jdm667
Silver Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
Hi Fastlaners,
Just wanted to introduce myself to the community and say hello. Hi @MJ DeMarco A bit about me...
I am from the Boston area, and I am ashamed to say that I am a recovering slowlaner. Yes, it's true. I walked the traditional slowlane path for a long time (private Catholic all-boys high school, honors program at a good college for undergrad, Masters degree in Math at a great school, Actuary path briefly, SW Engineer briefly), and then I got fed up with it all.
After the actuary gig, I figured that finance and accounting wasn't for me. After the SW engineering gig, I realized that I don't fit into the standard-issue, cookie-cutter corporate world. Never did, never will - and I don't care how much bigger my bank account would be if I had stayed.
I teach and tutor math part-time now. It is extremely flexible (the college gives me classes and the agency sends me students, and I teach/tutor how I want). It also gives me time to read and explore fastlane ideas. The downfall: as you can guess, it doesn't pay much. I am careful with money and I am a saver, but I definitely need to earn more to get to Fastlane Freedom before I am 90 (I'm 32 now).
While I do enjoy teaching and tutoring, I'm sure that I can only teach the same math concepts to so many kids for so long before I get tired of it. So, I am trying to get into the fastlane (I've been working on a blog for almost a year, learning SEO, keyword research, etc.). However, I know I still have a long way to go.
I'm not scared of doing the work - I worked my a$$ off in HS to get into a good college, then in college to get into a good grad school, in grad school (while teaching) to get a good job, and studying mornings/nights/weekends while I worked full-time to pass actuarial exams. Only now, I realize that I should have been putting in that work for myself, not in pursuit of someone else's societally prescribed idea of what success is.
I have been lurking on the forum this past week or so, debating whether to buy MJ's books and go "all-in". I kept thinking, "Maybe I should just give up and look for a real job." (I have had these thoughts before.)
Just then, I got a call from an old friend (in fact, my best and oldest friend). For about 10 minutes, I listened to him bitch about his job and how stupid his coworkers, bosses, etc. are.
At that moment, I had an awakening. I realized that I would rather die than go back to that bullshit ever again. I swore in that moment that I would NEVER go back to that world of working for someone else - ever.
While still on the phone with my friend, I got out my credit card and bought the two books on Amazon. I will be reading through more of the Gold and Notable forum threads while I wait for the books to arrive.
MJ (and community members): thanks for making this community what it is. I can already see the insane value offered by everyone here. I know there is no magical formula to success, but there is still plenty of great stuff here at every level:
-mindset stuff to get your head in the right place to start a business
-strategy at a high level so you are heading in the right direction
-tactical threads on all sorts of businesses so you can execute on your ideas
Hopefully I can contribute and give back once I get my bearings and start accelerating. See you in the Fastlane, folks...
-jdm667
Just wanted to introduce myself to the community and say hello. Hi @MJ DeMarco A bit about me...
I am from the Boston area, and I am ashamed to say that I am a recovering slowlaner. Yes, it's true. I walked the traditional slowlane path for a long time (private Catholic all-boys high school, honors program at a good college for undergrad, Masters degree in Math at a great school, Actuary path briefly, SW Engineer briefly), and then I got fed up with it all.
After the actuary gig, I figured that finance and accounting wasn't for me. After the SW engineering gig, I realized that I don't fit into the standard-issue, cookie-cutter corporate world. Never did, never will - and I don't care how much bigger my bank account would be if I had stayed.
I teach and tutor math part-time now. It is extremely flexible (the college gives me classes and the agency sends me students, and I teach/tutor how I want). It also gives me time to read and explore fastlane ideas. The downfall: as you can guess, it doesn't pay much. I am careful with money and I am a saver, but I definitely need to earn more to get to Fastlane Freedom before I am 90 (I'm 32 now).
While I do enjoy teaching and tutoring, I'm sure that I can only teach the same math concepts to so many kids for so long before I get tired of it. So, I am trying to get into the fastlane (I've been working on a blog for almost a year, learning SEO, keyword research, etc.). However, I know I still have a long way to go.
I'm not scared of doing the work - I worked my a$$ off in HS to get into a good college, then in college to get into a good grad school, in grad school (while teaching) to get a good job, and studying mornings/nights/weekends while I worked full-time to pass actuarial exams. Only now, I realize that I should have been putting in that work for myself, not in pursuit of someone else's societally prescribed idea of what success is.
I have been lurking on the forum this past week or so, debating whether to buy MJ's books and go "all-in". I kept thinking, "Maybe I should just give up and look for a real job." (I have had these thoughts before.)
Just then, I got a call from an old friend (in fact, my best and oldest friend). For about 10 minutes, I listened to him bitch about his job and how stupid his coworkers, bosses, etc. are.
At that moment, I had an awakening. I realized that I would rather die than go back to that bullshit ever again. I swore in that moment that I would NEVER go back to that world of working for someone else - ever.
While still on the phone with my friend, I got out my credit card and bought the two books on Amazon. I will be reading through more of the Gold and Notable forum threads while I wait for the books to arrive.
MJ (and community members): thanks for making this community what it is. I can already see the insane value offered by everyone here. I know there is no magical formula to success, but there is still plenty of great stuff here at every level:
-mindset stuff to get your head in the right place to start a business
-strategy at a high level so you are heading in the right direction
-tactical threads on all sorts of businesses so you can execute on your ideas
Hopefully I can contribute and give back once I get my bearings and start accelerating. See you in the Fastlane, folks...
-jdm667
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum:
Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.
