I want to preface this by saying that this thread will firstly be used as a braindump, diary and a way to keep myself accountable. Initially, there will be lots of "I"s and I know there is much in here that most of you probably don't care about.
However, I do feel that some of you will benefit from this perspective and that I will benefit as well, so it beats not writing it in the first place.
As time goes on, the focus will change from what I am doing and how I am doing it, more towards what was learned and how you, the reader, can use that knowledge for your own benefit. Until then, things need to be learned.
If you want to follow my complete journey and unabridged perspective, then strap on, as a lot needs to be said.
The Road So Far
One year ago, I read a book that shifted my mindset and opened my eyes to what was going on around me. It allowed me to learn what I really wanted and that it was in fact a possibility.
That book showed me that the path society, our teachers, our family... expectations set us on is not the only path and it is definitely not the best path. It made me decide to stray away and make my own.
A year ago, I wrote This Thread - it was me wading a tiny bit out on the edge of this new path, not being entirely sure whether what I was doing would work. An inner conflict emerged, hurting me and getting close to breaking me.
I lacked the knowledge to escape the conflict, but had the fortitude to defeat it. While fighting through the ever-growing darkness, I managed to set goals and force myself to proceed.
I knew I had to talk on the phone, even though I hated it. I knew I needed to learn how to sell, even though I had no idea how. I knew I needed to build diligence, even though I've always been a massive procrastinator. Thus, I got hired as a sales person for three months to overcome all those blocks.
In 1.5 months I learned how to talk, how to keep my cool, how to be professional, how to listen, how to understand problems and how to sell the solution to those problems. I made my first sale for an initial $3000 and an additional $50k with the help of my colleagues. Unfortunately, I only got a small commission off of that, but it was money that I had earned and used to move forward.
By the end of the three months I made three sales (all over $500) and learned more useful things than in 13 years of school.
Fast forward a little bit and after extensive lurking and reading and planning and dreaming, I decided it was time to wake up and take a leap. Someone on this forum said "If you leap, a net will appear". Trusting something so silly is dumb, never do that... but it happened.
I packed my bags and was ready to leave, anywhere... to new perspectives, new opportunities... I arranged for housing and help from a number of friends through-out Europe... but I didn't leave.
It wasn't fear, it wasn't insecurity, I knew that everything would be fine for a while as I had a decent amount of money saved up and I trusted those people, yet I still second-guessed it.
A couple of months passed, tried out some opportunities, they proved to be a bust, but learned quite a bit from the trial.
Finally - the net appeared.
The tenants that rented my father's mountain resort vacation apartment had some issues and had to vacate - BOOM. Free house. No need to leave the country. Checked some of our belongings, turns out we owned quite a few more stocks than we thought. BOOM. Liquid assets.
Moved out in the empty apartment, did a bit of refurbishing, Black Friday, have two empty rooms, 2 queen-sized beds, 1 king-sized, Christmas and NYE are coming - holy opportunity, Batman.
Now, even after those 3 months of hardcore white-collar business-type environment work, procrastination and perpetual postponing still happens. I moved out three weeks ago and I have yet to directly look for opportunities.
I wanted to start an ecom business, importing some things from China, but I underestimated the costs required to get the place up to standards, so I no longer have the budget for this particular venture at the current time.
In fact, I lack any sort of income whatsoever and wasted moments are moments closer to failure, so procrastination makes no rational sense, yet it still happens.
What I need is accountability. Apparently the threat of starvation is not motivation enough, as I lost all my fear a long time ago, but the threat of disappointing my peers is still real.
I have been waiting for a while to start this thread, as I wanted one year to pass, but now is the time.
It is time to succeed.
I have the knowledge, I have the resources, I have the opportunities.
All I need now is the will to take it.
I must choose what I will do and stick to my guns. If I do that, I have no doubt that I will succeed, because failure is not an option.
What Comes Now?
Let us talk specifics.
This place is a very popular mountain resort, this means that a very large and powerful market exists here: hotels. Looking around a little bit, it is obvious that many needs exist and finding a way to solve them will be the first main approach to this new stage of my life.
A great thing to note is that the mayor of this town is also the owner of one of the largest hotels, right in the middle of it. I find that a good way to jumpstart the journey is to start from the top down, so the first step is to arrange a meeting with the mayor and perform idea extraction.
I have done this many times before and doing so successfully with this particular individual should, in theory, shatter any insecurity or doubt, boost my confidence and open every door for me in this area.
At the same time, it could also backfire, but that is not something to worry about at the moment.
Second stage is to meet and talk to a significant amount of well-placed figures involved in this market, learn about their problems and their approach in solving these problems. All while also providing value to them and any people that might be interested or affected.
I will then use this newly-gained knowledge, along with one already attained to build myself as an authority in this market and provide more usable value to it which will then improve this community overall and assure myself the liberty to approach other ventures.
