If you have no idea, should you just move up in the slowlane?

[Fastlane Liam]

Hey everyone, my names Liam. Im 22 and from the UK.

I work in Helpdesk 1st Line and have done for 5 painful years. Never went to university, never finished school to be honest. So I don't have any qualifications to my name

I can't stand working where I do now, the work is mundane, the people hate me, the progression is 0. Hate to sound like a millennial but the biggest pain for me is I make literally zero impact, even in the company. Resetting 50 passwords a day is not productive, it could easily be automated. If its not doing a simple fix all Im doing is raising a ticket and passing to someone who is properly technical, that could be automated too. My worth is literally worthless, an arse in a seat.

For the past 18 months Ive been doing Amazon FBA. Haven't had any real successes until a few months ago,

The big problem with Amazon for me is that it doesn't take up much time, there is so much waiting and inbetween time. Its overall a very passive business. Which is fine but my inbetween time (like 95% of my free time) is wasted because I don't know what to do, I want to be working I guess but I have no direction and just watch youtube videos/video games to pass the time

I seriously struggle with procrastinating. I guess its fear on a subconscious level, I think the only reason I went with Amazon stuff is because I could see the revenues and had some data on peoples sales volumes which gave me confidence,

I don't really know what idea to start. Everything idea I scrape up seems like there would be no demand for it, or it would require a ton of money to start, or is just a me too business with no real reason or differentiating factor to it.

Because I don't know what to do and have pissed away 2 years in this state, is it worth just furthering my career? I.e. get an IT Cert (probably AWS Associate one since they're in demand) -> move onto better job -> earn more money to invest into Amazon products. The good thing going that route is atleast Im doing SOMETHING. There is some form of expansion or growth there and I'll move out of the current painful job. But the bad side is that it feels like complete blasphemy to my goals, it also feels like wasted effort since its a means to an end. Getting more qualified to eventually just quit. The last thing is the comfort of the better paying job and potential work definitely scares me, although waking up at 5am to drive in traffic everyday is not sexy.

What advice would you give me?

 

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[Champion]

Dude, are you being serious? Why are you so hard on yourself?

You are making 2k profit per month.... Online.... Thats huge!

If you want my advice, since you mentioned a few times that you are lacking directions/instructions on what to do next:

Just go buy a course about any type of business model that interests you.

The course will give step by step instructions on what to do and will move you forward, you can always work on it when you have time in-between your amazon business and other 9 to 5 job.

While working on the course, feel free to adjust it to what you believe might make it more successfull, play around with it.

Best
Champion

 

[Surf&Turf]

How lucky you are to have this figured out at age 22.
At 10 years your senior, I am making good money, but in a slowlane job that I don't mind/tolerate. But, I am becoming obsessed with the idea of passive work and developing my own business.

Furthering your education is definitely a good idea, but I would focus on classes/certifications that are subjects you're interested in. IE: don't just get an IT cert because of your current situation.

 

[Vadim26]

Surprised this didn't get much traction. Would love to hear other people's comments.

Great question.

For me, personally, I will be moving up the slowlane (until business success) in careers that either interest me the most or help me as an entrepreneur (sales, digital marketing, copy etc).

Maybe you should use your online income and go to Thailand and become a digital nomad. Then go to Bali and learn how to surf. Then after, come back with a clean slate, and decide what you want to do.

Have some fun.

 

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[NursingTn]

Look up 10 different business ideas. Pick one at random. Go make it happen.

 

[Bryan James]

Be ever on the search for innovative ideas to invent. After an idea comes to you: hire an engineer on freelancer.com to draw up some blueprints (after they sign an NDA), hire a patent attorney to submit a patent application, hire someone on fiverr.com to make a sell sheet for you, and contact companies that might be interested in agreeing upon a licensing deal. All affordable with your type of income. Best of luck!

 

[c_morris]

Resetting 50 passwords a day is not productive, it could easily be automated. If its not doing a simple fix all Im doing is raising a ticket and passing to someone who is properly technical, that could be automated too.

Sounds like a problem that needs to be solved.

 

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[Visionary96]

Im 23 and whilst I'm self aware of the script and what to stay away from (more debt, expensive unnecessary purchases) I do have days like what you're feeling mate. I'm just taking small steps each day for now and trying not to overwhelm myself or burn out. Environment and the people you hang around with I have noticed are huge factors.

