The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

My Last Tie... Just Before I Die.

Anything related to matters of the mind

juggler619

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
160%
May 25, 2015
132
211
Abu Dhabi
Hi All,
Just found this post on Reddit- Extremely touching and very INSPIRING.


I am only 24 years old, yet I have actually already chosen my last tie. It’s the one that I will wear on my funeral a few months from now. It may not match my suit, but I think it’s perfect for the occasion.
The cancer diagnosis came too late to give me at least a tenuous hope for a long life, but I realized that the most important thing about death is to ensure that you leave this world a little better than it was before you existed with your contributions . The way I’ve lived my life so far, my existence or more precisely the loss of it, will not matter because I have lived without doing anything impactful.
Before, there were so many things that occupied my mind. When I learned how much time I had left, however, it became clear which things are really important. So, I am writing to you for a selfish reason. I want to give meaning to my life by sharing with you what I have realized:

  • Don’t waste your time on work that you don’t enjoy. It is obvious that you cannot succeed in something that you don’t like. Patience, passion, and dedication come easily only when you love what you do.
  • It’s stupid to be afraid of others’ opinions. Fear weakens and paralyzes you. If you let it, it can grow worse and worse every day until there is nothing left of you, but a shell of yourself. Listen to your inner voice and go with it. Some people may call you crazy, but some may even think you‘re a legend.
  • Take control of your life Take full responsibility for the things that happen to you. Limit bad habits and try to lead a healthier life. Find a sport that makes you happy. Most of all, don’t procrastinate. Let your life be shaped by decisions you made, not by the ones you didn’t.
  • Appreciate the people around you Your friends and relatives will always be an infinite source of strength and love. That is why you shouldn’t take them for granted.
It is difficult for me to fully express my feelings about the importance of these simple realizations, but I hope that you will listen to someone who has experienced how valuable time is.
I'm not upset because I understand that the last days of my life have become meaningful. I only regret that I will not be able to see a lot of cool stuff that should happen soon like the creation of AI, or Elon Musk’s next awesome project. I also hope that the war in Syria and Ukraine will end soon.
We care so much about the health and integrity of our body that until death, we don’t notice that the body is nothing more than a box - a parcel for delivering our personality, thoughts, beliefs and intentions to this world. If there is nothing in this box that can change the world, then it doesn’t matter if it disappears. I believe that we all have potential, but it also takes a lot of courage to realize it.
You can float through a life created by circumstances, missing day after day, hour after hour. Or, you can fight for what you believe in and write the great story of your life. I hope you will make the right choice.
Leave a mark in this world. Have a meaningful life, whatever definition it has for you. Go towards it. The place we are leaving is a beautiful playground, where everything is possible. Yet, we are not here forever. Our life is a short spark in this beautiful little planet that flies with incredible speed to the endless darkness of the unknown universe. So, enjoy your time here with passion. Make it interesting. Make it count!
Thank you!




His username is "mylasttie" - This was posted a year back. Makes me realize - So much of similar information /nuggets here from awesome guru's like mj , vigilante ,chickenhawk..we hardly utilize them . We mentally masturbate - retire to bed & repeat. You can float through a life created by circumstances, missing day after day, hour after hour. Or, you can fight for what you believe in and write the great story of your life.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
445%
Jul 23, 2007
38,079
169,497
Utah
Wow, terribly sad.

You can float through a life created by circumstances, missing day after day, hour after hour. Or, you can fight for what you believe in and write the great story of your life. I hope you will make the right choice.

This is why we are all here and share the same sense of higher purpose.


PS: I edited the title.
 

Francois

New Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
567%
Apr 20, 2016
3
17
59
Yes.... Life is short !
In 2002 I died.
I went to the hospital for a litle surgery.
The doctor said to mee "I'n 3 days you'll back at home"
After 12 days I was always in the hospital...
The last day I was above my body. (I can not explain this in english, but it was like I was flying)
When I woke up I had 7 liters new blood in my body...
Before I had compagnys (mail order) I was working like an idiot... Always after the money!
Than from this day my life changed.
I bought my boat, this was a dream from more than 20 years...
Now I'm discovering the world, taking my time.
Sure I need money but I know that money will not bring me a day more, not even a minute.

