Its been one year of FLF for me. This forum will change your life and Ill prove it.

[Envision]

I joined this forum one year ago, I got the alert today and I had to sit back and look at what I've done and what I havent done.

Im prepared to completely dominate the rest of the years that were gifted to me.

I joined at 19 years old. In fact, I turn 21 in 13 days. To be honest, I literally had nothing going for me back then. I have always been driven and passionate through my competitive lifting and sport background but I graduated high school and seemed to venture aimlessly in multiple directions.

My dad lost his job, my parents got divorced, my dad lost his purpose and remains unemployed today and we went from living in a 3000 square foot house to a 800 square foot mobile home. I went from having a college education paid for and given to me to having nothing given to me and having to fend for myself.

I hated every F*ckin minute of living in that shit hole mobile home. My room fit a small bed and I put two huge white boards on the wall. I would write my goals down of the things I would accomplish and every morning I would get up and go.

I joined this forum with nothing but an open willingness to learn, a burning ambition, and a work ethic.

I would say the first 4-6 months was pure horse shit and figuring out how things work with some mental masturbation and action faking. I would toss ideas around, read, and read, and read through peoples threads, through the inside posts, through bold and determined and danger and play as well... But something started to shift back in October...

I needed to find better people to surround myself with. I would literally smoke or go to some shitty party every weekend. But I would dream.. I would dream so much about my future of wealth and freedom. But my actions didnt line up with my dreams and goals.

I ended up finding people who were EXACTLY what I was looking for... They were into self improvement, meditation, learning, business, travel, and game. They were older than me and their habits were astounding. I adopted them.. waking up at 5am, meditate, read, visualize, work on yourself, I launched my business, started attending real estate investment meetings, joined toastmasters etc... Catapulted my life in the right direction..

• I launched a fitness apparel line with the intention of simply learning business.. I want to know the ins and outs and I love working out and this line is finally gaining traction and we are in talks with our first store and surpassed 15k instagram followers... Sales are in the 100-500/month range
• I found a mentor through the real estate investment meetings who owns 5-6 businesses, has an 8 figure net worth, and is a fulfilled and complete man... someone I've never had the ability to be around with the crowd I was in... we hit it off and are in talks constantly... EVERYTHING HE SAYS I record with his permission. His words are gold and his advice is harsh but right on point. I cant explain the benefit of having this type of person in your life.
• I purchased my first home (a duplex) and effectively househacked it just like in @G_Alexander's thread found here: GOLD! - STOP Paying Rent: Live For Free

The significance of this is that I will never pay rent again, my mortgage payment is covered by my tenants and roomate and I get to CHOOSE who I surround myself with. My roomate also just turned 21 and will be releasing his coffee business on Amazon this summer.

• I joined a paid mastermind that I never would have done had I not learned the lesson that sometimes you MUST PAY TO LEARN... in some cases you dont but paying people who have done what you have done is a GOOD thing. Through this I am/ will be learning the ins and outs of sales, cold calling, and online biz.
  • On top of that I am in the process of closing my first sale for 1k and I havent even really gotten started yet.

• I am 5 speeches away from my competent communicator and I am already 100 times better than I ever thought I would be... If you want to speak or ever will be in the position to speak Join Toastmasters, my group is a really chill group of people 2-3 times my age but they all have a ton of experience which kills the learning curve and you progress quickly.

My Goals:

I havent really spoken of my goals at all on this forum and I generally dont but here are a few that I would like to accomplish within the next 1-10 years:

• I am still working a W2, I would like to replace my work income within the next year.
• Travel the world
• Millionaire by 25.
• Own 100 units of of real estate that cash flow by 25.
• Have my business make 10k/month in sales (@Vick's thread was super motivating and pretty epic to read)

Action Items:

If your stuck doin nothing here is some shit I would do...

• OFFER VALUE. I am so thankful to @MJ DeMarco for instilling his books values into my mind. When I mentioned offering value to my mentor I think he was taken aback by my approach. I offered to help him with ANYTHING and the second time we spoke he made contact with me to see how I was doing... I need to hit him up here soon This goes for in business as well as with people.
• Develop your skillset.. You should realize that you MUST KNOW sales, marketing, copywriting, communication skills, etc... For example when I joined I checked out the Gary halbert thread, bought every book minus the 4th edition of one because it was hard to find (still looking), read every book and completed @SinisterLex's 15 day challenge to understand and learn this skillset.
• Reprogram your mind...For many of you, you have been taught when to shit, eat, work, and sleep. Its engrained in us from the time we are born, through our schooling and in the work environment. You MUST reprogram your mind to be YOU. You dont even realize it but some of you are in a haze, a fog that is not reality. Realize that your reality is what YOU create and you have the power to create it. Like my mentor says, " life is a game and it's your game once you begin to own it".
  • TO do so I would recommend multiple things:
  • Read
  • Learn!
  • ADOPT A GROWTH MINDSET RATHER THAN A FIXED MINDSET (Read mindset on Amazon)
  • Listen to Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins, RSD self development and people like this!
  • Listen to podcasts.. lewis howes, MFCEO project, biggerpockets, art of charm, achieve your goals, smart passive income... theyre all free.
  • Get audiobooks.

You must understand this ONE thing.. Learn self awareness and how to think for yourself, if you are ever going to make progress, dont give a single F*ck about what anyone else around you thinks or is doing, focus on you, your goals, and your purpose. Which brings me to my next point...

