in the tie market. The gap was in my imagination, of course, so I spent months designing, prototyping and perfecting an ecommerce store selling ties( not bow- ties) The ties came with knots already made and they had a small clasp at the back for easy attachment. In my head I was saving people the time and dreadfulness of learning to tie a tie, therefore providing value.( yes, I know, a life saver!) I priced them accordingly, and they were cheaper than a regular tie.
There were similar products with rubber bands for children, used in schools, but my market were adults. I launched, adapted and sold some 200 ties. At the peak of my “tiexperience”, I lost interest because it wasn’t growing at the speed I was expecting, brainwashed by success stories.
I really like clothes so 2-3 months after the “tiexperience”, some magical idea hit me.
Augmented reality was slowly becoming a thing and I figured that a try-on AR app would be a hit. Bear in mind this was 2014 and this kind of apps today still look like they’re made in 1998.
I taught myself everything with the help of our friend Google, and 4 months of psychosis later I had a MVP( minimum viable product). It wasn’t perfect, but it was working. You could see how a T shirt or jeans would look on you with a single tap. At the same time as I finished my MVP, Tesco - a UK groceries and general merchandise retailer announced that they will be implementing “Try on AR Mirrors.”Basically the same concept, but on a mirror display. Needless to say, I was devastated and deleted all my data. In hindsight, I should’ve approached them and try working together on the project.
They never did release the feature.
Morale : Never be intimidated by large players.
Then came a period of money chasing that never stopped since.
You see, I chase money because I want the freedom to have my own schedule.
I had a bad argument with my mother and I decided to move out. Now money was actually needed.
I had minor success dropshipping for a few months. Building websites for people, doing their marketing, updating their websites, doing their SEOs but all were failed attempts in the pursuit of money.
So what did I do? I put the “silliness” to the side and I started working a dreadful construction job that made me curse my entire existence every day from 5AM to 7.30PM( it includes commute time)
One of the main reasons I believe I became a money chaser was the constant feeling of hatred toward my job and the feeling inside me that I could do more. But here I was, wasting my time for £10/h. Every day I would have another 10 ideas that could make me money so I could break free but no time to actually implement any.
While I admire their passion and devotion to their craft, I’m sick of “motivational speakers” telling me I should work on my business from 17PM to 2AM. Anybody that went through this knows how drained you are after 14 hours of slaving. I only had Sundays off, so naturally that’s when I started implementing ideas.
Years went by...no future prospects to actually quit and do something else.
I rode a wave in Nov-Dec of 2019, when I started selling digital downloads on Etsy. I had 7000+ orders in the span of 3 weeks and made ~100K before tax in profits. Then Etsy banned me, for a reason I don’t know to this date.( MJ is correct again, I was not the driver therefore not in control of the outcome)
I quit my job the following April after realizing I made 19k after taxes in profit for killing myself in construction.
After that I wanted to build a clothing brand, a luxury one. One year and £50k later, I launched to crickets and had two orders.(literally)
I went back to the construction job. I worked throughout lockdown, risking myself everyday to the point where people around me were catching Covid and then I said stop. I had to protect myself, so naturally, money chasing began.
I have moderate success online, but I work more insane hours than in construction . I managed to save some money and now I’m launching a jewellery store, but after reading again MJ DeMarco’s books I lost some drive.
I realized this is another money chasing scheme of mine and not actually providing any value to my customers. Another £15k spent. Although the pieces are good, durable, hypoallergenic, and cheaper than competitors, it’s more or less the same product. I’ve done everything right this time, built hype, ran a successful pre launch campaign that netted 5K emails of potential buyers, and I’m waiting to launch on 2.04.
However full of self pity it might sound, I am lost after reading again the books. It takes a lot of willpower to acknowledge this, but I am indeed lost. I need to re wire my thinking, and don’t know where to start. I’m not looking for advice on how to make money or ideas on the next big thing. I spent a lot on courses that only taught what I already knew.
How do you provide value and not feel like you’re just chasing money?
Is chasing money for freedom that bad?
Don’t lose yourself in the pursuit of freedom.
I am writing this hoping that other people can learn from it, myself included.
WARNING : This is a long post.
Having read again The Millionaire Fastlane and Unscripted , years after I first found them, I have arrived at a conclusion.
My background.