 

[James90]

Perhaps you should take time off and enjoy the things you love doing. Try new hobbies, sports, exercise, etc. Inspiration may arise from that.

I've noticed when I'm am out in nature, hiking, working out, even just driving... I get a lot of my creative ideas.

 

[Xeon]

the biggest pain for me is I make literally zero impact, even in the company.

Why would you even want to make any impact in a company that doesn't even belong to you?

What advice would you give me?

Take your AMZ business and scale it up, build a brand out of it.

 

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[PizzaOnTheRoof]

Hey everyone, my names Liam. Im 22 and from the UK.

I work in Helpdesk 1st Line and have done for 5 painful years. Never went to university, never finished school to be honest. So I don't have any qualifications to my name

I can't stand working where I do now, the work is mundane, the people hate me, the progression is 0. Hate to sound like a millennial but the biggest pain for me is I make literally zero impact, even in the company. Resetting 50 passwords a day is not productive, it could easily be automated. If its not doing a simple fix all Im doing is raising a ticket and passing to someone who is properly technical, that could be automated too. My worth is literally worthless, an arse in a seat.

For the past 18 months Ive been doing Amazon FBA. Haven't had any real successes until a few months ago,

The big problem with Amazon for me is that it doesn't take up much time, there is so much waiting and inbetween time. Its overall a very passive business. Which is fine but my inbetween time (like 95% of my free time) is wasted because I don't know what to do, I want to be working I guess but I have no direction and just watch youtube videos/video games to pass the time

I seriously struggle with procrastinating. I guess its fear on a subconscious level, I think the only reason I went with Amazon stuff is because I could see the revenues and had some data on peoples sales volumes which gave me confidence,

I don't really know what idea to start. Everything idea I scrape up seems like there would be no demand for it, or it would require a ton of money to start, or is just a me too business with no real reason or differentiating factor to it.

Because I don't know what to do and have pissed away 2 years in this state, is it worth just furthering my career? I.e. get an IT Cert (probably AWS Associate one since they're in demand) -> move onto better job -> earn more money to invest into Amazon products. The good thing going that route is atleast Im doing SOMETHING. There is some form of expansion or growth there and I'll move out of the current painful job. But the bad side is that it feels like complete blasphemy to my goals, it also feels like wasted effort since its a means to an end. Getting more qualified to eventually just quit. The last thing is the comfort of the better paying job and potential work definitely scares me, although waking up at 5am to drive in traffic everyday is not sexy.

What advice would you give me?

So let me get this straight, you have a passive business that generates you income working very little, and your biggest problem is having too much free time?

Sounds like a good problem to have!

Take a vacation, a trip, get out of mundane life. Go someplace different to think about what you want to do.

 

[FierceRacoon]

Would you really be happier if you had a successful business?

My advice is to commit to whatever you choose. E.g. if you decide to work on building a business, then be hard on yourself and don't procrastinate. There are many techniques for accountability. If you decide to further your skills in a given field, again, just do it. It is also perfectly fine to find other meaning in life. You can travel to India and meditate. You can volunteer to help people in Africa. You can go into military or government work. You can keep random jobs and just enjoy going out every night...

If you can't decide because you don't have a strong emotion inside of you telling you what to do — well, we can't decide for you either. A technique is to decide based on pure reason, whether you feel it or not, and then follow this path for a few years and see if you develop a taste for it. And if not, you can choose something else.

 

[James Klymus]

First off, I have to say that we sound like we are in similar situations. Both at a dead end job, both around the same age.

As far as your career goes with a job, it's obviously up to you, but the way I look at it looks like this. I work a simple day job where I do not take work home with me. I also am alone over half the time driving in my car, where I can listen to audiobooks, podcasts, youtube videos, and learn while I'm at work.

I make about $2500-3000 USD per month of which I save around $1300. This is money that I can invest in my self and business.

I know a lot about marketing and running digital advertising, and I could go work for a firm and make probably around $50,000 a year, But my biggest fear is becoming complacent at a job.

Having a relatively shitty job is a kick in the pants to remind my self to pursue my dreams. If I made $60k per year, I may become compliant and push off the pursuit of my dreams and desires later and later. All in exchange for a house, car payments, and a steady job. Just like the dog sitting on the nail.

This isn't exactly bad, but for me it is, because I know it's not what I ultimately want, and I know I'm capable of more.

