Introducing me - Len, 32, London

[Len_1590]

Hi Everyone,
It's great to be here and I am really looking forward to discussing possibilities and the future with you all.

Background
I am a 32 year old qualified actuary (for 6 years now), a certified Risk Actuary, I am currently sitting accounting exams for an ACA qualification, I work in Life Reinsurance and have a Maths degree. I started sitting accountancy exams because I love learning new and practical things, but I also wanted what I was learning to generate extra money for me (more qualifications = more money right and who doesn't want more letters after their name than in it).
I've changed roles within the actuarial field several times working in Pricing, Risk and now I work in Financial Planning & Analysis. I get bored after 2 years when I realise that I've learned 80% of what I need to know and then the job gets repetitive and my time feels wasted.
I am a hard worker, a very hard worker. I have often been told that in the business if people need something doing, they come to me to get it done in time. Great and all, but I don't get overtime and actually it's never been reflected in my performances. I realised this year, from reading (see below) that it's not fair that all the work I'm doing isn't helping me. And fairness means a lot to me.

The present
At the end of last year I reconciled with myself that something needed to change as things didn't feel right. Then the Patrick Bet-David video cropped up on my YouTube feed where he challenges people to read all the books on Amazon that cover Money, Sales, Negotiation and Human Nature (maybe you've seen it). So I did, I started in January this year and have read more books since then than I think I read in my life before then.
This lead me to the Slowlane mentality, I read Rich Dad Poor Dad, watched videos of "Money Gurus" talking about baby steps to becoming millionaires and bought in, I started cutting my spending and upping my savings. I had a plan finally, but life got pretty rubbish quickly.
Then I started reading TMF , I read chapter 10 about 2hrs ago and nearly burst into tears realising the mindposts outlined my entire life and mentality but also relief that it had been laid out for me. At that moment I joined the forum (then went to do the shopping with my wife hence posting 2hrs later).

The future
Firstly, I want to finish reading TMF and then the other 2 books.
Secondly, I want a plan, I want to figure out where I can add value to people.
Finally, I want to work at it. I love getting lost in things (e.g. learning), I have an obsessive personality and once I start something I like I become obsessed.

I have no idea what I can build, market, and monetise and the prospect excites me and absolutely petrifies me at the same time.

Anyway, that's my mini life story. I look forward to chatting with you all and it feels great to read some of the intros from others and realise I'm with likeminded people.

Thank you to everyone who has made it this far

Len

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Awesome intro Len, great to have you here. Hope you find some good value in the books to lead you in different, more fulfilling direction!

 

[Len_1590]

I wanted to give a short update on the above:

1. I still haven't finished TMF - absolutely loving it though, lots to think about and more practical than other books I've read
2. I have signed up to Fox Legends course - I cannot code, complete novice, but I'm really excited to get stuck into a specialist skill while also building sales and marketing skills
3. I spoke to my partner - she gave me her 100% backing to try new things. Her examples were "you're a stubborn person who gets easily obsessed, and you run ultramarathons. If you put your mind to it you'll do it, you buffoon", and "you were going to waste 3 years doing an accountancy course, why not dedicate it to a new skill rather than a top up of your current skill" what a woman

Separately, I did some day job work on Sunday (reviewing CVs for roles I am hiring for) and nearly everyone up the chain in my organisation was working. This was madness to me. Several have young families and they worked all week so that they could work the weekend.
If ever I needed to motivation for a change, there it was right there. My end goal all of 6 months ago right in front of me working weekends.
I'm not after getting very rich (though that would be nice). I saw this post earlier (Most of us ain't getting rich) and I completely agree. I want freedom to spend time with my family and friends on my terms.
That's my motivation - I'll keep coming back to this to remind myself of it

 

[Len_1590]

I'm not one for creating a new thread and dragging attention to it, though I admit the accountability of being out there in the open is quite appealing, so I'm going to continue on my Intro post. (Is this okay or is it frowned upon, in which case I will start a new thread?)

7 weeks after joining the forum here's what's going on in my head and my world.

