Being free.
That's probably the biggest desire we, the people on here, have on our mind every day.
Thanks to MJ's book and this forum, we learnt to value our time as what it is:
the one most important thing in life.
Time.
Time to be with your family and friends.
Time to laugh with the people you love.
Time to do whatever your desires drive you to do.
We want to control our time, our life. We do not want a time clock at a job to do that for us.
We want to watch our children grow as they do, and not only see how far they've grown from last weekend to this one.
We want to control our time to be free.
Free from those annoying traffic jams on the way to our jobs. Free from sitting at a stranger's desk for 8+ hours every single day. Free from having to beg your boss for those 2 weeks you'd need, to go on vacation with your friends this year, hoping that no other colleague already reserved those 2 weeks.
Put simple, we'd like to be happy. Therefore we want to be free. And to be free, we need to be in control of our time.
But most of us on here are not there yet.
Those of us who are not yet running a successful business are probably still controlled by their time clock at the job.
And since we know what is possible in life, since we know what the rock stars, the heavy hitters on this forum already achieved, something that we want so badly for ourselves too, since we know all that, it is easy to feel unhappy in our current situation.
We know the importance of controlling our time, our life, and still we are not able to do that yet.
That makes it so much harder to not feel frustrated because of the invisible prison we seem to be in. The hamster wheel.
We feel frustrated, because it feels like we are being controlled by others, by our boss, by our time clock.
We feel anger, because we are not free.
We feel unhappy because of those thoughts.
We want to scream at our time clock, while checking in early in the morning.
Scream at it to let us go.
But it just doesn't answer.
One reason may be that it's just a piece of electronic device hanging on a wall.
Another reason may be, that it's not up to this device to let us go.
It is up to us.
It is up to us to be in control of our time. To be free. To be happy.
We may still need the job to pay our bills, so we do not have complete control over our time yet, and because of that we probably feel neither free, nor happy.
But instead of focusing on what we can not control as of right now, we should rather focus on what we can control.
And believe me, there is something we can control already.
We may not be able to control all ingredients at once right now.
But we can take care of them one after one.
Starting with the one, that we can already control.
Which one that is?
We can control our happiness.
We may not be free, yet. We may not be in control of our time, yet. We may have experienced unhappiness because of all that, but..
We are free to spend our time in happiness.
It is up to us to decide to be happy.
But how do we do it?
How do we decide to feel happy?
Let's put it into Stephen Frey's words: stop feeling sorry for yourself and you will be happy.
Those words are so powerful, I'd like to repeat them in italics.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself and you will be happy.
That's one of those mindset shifts that can have a huge impact on your life and your success.
Feeling sorry for oneself is like a warm world that we can visit whenever we want to.
A world that is filled with sad songs and rainy windows to look through while listening to those songs.
A world that evolves around "what if"s, "back then"s and "if only"s.
A world that seems like an easy escape.
An escape from reality into our memories and thoughts.
An escape into..
"What if I wouldn't have f*cked up that relationship?"
"What if I would have kept working on my business?"
"Back then everything was so easy, no worries, no pressure, no timeclock that controlled my entire life.."
"If only I would be able to live a life like XYZ.."
But as easy as it is to escape into this world, as easy is it to get lost in it.
Real happiness can not be found in such a world.
This world is for those who gave up on their desire for real happiness and exchanged it for a fleeting moment of fake happiness and instant gratification.
Time to remove this easy-to-escape-to world from your life and leave it behind.
There's a real world waiting for you to be formed into the world you want it to be.
Put on your brightest smile and engage in the process of building your own world.
Do it with a smile, or don't do it at all.
Because happiness is not a goal.
It is not a goal, that you reach as soon as you are free.
Happiness is a part of the journey.
The journey to be free.
And whenever you feel like screaming at your time clock again, think about the following words.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself and you will be happy.
And soon your morning routine of screaming at your time clock to "let me go!" will turn into a smiling "just a few more months little f*cker."
Have a happy day guys
Disclaimer: even if this post is about changing your mood to being happy, I know that there are situations where this just does not apply. There are times of sadness, times of loss in life. My intention was definitely not to talk them down by simply saying "choose to be happy." My intention was not to aim at those situations, my intention with this post was to help you to overcome self-imposed unhappiness. To help you to spend the times you can be happy, with being happy, instead of feeling sorry for yourself and therefore not happy.
