How TMF unplugged me from the matrix

[iizu]

I thought I had it going on allright:​

Nice sales job(..on probationary period), great apartment(..rented and expensive) right in the city centre, BMW with leather interior and and a big a$$ engine(..with 32 payments left).

I made good money from the job, but never managed to save anything. I managed to pay some of my previous debt off though.

Then it happened: At the end of my probationary period I got fired. The reason was that I was not making enough sales.

You see, I have always had an itch for entrepreurship. Read the 4-Hour Workweek about two years ago. It was a great book, but did not manage to give me the spark to move on with my ideas. For about two years I practiced mental masturbation with my idea. But things were just too nice for me to do anything.

So after I got fired from the sales job I read the TMF in about three days. At first, it was really painful. Page by page I started to realize my true situation:

Curled up and crying on the sidewalk​

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But rather than feeling sorry about myself, I felt better than ever: I was seeing clearly now. My current situation is the product of my previous choices in life and I'm completely free to make other choices for a different outcome.

Don't get me wrong. I don't mean to say that I now feel somehow superior to the "sheep" struggling with their 9-5. Not at all, now I actually appreciate even more some of my friends with their slowlane-mindset. They have great qualities that I admire and hope to improve in myself, for example: self-control.

But it's just that I feel like we are on different paths: They are planning to start families, getting mortgages, marrying and all that stuff. And it's nearly impossible to talk about the fastlane-mindset with them.

Finding this forum was thrilling. Thousands of people thinking the same way. Absolutely amazing.

This forum has already helped me to make money!​

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Using advice from this great thread made by @SinisterLex, I have already managed to score gigs from Upwork.
On a sidenote: Some people in that thread seem to think that you can do only copywriting gigs in Upwork. But there's plenty of other work to go around. I do my gigs in Mechanical Engineering. The copywriting is just a great tool to learn so you can market yourself (and to market your future fastlane business!)

The amount of free information in this forum is overwhelming. Depending on your situation, there always seems to be a guy(or gal) who has already done it and made a thread about it. For example I consider Sinister Lex's advice to fit great for my current situation. And when I progress with my fastlane I can get great advice reading threads from people like Likwid(physical product to market), Biophase(eCommerce), Andy Black(Adwords) and many other.

Current situation​

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I'm 26-year old Mechanical Engineer from Finland. I have a strong background in metalworking(CNC-machining). Currently I'm driving cab(and not earning much )

Financial situation:

Debt​

Student loan: 15000 €(interest rate fixed to 1%)
Other debt: 10200 €
Car Loan: 14500 €

Assets​

Car: worth around 16000 €

I have just resigned the apartment(620 €/mo) and am moving to live with my grandfather. Very grateful to for this opportunity which is so much more than just a free place to stay. I get to talk with my grandfather and get some real-life entrepreneur lessons(he used to have his own company selling products made from sheep)

I'm also selling the car to free myself of monthly payments(300€/mo) insurance(170 €/mo) and taxes (50 €/mo).

BTW. Big thanks to @LeftBench for sharing his progress to financial freedom. You can read his GOLD-thead here:
Bought a huge house with a 3 car garage and a pool!

My Plan​

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I have a product idea that has all the elements (CENTS) for a succesful fastlane-venture. I'll be making a progress thread soon. I continue to develop and test the idea as much as I can without money. (The next big step would be a prototype). But having some steady cashflow would do wonders at this point, so I'm looking for a better paying job.

However, this time something will be different. I won't view the income stream from a job as something you need to spend every month trying to impress other people. But rather as a way to fund my business experiments and pay my debts off so I can go full steam on fastlane.

Okay iizu, nice intro but what's in it for the community?​

Well, firstly I hope that you realize the amount of free information available in this forum and put it to use. If you are in a similar situation like me, maybe you could read the two threads that I linked before? Those will help you to make some extra money while dropping the expenses.

Second. Since I don't have yet much to share in the business side of things, I can atleast offer my tehcnical knowledge:

I can help you out with manufaturing related questions, especially CNC-manufacturing. Feel free to PM me.


I just want to thank all the contributing people on this forum and of course MJ DeMarco for starting this whole community! It's time for me to start contributing and giving back some!

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Great intro, welcome aboard. Nice to hear TMF has helped you see differently.

 

[jon.a]

Damn good intro