UPDATE
Slowlane day job
I have spent the last 4 weeks trying to decide if I should quit my current job and become a self-employed contractor within my current industry or remain in my current job and try to build a business while working there.
There are obviously benefits and drawbacks of making this move and I sat down, with my partner so I had someone to play devil's advocate, and performed a WADM analysis. It was a victory for handing my notice in at work and setting up as a self-employed contractor.
The timeline I gave myself to hand my notice in ends next week, so I now need to make the leap into the abyss and I am terrified. Though what I know is happening is that my mind is telling me of all the downsides and completely ignoring the upside potential. WCCA = I apply for another permanent job in the same industry and I've learned a valuable life lesson (albeit at 33 this feels too old to be trying something new - laughable really).

Not quite slowlane but definitely not fastlane endeavours
I joined Fox's Web School 6 weeks ago (thank you Fox particularly for the live calls) and took my time to get through the course, learn the basics of web design coding and learning about copywriting.
As of two weeks ago I got a bit ambitious and started getting in touch with local business about helping them in all forms of web services (maybe a bit is an understatement). Anyway, I have absolutely no social proof and no real world projects at the moment to demonstrate my capabilities so it's back to the drawing board and reaching out to people I know to get a real world project I can then use to leverage future projects.
The goal here is that this becomes more of a focus than the contracting above because this gets me around and talking to companies across different industries where I can find out about their problems and work out how to solve their website problems but maybe other problems as well.

End goal??
The end goal of the above two steps is to find problems that are consistent across an industry, multiple industries or just in general, as I'm hoping my mindset continues to change from consumer to producer in the coming months.

Questions for the forum
I see a lot of questions for the forum where specific answers aren't available because you don't know the person on the other end of the post, so my questions are going to be quite generic as I'd prefer to continue MJ's way for providing guidance than directions (apologies if that's doing the books a disservice, it could just be my superficial understanding):

1. Does the language above sound too passive? I am trying to be (I know passive) more offensive and be in control of myself rather than being a spectator.
2. Am I missing the point of the messages provided by MJ and all the other legendary contributors in what I'm setting out above?
3. Does the above post (reduced in size) seem like it's going to become a quotation/case study in a future MJ DeMarco book?

I wish everyone the greatest of success in accordance with their definition of success!
Thank you for reading if you get this far!

Len

 

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[Len_1590]

Update (- they won't all be this close together I promise)
Handed my notice in at work today so I am working down my 3 month notice period in my current role.
To get ahead of the game I started messaging around people I'd worked with in the past and recruiters to let them know I'm looking and available for self-employed work as at October.

Two people I used to work with got in touch within 30mins. One thinks he can get me a role for October.
Not going to count my chickens so reaching out to a few more people and see how I get on.

 

[Len_1590]

Progress update - 2023/07/09

Slow Lane Job
As mentioned, I quit my job on 2023/07/03. Only downside is that I have a 3 month notice period, so I'm still employed until end of September, albeit with pro-rated holidays my last working day is end of August (honeymoon on 1st September).
My plan to let people know that I am a self-employed contractor in the industry worked a bit too well. I let 2 recruiter know and also let a couple of ex-colleagues. One of my ex-colleagues can get me a contractor position where I would be working for them, but he wants me to burn bridges with my current work (spit my dummy out so that they end my employment sooner) and cancel my honeymoon. I'm sure he's not motivated by the "gratitude" he's asked me to show for him getting a place at all.
Question for the forum - am I not showing commitment by saying no to his request? Am I being too comfortable and not embracing the ethos by sticking to my principles of not burning bridges and not cancelling my honeymoon?

Web design
Not going well - I still have no portfolio project from my attempts at outreach to people in the local community. At the minute my outreach has been messages on local FB groups, asking friends and family for leads and chatting to a few business owners/managers that I use regularly in the area. So far nothing has come back.
I'm not too disheartened at the moment though, it means I'm not doing something correct so I need to assess and adjust and then take the action again. I think my sales delivery isn't great yet, so this is going to be something I read up on - I think this falls under the banner of reading to solve a problem rather than action faking. Let me know if I'm wrong please.

Reflection/Observation
I need to improve my producer mindset as it's not where I want it to be yet.
My ability to recognise the language and signs of people experiencing problems and the opportunity they present is quite weak, so I need to improve.
I need to get out into the world a bit more and just talk to people.