That's probably the biggest desire we, the people on here, have on our mind every day.
Thanks to MJ's book and this forum, we learnt to value our time as what it is:
the one most important thing in life.
Time.
Time to be with your family and friends.
Time to laugh with the people you love.
Time to do whatever your desires drive you to do.
We want to control our time, our life. We do not want a time clock at a job to do that for us.
We want to watch our children grow as they do, and not only see how far they've grown from last weekend to this one.
We want to control our time to be free.
Free from those annoying traffic jams on the way to our jobs. Free from sitting at a stranger's desk for 8+ hours every single day. Free from having to beg your boss for those 2 weeks you'd need, to go on vacation with your friends this year, hoping that no other colleague already reserved those 2 weeks.
Put simple, we'd like to be happy. Therefore we want to be free. And to be free, we need to be in control of our time.
But most of us on here are not there yet.
Those of us who are not yet running a successful business are probably still controlled by their time clock at the job.
And since we know what is possible in life, since we know what the rock stars, the heavy hitters on this forum already achieved, something that we want so badly for ourselves too, since we know all that, it is easy to feel unhappy in our current situation.
We know the importance of controlling our time, our life, and still we are not able to do that yet.
That makes it so much harder to not feel frustrated because of the invisible prison we seem to be in. The hamster wheel.
We feel frustrated, because it feels like we are being controlled by others, by our boss, by our time clock.
We feel anger, because we are not free.
We feel unhappy because of those thoughts.
We want to scream at our time clock, while checking in early in the morning.
Scream at it to let us go.
But it just doesn't answer.
One reason may be that it's just a piece of electronic device hanging on a wall.
Another reason may be, that it's not up to this device to let us go.
It is up to us.
It is up to us to be in control of our time. To be free. To be happy.
We may still need the job to pay our bills, so we do not have complete control over our time yet, and because of that we probably feel neither free, nor happy.
But instead of focusing on what we can not control as of right now, we should rather focus on what we can control.
And believe me, there is something we can control already.
We may not be able to control all ingredients at once right now.
But we can take care of them one after one.
Starting with the one, that we can already control.
Which one that is?
We can control our happiness.
We may not be free, yet. We may not be in control of our time, yet. We may have experienced unhappiness because of all that, but..
We are free to spend our time in happiness.
It is up to us to decide to be happy.
But how do we do it?
How do we decide to feel happy?
Let's put it into Stephen Frey's words: stop feeling sorry for yourself and you will be happy.
Those words are so powerful, I'd like to repeat them in italics.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself and you will be happy.
That's one of those mindset shifts that can have a huge impact on your life and your success.
Feeling sorry for oneself is like a warm world that we can visit whenever we want to.
A world that is filled with sad songs and rainy windows to look through while listening to those songs.
A world that evolves around "what if"s, "back then"s and "if only"s.
A world that seems like an easy escape.
An escape from reality into our memories and thoughts.
An escape into..
"What if I wouldn't have f*cked up that relationship?"
"What if I would have kept working on my business?"
"Back then everything was so easy, no worries, no pressure, no timeclock that controlled my entire life.."
"If only I would be able to live a life like XYZ.."
But as easy as it is to escape into this world, as easy is it to get lost in it.
Real happiness can not be found in such a world.
This world is for those who gave up on their desire for real happiness and exchanged it for a fleeting moment of fake happiness and instant gratification.
Time to remove this easy-to-escape-to world from your life and leave it behind.
There's a real world waiting for you to be formed into the world you want it to be.
Put on your brightest smile and engage in the process of building your own world.
Do it with a smile, or don't do it at all.
Because happiness is not a goal.
It is not a goal, that you reach as soon as you are free.
Happiness is a part of the journey.
The journey to be free.
And whenever you feel like screaming at your time clock again, think about the following words.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself and you will be happy.
And soon your morning routine of screaming at your time clock to "let me go!" will turn into a smiling "just a few more months little f*cker."
Have a happy day guys

Disclaimer: even if this post is about changing your mood to being happy, I know that there are situations where this just does not apply. There are times of sadness, times of loss in life. My intention was definitely not to talk them down by simply saying "choose to be happy." My intention was not to aim at those situations, my intention with this post was to help you to overcome self-imposed unhappiness. To help you to spend the times you can be happy, with being happy, instead of feeling sorry for yourself and therefore not happy.
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today