(Sorry for my poor english but I'm french and english isn't my native langage)

So... Enjoy every minute from your life.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

juggler619

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
160%
May 25, 2015
132
211
Abu Dhabi
@MJ DeMarco Thank you MJ -The new title makes more sense.

There is no words to thank you for creating this place where such wisdom is shared.


Wow, terribly sad.



This is why we are all here and share the same sense of higher purpose.


PS: I edited the title.
 

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,563
68,693
Ireland
I spoke to a business coach early this year, a guy I speak to once a year.

This time I spoke to him to tell him I wasn't stuck, that I was moving forward, and that I had found my purpose. (He loved that a client paid for a session just to tell him that.)

At one point in our conversation "I said, if money was no object l would ..."

He quickly interjected "It's not."



It's so so so not about the money.

It's not even about the time we have in this world.

It's about WHAT WE DO with the time we have been gifted.


Do we impact others lives for the better?

Do we leave this world a better place for our contribution?

Do we bring joy to those we meet?

Do we put a smile on people's faces?

Do we give the gift of thanks?

Do we gift people our attention?

Do we tell people how much we love them?

Do we do this all.the.time.



How will you be remembered?

What will your legacy be?



If money was no object, what would you do? Who would you see? Who would you help? Who would you spend your time with?

Do that.
 

Raoul Duke

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
324%
Feb 26, 2016
2,209
7,149
I spoke to a business coach early this year, a guy I speak to once a year.

This time I spoke to him to tell him I wasn't stuck, that I was moving forward, and that I had found my purpose. (He loved that a client paid for a session just to tell him that.)

At one point in our conversation "I said, if money was no object l would ..."

He quickly interjected "It's not."



It's so so so not about the money.

It's not even about the time we have in this world.

It's about WHAT WE DO with the time we have been gifted.


Do we impact others lives for the better?

Do we leave this world a better place for our contribution?

Do we bring joy to those we meet?

Do we put a smile on people's faces?

Do we give the gift of thanks?

Do we gift people our attention?

Do we tell people how much we love them?

Do we do this all.the.time.



How will you be remembered?

What will your legacy be?



If money was no object, what would you do? Who would you see? Who would you help? Who would you spend your time with?

Do that.

NlzofNP.jpg

http://zenpencils.com/comic/98-alan-watts-what-if-money-was-no-object/
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Tactical

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
185%
Apr 9, 2016
13
24
37
Lincoln, Nebraska
That is interesting @Francois. As I am trying to find my own faith, I must believe in science. I have found evidence with quantum physics in relation to death. It is quite possibly that your conscious can survive without your body and reading many near death experiences, including yours all are similar. there have been "verified" Near Death Experiences that read 5 digit number a somewhat far distance just to have the survivor read the numbers to the doctor. Similar cases have came about. thanks for sharing your lovely insight on this subject.
 

luniac

Platinum Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
158%
Dec 7, 2012
1,781
2,811
33
brooklyn
oh boy... here we go with the whole "passion" thing again...
 

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,563
68,693
Ireland

MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
445%
Jul 23, 2007
38,079
169,497
Utah

Yea, I don't buy the whole "passion" "do what you love" shit -- in fact, I think it's total BS because it ignores the market and its economics. I crucify both in my next book.

Take for example the hokey, unrealistic Allen Watts comic strip above.

The gal loves riding horses, great!
Question is, how does she get better with NO MONEY?
She can't afford the country club.
She can't afford a horse.
She can't afford a stable.
She can't afford to rent one.
So instead, she tries to get a job in the equine fields, but cannot.
Why? She has no experience. And if she did? Still not good enough because standing behind her are 250,000 other people who also "love horses."