Lots to improve on for next week's update:
Task 1 - keep talking to local business and reviewing/reflecting on where my sales skills can be improved (maybe read a book and implement those techniques - Does anyone have a recommendation or should I just go with a Amazon recommended one?)
Task 2 - talk to more people randomly at places where I spend my time and focus on listening with full attention

 

[Len_1590]

2023/07/16 - update

Little to update across the board to be honest, so maybe there's no need for this post. I'm going to give an update anyway so that I have a log for myself.

Slow Lane Job
No update as I work my notice period.
I feel less torn about not forcing threw a reduced notice period or skipping my honeymoon - both of these things are against my values for people coming first above other things.
Waiting to hear if my current employer wants to hire me freelance but as yet nothing confirmed.

Web design
I hadn't realised that this time last week I hadn't received the messages from people on FB about web design.
I had two people get in touch and scheduled a call and a meet up with each of them.
The meet up I have tomorrow. I'm really hopeful about this one as I think I can help them quite a lot, I just need to make sure that what I think I can help them with they actually need help - at the end of the day it doesn't matter what I think.
The second one stood me up for a call on Tuesday. I messaged to rearrange for Friday but no response and then left it a while to message again. I feel this one may have got away from me. Oh well.

Reflection/Observation
Producer mindset is still not good, and that's okay. It's a skill I don't have at the minute and need to keep working on.
There has been a mindset change for calls and chatting to people though. I realised that I had no issue as a waiter/barman going up and talking to people, asking if I could help and delivering - so why am I getting nervous now? I'm still asking if people need help, finding out how I can help and then delivering. It's the same thing, but with a slightly different angle. Has helped my approach to messages and trying to communicate with people.

I have a long way to go, and I notice that I still have tendencies to want to get "quick wins", a "quick fix" and chase money. It's a tough one to reign in, but I'm getting there slowly slowly.

 

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[Saad Khan]

I have an obsessive personality and once I start something I like I become obsessed

You're not alone. Welcome aboard!

 

[Len_1590]

2023/07/23 - Update

Not a lot to update on this week.

Slowlane starter - Actuarial Freelance business:
I applied for 3 roles this week to get my self-employed actuarial services up and running.
I'm hoping I can use the business I set up for this work to also have my website business run through, I need to read up on the legalities and intricacies though to make sure.
It baffles me that despite the training actuaries go through (often quoted by actuaries as being harder than accountancy training) the application to real people is so small in comparison. It's insurance or not a lot from my experience.
My ego tells me there is an opportunity here, but I haven't heard the language that makes me think it is anything more than my ego.

Website business
My first sales call (not really sales as no money) was on Monday. It was in person and went okay. I didn't take notes during, that was a big mistake. I wanted to show I was listening, but remembering everything afterwards was tough.
Follow up email was well received and I'm going to his business on Tuesday to get more information, understand more about him and his company and get the go ahead to begin.
There's a lot of scope to add value to this person's business and I'm looking forward to helping him.

Reflections
I didn't do enough after work last week to work on my business and myself.
I blamed my current job for being busy, pressured and demanding as well as the wedding I was at last weekend for being tired.
This is a terrible excuse and one I do not plan on repeating this week.
Goal for the week - link one "problem" real people face outside of insurance with skills developed as an actuary

 

[Antifragile]

Why would you quit actuary job for a web design? That’s a huge miss in whatever you read in the books.

Sorry to be the blunt instrument here, but honesty I can’t keep silent when I read this. Another person signing up for @Fox school while already having the experience and expertise to do something 10x greater than a “5 figure work your a$$ off 16 hour days” web design that’s also fully replaceable by AI because you are new and suck at it. AI probably already does 10x better job anyway.

I hope @Strategery and other members who’ve made similar mistakes speak up and share.

@Kak will back me. Go listen to his radio show and start thinking Bigger.

Also, maybe get your job back and save some money for a real business!!! Yes. I said it.

 

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[Len_1590]

Why would you quit actuary job for a web design? That’s a huge miss in whatever you read in the books.

