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Lots of new faces here since I was active. What's your why?

GPM

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Thank you so much for starting this thread @Runum. I have really enjoyed reading what makes everyone strive to be their best. If anything knowing how great everyone is and how amazing their motives are, it really pushes me to up my game.

The more we all succeed the more the planet and everyone around us succeeds. This beautiful world will be even more beautiful with a community like this doing as well as we can all possibly be doing. Like Dave mentioned, it is not just the size of our bank accounts, but how we influence those around us for the better.
 
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ExaltedLife

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Freedom. Also to outfit a sweet lab/workshop where I can play and make dope shit.

Also to eat whatever I want whenever I want. Yes, I'll have 3 lbs of scallops for lunch please, and if you look at me like that again you're fired. Just kidding, here's $100.

AND MORE!
 
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Pavel Kas

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I am happy for you, OP! Great to see people achieve results.

My WHY


I have been trying to walk the Slowlane for a long time, and have been quite successful at it. I had all the talent, but little discipline. Also, my family by the standards of my home country was relatively well-off, so I have never had any external pressure to excel except for my parents' expectations. The Asian trap of sorts.

However I have always been rebellious and around high-school and freshman Uni years concerned myself much more with drinking and sex than anything else. The problem is, despite all hangovers and poor discipline my academic performance was stunning, always on top of class and praised by profs, etc.

In retrospect, this was awful. Because of natural talent I felt no pressure to do something about my life, because I have always had a ready excuse: I am smart, I got results, I am popular with ladies, parents are proud and so on.

But I felt deeply unsatisfied nonetheless. I have been writing fiction and essays since early teens, and as I studied psychology more, I became deeply interested in it.

Now I understand what the problem was: I had no F*ck This All moment. And MJ has rightly noticed, that w/o the FTA moment nothing happens.

Then I had it.

My WHY is to create a private school in my home country where youngsters will be able to get education that I create, together with other professionals. A kind of REAL education, not the SCRIPT.

Now I have a blog and am writing a book, in parallel exploring some other things, creating a money system.

I am unbelievably grateful to MJ for both of his books. He is right: you need to impact lives, that is the purpose of the whole thing.

Thank you to all the Fastlane forum people.
 

MJ DeMarco

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I love this question because I take great pride in the fact that I am sitting here answering it.

My why is no small thing.

My whole life I haven't ever had the privilege or luxury of being in a position where I could worry about helping anyone but myself. I've been trying to survive the whole time and I got sick of it. I got sick of it some time back, but now I am ready to do something about it.

To best explain it I have to share a bit of my life story, so bare with me.

I was born to an alcoholic father, a damaged man who only acts out of self interest. My mother who mostly raised my sister and I, has battled with depression this whole time, resulting in days at a time where she couldn't get out of bed while my sister and I went to school hungry.

Just as I had reached high school at the age of 12, my Mum got a new partner. A couple of years later we all moved in together in a nearby neighborhood. This stabilized life for some time, enough for me to get through High School.

The year I completed high school my sister was molested by the very man who took us in. The night it happened we ran through the street in our pajamas to my girlfriend's house at the time for help. When we arrived her father answered the door to let us in and we called the police from there. As a result of all that, my Mum took my sister and moved town, leaving me at 17 to start looking after myself.

After this event, it gave my girlfriend the courage to confide in me that her father (the one who had answered the door that night) had molested her and her sister when they were much younger. I then supported her through that situation which really took its toll.

Finally, 4 years later, at 21 years old it was all wrapped up and I could start to get on with my life. I got an apprenticeship as an electrician and begun working. I had been bricklaying and concreting while everything else was unfolding, but now I was going to get a qualification. Unfortunately, all of the repressed issues from my life leading up to that point were beginning to catch up with me because I finally had time to catch my breath.

I ended up splitting up with my girlfriend and living out of my car while going to work. I would pretend to everyone that I was doing fine and all was well. At work I would tell my bosses I had to buy my lunch, so I would drive around the corner and sit there for half an hour before coming back because I had no money. I spent it all on petrol and drinking on the weekend to run from my issues.