• Meet Like Minded People Like this isnt a common trend in my whole write up... Mentors, friends, associates, sexy girls... When you realize that by offering MASSIVE VALUE people want to be around you is when your life will shift... when you can talk to a girl, mentor, or like minded friend and have them in mind while still remaining on your purpose they will align with your mission and you can both help each other.
• Write down your goals
  • Write your goals down every week
  • review them everyday
  • adjust, correct, and work on them constantly.
  • What is out of site is out of mind.
  • Get a journal to document progress, thoughts, ideas, and future goals.
• Treat this forum as a gold mine...There is so much value in this website that it blows my mind, its given me the ability to make money from an idea in my head, its given me the ability to understand why people think the way they do, its given me a way for people to pay for me to live for free... Its given me mentors, life stories, business stories, life advice, harsh advice and I am so greatful to have stumbled across a single book that started it all.
• Read The Millionaire Fastlane .. and read it again... Its all there for you .

Finally...

Go Take What is Yours. Everyone says "Take Action" F*ck that. Action is not targeted and it does not have a true why buried in its heart. One day you will realize that you will die. You will realize that the girl you let walk passed you could have been the one. You will realize that the job security you have mens NOTHING and you are as disposable to your company as my kleenex is to me. You will wake up one morning, similar to this morning but you will be old, 40 years will have passed, your dreams will have died along with your passion and love for living.

That scares me so much more than failing in any endeavor.

The only thing stopping you in your life is you and that is what this forum has awakened for me. The limits you think you have, are ones you set for yourself. Now... Im only 20, my accomplishments are meager to many of the millionaires on this forum. But the hardest part in this whole journey towards taking steps to achieving goals and producing results has been mental.

You Must Become A Man of Success Before You Should Hope To Have Any Material Form Of It.

Well... Back to work. I splurged this out so if you need clarification or have questions on anything lemme know.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

I ended up finding people who were EXACTLY what I was looking for... They were into self improvement, meditation, learning, business, travel, and game. They were older than me and their habits were astounding. I adopted them.. waking up at 5am, meditate, read, visualize, work on yourself, I launched my business, started attending real estate investment meetings, joined toastmasters etc... Catapulted my life in the right direction..

• I launched a fitness apparel line with the intention of simply learning business.. I want to know the ins and outs and I love working out and this line is finally gaining traction and we are in talks with our first store and surpassed 15k instagram followers... Sales are in the 100-500/month range
• I found a mentor through the real estate investment meetings who owns 5-6 businesses, has an 8 figure net worth, and is a fulfilled and complete man... someone I've never had the ability to be around with the crowd I was in... we hit it off and are in talks constantly... EVERYTHING HE SAYS I record with his permission. His words are gold and his advice is harsh but right on point. I cant explain the benefit of having this type of person in your life.
• I purchased my first home (a duplex) and effectively househacked it just like in @G_Alexander's thread found here: https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/stop-paying-rent-live-for-free.51893/

The significance of this is that I will never pay rent again, my mortgage payment is covered by my tenants and roomate and I get to CHOOSE who I surround myself with. My roomate also just turned 21 and will be releasing his coffee business on Amazon this summer.

• I joined a paid mastermind that I never would have done had I not learned the lesson that sometimes you MUST PAY TO LEARN... in some cases you dont but paying people who have done what you have done is a GOOD thing. Through this I am/ will be learning the ins and outs of sales, cold calling, and online biz.
  • On top of that I am in the process of closing my first sale for 1k and I havent even really gotten started yet.

• I am 5 speeches away from my competent communicator and I am already 100 times better than I ever thought I would be... If you want to speak or ever will be in the position to speak Join Toastmasters, my group is a really chill group of people 2-3 times my age but they all have a ton of experience which kills the learning curve and you progress quickly.

Amazing what can happen in one year. And you're 20? By God. Imagine where you'll be when you're 30 applying the same growth/action model. Sometimes I read these and wish I was so far advanced in the games of the mind back when I was 20.

Congrats and thank you for sharing.

 

[Envision]

I like this forum but I will say that it depends on who you follow.

There are quite a few guys who are still stuck in the Slowlane. But there are some serious ballers on here too.

Follow the right people and unfollow the rest. That's my motto.

I see what you're saying for sure and its important to vet who you are learning from to ensure that the quality of information is high so you dont get led down the wrong road and waste alot of time. Alot of people tend to do this and I do it still thinking someone is for real and learning afterwards that it would have never benefited me...

But there is always things to learn from people even if their starting out because as soon as you start learning and building in the fastlane you have lessons you've learned.

Hell yah brother! Threads like these are why I think the Fastlane Forum is one of the best resources for young minds. I'm turning 20 in a few days, am pretty much in the same boat as you were when you first turned 20. Reading Bold and Determined, Danger and Play, Think and Grow Rich and of course The Millionaire Fastlane .

There is so much more for me to learn, seams kind of overwhelming at times. They are all challenges that will make me stronger. I'm gonna use your year journey as a basic guide for my year. It's honestly badass to see a young buck like you already killin it, definitely gives me more fire.

First things first is that I need to start socializing on here a lot more and find me a mentor (All my friends are losers and no getters) so finding a higher class of man is the first thing on my list. Gonna sign up on meetup.com and definitely check out Toastmasters (you were the first person to tell me about Toastmasters, so thanks man)

Right now I am going to make a list of what I need to achieve this year. I honestly think moving out of my parents house would be beneficial on my fastlane journey. I need to sell all my useless shit. (Exotic Pet Snakes, BMW M3 that I financed, etc.) If I sold my BMW I could pay off all my debt which is just parasitic.

Anyways sorry about the long rant/reply. Thanks for posting this thread bro, definitely gonna be following your journey.
~Tristan M.

Thanks Tristan, yeah ditch the car that will destroy your progress and keep you held back through payments, maintenance, etc.

@Envision it is great to see how you did manage to make the best out of your situation, much respect! And especially how you and your thought through and targeted action is giving your dad some confidence back. Thanks a lot for sharing your path here.

Thanks man!