Sorry to be the blunt instrument here, but honesty I can’t keep silent when I read this. Another person signing up for @Fox school while already having the experience and expertise to do something 10x greater than a “5 figure work your a$$ off 16 hour days” web design that’s also fully replaceable by AI because you are new and suck at it. AI probably already does 10x better job anyway.

I hope @Strategery and other members who’ve made similar mistakes speak up and share.

@Kak will back me. Go listen to his radio show and start thinking Bigger.

Also, maybe get your job back and save some money for a real business!!! Yes. I said it.

Thank you @Antifragile I really appreciate you looking out for me!

I understand there is a focus in your message on the web design and I can see why that stood out.
I think the part about me contracting as an actuary may have been missed/misunderstood.

Yes I quit my full-time employment job, but I will still be working as an actuary just in a self-employed manner. This affords me a few benefits with a few risks:

1. Greater earning potential in the short term while I gain experience across a broad range of companies vs staying in one company (when I get a role the salary will go from high 5-figure to mid-high 6-figure post tax)
2. The opportunity to work on building my personal brand in the industry.
3. The opportunity to build my knowledge of how to manage a sole trader business.
4. Greater flexibility in the opportunities I can take, time spent working and location of work.

I considered moving into Actuarial Contracting before I read TMF .

Now web design - I have read a few posts on here about quitting your job with no back-up plan and was never planning on doing that.
I joined Fox's course because I believed it gave me the opportunity to work on skills I didn't/don't have. And it has.
For me, the course was/is a means to an end rather than being the end position and if help a few people out and make some money at the same then that's a bonus.

I'm really interested to understand and discuss the "something 10x greater" you mentioned above. I like your direct way of thinking so if you're willing to discuss that would be great.

Thank you for the recommendation to @Kak's radio show. I'll give it a search and a listen.

Again, I'm grateful for the advice and I hope reading the above helps with understanding my decision to quit my fully employed job.

 

[Strategery]

I hope @Strategery and other members who’ve made similar mistakes speak up and share

I’ve spoken at length about my mistakes and my involvement in the Legends program:

MINDSET - SCALING - EXECUTION - Creating value, right where I'm at

MARKETPLACE - Start Your 6-Figure Online Web Design Business Today...

MARKETPLACE - Start Your 6-Figure Online Web Design Business Today...

MINDSET - New job or stay put?

Key word is my mistake. @Fox didn’t rob me at gunpoint. In fact I approached him, in person in 2020. His program wasn’t a mistake, it was what I did with it that was the mistake. But this isn’t my progress thread and I won’t use up anymore space on this cat’s thread.

 

[Fox]

Slow Lane Job
No update as I work my notice period.
I feel less torn about not forcing threw a reduced notice period or skipping my honeymoon - both of these things are against my values for people coming first above other things.
Waiting to hear if my current employer wants to hire me freelance but as yet nothing confirmed.

Agreed with @Antifragile on this.

You want to be looking for ways to combine the experience you already have in life. Not resetting each time.

Is there any way to combine the online side of things with these skills?

If you have a stable income like this then there is not much point in going back to freelancing.
The better way would be to look at how to pivot what you already know and to leverage it online (or offline).

Can you reach out to me on Fb or on here and let's chat. If I had known this earlier I would have said the same thing - use what you have and combine it with higher ways to leverage the skill (online of offline).

Ill shoot you a DM now also.

 

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[Antifragile]

Thank you @Antifragile I really appreciate you looking out for me!

You are welcome

I'm really interested to understand and discuss the "something 10x greater" you mentioned above. I like your direct way of thinking so if you're willing to discuss that would be great.

Look, my comment isn't directed at @Fox or his school. It's directed at you, so I am glad you are open to this feedback. Like others, you seemed to be making a classic mistake. You get excited after reading MJ book, come on the forum and see the ad for web design and boom - you push that "easy button". Yet it sucks because the button isn't easy at all. It's all hard work. You need to reinvent yourself.

If you aren't willing to put in the hours into becoming great, you won't have great results. And you aren't some "fresh out of high school 20 years old" with zero experience trying to get guidance on something, anything, as long as it's a positive experience. You are 32, an actuary, had a good job etc.