One day I decided I would actually go and get something to eat for lunch. McDonald's was running a promotion at the time. A double beef and cheese was only $1. So I went to the car park and got out, opened the doors and started rummaging through all the rubbish to try find a dollar. It was a couple of 20 cent pieces and the rest were 5 and 10 cent coins. It came to 95 cents.

Now I knew dam well that I could bullshit my way out of that last 5 cents to the checkout worker, but that 5 cents was a tipping point. It was the straw that broke the camels back. I broke down. I couldn't move. It felt as if I was being punished by god for merely existing for 22 years and I couldn't take it anymore.

After a bit, I pulled myself together and I decided to go back to work hungry and use that as motivation to do something about it.

Unfortunately, my mental vulnerability mixed with a willing to do whatever it took to start thriving rather than constantly just trying to survive culminated in me making a poor choice. I went down the path of crime. I started selling ecstasy.

Becoming an ecstasy dealer ticked a lot of boxes for me at the time. Before that, I was a nobody and a nothing that lacked everything apart from insecurity. Being a dealer gave me validation from girls that previously wouldn't have noticed me. All of a sudden there were guys lining up to shake my hand and buy me a drink. I didn't have to worry about lines to get into clubs or how much money I had. I felt like a king.

This went on for a few years, but as it always goes with the going up, there is always the coming down.

Little did I know that I had become the focus point of an undercover operation over a period of 5 months. I was charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity of MDMA and ended up getting a sentence of 4 years and 6 months with a minimum to serve of 2 years and 9 months before I was eligible for parole.

On December 13th last year I completed that 2 years and 9 months which is 1,002 days. In that time I read a fair few books, 2 of which were millionaire fastlane and Unscripted . Another very notable book that helped me change my way of thinking was "Man's Search for Meaning" by Dr. Viktor Frankl. The best lesson learnt from that book was the power of taking responsibility of your actions and concentrating on what you can do rather than trying to influence external factors.

I used that 1,002 days to instill good habits and beliefs in myself that have sent me on a trajectory i never would have had the chance of heading on had I not ended up where I was. It really was the best thing that happened to me.

I am now signed up to mentor other prisoners who are reintegrating back into the community and looking to start public speaking to share my story and hopefully help others learn from my mistakes.

I am still only 28 and I am moving into the world of business now, which is incredibly exciting for me.

It feels great to get all this out, but I guess I need to be able to summarize my why in the future, so here it goes:

My why is to empower myself with the resources and ability to give others the wisdom and resources to be able to act in the best interest of themselves and their community as a whole.

Wish me luck! (but between you and I, I'm going to make my own!)

Wow, that's some first post. Welcome to the forum my friend.
 
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I love this question because I take great pride in the fact that I am sitting here answering it.

My why is no small thing.

My whole life I haven't ever had the privilege or luxury of being in a position where I could worry about helping anyone but myself. I've been trying to survive the whole time and I got sick of it. I got sick of it some time back, but now I am ready to do something about it.

To best explain it I have to share a bit of my life story, so bare with me.

I was born to an alcoholic father, a damaged man who only acts out of self interest. My mother who mostly raised my sister and I, has battled with depression this whole time, resulting in days at a time where she couldn't get out of bed while my sister and I went to school hungry.

Just as I had reached high school at the age of 12, my Mum got a new partner. A couple of years later we all moved in together in a nearby neighborhood. This stabilized life for some time, enough for me to get through High School.

The year I completed high school my sister was molested by the very man who took us in. The night it happened we ran through the street in our pajamas to my girlfriend's house at the time for help. When we arrived her father answered the door to let us in and we called the police from there. As a result of all that, my Mum took my sister and moved town, leaving me at 17 to start looking after myself.

After this event, it gave my girlfriend the courage to confide in me that her father (the one who had answered the door that night) had molested her and her sister when they were much younger. I then supported her through that situation which really took its toll.