Awesome story man.

I can relate to you a lot, and you sound exactly like me lol.

What kind of initial investment was is to get an apparel line going? In terms of inventory and marketing?

I run an info product business and looking to get into apparel soon.

Awesome man, I would avoid clothing if I were to go back and do it all over and I have pivoted to other items to make this business a success. The magnitude and scalability of clothing is way too hard to build out and you need to have a competitive advantage if you're going to make any sort of progress. I've probably put 10-15k into it all in.

Here is my advice to myself 2 years ago and keep in mind, I never knew this, didnt understand this, and have only learned it through learning from my mentor, the threads on here, and actually doing...

Think about creating a product that can scale fast but also have a high price point. If I were to sell my current business and start another one I would think about doing something that could sell for $100-200/unit or if I couldnt have a product that would sell for that price I would ensure that I had created a product that filled a need that could sell for 10x the cost of production.

For example: Make it for $5 and sell for $50 (read below as to why)

When I sell a $20-40 shirt or piece of apparel my cost of goods sold is about ~$8/unit printed because I dont have volume (yet) but then I also need to account for packaging, card processing, shipping, labeling which might bring it up to ~$10-12/unit for example.

From there if I am going to scale a company like this and reach the volume needed to drop my COGS in half then I need to create a really strong conversion rate when acquiring a customer through a specific advertising channel (facebook, reddit, instagram, google ads, pinterest, etc).

If you're a 20 something year old kid with limited funds then you are not going to have enough money to spend to find that conversion rate because you HAVE to spend money and study how your ads are reacting to the marketplace. This is why I think everyone needs a job while creating their fastlane business because you need to spend money to learn, pivot, and grow. So it's not a viable business model because you will just blow all your money on inventory you cant sell and ads that dont convert. Now..

Say for example that you somehow are an advertising genius and you really know facebook and you can acquire a customer for $4 (20% of your retail sales cost) that clicks through to your website and will actually purchase. Then after your cost of EVERYTHING, $8 shirt + $3 misc costs + $4 ad spend you are at $15 and you sell a shirt for $20 then you just made $5 and you didnt pay yourself and we didnt account for any overhead in terms of shipping services, website costs, warehouse etc services.

Also a helpful tip, when you send traffic to an ecommerce store you generally get a shit conversion rate unless you REALLY understand your target customer and have grown a significant business with multiple products in different categories (which takes time). In turn, you will blow money on ads because you are giving the customer too much direction to go in, instead you need to create a funnel to drive traffic to a particular product with upsells on a single niche or market.

Back to what I was saying...This can't grow unless Im missing something because you dont have the volume to make it work (and in general most brands are really lame and try hard brands so they actually dont even sell because their product doesn't even fill a need).

Now understand this, if you create a $50-200 product that has a 10x selling price meaning you can make it for $5-20 you then expand your spread to spend more $ to acquire a customer and scale...

For Example:
Product Cost: $10
packaging, card processing, shipping, labeling: $10
Ad Spend to acquire a customer: $30
Total cost: $50

Selling Price: $100

Net Profit: $50

This is an example to demonstrate what I am trying to explain, you could literally spend $5 on ads and expand your net profit or your product cost might be $30 but you know you can sell it for $120... im just trying to get the point across.

You can generally scale when you are not paying yourself out of a business like this and reinvesting everything back into the business infrastructure and product expansion. And just so you know I have 0 expectation to ever pay myself until my business can do 2 things.

1. Sustain itself through its own profits
2. Grow itself through its own profits.

Once, it can sustain and grow itself, then it is a legitimate business and I would consider paying myself (but probably would keep investing into the business or pump it into more rental properties).

You can see the success of the high priced product with @Vick and his INSIDERS thread - Dont copy his product or idea just use it as a framework to learn from. @biophase and @AllenCrawley also have PHENOMENAL ecommerce advice in their threads. They are utilizing Amazon to scale as their advertising platform and as their brands have grown they create their own websites and learn and test on their own platforms to gain and maintain control removing it from Amazon's hands.

TLDR: Don't do another clothing brand - Find a need, create a high priced product that fills the need and is better than anything else in the marketplace OR has a huge competitive advantage that differentiates it and appeals to a segment of the marketplace. Outline a business model and try it. If it fails but your product is good then your model or marketing sucks and you need to pivot. If your product sucks and your model and marketing is good then you might be successful for a time being but you wont last and you need to create a better product..

Hit all the points, dont quit when you fail, and you will make it.

Hope this helps.

 

[Envision]

Ill update the thread all these years later. For those that dont know I started a real estate progress thread awhile back you can follow it here

My 26th birthday is in a couple weeks.

I did accomplish all the things I set out for in this thread at the start

I have 3 companies, my main ecommerce company is doing 7 figures and it will hit 8 figures within the next 2 years. My long term goal is to grow a 100 million dollar company out of this business.

I started acquiring companies with the firm I used to work at - the one we bought is on track to do 500+k this year in revenue. It's on track to double every year due to it's small product line.

I own roughly 9 units of rental property and Im in the process of building a 800 unit storage facility and 20k sq ft warehouse. It's not 100 units like I said at the start of the thread but the income and the passivity will be the same. Not everything turns out the way you think it will.

I haven't traveled much and obviously can't go to far with the pandemic going on. But honestly, I don't mind not traveling I love what I do. Everyday I wake up I can do whatever I want, nobody tells me what I can do, my life is a product of the thoughts I had when I read MJ's book and what I envisioned for myself.

----

It's easy to get complacent. When I was living in the trailer and hating every second of it it was easy to channel my anger into building a better life. I can see why people get comfortable when they start to see some success.

I get caught in moments of that but constantly seek discomfort and ways to achieve the next level. When I started I always had doubts about if I could do it. I don't have those thoughts anymore - I need to keep raising the bar to see how far I can go.

