I don't know what to do

[TheGreatAli]

My Story:
I'm an immigrant whose being forced to study Mechanical Engineering in Australia because my parents want to eventually move to Australia. I chose to study Engineering and move to Australia because of my parent's script that I was following. Get good grades in school > Go abroad (Canada/Australia/Europe) and study engineering/medicine/law > Get a citizenship there > Unite your family in that country abroad because life there is better than life here.

Fortunately they are paying for my university although it is literally breaking their lives apart. But, I've had countless arguments with them on how I don't want to continue my education at university because I don't see myself as an engineer/doctor/lawyer 10 years from now and how I'm wasting my time, energy and their money on this.

They always end up guilt tripping me on how this was always their dream to move abroad and live there and that it is now my responsibility to make that come true. Also the fact that the degree is simply a stepping stone into a first world country (I'm Persian). And that I only have 3 semesters remaining.


Reading MJ's books is screaming at me to drop out. I mentioned that to my parents and they told me that if I do that they won't even acknowledge me once I return back home. I decided to stay in Australia just to stay away from that kind of mental exhaustion.

I've always hated the idea of trading my time for money ever since I took a few summer jobs in my teen years and I knew this isn't something I want to end up doing. But the path I am taking leads me straight to what I loathed.

I am fed up. I want to free myself from this bullshit. I realize the path to that starts by shifting from a consumer to a producer. I need to start solving problems and providing value. I am starving to provide value to somebody. I don't know where or how to start. Reading books over and over has gotten me nowhere. I'm just running out of places to store my books.

I've read TMF , I've read Unscripted . I still don't know how to shift from a consumer to a producer. I can't find any problems to solve. I don't know how to provide value to others.

I understand the lessons in the book. To listen out for problems. To listen to the phrases "I hate when..." "I wish that..."
Only problem is I don't hear these things around me, I stopped listening to music in public just to actively listen to people around me incase they complain about some problem that I may be able to fix and provide value.

I haven't had an FTE but I had a ton of FTM's.

 

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[Jeix]

I'm sorry to hear about your situation, I can't say I relate but here's some things to consider:

1. do you wish to stay in Australia or would you rather go back to your home country? If you want to stay, it makes sense to finish studying, both because your parents are paying for it and because it will help you integrate better in the country, leading to more opportunities down the line. You can maybe find time for a part time job so that you can support yourself better and send some money home.
2. you don't have to be an entrepreneur immediately, fix your personal situation first. How are you going to focus on your business if your family is on your tail like that and you are not even an Australian citizen yet?
3. competence often stems from passion. We are what we repeatedly do. People are good at what they like because they do it a lot and they would do it all the time if they could. Instead of focusing on solving generic problems that you probably don't care about, focus on what YOU need and what YOU lack. Inevitably, there will be other people with the same needs as you that you know exactly how to satisfy because you had the problem yourself and have figured out a solution for it.
4. another option is to leverage your studies. You are studying something that's in high demand, can you figure out some part-time online service you could provide with it? Maybe consulting? Doesn't have to be a business right away but it will help make money and build a portfolio to jumpstart your life once you are done with university. Don't worry about not satisfying all commandments right away, some of them will come in time. Start with Need and you'll find a source of income. Build it up as it goes. If you do it well, 18 months from now you'll have a university degree, some money saved up, given back some money to your parents and a portfolio of reviews and contacts to help your future ventures. More doors will be open to you in the future as a result, not just a career as an employee in what you studied.

It's not much but I hope I was able to give you some ideas.

 

[Odysseus M Jones]

You're not going to like this:

Stay in school, do the 3 semesters.

You're so close to the finish line.

You might like this though:

Mechanical engineering is a great skill to build a super super fastlane business.

Every single thing in the world that you can touch or see began with an engineer.

Everything.

Thank your parents for giving you this chance.

Stay the course, make your and their lives better.

 

[Yogi_Fastlane]

My Story:
I'm an immigrant whose being forced to study Mechanical Engineering in Australia because my parents want to eventually move to Australia. I chose to study Engineering and move to Australia because of my parent's script that I was following. Get good grades in school > Go abroad (Canada/Australia/Europe) and study engineering/medicine/law > Get a citizenship there > Unite your family in that country abroad because life there is better than life here.

Fortunately they are paying for my university although it is literally breaking their lives apart. But, I've had countless arguments with them on how I don't want to continue my education at university because I don't see myself as an engineer/doctor/lawyer 10 years from now and how I'm wasting my time, energy and their money on this.

They always end up guilt tripping me on how this was always their dream to move abroad and live there and that it is now my responsibility to make that come true. Also the fact that the degree is simply a stepping stone into a first world country (I'm Persian). And that I only have 3 semesters remaining.