Finally, 4 years later, at 21 years old it was all wrapped up and I could start to get on with my life. I got an apprenticeship as an electrician and begun working. I had been bricklaying and concreting while everything else was unfolding, but now I was going to get a qualification. Unfortunately, all of the repressed issues from my life leading up to that point were beginning to catch up with me because I finally had time to catch my breath.

I ended up splitting up with my girlfriend and living out of my car while going to work. I would pretend to everyone that I was doing fine and all was well. At work I would tell my bosses I had to buy my lunch, so I would drive around the corner and sit there for half an hour before coming back because I had no money. I spent it all on petrol and drinking on the weekend to run from my issues.

One day I decided I would actually go and get something to eat for lunch. McDonald's was running a promotion at the time. A double beef and cheese was only $1. So I went to the car park and got out, opened the doors and started rummaging through all the rubbish to try find a dollar. It was a couple of 20 cent pieces and the rest were 5 and 10 cent coins. It came to 95 cents.

Now I knew dam well that I could bullshit my way out of that last 5 cents to the checkout worker, but that 5 cents was a tipping point. It was the straw that broke the camels back. I broke down. I couldn't move. It felt as if I was being punished by god for merely existing for 22 years and I couldn't take it anymore.

After a bit, I pulled myself together and I decided to go back to work hungry and use that as motivation to do something about it.

Unfortunately, my mental vulnerability mixed with a willing to do whatever it took to start thriving rather than constantly just trying to survive culminated in me making a poor choice. I went down the path of crime. I started selling ecstasy.

Becoming an ecstasy dealer ticked a lot of boxes for me at the time. Before that, I was a nobody and a nothing that lacked everything apart from insecurity. Being a dealer gave me validation from girls that previously wouldn't have noticed me. All of a sudden there were guys lining up to shake my hand and buy me a drink. I didn't have to worry about lines to get into clubs or how much money I had. I felt like a king.

This went on for a few years, but as it always goes with the going up, there is always the coming down.

Little did I know that I had become the focus point of an undercover operation over a period of 5 months. I was charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity of MDMA and ended up getting a sentence of 4 years and 6 months with a minimum to serve of 2 years and 9 months before I was eligible for parole.

On December 13th last year I completed that 2 years and 9 months which is 1,002 days. In that time I read a fair few books, 2 of which were millionaire fastlane and Unscripted . Another very notable book that helped me change my way of thinking was "Man's Search for Meaning" by Dr. Viktor Frankl. The best lesson learnt from that book was the power of taking responsibility of your actions and concentrating on what you can do rather than trying to influence external factors.

I used that 1,002 days to instill good habits and beliefs in myself that have sent me on a trajectory i never would have had the chance of heading on had I not ended up where I was. It really was the best thing that happened to me.

I am now signed up to mentor other prisoners who are reintegrating back into the community and looking to start public speaking to share my story and hopefully help others learn from my mistakes.

I am still only 28 and I am moving into the world of business now, which is incredibly exciting for me.

It feels great to get all this out, but I guess I need to be able to summarize my why in the future, so here it goes:

My why is to empower myself with the resources and ability to give others the wisdom and resources to be able to act in the best interest of themselves and their community as a whole.

Wish me luck! (but between you and I, I'm going to make my own!)
What MJ said. I suspect you won’t need any luck. It’s an amazing thing to watch when someone’s why is bigger than themselves...
 

Andy Black

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I was the giddy kid who had just conquered the hardest course program his school offered and gallivated into what was described to me as a "completely open and beautiful, rewarding field" of opportunity.
Barely 2 months into my first Job (Critical IT infrastructure), working 12 hour days where the boss would get testy if you tried to take your (federally alotted) 15 minute breaks and dealing with bureaucratic stops and lurches that would make a soviet party-member weep with joy; I realized that the script was complete bullshit and that someone was trying to make me a the stop-gap cog in their machine, that they wanted me to sit at a desk, sacrificing days of my life to carry their failures like atlas himself until I was old and decrepit and ready to keel over and die.
At that point I started listening to the Tim Ferris podcast and poking around with Chris Guillebeau and Seth Godin books because I knew I could do something that will provide value to others the way I did at a job but be infinitely more rewarding and impactful.