Feel good comic strips don't change reality nor do they change the economies that make up the markets.

In my next book I do a pretty lengthy expose on "do what you love" explaining why it's such a powerful soundbite (but pretty worthless) and how it unknowingly becomes a preferred goto soundbite, even for successful people. I conclude that something else lurks beneath it -- and that conclusion explains why both worthless platitudes "passion" and "do what you love" seem feasible to echo. In other words, I explain them psychologically where it is can be easily and feasibly concluded why someone would say it. I also include some scientific research on it.

Anyhow, carry on.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.
Last edited:

Lex DeVille

Sweeping Shadows From Dreams
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
597%
Jan 14, 2013
5,351
31,935
Utah
The gal loves riding horses, great!
Question is, how does she get better with NO MONEY?
She can't afford the country club.
She can't afford a horse.
She can't afford a stable.
She can't afford to rent one.
So instead, she tries to get a job in the equine fields, but cannot.
Why? She has no experience. And if she did? Still not good enough because standing behind her are 250,000 other people who also "love horses."


This reminds me of something that happened right after I left high school. I moved away to a small town in Missouri and got a job at a diner at a ranch. I had to drive down miles of unpaved gravel road every day to get there. It was super boring and for a while I hated life, but at least it paid the bills.

Anyway, one day this couple walked in the diner and my boss freaked out. It was some guy and his wife and the guy had long black braided hair and looked Native American. She called him, "Pony Boy." Needless to say I was like wtf?! Who?!

So she tells me he's some kind of equine celebrity. He trains horses and anybody who's anybody in the equine industry knows him. I'm like, okay... Well they were a nice couple and they returned several times. I was always screwing up their order, but they didn't seem to mind. Then one day I struck up a conversation with Pony Boy and found out he owned a bunch of land out there and that he was in town to clear it out for business.

He asked if I was interested in helping and said he'd pay me $10 an hour. It was more money than I was making at that diner, but I didn't need to quit. I thought about it for a minute and accepted. The next day I was working side by side with this guy and learning all about horses and getting to know him.

This went on for a couple of weeks until eventually the work was done and I moved on with life. It was cool how he gave me a chance to get to know him. I wasn't interested in horses at all, but if I were, I would have been in the perfect position to grow and learn and connect and make things happen. In fact, this was probably the first time I discovered the value of helping people.

But if I just wanted to ride horses and didn't care about money, I wouldn't have been in the right place at the right time to meet that guy at all. I wish I had some valuable lesson to share. For now it's just a memory, so I guess I'll leave it with this:

Do what you gotta do to give yourself the option to act on opportunities when they appear wherever you already are.
 

Raoul Duke

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
324%
Feb 26, 2016
2,209
7,149
Yea, I don't buy the whole "passion" "do what you love" shit -- in fact, I think it's total BS because it ignores the market and its economics. I crucify both in my next book.

Take for example the hokey, unrealistic Allen Watts comic strip above.


Feel good comic strips don't change reality nor do they change the economies that make up the markets.


If the comic strip is damaging. Remove it from the forum.
 

MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
445%
Jul 23, 2007
38,079
169,497
Utah
If the comic strip is damaging. Remove it from the forum.

I don't think its damaging but represents the kind of entrepreneurial idealism that leads people astray and ultimately, broke.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

vinylawesome

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
276%
Aug 11, 2012
253
698
Yea, I don't buy the whole "passion" "do what you love" shit -- in fact, I think it's total BS because it ignores the market and its economics. I crucify both in my next book.

Take for example the hokey, unrealistic Allen Watts comic strip above.

The gal loves riding horses, great!
Question is, how does she get better with NO MONEY?
She can't afford the country club.
She can't afford a horse.
She can't afford a stable.
She can't afford to rent one.
So instead, she tries to get a job in the equine fields, but cannot.
Why? She has no experience. And if she did? Still not good enough because standing behind her are 250,000 other people who also "love horses."