I suspect you feel a similar way:

I can't stand working where I do now, the work is mundane, the people hate me, the progression is 0. Hate to sound like a millennial but the biggest pain for me is I make literally zero impact, even in the company. Resetting 50 passwords a day is not productive, it could easily be automated. If its not doing a simple fix all Im doing is raising a ticket and passing to someone who is properly technical, that could be automated too. My worth is literally worthless, an arse in a seat.

We're lucky to have figured this path out in our early 20's, because in our 20's no one expects you to have your shit together. You can go from job to job, lose money on ideas, live at home or with 4 roommates. We should be willing to try new things because now is the time to do it. And typically we accumulate more responsibility as we get older (Houses, cars, wife & kids, debts), which only makes it harder to take risks.

What should you do in your down time? Ultimately up to you but I like to study, go to the gym, learn new skills, be social. Until you find something you want to dedicate 80-90% of your time to (maybe you won't ever, and you'll want to live a more balanced life), Having down time is normal.

You can make a decent income with a less than 40 hour work week. I was making $10,000 a month at one point while working a few hours a week doing ecommerce like you. I had plenty of free time.

You seem like you're wandering, but wandering in a good direction, if that makes sense. You realize the potential from the path of entrepreneurship and unscription, but you aren't 100% sure what you want to do.

So I don't have any qualifications to my name

As many people will tell you here, It doesn't matter your qualifications, as long as you can solve a problem for people that's all that matters.

 

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[TreyAllDay]

Man you're still young and doing quite well. The tension you're feeling is a GOOD thing - it means you want more.

I always say to people who want to become entrepreneurs but have no clue where to start - learn everything you can about sales. You could be a great salesman and not even need to be a product/business guy. My uncle sells fricken office furniture to building developers - he works for a company but sets his own hours, earns $400,000 per year, vacations and works remotely most of the year. If you're great at sales your opportunities open up.

 

[Gunnar]

Dude, are you being serious? Why are you so hard on yourself?

You are making 2k profit per month.... Online.... Thats huge!

If you want my advice, since you mentioned a few times that you are lacking directions/instructions on what to do next:

Just go buy a course about any type of business model that interests you.

The course will give step by step instructions on what to do and will move you forward, you can always work on it when you have time in-between your amazon business and other 9 to 5 job.

While working on the course, feel free to adjust it to what you believe might make it more successfull, play around with it.

Best
Champion

Where are we getting this 2K per month figure? Is it In his post or a subsequent reply ? I would like to know how to get that even lol

 

[Ing]

Be ever on the search for innovative ideas to invent. After an idea comes to you: hire an engineer on freelancer.com to draw up some blueprints (after they sign an NDA), hire a patent attorney to submit a patent application, hire someone on fiverr.com to make a sell sheet for you, and contact companies that might be interested in agreeing upon a licensing deal. All affordable with your type of income. Best of luck!

Do you have experience with that?

 

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[Fastlane Liam]

Surprised this didn't get much traction. Would love to hear other people's comments.

Great question.

For me, personally, I will be moving up the slowlane (until business success) in careers that either interest me the most or help me as an entrepreneur (sales, digital marketing, copy etc).

Maybe you should use your online income and go to Thailand and become a digital nomad. Then go to Bali and learn how to surf. Then after, come back with a clean slate, and decide what you want to do.

Have some fun.

Hey appreciate the response, how would you go about moving up in the slowlone in those careers? How would you get trained and qualified to do them? Thanks!

 

[Fastlane Liam]

Look up 10 different business ideas. Pick one at random. Go make it happen.

Not sure, what about demand/need etc

 

[Fastlane Liam]

Be ever on the search for innovative ideas to invent. After an idea comes to you: hire an engineer on freelancer.com to draw up some blueprints (after they sign an NDA), hire a patent attorney to submit a patent application, hire someone on fiverr.com to make a sell sheet for you, and contact companies that might be interested in agreeing upon a licensing deal. All affordable with your type of income. Best of luck!

This is great advice and Im trying to squeeze out innovative ideas. Selling copycat products on Amazon is one thing, inventing a product and being first to market is a whole new level. Thanks for the reply

 

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[Fastlane Liam]

Sounds like a problem that needs to be solved.