I had my FTE when they tried to put me on night shift (still 12s, this due to the night shift staff having nervous breakdowns and quitting, a frequent occurrence) while I was going to a night school program out of pocket, and promptly left.

I took two months for myself to complete school and poke around with PoD merch (didn't pan out), and took a smoother, less-demanding position elsewhere that has a better mission I can toil under for the time being.
I'm currently playing around with a lot of ideas (like most wanterpreneurs) but I'm getting ready to take the leap, and I think I'd be perfectly willing to quite this job to do that.
Oh boy. I supported mission critical IT infrastructure for 15 years. I can’t say I miss the pager going off.
 

MTF

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This might sound like I'm lazy and perhaps I am, but the main current reason (the past one was different) why I can't imagine any other lifestyle than Fastlane is because I love to have an open schedule.

I absolutely abhor when my day is filled with activities. I hate running from one place to another or attending one task after another. One of the worst types of stress for me is the stress of being in a hurry.

I absolutely love that I can live more slowly than the average Joe. I'm yet to learn how to truly slow down and savor every moment, but I'm slowly (ha, see what I did there!) getting closer to it.

The most beautiful thing about it is that when you learn how to live more peacefully, the simplest pleasures mean the world to you. You can actually notice them and appreciate them as a key contributor to your happiness and fulfillment instead of constantly seeking new stimuli just to feel alive (note that I have nothing against those who do it, some people need high energy and constant stress to feel good).

I do work, but I like to work on my own terms, early in the morning, and usually no more than 2-3 hours of solid, focused work worth more than 8 hours of pretending to work. Sometimes I have busier days, but I try my best not to have more than two such days in a row as they have a big negative impact on my mental health.

Fastlane allows me to live more slowly, be more relaxed, and I like to think that even if on a very small scale, I can perhaps transmit some of these feelings to the world around me.
 
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Andy Black

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This might sound like I'm lazy and perhaps I am, but the main current reason (the past one was different) why I can't imagine any other lifestyle than Fastlane is because I love to have an open schedule.

I absolutely abhor when my day is filled with activities. I hate running from one place to another or attending one task after another. One of the worst types of stress for me is the stress of being in a hurry.

I absolutely love that I can live more slowly than the average Joe. I'm yet to learn how to truly slow down and savor every moment, but I'm slowly (ha, see what I did there!) getting closer to it.

The most beautiful thing about it is that when you learn how to live more peacefully, the simplest pleasures mean the world to you. You can actually notice them and appreciate them as a key contributor to your happiness and fulfillment instead of constantly seeking new stimuli just to feel alive (note that I have nothing against those who do it, some people need high energy and constant stress to feel good).

I do work, but I like to work on my own terms, early in the morning, and usually no more than 2-3 hours of solid, focused work worth more than 8 hours of pretending to work. Sometimes I have busier days, but I try my best not to have more than two such days in a row as they have a big negative impact on my mental health.

Fastlane allows me to live more slowly, be more relaxed, and I like to think that even if on a very small scale, I can perhaps transmit some of these feelings to the world around me.
I love this. I'd also like to build a business so I can slow down and free up time.

I went for a run this morning at 9:30am. The roads were quiet, and there was barely anyone about.
 

Runum

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Did you know that @Runum has accomplished more than most of us on this forum ever will?

Let me tell you how. Let it be a light to influence your "why."

@Runum picked the path less traveled. His impact is incalculable. The ripple effect of his "why" is immeasurable by you and I because we can count the immediate circle, but not the future generations. Not the mothers and fathers and grandparents and siblings and children and children's children to the 7th generation after us.

You see, Runum owned houses. Runum owned product businesses. Runum was an entrepreneur before I was. Runum understands how to make yourself unscripted .

But Runum's why runs deeper than his modesty. You see, he selected to do what you and I haven't. He went intentionally into the fire to bring people out of it. Runum is a school teacher, but not just an ordinary (extraordinary) school teacher. He picked the hardest school he could find. He picked the toughest, roughest school he could find. He picked the one most ordinary teachers might have passed on. And he did it intentionally. Part of his "why" is to reach the least of us. The hard cases. The underserved. The undervalued.