In the next 5 years I'll:
Edit: (10 years )

1. Build $100 million e-commerce holdings
2. Acquire and develop $100 million of real estate

This isn't something I am starting today - I've been working on this since I was 18 and I think I've created the opportunities, brands, and foundation to achieve those goals.

 

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[Envision]

Amazing content, it is really inspiring to read about such a big amount of sucess at such young age, of all the things you mention in your post the one I struggle the most with (which doesn´t mean it is the only one) is meeting like minded people.

Could you provide the steps you took in meeting people with the same ambitions as you? I would realle appreciate it, I ve been struggling with this one for some time

Thanks in advance and please keep up the good work

Thank you

Go to meetup.com and look for real estate investing and entreprenuership meet ups. Start talking about your ambitions and thinking about what you are going to be doing. Then start taking action on the things you want to achieve. You tend to meet like minded people when you start getting onto the fastlane road.

The truth is I spend most of my time alone. Currently im working on building a couple of projects out and I know what needs to be done. Some people tend to look for others to be their safety net and guide in what they're doing when in actuality it holds them back because they're seeking permission instead of giving themselves permission.

I have a handful of people that i talk to and know in person that think like me and have goals like me.
Everything else I learn and listen to in podcasts and audio books.
Other than that I spend my time alone working on what needs to be done to get me to where I want to be.

 

[Envision]

This is a great story! Keep going man! Also just on waking up early... I have tried the Miracle Morning and waking up early and I just find it kills the rest of my day. I love doing it as I get shit done but I feel shattered after wards, do you ever feel this and just ply through it?

Thanks Martin! Definitely will. I sometimes struggle with this as well and normally only get 5-7 hours of sleep each night. The biggest thing here is going to sleep early. You should build your life/schedule around your sleep. 8 hours going from 9-10 at night to 5-6 in the morning. I normally end up messing this up and going to be around midnight and trying to wake up at 6. Essentially the "Team No Sleep" Grind all night crew is wrong... to have proper brain function, recovery, and productivity you need your sleep. So figure out what works best and try going to sleep earlier than normal (force yourself)

When you deliberately go to sleep earlier than normal, you will reset your inner clock. Another big thing is telling yourself and mentally running through when you will wake up in the morning. That helps me and Ill sometimes wake up without an alarm.

Gold or future gold.

Are you funding your real estate investments with your w-2 income and clothing brand or with investors you networked with?

Thank you MMatt.

The duplex that I am living in now was an 3.5% down FHA loan and was funded through my W-2 income. I had spent around a year and half building my income, savings, and credit to the point where it was acceptable and I connected with the right people to get me this sick duplex and proper financing (at 20 years old not very many people will lend to you). My debt to income ratio is at its limit with this deal at like 49% haha so from here I am going to change my strategy. But the guy handling my loan liked my mindset, we talked about the miracle morning together, and we connected well so I think he was willing to help me more.

I am building a real estate investment website that I intend to generate leads through social media and direct mail. By calling and screening the leads I should be able to find good deals that investors would want to partner with me on or that owners would seller finance to me. That is the path I intend to go down to continue growing.

All the money that is in the clothing brand gets rolled over into more clothing. I dont want to add in or take out any more money. Ill just hustle it till it grows to the point where it would be acceptable to take funds from it.

 

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[Envision]

Figured I'd update this thread since it's been a while.

The equity within my real estate investments/accounts and the value of my business makes me a millionaire at 24.

Never had a handout. Never sold a bs course. Never sold something I wasnt proud of. Bootstrapped it all.

Thank you @MJ DeMarco and for everything.

@Vigilante you called it.

 

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[Envision]

This is definitely my biggest struggle, as I thrive and am happiest around people. My natural instinct is to always be hanging out with someone, whether it is my girlfriends, business friends, or skyping friends from back home.

Respect for being able to isolate and get down to work.

Dude its my biggest struggle too and I dont think it gets any easier. I was reading about it in Seth Godin's book Linchpin today in fact. He talks about how the "lizard brain" (the oldest part of your brain) will create scenarios, situations, doubts, and beliefs to hold you back because it is most comfortable when it is safe. I think the true definition of an action taker is someone who acknowledges the risk and does it anyway and this goes for isolating yourself as well to get shit done. Even though your friends will probably be having a great time partying, hookin up etc and your brain will create this feeling inside of you to make you feel like a loser and you're never going anywhere.

But here's the funny thing, Im spend most of my time choosing my surroundings and when i do, I hang around millionaires or those on that path that are 10-30 years older than me and they acknowledge that by sacrificing their earlier years it really set them up and their friends that didnt really set themselves back.

Gary Vaynerchuk talks about this alot and so does MJ in his book when he discusses sacrificing your time in the beginning to create a fastlane business.

Here's the hardest part, it will take years of feeling like that. But it will pay off and it's starting to for me and Im sure it will for you too if you follow through and dont give up.

 

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[Envision]

Great thread.
Hey your missing an earner here,think you should make this into a motivational book.
I only joined recently and have advised many to read 'The Millionaire FASTLANE .
It is the most inspiring read ever and tells it as it is(NO BULL)
I too am looking at developing bodybuilding apparel,but looking for the right manufacturer.
Good luck to you and I am sure you are well on to your first MILLION!

Thank you!

Ahhh, I am jealous of your drive. Every business I started has gone down hill because I simply just wasn't dedicated, I did not work hard enough, I did not improve, I just wanted to take shortcuts to get to the $ - my brain is still naturally set like this and it drives me insane. I don't have anything to motivate me (no bills, very secure financially already due to being young). But I feel this constant anxiety / pressure which stops me from working, but can only really be defeated by working. So it's kinda like trying to put out a fire with kleenex tissues, but if you don't grind hard enough, and put a lot in, it all just seems to ignite on fire and I have to have my 'cooling down' period. I seem to be cooling down 60% of the hours I am awake, some weeks it's up to 80% with the rest of the percentage being working.