Yeah that is true, food for thought

 

[Fastlane Liam]

Im 23 and whilst I'm self aware of the script and what to stay away from (more debt, expensive unnecessary purchases) I do have days like what you're feeling mate. I'm just taking small steps each day for now and trying not to overwhelm myself or burn out. Environment and the people you hang around with I have noticed are huge factors.

Nice man, burnout is not a worry for me. Im hungry for more

 

[Fastlane Liam]

Perhaps you should take time off and enjoy the things you love doing. Try new hobbies, sports, exercise, etc. Inspiration may arise from that.

I've noticed when I'm am out in nature, hiking, working out, even just driving... I get a lot of my creative ideas.

Yeah I see your angle. When you're living and trying new things ideas present themselves. Its hard for me because Im almost too intentional and forward planning to hope inspiration strikes. But you are right

 

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[Fastlane Liam]

Why would you even want to make any impact in a company that doesn't even belong to you?



Take your AMZ business and scale it up, build a brand out of it.

Thats true. Why care about a company that doesn't have your name on the front, don't know why I cared actually..

Scaling the AMZ business is the main focus, but outside of it Im either going to invent a product or get a blue collar skill for extra capital. Thanks for the reply

 

[Fastlane Liam]

So let me get this straight, you have a passive business that generates you income working very little, and your biggest problem is having too much free time?

Sounds like a good problem to have!

Take a vacation, a trip, get out of mundane life. Go someplace different to think about what you want to do.

Yeah I guess so, I just feel guilty doing something like that when Im not totally free

 

[Fastlane Liam]

Would you really be happier if you had a successful business?

My advice is to commit to whatever you choose. E.g. if you decide to work on building a business, then be hard on yourself and don't procrastinate. There are many techniques for accountability. If you decide to further your skills in a given field, again, just do it. It is also perfectly fine to find other meaning in life. You can travel to India and meditate. You can volunteer to help people in Africa. You can go into military or government work. You can keep random jobs and just enjoy going out every night...

If you can't decide because you don't have a strong emotion inside of you telling you what to do — well, we can't decide for you either. A technique is to decide based on pure reason, whether you feel it or not, and then follow this path for a few years and see if you develop a taste for it. And if not, you can choose something else.

Similar to my other thread this was the thesis: Look Within. Turn inwards and not outwards for answers

 

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[Fastlane Liam]

First off, I have to say that we sound like we are in similar situations. Both at a dead end job, both around the same age.

As far as your career goes with a job, it's obviously up to you, but the way I look at it looks like this. I work a simple day job where I do not take work home with me. I also am alone over half the time driving in my car, where I can listen to audiobooks, podcasts, youtube videos, and learn while I'm at work.

I make about $2500-3000 USD per month of which I save around $1300. This is money that I can invest in my self and business.

I know a lot about marketing and running digital advertising, and I could go work for a firm and make probably around $50,000 a year, But my biggest fear is becoming complacent at a job.

Having a relatively shitty job is a kick in the pants to remind my self to pursue my dreams. If I made $60k per year, I may become compliant and push off the pursuit of my dreams and desires later and later. All in exchange for a house, car payments, and a steady job. Just like the dog sitting on the nail.

This isn't exactly bad, but for me it is, because I know it's not what I ultimately want, and I know I'm capable of more.

I suspect you feel a similar way:



We're lucky to have figured this path out in our early 20's, because in our 20's no one expects you to have your shit together. You can go from job to job, lose money on ideas, live at home or with 4 roommates. We should be willing to try new things because now is the time to do it. And typically we accumulate more responsibility as we get older (Houses, cars, wife & kids, debts), which only makes it harder to take risks.

What should you do in your down time? Ultimately up to you but I like to study, go to the gym, learn new skills, be social. Until you find something you want to dedicate 80-90% of your time to (maybe you won't ever, and you'll want to live a more balanced life), Having down time is normal.

You can make a decent income with a less than 40 hour work week. I was making $10,000 a month at one point while working a few hours a week doing ecommerce like you. I had plenty of free time.

You seem like you're wandering, but wandering in a good direction, if that makes sense. You realize the potential from the path of entrepreneurship and unscription, but you aren't 100% sure what you want to do.




As many people will tell you here, It doesn't matter your qualifications, as long as you can solve a problem for people that's all that matters.