I moved to the UK from an Eastern European country at 18. I’ll be 25. next month MJ DeMarco’s books would name me a “dreampreneur money chaser”.
I wasn’t always this way.
When I was 18, I noticed a gap in the tie market. The gap was in my imagination, of course, so I spent months designing, prototyping and perfecting an ecommerce store selling ties( not bow- ties) The ties came with knots already made and they had a small clasp at the back for easy attachment. In my head I was saving people the time and dreadfulness of learning to tie a tie, therefore providing value.( yes, I know, a life saver!) I priced them accordingly, and they were cheaper than a regular tie.
There were similar products with rubber bands for children, used in schools, but my market were adults. I launched, adapted and sold some 200 ties. At the peak of my “tiexperience”, I lost interest because it wasn’t growing at the speed I was expecting, brainwashed by success stories.
I really like clothes so 2-3 months after the “tiexperience”, some magical idea hit me.
Augmented reality was slowly becoming a thing and I figured that a try-on AR app would be a hit. Bear in mind this was 2014 and this kind of apps today still look like they’re made in 1998.
I taught myself everything with the help of our friend Google, and 4 months of psychosis later I had a MVP( minimum viable product). It wasn’t perfect, but it was working. You could see how a T shirt or jeans would look on you with a single tap. At the same time as I finished my MVP, Tesco - a UK groceries and general merchandise retailer announced that they will be implementing “Try on AR Mirrors.”Basically the same concept, but on a mirror display. Needless to say, I was devastated and deleted all my data. In hindsight, I should’ve approached them and try working together on the project.
They never did release the feature.
Morale : Never be intimidated by large players.
Then came a period of money chasing that never stopped since.
You see, I chase money because I want the freedom to have my own schedule.
I had a bad argument with my mother and I decided to move out. Now money was actually needed.
I had minor success dropshipping for a few months. Building websites for people, doing their marketing, updating their websites, doing their SEOs but all were failed attempts in the pursuit of money.
So what did I do? I put the “silliness” to the side and I started working a dreadful construction job that made me curse my entire existence every day from 5AM to 7.30PM( it includes commute time)
One of the main reasons I believe I became a money chaser was the constant feeling of hatred toward my job and the feeling inside me that I could do more. But here I was, wasting my time for £10/h. Every day I would have another 10 ideas that could make me money so I could break free but no time to actually implement any.
While I admire their passion and devotion to their craft, I’m sick of “motivational speakers” telling me I should work on my business from 17PM to 2AM. Anybody that went through this knows how drained you are after 14 hours of slaving. I only had Sundays off, so naturally that’s when I started implementing ideas.
Years went by...no future prospects to actually quit and do something else.
I rode a wave in Nov-Dec of 2019, when I started selling digital downloads on Etsy. I had 7000+ orders in the span of 3 weeks and made ~100K before tax in profits. Then Etsy banned me, for a reason I don’t know to this date.( MJ is correct again, I was not the driver therefore not in control of the outcome)
I quit my job the following April after realizing I made 19k after taxes in profit for killing myself in construction.
After that I wanted to build a clothing brand, a luxury one. One year and £50k later, I launched to crickets and had two orders.(literally)
I went back to the construction job. I worked throughout lockdown, risking myself everyday to the point where people around me were catching Covid and then I said stop. I had to protect myself, so naturally, money chasing began.
I have moderate success online, but I work more insane hours than in construction . I managed to save some money and now I’m launching a jewellery store, but after reading again MJ DeMarco’s books I lost some drive.
I realized this is another money chasing scheme of mine and not actually providing any value to my customers. Another £15k spent. Although the pieces are good, durable, hypoallergenic, and cheaper than competitors, it’s more or less the same product. I’ve done everything right this time, built hype, ran a successful pre launch campaign that netted 5K emails of potential buyers, and I’m waiting to launch on 2.04.
However full of self pity it might sound, I am lost after reading again the books. It takes a lot of willpower to acknowledge this, but I am indeed lost. I need to re wire my thinking, and don’t know where to start. I’m not looking for advice on how to make money or ideas on the next big thing. I spent a lot on courses that only taught what I already knew.
How do you provide value and not feel like you’re just chasing money?
Is chasing money for freedom that bad?
Don’t lose yourself in the pursuit of freedom.
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