Writing this, reflecting on myself has burnt a fire or anger within me, so I am off to cool off now. (See the pattern)

You can do it man, messing up and failing is just part of the process.

Not sure how this escaped a tag, but upon further review I think it deserves much more than just "Notable". Great story how just a few years and disciplined, focused actions can set a positive trajectory in motion.

And now you are speaking at the FL Summit in front of 100+ people. Strong work.

Thank you Mj!

@Envision, what a powerful post! Thanks for sharing.



I love quotes like this, ones that change my perspective about something. This quote is fantastic.

Do you meet with your mentor regularly, or just talk when you need to discuss ideas or get help?

It's been awhile and looking back on this thread its so crazy to see how things change. I can see the differences in my mindset and my life.

I work for my mentor today, I manage his gyms and assist with his real estate business wherever he needs me to. He had a start up he had been working on and after helping him for free on that for a few months he offered me ownership to quit my job and help him build it. So I dont work at my job anymore and at this point I see him everyday at work or working on our stuff.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Not sure how this escaped a tag, but upon further review I think it deserves much more than just "Notable". Great story how just a few years and disciplined, focused actions can set a positive trajectory in motion.

And now you are speaking at the FL Summit in front of 100+ people. Strong work.

 

[Envision]

Very inspiring post man!

I am in a bad time right now - having a hard time being productive and getting back on track.

This post is just what I needed.

It's funny how a simple message from a computer screen can turn one's life around.

Many many thanks. If you need anything about building a site, landing pages, or even outsourcing, hit me up!

Looking forward to your progress man.

I was thinking about this the other day. I dont know any of you personally in this thread or on this forum but many members have completely changed my mindset, formed my actions, and shown me what is possible. It blows my mind how humans are becoming interconnected through the internet. Who knows what the future will bring.

 

[Envision]

wow...I just read it,,so inspiring @Envision what the next step?

Thanks!

So I've worked at my job for four years under my mentor and I've been hesitant to leave because I really like everyone here and it's a good job. But I came to the decision that with my businesses growth I need to leave and focus on that. So i'll be leaving in the next 3 months but rather than leaving cold, the owners of the investment firm want to partner with me on e-commerce businesses where I'll get a large equity stake in the business to run it and they will fund it. So I'm building out a brand right now and focusing on that and ideally launching that before I transition out.

yep this is the stage I feel like I'm stuck at... knowing just enough to stay interested, and wanting to know more... I'm constantly evaluating my actions to make sure I'm not action faking... not easy at first

Keep pushing through, it all sucks but it's cause you don't know what you don't know. I would consume as much information as possible and try things and stick with them for a long period of time. For example...

I got a job to cover my living expenses and gave me money to try things then I:
-started e commerce ideas
-househacked
-launched niche sites
-got into sales
-started messing with ppc

Now I have:
- two soon to be three brands in the 6/7 figure range
- a portfolio of passive niche sites
- multiple income properties
- an ad agency specializing with amazon ppc

Looking back that would never have been possible without the job to fund it, and I focused on one at a time to build each and I leveraged each to continue compounding growth. IE:

- No living expenses from househacking? Invest the 1k/mo saved into business
- Killing it on Amazon? Launch ad agency to help clients and create more passive income
- Built one brand successfully in a space? Launch another in seperate space to diversify..

Once I found how I could make money with my current business I built systems and processes to repeat that over and over enabling me to build what I have going on. You're only action faking if you're doing things that dont truly move the needle forward. All the actions above felt like action faking because they dont make money up front. But looking back it laid the foundation for what exists today.

 

[Envision]

Update:

Got a second duplex under contract and should close at the end of July.

Purchase price $265k its a 3/2 on both sides with rents that should come to $1200. It allows me to live for free and with the current market Im in its as good as deals get around here. The duplex I bought when I was 20 for $157k is now worth $240k for reference.

Co-founded a new company with my roommate selling computer hardware in the cryptocurrency space. Had our first sale yesterday for $4500.

My original business is doing well and growing despite being in the slow season.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

In case some folks missed the update on @Envision -- this Fastlaner went from a shitty trailer to a 6-car mega-mansion, all in less than 10 years. Certainly beats saving 10% of your paycheck for 50 years and hoping the S&P500 yields 8%.

GOLD! - EXECUTION - Building a billion dollar enterprise

who pretty much ruined 90% of the warehouse staff. So they've all quit or ive fired them (about 10 total) now the team is awesome. I didnt realize how toxic the group had gotten. That sounds pretty crazy. They just started getting lazy, or were they actively working against the business goals?

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

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[Envision]

Im turning this into a progress thread

Refinanced my duplex - the hunt for #2 begins (gonna need more $).

Clothing Brand is growing rapidly.

Going to see Gary V in September.

 

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[Valier]

@Envision Just wanted to say thank you so much for this post.

I remember printing out the first post you made on this thread and reading it like a bible when I was working as a customer service assistant, and at a call centre, then later as an estate agent.

Every time I was on my lunch breaks I would pull out the paper and read it over and over as I sat in the locker room eating just a piece of fruit. It constantly reminded me of what I was doing, and why I was doing it.

Having joined this forum at 17/18, your story hugely resonated and inspired me.

And now, just a little over a year after being on this forum and starting up my YouTube business, I've made more money in the last month than I have in my entire life... a feeling that is so indescribable, but that I'm sure you'd understand.

I said to myself, whilst in that locker room, that once I'd done something with myself, I was going to go back to this thread and give you a huge thank you.