Day after day as the calendar clicks by he pours himself into them. He teaches them. He molds them, and he gives them hope. He wears crazy Hawaiian shirts because it brings them a smile, and when they smile he knows he can win. The kids love him, and he invests in their futures.

When people come here asking who has the largest bank account, they might just skip by Runum, and they'd be making a fatal decision, because Runum is worth more than me and MJ and most of the "famous" posters here combined. You're just counting wrong. You are counting dollars. Runum's investment has been in something different, and his success outpaces mine by a factor of 100:1.

You want to learn about scale? Try counting the scaling affect of changing the next generation. Impact incalculable. One life saved from the garbage heap is worth more than all the products I will ever sell combined.

I am proud to know a glimpse of his story, and thrilled that he has chosen to come back here for part of his next chapter. Everyone that reads this at a minimum should have him on their "follow" list and listen to what he says.
Thank you for the kind and eloquent words Dave. Most days with my kids are great, but some days are a challenge. Kind words smooth over the bumps in the road. It's great to be back.
 
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classichouse

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This might sound like I'm lazy and perhaps I am, but the main current reason (the past one was different) why I can't imagine any other lifestyle than Fastlane is because I love to have an open schedule.

I absolutely abhor when my day is filled with activities. I hate running from one place to another or attending one task after another. One of the worst types of stress for me is the stress of being in a hurry.

I absolutely love that I can live more slowly than the average Joe. I'm yet to learn how to truly slow down and savor every moment, but I'm slowly (ha, see what I did there!) getting closer to it.

The most beautiful thing about it is that when you learn how to live more peacefully, the simplest pleasures mean the world to you. You can actually notice them and appreciate them as a key contributor to your happiness and fulfillment instead of constantly seeking new stimuli just to feel alive (note that I have nothing against those who do it, some people need high energy and constant stress to feel good).

I do work, but I like to work on my own terms, early in the morning, and usually no more than 2-3 hours of solid, focused work worth more than 8 hours of pretending to work. Sometimes I have busier days, but I try my best not to have more than two such days in a row as they have a big negative impact on my mental health.

Fastlane allows me to live more slowly, be more relaxed, and I like to think that even if on a very small scale, I can perhaps transmit some of these feelings to the world around me.

"The freedom of man is not that he can do what he wants, but that he does not have to do what he does not want." Jean-Jacques Rousseau
 

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One word: Freedom.
Yes, @MJ DeMarco, and the freedom to make decisions instead of follow orders.

But at the end of the day, I have to be the man I want my sons to grow up to be.

I have to become fully unscripted .

I have to figure all this stuff out, otherwise I leave it up to my sons to do so.
I think about this alot, @Andy Black. I have discussed writing with my daughter and property investments with my son and finances with both of them. I would be the epitome of a hypocrite to just keep talking, and I didn't really understand what I was doing with all the inaction until I read TMF and Unscripted this past summer, right before I joined this forum.

20190319_tuesday_quote.jpg

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Great quote, @Kak, and life is short. We don't even know that we have 20 years.

Because there is so much more to life then 9-5. God gave us this beautiful Earth to explore, not to stuck in a cubicle whole damn life.
This realization prompted me to take action this year, when I realized that I have been walking into the same office for 15 years. I love helping people, which is my job, but I think even the people I help will understand that no one wants to spend such a long amount of time in the same 10 square feet of space. I'm ready for a change, and I'm going to do it.
 
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YoungPadawan

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My why is to firstly, pay off all of my parents farm debt so that they can live comfortably in their retirement. I want my freedom and to be done with the 9 to 5.

When I have finally achieved my freedom, I want to build something that lasts long after I'm gone and that helps as many people as possible.
 
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Thomas Baptiste

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My why is simply maximizing my innate potential.

Living in a country where the vast majority of adults are unable to live debt free, I realized from a young age that if I don't do something, I'll literally be like everyone else here. I live on the island with one of the worst economies, and the lowest minimum wage rate in the Caribbean.