Sounds easy enough. Time to rock.
However, I do feel that some of you will benefit from this perspective and that I will benefit as well, so it beats not writing it in the first place.
As time goes on, the focus will change from what I am doing and how I am doing it, more towards what was learned and how you, the reader, can use that knowledge for your own benefit. Until then, things need to be learned.
If you want to follow my complete journey and unabridged perspective, then strap on, as a lot needs to be said.
The Road So Far
One year ago, I read a book that shifted my mindset and opened my eyes to what was going on around me. It allowed me to learn what I really wanted and that it was in fact a possibility.
That book showed me that the path society, our teachers, our family... expectations set us on is not the only path and it is definitely not the best path. It made me decide to stray away and make my own.
A year ago, I wrote This Thread - it was me wading a tiny bit out on the edge of this new path, not being entirely sure whether what I was doing would work. An inner conflict emerged, hurting me and getting close to breaking me.
I lacked the knowledge to escape the conflict, but had the fortitude to defeat it. While fighting through the ever-growing darkness, I managed to set goals and force myself to proceed.
I knew I had to talk on the phone, even though I hated it. I knew I needed to learn how to sell, even though I had no idea how. I knew I needed to build diligence, even though I've always been a massive procrastinator. Thus, I got hired as a sales person for three months to overcome all those blocks.
In 1.5 months I learned how to talk, how to keep my cool, how to be professional, how to listen, how to understand problems and how to sell the solution to those problems. I made my first sale for an initial $3000 and an additional $50k with the help of my colleagues. Unfortunately, I only got a small commission off of that, but it was money that I had earned and used to move forward.
By the end of the three months I made three sales (all over $500) and learned more useful things than in 13 years of school.
Fast forward a little bit and after extensive lurking and reading and planning and dreaming, I decided it was time to wake up and take a leap. Someone on this forum said "If you leap, a net will appear". Trusting something so silly is dumb, never do that... but it happened.
I packed my bags and was ready to leave, anywhere... to new perspectives, new opportunities... I arranged for housing and help from a number of friends through-out Europe... but I didn't leave.
It wasn't fear, it wasn't insecurity, I knew that everything would be fine for a while as I had a decent amount of money saved up and I trusted those people, yet I still second-guessed it.
A couple of months passed, tried out some opportunities, they proved to be a bust, but learned quite a bit from the trial.
Finally - the net appeared.
The tenants that rented my father's mountain resort vacation apartment had some issues and had to vacate - BOOM. Free house. No need to leave the country. Checked some of our belongings, turns out we owned quite a few more stocks than we thought. BOOM. Liquid assets.
Moved out in the empty apartment, did a bit of refurbishing, Black Friday, have two empty rooms, 2 queen-sized beds, 1 king-sized, Christmas and NYE are coming - holy opportunity, Batman.
Now, even after those 3 months of hardcore white-collar business-type environment work, procrastination and perpetual postponing still happens. I moved out three weeks ago and I have yet to directly look for opportunities.
I wanted to start an ecom business, importing some things from China, but I underestimated the costs required to get the place up to standards, so I no longer have the budget for this particular venture at the current time.
In fact, I lack any sort of income whatsoever and wasted moments are moments closer to failure, so procrastination makes no rational sense, yet it still happens.
What I need is accountability. Apparently the threat of starvation is not motivation enough, as I lost all my fear a long time ago, but the threat of disappointing my peers is still real.
I have been waiting for a while to start this thread, as I wanted one year to pass, but now is the time.
It is time to succeed.
I have the knowledge, I have the resources, I have the opportunities.
All I need now is the will to take it.
I must choose what I will do and stick to my guns. If I do that, I have no doubt that I will succeed, because failure is not an option.
What Comes Now?
Let us talk specifics.
This place is a very popular mountain resort, this means that a very large and powerful market exists here: hotels. Looking around a little bit, it is obvious that many needs exist and finding a way to solve them will be the first main approach to this new stage of my life.
A great thing to note is that the mayor of this town is also the owner of one of the largest hotels, right in the middle of it. I find that a good way to jumpstart the journey is to start from the top down, so the first step is to arrange a meeting with the mayor and perform idea extraction.
I have done this many times before and doing so successfully with this particular individual should, in theory, shatter any insecurity or doubt, boost my confidence and open every door for me in this area.
At the same time, it could also backfire, but that is not something to worry about at the moment.
Second stage is to meet and talk to a significant amount of well-placed figures involved in this market, learn about their problems and their approach in solving these problems. All while also providing value to them and any people that might be interested or affected.
I will then use this newly-gained knowledge, along with one already attained to build myself as an authority in this market and provide more usable value to it which will then improve this community overall and assure myself the liberty to approach other ventures.
Sounds easy enough. Time to rock.
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