So, consider this that "thank you".

Much love to you, friend .

Envision is absoloutely right. This forum and MJ's books have the power to completely change your life, as long as you take calculated action on that knoweldge.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

@MJ DeMarco , what do you think: what had been, if you could have read your book back at being 18?
You had the power to start earlier?

Interesting question...

I think I would have spared myself a lot of heartache and been able to accomplish my goals by my mid/late-twenties instead of mid-thirties. It's part of the big reason why I write --- because my books are exactly what I needed when I was 20 and had no mentors, no guidance, and no clue.

 

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[Envision]

Goal update:

• I am still working a W2, I would like to replace my work income within the next year.
• Travel the world
• Millionaire by 25.
• Own 100 units of of real estate that cash flow by 25.
• Have my business make 10k/month in sales (@@Vick's thread was super motivating and pretty epic to read)

Going to need to revise my goal of 100 units of real estate that cash flow by 25. I think its possible by 30 but in my market the housing prices are insane. Refinanced my current duplex and im looking to buy another in ~March.

Still going to keep working at my job, the owners are awesome to work for, they're helpful with my business, and It doesnt infringe on my business. And it allows me to dump money into my business to grow faster.

Just working on scaling my business for the next 6-12 months to create the cash to buy real estate.

 

[Fatal Jay]

This is an inspiring thread, I basically have narrow down the internet to my future of success and no more wasting time surfing the net, success from not worrying about bills but living a life where I can pretty much do what I want in a humble way. If I want to one day out the blue fly to Paris on a private jet then I will work hard to one day be in that spot in my life.

You guys are all like minded like this on this site and I am glad I have stumbled upon it. In a year time I will post my amazing progress story. Cheers to the original starter of this thread

 

[fastattack03]

Very inspiring post man!

I am in a bad time right now - having a hard time being productive and getting back on track.

This post is just what I needed.

It's funny how a simple message from a computer screen can turn one's life around.

Many many thanks. If you need anything about building a site, landing pages, or even outsourcing, hit me up!

Looking forward to your progress man.

 

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[Will Hodge]

I joined this forum one year ago, I got the alert today and I had to sit back and look at what I've done and what I havent done.

Im prepared to completely dominate the rest of the years that were gifted to me.

I joined at 19 years old. In fact, I turn 21 in 13 days. To be honest, I literally had nothing going for me back then. I have always been driven and passionate through my competitive lifting and sport background but I graduated high school and seemed to venture aimlessly in multiple directions.

My dad lost his job, my parents got divorced, my dad lost his purpose and remains unemployed today and we went from living in a 3000 square foot house to a 800 square foot mobile home. I went from having a college education paid for and given to me to having nothing given to me and having to fend for myself.

I hated every F*ckin minute of living in that shit hole mobile home. My room fit a small bed and I put two huge white boards on the wall. I would write my goals down of the things I would accomplish and every morning I would get up and go.

I joined this forum with nothing but an open willingness to learn, a burning ambition, and a work ethic.

I would say the first 4-6 months was pure horse shit and figuring out how things work with some mental masturbation and action faking. I would toss ideas around, read, and read, and read through peoples threads, through the inside posts, through bold and determined and danger and play as well... But something started to shift back in October...

I needed to find better people to surround myself with. I would literally smoke or go to some shitty party every weekend. But I would dream.. I would dream so much about my future of wealth and freedom. But my actions didnt line up with my dreams and goals.

I ended up finding people who were EXACTLY what I was looking for... They were into self improvement, meditation, learning, business, travel, and game. They were older than me and their habits were astounding. I adopted them.. waking up at 5am, meditate, read, visualize, work on yourself, I launched my business, started attending real estate investment meetings, joined toastmasters etc... Catapulted my life in the right direction..

• I launched a fitness apparel line with the intention of simply learning business.. I want to know the ins and outs and I love working out and this line is finally gaining traction and we are in talks with our first store and surpassed 15k instagram followers... Sales are in the 100-500/month range
• I found a mentor through the real estate investment meetings who owns 5-6 businesses, has an 8 figure net worth, and is a fulfilled and complete man... someone I've never had the ability to be around with the crowd I was in... we hit it off and are in talks constantly... EVERYTHING HE SAYS I record with his permission. His words are gold and his advice is harsh but right on point. I cant explain the benefit of having this type of person in your life.
• I purchased my first home (a duplex) and effectively househacked it just like in @G_Alexander's thread found here: https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/stop-paying-rent-live-for-free.51893/

The significance of this is that I will never pay rent again, my mortgage payment is covered by my tenants and roomate and I get to CHOOSE who I surround myself with. My roomate also just turned 21 and will be releasing his coffee business on Amazon this summer.

• I joined a paid mastermind that I never would have done had I not learned the lesson that sometimes you MUST PAY TO LEARN... in some cases you dont but paying people who have done what you have done is a GOOD thing. Through this I am/ will be learning the ins and outs of sales, cold calling, and online biz.
  • On top of that I am in the process of closing my first sale for 1k and I havent even really gotten started yet.

• I am 5 speeches away from my competent communicator and I am already 100 times better than I ever thought I would be... If you want to speak or ever will be in the position to speak Join Toastmasters, my group is a really chill group of people 2-3 times my age but they all have a ton of experience which kills the learning curve and you progress quickly.

My Goals:

I havent really spoken of my goals at all on this forum and I generally dont but here are a few that I would like to accomplish within the next 1-10 years:

• I am still working a W2, I would like to replace my work income within the next year.
• Travel the world
• Millionaire by 25.
• Own 100 units of of real estate that cash flow by 25.
• Have my business make 10k/month in sales (@Vick's thread was super motivating and pretty epic to read)

Action Items:

If your stuck doin nothing here is some shit I would do...