Being an entrepreneur here is difficult, but it's worth it. It can be depressing sometimes to read through all the success/failure stories on the forum here, and sometimes I feel envious because the opportunities you guys have seem unlimited, and you have access to so much, but I live in a different part of the world. I'm just happy I can learn from it all and apply it to my own business.
 

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Never had much money growing up, and always dreamed of being an Internet entrepreneur. Even when I barely understood what the Internet was. Of all things, can at least get money problems the F*ck out the way.
 

nickgraham1234

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LOL. I imagine some of our members were in elementary or middle school when this forum began. It is cool to see it has grown from where it began but that first year of fastlane posts were magical. I learned so much from all these new friends on the interwebs back in the dark ages.
I was 7 years old
 
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Suzanne Bazemore

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We are all born and subsequently led into a purpose. We have skills and interests. We are all different. I believe that we all have something to give that is bigger than us. To do this we have to keep pushing the envelope. Keep saying YES. Make your comfort zone a lot bigger.

@Kak and @Vigilante, my response got messed up yesterday because my computer froze.

I meant to thank @Vigilante for the quote, and it ties in with what @Kak said about us all have something to give that is bigger than us. One of the events that affected me this year was that one of my good friends passed away this year due to cancer. She was an artist, a really, really good artist, but I she didn't pursue it. She and I spent some time last summer painting together, and I will treasure that time, but I know, too, how much more she had to give, and we both wasted all of those prior years of being friends by not painting. I have frequently thought about how glad I am that people pursued their passions instead of staying in jobs. For example, what if JK Rowling had remained a secretary or an English teacher? She has certainly impacted way more people by daring to take a chance and pushing that envelope. I'm also glad that @MJ DeMarco didn't just keep driving limos, and then when he figured out the fastlane, he took the time to put it into words to help everyone else.
 

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Like everybody else, I want freedom from the script via a fastlane business. I flunked out of college and am questioning my values. If I have the option of returning to college, do I really want to finish in 3 more years to work a 9-5 job as an engineer, making a decent salary of say 75K?

Helping a lot of people and making money off that is my way. And with a lot of money, I can do whatever the F*ck I want. Whatever the F*ck. lol

My fastlane business is gonna help a lot of people.
 

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All I wanted to do was be able to afford to get my husband's teeth fixed.

Anything I can do to help with this @Bekit, I will! There is a program in Colorado known as Dental Lifeline Network that may be a great fit for your husband and there should be an online link to the program's application. Encourage him to check it out!

My why is because I can be better. I can provide more for others, be more gracious, create more freedom for loved ones, rescue more animals. I find asking myself why less frequently than asking how to adapt after action towards the why.
 
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BLIM

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Way back when my why was my kid and raising her. We invested in real estate and had a small business. The kid grew up, the investments paid for her education. She has since moved to Hollywood and is actively pursuing her dream. Even though we had some bumps in the road, overall our strategies and planning worked.

Now I am in a different phase in my life and we travel a lot more often and explore more places. Still doing REI and redirecting business interests. Also reading Unscripted .

I am always curious about why others get involved in entrepreneurship. What is your why?

This is my WHY.

I am currently working full time job 9-6 and enough to cover my daily expenses. The reason I want to get involved in entrepreneurship is I don't want to stuck in corporate world for the rest of my life. By the time I get older our value will be decrease. so I need a backup plan and start my own journey, although it's not easy but it's worth to try and the end will be good as long as I keep consistent.
 

Ocean Man

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Parents. Family. Love. Others.
One of the most important things in my life that I'll do is repay my parents. Facing persecution from the CCCR for their religion, they dropped everything and immigrated to the states for a better future. Not for them, but for their kids. They sacrificed everything in order to provide more opportunity and a better future for me. They didn't know English, they got married young, but what they did bring to the states was a hard work ethic. The least I can do for my parents is to pay off their mortgage.

Unfortunately, I believe my father will be working until the day he can't. Nor does he have a retirement fund. He's already facing health issues at his age and due to his job... he's already having back issues. I need to make sure that my parents' sacrifices weren't for nothing.