That's the issue, lack of thought. And it's not just you, so don't take it personally. I think most humans, if not all of us, are prone to jumping in and thinking fast and then acting slow. By "thinking fast" I mean letting the very first idea that pops into your brain become THE ONLY idea you are exploring and pursuing. Expand your vision and come up with half a dozen ideas, evaluate each one and only then pick THE BEST ONE.

For example: say you wanted to become a consultant in actuarial work space. You needed skills to market yourself. How can you get these skills in the shortest amount of time and smallest amount of money spent? What 5-10 options have you explored? How do they stack against each other? Which one is the best and why?

Sidebar, here (the Secret to Scaling Up) I wrote more about my take on how to scale up from nothing to something big.

The issue with thinking fast and acting slow is simple: you go on to create problems and then spend time to solve them. You create your own fires to put out. This how I see so many people in the world work, jumping from one fire to another and accomplishing surprisingly little. This goes beyond business, it's employment, fitness, health etc.

There is a better way. Think slow, then act fast.
Come up with a plan, then attack it and get it done.

Hope you find it helpful.

edit: link fixed.

 

[Len_1590]

Thank you everyone for your comments, messages and reactions.
I appreciate the community feel that has come along with people being open and being constructive.

For example: say you wanted to become a consultant in actuarial work space. You needed skills to market yourself. How can you get these skills in the shortest amount of time and smallest amount of money spent? What 5-10 options have you explored? How do they stack against each other? Which one is the best and why?

This is great advice and a great example.
I am worried I end up action faking life, coming up with 5-10 options, and a year has passed me by. As you say, I'm no spring chicken.

I'll read your thread, but your link currently doesn't work.

There is a better way. Think slow, then act fast.
Come up with a plan, then attack it and get it done.

Coming up with the plan is hard part and I guess that is the point of thinking slow.
I like this though. I'll definitely implement.

Watch this space for more updates.
Weekly updates don't seem long enough to actually see improvements from the above process.
I may switch to bi-weekly or monthly, unless people want to see me keep going?

 

[Len_1590]

I would like some clarification on a couple of points to get my head in the right space.

1. The main takeaway I have from the above is to focus on actuarial work. Aim for steady incremental gains in that field to become an expert.
2. While becoming an expert, look for opportunities to skill stack, e.g. project management, software coding in the actuarial space, networking and sales.
3. Keep learning and progressing focusing on excellence and expertise.
4. Over time an opportunity will appear, there have been many I missed already, that will become apparent from being an expert.
5. There is nothing wrong with side hustles at the same time (they are encouraged) to develop the entrepreneurial mindset

Comments, questions, corrections all welcome.
I love learning and figuring out how to apply what I've learned, so this has been great for me.

 

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[Len_1590]

16/08/23 Update

Firstly, thanks to everyone who contributed to the discussions from my last update.
There was a lot to think about and I've spent some time deliberating, debating and questioning my options and what everyone here said.
That being said, I have very little to update on so this is going to look very much like action faking.

Self-employed Actuarial Contracting:
I'm still on track to move into this space. I'm confident I'll get a role and doing the maths this will more than double my take home pay.
It's not Fastlane, but I'll be able to build a reputation in the industry and build my network up more.

Web design:
I got a couple of projects from this so I'm going to finish them off and then call it a day on this venture.
It was great for me to get out of my comfort zone and get in touch with people I wouldn't otherwise have even considered talking to.
I do agree with antifragile though, this was me trying to reinvent myself in a space I'd have to start from scratch with.
Amongst other things, it seemed inefficient.

Where does this leave me?:
I spent some time thinking about problems, how they could be solved and came up with the following that I'm going to spend time assessing and doing the maths and research behind them:

1. Actuarial consultancy - this would follow from the actuarial contracting. I can see a lot of downsides with this but also some upsides.
2. Actuarial Student exam preparation/tutoring - one company currently has a monopoly on providing courses and education.
3. Actuarial end-to-end modelling - lots of potential here, but some well established players. Good opportunity for value skew though as established players are quite one dimensional at the moment.

Lots to think about and research, but my first goal is to get that contract work so that I can continue to pay my bills.
Again as Antifragile said - Think slow and then act fast.