• Change your mindset.. I have to thank @AndrewNC for this... his thread on the inside is worth the subscription because he twists your mind in ways you never viewed. He kills the lies you tell yourself right in front of your face leaving you with your own failures to stare back at you. Once you've realized your faults you are able to change them.
• OFFER VALUE. I am so thankful to @MJ DeMarco for instilling his books values into my mind. When I mentioned offering value to my mentor I think he was taken aback by my approach. I offered to help him with ANYTHING and the second time we spoke he made contact with me to see how I was doing... I need to hit him up here soon This goes for in business as well as with people.
• Develop your skillset.. You should realize that you MUST KNOW sales, marketing, copywriting, communication skills, etc... For example when I joined I checked out the Gary halbert thread, bought every book minus the 4th edition of one because it was hard to find (still looking), read every book and completed @SinisterLex's 15 day challenge to understand and learn this skillset.
• Reprogram your mind...For many of you, you have been taught when to shit, eat, work, and sleep. Its engrained in us from the time we are born, through our schooling and in the work environment. You MUST reprogram your mind to be YOU. You dont even realize it but some of you are in a haze, a fog that is not reality. Realize that your reality is what YOU create and you have the power to create it. Like my mentor says, " life is a game and it's your game once you begin to own it".
  • TO do so I would recommend multiple things:
  • Read
  • Learn!
  • ADOPT A GROWTH MINDSET RATHER THAN A FIXED MINDSET (Read mindset on Amazon)
  • Listen to Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins, RSD self development and people like this!
  • Listen to podcasts.. lewis howes, MFCEO project, biggerpockets, art of charm, achieve your goals, smart passive income... theyre all free.
  • Get audiobooks.

You must understand this ONE thing.. Learn self awareness and how to think for yourself, if you are ever going to make progress, dont give a single F*ck about what anyone else around you thinks or is doing, focus on you, your goals, and your purpose. Which brings me to my next point...

• Meet Like Minded People Like this isnt a common trend in my whole write up... Mentors, friends, associates, sexy girls... When you realize that by offering MASSIVE VALUE people want to be around you is when your life will shift... when you can talk to a girl, mentor, or like minded friend and have them in mind while still remaining on your purpose they will align with your mission and you can both help each other.
• Write down your goals
  • Write your goals down every week
  • review them everyday
  • adjust, correct, and work on them constantly.
  • What is out of site is out of mind.
  • Get a journal to document progress, thoughts, ideas, and future goals.
• Treat this forum as a gold mine...There is so much value in this website that it blows my mind, its given me the ability to make money from an idea in my head, its given me the ability to understand why people think the way they do, its given me a way for people to pay for me to live for free... Its given me mentors, life stories, business stories, life advice, harsh advice and I am so greatful to have stumbled across a single book that started it all.
• Read The Millionaire Fastlane .. and read it again... Its all there for you .

Finally...

Go Take What is Yours. Everyone says "Take Action" F*ck that. Action is not targeted and it does not have a true why buried in its heart. One day you will realize that you will die. You will realize that the girl you let walk passed you could have been the one. You will realize that the job security you have mens NOTHING and you are as disposable to your company as my kleenex is to me. You will wake up one morning, similar to this morning but you will be old, 40 years will have passed, your dreams will have died along with your passion and love for living.

That scares me so much more than failing in any endeavor.

The only thing stopping you in your life is you and that is what this forum has awakened for me. The limits you think you have, are ones you set for yourself. Now... Im only 20, my accomplishments are meager to many of the millionaires on this forum. But the hardest part in this whole journey towards taking steps to achieving goals and producing results has been mental.

Well... Back to work. I splurged this out so if you need clarification or have questions on anything lemme know.

As a 22 year old, I completely respect everything that you have done and are doing. I was nowhere near brave enough to do the things you have done. Great story, and can't wait to see where things take you!

 

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[Martinv678]

This is a great story! Keep going man! Also just on waking up early... I have tried the Miracle Morning and waking up early and I just find it kills the rest of my day. I love doing it as I get shit done but I feel shattered after wards, do you ever feel this and just ply through it?

 

[Chitown]

@Envision,

Great story! I agree with MJ...this type of mindset at 20 years of age? Incredible. All the best with everything you do.

 

[Envision]

Crazy to imagine someone at your age doing what you are doing, wow.
I'm only 23, and you're making me feel like I've just been wasting my life bro
Good on you, keep it up!

But as someone working at a bank, it's highly unlikely that you will be able to refinance your own loan. Pretty much anything that you do at a bank for yourself has to be done by someone else, so keep that in mind.

Solid plan otherwise!

Crazy how stuff seems to change as each month goes by..

I didnt go with the loan officer job. The company i work for promoted me and doubled my income due to the position I am in. Which really works great in terms of getting another property when it comes to my personal finances. I am in the process of seeing if I can refinance my 3.5% down loan into a 20% conventional due to the appreciation now that my income has changed. If I can pull that off then I am going to actually look to build in my market, its exploding right now and Ive been looking at parcels of land, there is .38 acres that I think I could fit a 4plex on in a really appealing area. The cost is the same as buying I just need to see if I can line all of this up and get it approved.

My shipments from China all made it. Been packing it and working with Amazon to get it all onboard. Should have more news next month.

I have also been building another website in a niche I really like and have fun in and so far netted $7.00 through affiliate/adsense. Its just a fun side project, but I think i can build a business around it and incorporate physical products and advertising in the future. Not something I spend a lot of time on though.

You sound a lot wiser than any people that I know who were a lot older than you, that get stuck in slowlane waiting for miracle to happen to their life and wealth. I think you must be grateful that you got stuck in that mobile house in the very first place. Imagine if everything going well and everything come easy for you, you might not become the person you were today.