Secondly, I'm doing this for family. My future family. My future children. I want to be able to provide as much as I can to my value and to make sure that they never worry about food being on the table. Time is incredibly important to me, as I want to be there for all the moments of my children growing up. I want to be a faithful, reliable, and supportive father.

Next is love. I'm currently in South Korea, but eventually, I'd like to bring my love to the states. We're both young and I haven't been able to receive enough value vouchers to be sure it's the right time to bring her over to America. She'd need to sacrifice everything, learn the language, and come to an entirely new and unfamiliar place. I'd obviously like to be in a position where I can take care of her and there would be no need to worry and that we can enjoy our lives.

And finally, others. I'm happy when I make things that other people use and find useful and/or improves their life. For example, at my slow lane job as a developer... I developed and automated some processes which allowed us to save time not only for our team members but our clients also love the experience! We have a Slack group of where we post daily, positive members from our clients. It's a serotonin-boost when I was able to positively impact and provide value to someone's life. I don't know exactly what my fast lane will be at this moment, but I know I want to help people and provide as much value as I can.

Those are some of the reasons why I'm here and my why. At this moment, I'm spinning my wheels, action faking. Stuck in that "Idea Phase". I also have some larger ideas I'd like to take at scale but would require that I head back to the states. I'm torn between leaving my love here and going back to the states for a while or trying to do something else online. Not really sure.

But that's my why.

P.S. - I've talked to a few members personally in the DM's so far. Such as @Andy Black , @ZF Lee , and I'm glad you all gave me your time to talk with me even if it was only for a little. It was really great talking to you all. I can't wait to meet and form relationships with more of you!

Although I don't really have anything much to talk about, maybe I can provide value in some way... But I'm taking a longshot -- I'd really like to connect with the following folks as well: @Kak , @AgainstAllOdds , @biophase , @JasonR , @million$$$smile . I really enjoy following all your content and you're all definitely people I'd like to know. I don't really have a great circle of folks IRL, and I think you're some great people.
 
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MTF

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One of the most important things in my life that I'll do is repay my parents. Facing persecution from the CCCR for their religion, they dropped everything and immigrated to the states for a better future. Not for them, but for their kids. They sacrificed everything in order to provide more opportunity and a better future for me. They didn't know English, they got married young, but what they did bring to the states was a hard work ethic. The least I can do for my parents is to pay off their mortgage.

Unfortunately, I believe my father will be working until the day he can't. Nor does he have a retirement fund. He's already facing health issues at his age and due to his job... he's already having back issues. I need to make sure that my parents' sacrifices weren't for nothing.

Beautiful post, @Ocean Man. Repaying my parents was my initial motivation as well and let me tell you one thing: nothing will fuel you more than this. Not a single thing. And nothing will feel better once you accomplish it. You're doing it right. Good luck!
 
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Ocean Man

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Beautiful post, @Ocean Man. Repaying my parents was my initial motivation as well and let me tell you one thing: nothing will fuel you more than this. Not a single thing. And nothing will feel better once you accomplish it. You're doing it right. Good luck!

Thank you @MTF. I appreciate the reply and actually you're one of the people I'd love to connect with as well. Or at least have you in my "circle", love your content and experiences. Let's get it!
 

Alex Enache

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My why is made up of the followings:
- enjoying financial freedom by creating a business that I am proud of
- have the possibility to create products that improves people life
- spend my best time with my future wife and my kids
- connect with other dreamers
- I LOVE THE GAME of entrepreneurship!!! I think that is the only way that you can be like a Spartan warrior today!
 
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jesseissorude

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I've been thinking about this thread for a while now. It's hard to put my why into words, but here goes:

No one is guaranteed another day.
  • An ex-girlfriend of mine was diagnosed with cervical cancer 4 days ago (she's only 25).
  • A friend of mine died of cervical cancer 2 years ago at 24. She was a famous musician that participated in a lot of charity work with children. Then boom... after diagnosis, she was dead within 9 months.
  • My uncle worked hard and saved all his life. A year after retirement he began to show symptoms of Parkinson's Disease. In 3 short years, his quality of life has deteriorated massively. (He went out golfing with my dad this past weekend and collapsed on the course.)
  • My girlfriend's mom just retired earlier this year. 2 weeks ago she finds out her kidneys may be shutting down.
  • I could go on
Meanwhile, if I died today (at 36), I think my last thoughts would be "Well, that was a waste."
I'm proud of the charity work I've done, but other than that all I have are regrets of opportunities missed.