Reading MJ's books is screaming at me to drop out. I mentioned that to my parents and they told me that if I do that they won't even acknowledge me once I return back home. I decided to stay in Australia just to stay away from that kind of mental exhaustion.

I've always hated the idea of trading my time for money ever since I took a few summer jobs in my teen years and I knew this isn't something I want to end up doing. But the path I am taking leads me straight to what I loathed.

I am fed up. I want to free myself from this bullshit. I realize the path to that starts by shifting from a consumer to a producer. I need to start solving problems and providing value. I am starving to provide value to somebody. I don't know where or how to start. Reading books over and over has gotten me nowhere. I'm just running out of places to store my books.

I've read TMF , I've read Unscripted . I still don't know how to shift from a consumer to a producer. I can't find any problems to solve. I don't know how to provide value to others.

I understand the lessons in the book. To listen out for problems. To listen to the phrases "I hate when..." "I wish that..."
Only problem is I don't hear these things around me, I stopped listening to music in public just to actively listen to people around me incase they complain about some problem that I may be able to fix and provide value.

I haven't had an FTE but I had a ton of FTM's.

Your situation sounds a lot like Indians moving abroad (I'm an Indian also a Mech engineer)

You're too green probably to enter into business right now, you've got to finish it off, a drop out is only good if he makes it to the top, In the real world businesses might crumble for some odd reason beyond your control (Covid?) your parents might have spent a lot of money you've got to finish your degree even if you don't care about their dream.

Having said that, don't compromise with your dreams, even if you have got a plan ready, you've got to test it in the real world. Ideas mean nothing execution does, don't worry about CENTS as of now, solve your personal situation first and prepare yourself to become an entrepreneur.

1. Do odd jobs and start creating savings which will help you in due course.
2. Decide what concurrent skill interests you and has enough legacy that it will stay in usage for ~5 years from now (Don't care about it being Mech related)
3. Don't let the Shiny object syndrome affect you for the next 3 years.
4. Master the skill, whenever you feel at odds with yourself go back to step 3, at this point your objective is not to become an entrepreneur but to master the skill.
5. Once you're 25% of your way with the skill, try to find out the problems you can solve with it in terms of "Faster, Cheaper, better", Journal those ideas.
6. About 50% of your way into the skill, start creating simple projects with it, get some confidence so that you can face someone who would recruit you with your skill, if rejected, understand the gaps and learn again.
7. Learn supporting skills such as coding, marketing, sales, web design, communication, financial, legal etc.
8. Join a group/company which is using this skill to solve existing problems (Make sure the company is operating in a small market with few competitors or Unestablished competitors or an industry where disruption isn't done yet)
9. Work for some time there, try to be the best at solving problems there, and understand the GAME, every industry out there is a game, and all the companies involved are playing that game, it has rules, learn those rules.
10. Develop a client list of who can be your customers (not necessarily the same ones who're customers to your company, they can be suppliers, vendors, or equipment manufacturers ~ supply chain ecosystem), in the next 6 months.
11. At this point your readiness (Finances, team, skill level, industry knowledge, CENTS framework) must be enough to float a business and pitch it to them in <6 months.
12. Create your own solution now- make sure it fulfils CENTS, and is cost-effective and scalable.
13. Now try to sell it to your contacts, as previously listed in step 10.
14. After creating sales, focus on service and developing a brand.
15. Now focus on gaining an edge over competitors.
16. Get an Investor or Bank to scale your solution.
17. Focus on becoming profitable
18. Keep Improving.

As you can see, an entrepreneur must have few distractions in their life, you're at present in Step 0, you're at present skipping all the steps and directly entering Step-12, you'll fail and learn the hard way so stop thinking there is no magic idea, in fact never has any idea ended up being the final solution, the hot shot entrepreneurs who make it young are already in the game, they pretend ignorance but they sure aren't, they learn it from their parents or the place where they live.

The best way to do things is to jump into action (learning, solving, creating, executing), the more you act the more you learn, your thought process will evolve and you'll get more valid ideas eventually making your solution perfect for the industry, also don't care about passion- you can have multiple passions, it's a bluff that you could only be great at your passion, ultimately everything is hard when it comes to being professional, entrepreneurs are passionate about money, if that wasn't the case they would be social workers, do your homework and you'll be rewarded, so in one word- ACT.

 

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[EdoardoZangi]

I understand the lessons in the book. To listen out for problems. To listen to the phrases "I hate when..." "I wish that..."

Not trying to be insensitive, but it sounds like you are the one with a problem/complaint to solve right now.

Here's my 2 cents. What if you came up with some sort of service to help other people in your same situation? If not, can you offer a service to Australian students? For example, can you find Australians interested in learning your native language?