Difficulty, poverty, problems and pain is sometimes a positive things, it does make someone from nothing into somebody. That's what differentiate winner from the loser. You swim your head towards the surface when you were drowning while losers will plunge even deeper.

Thanks for the great post and motivate me to remember that hardship, pressure and stress indeed turn someone into a diamond.

Thank you, yeah I was actually talking to my dad about that yesterday. I told him I was glad he lost his job because I had it so easy before and when all that shit was going down I clicked into another mindset.. a fastlane mindset because I really saw what the slowlane got you when things get ugly. I think he's clicking into it now too along with everyone else around me because I keep noticing people that really took an interest in what I was doing now starting their own fastlane projects of sorts.

My dad got into REI as well and just closed 3 seller financed homes and he's really diving into it, its pretty cool to see.

 

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[Envision]

Getting my loan refinanced at 20% its going through underwriting so hopefully everything comes out okay. Crazy how much equity was gained in less than 2 years. Ill have to live in it for another year but that will give me time to save for the next one and free up the FHA loan for reusage.

And for people wondering if real estate is fastlane - the property gained 40k in appreciation in a year and a half with me putting down 6.5k. Its not liquid and you should never buy solely on appreciation - but it goes to show when put to scale there is a lot of opportunity.

 

[Envision]

Thanks for the clarification, never really had an understanding of how things work in ecommerce since I've been neck deep in the digital world.

The great thing about information products which I sell is that there's 100% net profit minus adverticing costs.

My current core offer is $197, and I definitely need to figure out something higher price point to upsell to the existing customers.

About the clothing..

What about Gymshark, live fit, and body engineers? Those are all apparel companies that are killing it right now. It can't be impossible to grow it? I know that the founders of bodyengineers and live fit started being quite broke.

-V

If you can scale that info product that is ideal, i am working on something similar - i like the idea of having no physical product and having an ebook or course to sell.

All of those companies utilized influencer marketing on instagram and facebook. Gymshark used christian guzman, jeff seid, alon gabbay and other athletes to explode as the fitness and aesthetics movement blew up about 4 years ago.

Body engineers is similar - Tavi Castro used himself his friends (lazar angelov, Sadik etc with 1M + followers to explode a brand) keep in mind their both based in the UK.

Live Fit hit a unique segment of the market mixing fitness and lifestyle. If you really look at it, its a carbon copy of RVCA with fitness mixed in. Randall Pich had worked intimately with building brands for years before building LVFT.

This comes back to the competitive advantage i mentioned in the first paragraph. Im not saying you cant do it but for each of those brands there is a thousand shitty brands copying and following what their doing. Find your own gig and competitive advantage.

Dont do it to be a part of it, do it to take over.

 

[Envision]

Congratulations, as a 19 year old it's great to hear that you started from where I am and have found success. Best of luck in your future endeavours! If you have the chance to share more it would be great to hear how things go in the next few months and whether you stick with clothing and real estate or decide to tackle other markets.

Ill update it for sure

I spent time with @Boom last month after meeting him at the summit and pulled a lot from our time together - probably one of the best things Ive ever done in my life.

I went all in on the clothing but also changed the direction of the brand as well and stopped dabbling thanks to @LightHouse. My first order from china should be here in two weeks and I will launch that on Amazon, my site, and the 3 stores that are carrying my brand.

Also should be getting a job as a loan officer to learn the process and they pay commission based on the loans you close. So with that cash influx ill be able to buy my second property in 6-8 months and ideally ill actually be able to refinance my own loan if that's allowed so I can free up the FHA loan to use on another property.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

My 26th birthday is in a couple weeks.

I did accomplish all the things I set out for in this thread at the start

I have 3 companies, my main ecommerce company is doing 7 figures and it will hit 8 figures within the next 2 years. My long term goal is to grow a 100 million dollar company out of this business.

I can't imagine what your next ten years would look like.

At 26 I had $900 bucks in my bank account, a massive negative net worth, and was just starting to figure things out. I feel grossly inadequate.

 

[heavy_industry]

The reason why I didn't get a girlfriend was because I thought I'm too busy to improve myself.

This is one of the most dangerous bits of advice that's casually being promoted by some self-help gurus.

The reason why they encourage you to ditch your friends, family, and social life, and instead focus on "working on yourself" (lol), is because being socially isolated makes you more vulnerable and increases the likelihood of you buying their course to "change your life".

You don't need to have hundreds of friends and party every night, and you certainly don't need a bunch of idiots trying to pull you back into the crab bucket.

But genuine, high-quality relationships are not something to be discarded. Because without love and human connection we get sick and die - very quickly.

 

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[Envision]

This is an inspiring thread, I basically have narrow down the internet to my future of success and no more wasting time surfing the net, success from not worrying about bills but living a life where I can pretty much do what I want in a humble way. If I want to one day out the blue fly to Paris on a private jet then I will work hard to one day be in that spot in my life.

You guys are all like minded like this on this site and I am glad I have stumbled upon it. In a year time I will post my amazing progress story. Cheers to the original starter of this thread

You can do it man, just have to dedicate your life to it. Thanks and good luck!

Amazing what can happen in one year. And you're 20? By God. Imagine where you'll be when you're 30 applying the same growth/action model. Sometimes I read these and wish I was so far advanced in the games of the mind back when I was 20.

Congrats and thank you for sharing.

It really is, I think about that a lot and I am so grateful for you and your book and this forum. I have no idea where I would be without the mind shifts that the teachings of the fastlane instilled on me. I hope I get to meet you one day.

As a 22 year old, I completely respect everything that you have done and are doing. I was nowhere near brave enough to do the things you have done. Great story, and can't wait to see where things take you!

Thank you!