I've worked fairly hard all my life, saving like crazy for retirement. But after a couple layoffs, I have only 11k in Roth IRA.
I've come up with some great ideas/systems/designs that added value for my employers. But after leaving those companies, I have no assets of my own.
I've scrimped and saved on luxuries because I value the security of a hefty savings account. But after my most recent layoff, I'm eating rice and beans out of necessity instead of thriftiness.

I feel like I've done everything "right", but I ultimately have nothing to show for it.

My why:
Cultivate ultimate freedom.
  • Life is absurd. I want to have freedom to treat it as such. I want to run a business like an art project if I want to. With FU money, no one can tell me that I'm making silly decisions, because I will have proven that I am an expert at creating value.
  • I only get one body. I want to find out what mine can do. I won't let my life choices be limited by a body that I've neglected. ("Hiking up, then paragliding off the Alps? Sorry, I ate Captain D's for 20 years. Pass.")
  • I only get one mind. I want to have ultimate focus and intellect at the snap of a finger. I won't focus it on consuming only entertainment, or finding outrage porn on cable news. I will be a lifelong learner.
  • I want to have no guilt about spending on things/experiences that make me truly happy. If money is tight, it closes off so many of life's opportunities to me. Right now, I can't spend a dime on anything that's not helping me build income, and it really sucks to live like that.
    Further, I won't buy shit just to impress others. I'll spend for me.
  • Help people less fortunate than I am. People living at the margins of society (elderly, poor, sick, uneducated, abused, etc) have less opportunities than I do. Yes, a portion of them have dug themselves into that hole, but there is a segment of the country wants to believe it's ALL those people's fault they live that way. I've been fortunate enough to have been shown another path, and I'm duty-bound to go back and help lead others.
I want to distill my "why" down into a motto or something... but like I said, I'm having trouble fully articulating it.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk :happy:

Thanks to @Runum for making this thread. Good idea!
 
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Pink Sheep

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For me its about doing what i want in stead of working all day.

My biggest why is being able to go on tour with my band. At the moment thats very difficult to do, and mostly too expensive or risky for little gain.
 

Ocean Man

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I've come up with some great ideas/systems/designs that added value for my employers. But after leaving those companies, I have no assets of my own.
I've scrimped and saved on luxuries because I value the security of a hefty savings account. But after my most recent layoff, I'm eating rice and beans out of necessity instead of thriftiness.

I feel like I've done everything "right", but I ultimately have nothing to show for it.

This.
 
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ZeroTo100

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My why has changed multiple times over the last 10 or so years that I’ve been an entrepreneur. My why used to be to have enough money to pay the bills. That’s why I started, I had to have some more income or go and get another job.

Then my why changed to being able to work less hours at a job and more hours at home so I could see my wife and new baby more often.

5-7 years ago (don’t remember exactly lol) I quit my last “normal” job and my why became to try and build an empire.

3 years ago I moved cross country to Arizona. I hired someone to run the day to day operations of the business not long after and my why became enjoying this beautiful state with my little kids and my wife. I decided I didn’t want an empire business right now. I want to work a few hours a week and spend the rest of the time by the pool!

Every day when my oldest gets home from school at 2:30 we all go swimming. During the summertime we all hop in the pool at least 2 times a day if not 3...

My “why” for the foreseeable future is to be able to spend as much time as possible with my family. When they grow up... maybe I’ll build that empire.

God bless you brother! This is what life is all about. I’m in the same boat.
 

switching_lanes

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Want to see my kids grow up and break free from the corporate world. Obtain as much freedom as possible.
I'm at the point, where I am yet to get started though.
 

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