Hey James appreciate the reply,

Audiobooks in the car is something Im going to start doing now you mention it. I have a 40-60minute commute everyday which I could be using to my advantage,

Firstly I want to say well done for getting your skillset in Marketing to that level, but personally for me no amount of money would be enough to make me sell away my time. The fact you are aware complacency exists is a great thing, instead of getting a job in Marketing firm why not start a marketing firm?

Trying things now is very important that we don;t have anything to lose. Failing is completely fine and a sign you are pushing value and learning. Now is the time to fail instead of doing nothing. Of course I want to win, but even with a fail it shows we atleast tried.

$10k in a month? Sweet. Is that still ongoing? What happened to that venture?

Thanks!

 

[fastlanedoll]

Not sure, what about demand/need etc

Is there anything that frustrates you in your personal life (besides this business thing, that is), something you feel is inadequate / a service or product that could make your life easier?
That's how I got my first idea.

If there's nothing that comes to mind, how about the lives of those close to you? Could be anyone really.

If that fails, what are you good at? How can you turn this into a fastlane idea?

Do you feel there is some insight you can share with the rest of the world regarding your past experiences?
A book could be a start.

Just some ideas off the top of my head.
But I think there must be something in the first two. No-one has a completely smooth, hassle-free life, lol.

 

[Bryan James]

This is great advice and Im trying to squeeze out innovative ideas. Selling copycat products on Amazon is one thing, inventing a product and being first to market is a whole new level. Thanks for the reply

Thank you, and you're welcome. Best of luck!

 

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[100ToOne]

Re-invest in Amazon?

Make 10 more products that generate profit.

Use your free time to sell stuff locally maybe?

 

[Johnny boy]

Hey everyone, my names Liam. Im 22 and from the UK.

I work in Helpdesk 1st Line and have done for 5 painful years. Never went to university, never finished school to be honest. So I don't have any qualifications to my name

I can't stand working where I do now, the work is mundane, the people hate me, the progression is 0. Hate to sound like a millennial but the biggest pain for me is I make literally zero impact, even in the company. Resetting 50 passwords a day is not productive, it could easily be automated. If its not doing a simple fix all Im doing is raising a ticket and passing to someone who is properly technical, that could be automated too. My worth is literally worthless, an arse in a seat.

For the past 18 months Ive been doing Amazon FBA. Haven't had any real successes until a few months ago,

The big problem with Amazon for me is that it doesn't take up much time, there is so much waiting and inbetween time. Its overall a very passive business. Which is fine but my inbetween time (like 95% of my free time) is wasted because I don't know what to do, I want to be working I guess but I have no direction and just watch youtube videos/video games to pass the time

I seriously struggle with procrastinating. I guess its fear on a subconscious level, I think the only reason I went with Amazon stuff is because I could see the revenues and had some data on peoples sales volumes which gave me confidence,

I don't really know what idea to start. Everything idea I scrape up seems like there would be no demand for it, or it would require a ton of money to start, or is just a me too business with no real reason or differentiating factor to it.

Because I don't know what to do and have pissed away 2 years in this state, is it worth just furthering my career? I.e. get an IT Cert (probably AWS Associate one since they're in demand) -> move onto better job -> earn more money to invest into Amazon products. The good thing going that route is atleast Im doing SOMETHING. There is some form of expansion or growth there and I'll move out of the current painful job. But the bad side is that it feels like complete blasphemy to my goals, it also feels like wasted effort since its a means to an end. Getting more qualified to eventually just quit. The last thing is the comfort of the better paying job and potential work definitely scares me, although waking up at 5am to drive in traffic everyday is not sexy.

What advice would you give me?

I would pound hard on your side business

I would couple that with a more steady business that is based around services so you can stay busy and have consistent revenue. Amazon businesses have a tendency to suddenly become unprofitable.

Would hate to hear a sob story "What do I do? Someone undercut me and now I have less sales!" Have another thing bringing you cash.

Then I would move here.



I took this 5 seconds ago. It's $20 a night. Free wi-fi. American food for $4 a plate. Scooter rental for $7 a day. You can live on $40 a day here. "Ko Lanta" near Krabi in Thailand.

Wake up and work on your business a little bit in the morning with a cup of coffee by the beach...head out on a motorcycle with a cute girl and go find a new place to explore...swing back and have some lunch and go swimming...work a little bit in the afternoon and go back to your bungalow for some quiet time.

Good way to spend your early 20's.

Need something to kill time? I'm gonna go ride some elephants in a couple hours. BRB.