Feel good comic strips don't change reality nor do they change the economies that make up the markets.

In my next book I do a pretty lengthy expose on "do what you love" explaining why it's such a powerful soundbite (but pretty worthless) and how it unknowingly becomes a preferred goto soundbite, even for successful people. I conclude that something else lurks beneath it -- and that conclusion explains why both worthless platitudes "passion" and "do what you love" seem feasible to echo. In other words, I explain them psychologically where it is can be easily and feasibly concluded why someone would say it. I also include some scientific research on it.

Anyhow, carry on.

This reminds me of what Mark Cuban said about, "Passion," on the James Altucher Podcast;
*************************************************************************************************************************
Dialogue between James Altucher and Mark Cuban via James Altucher Podcast.

Altucher: "But what I noticed going back to all of your ventures is that for you, your primal passions came first. You wanted to watch basketball, so you started AudioNet."

Mark Cuban: No. My first passion


James Altucher: Your passions clearly came first.


Mark Cuban: was getting rich, Right?

James Altucher: All right. That’s a good passion. [Laughs]

Mark Cuban: That was my first passion. Going back to when I was a kid, I always wanted to work for myself.

So with MicroSolutions, I got fired, and so I didn’t have a lot of choices, but I had a

customer to come with me.

So my passion for starting a business, my goals, that led into me actually starting MicroSolutions with no money, six guys living in a three-bedroom apartment, sleeping on the floor, but I just went for it.

And it wasn’t because I was passionate about systems integration.

It wasn’t ‘cause I was passionate about computers even though I liked them.

I’d never really taken computers in school, but I got into it, and I was good at – you know, the more I worked at it, the better I got at it, the better I got at working with software and writing software and doing networking.

The better I got at it, the more passionate I became about it; the more passionate that I became about it, the better I got at it. But it was really putting in the time and my desire to be self-employed and to be an entrepreneur that really drove it.


James Altucher: And what’s great is – and I always tell people this: Don’t go for the billion. First go for a couple million so that you have some comfort, so the stress is reduced. Then you can go for whatever you want.

Mark Cuban:Let me give you kind of a preamble to that.

Mark Cuban:
So when I started MicroSolutions, I wanted to be profitable month to month to month. That was my short-term goal. I didn’t have money to absorb any losses. I wasn’t going out there looking for investors. I didn’t raise any money. It was all sweat equity.


So my initial motivation was surviving and paying my bills month to month, and literally, that’s why I lived six guys in a three-bedroom

apartment.

I mean, I had nothing. So I just wanted to make enough money every month to pay my bills, and then slowly, but surely, grow.


Then my next goal, once that started to happen and I got into Year 3 and 4 and 5, my goal really wasn’t to have $1 million in the bank or $2 million or $10 million.

My goal was to retire, but my parameters were that I was willing to live like a student. So I felt like, “Okay, if I could get to $1 million saved, then I could live like a student – ”


Source: https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/my-first-passion-was-getting-rich.53104/
 
Last edited:

luniac

Platinum Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
158%
Dec 7, 2012
1,781
2,811
33
brooklyn
This reminds me of what Mark Cuban said about, "Passion," on the James Altucher Podcast;
*************************************************************************************************************************
Dialogue between James Altucher and Mark Cuban via James Altucher Podcast.

Altucher: "But what I noticed going back to all of your ventures is that for you, your primal passions came first. You wanted to watch basketball, so you started AudioNet."

Mark Cuban: No. My first passion


James Altucher: Your passions clearly came first.


Mark Cuban: was getting rich, Right?

James Altucher: All right. That’s a good passion. [Laughs]

Mark Cuban: That was my first passion. Going back to when I was a kid, I always wanted to work for myself.

So with MicroSolutions, I got fired, and so I didn’t have a lot of choices, but I had a

customer to come with me.

So my passion for starting a business, my goals, that led into me actually starting MicroSolutions with no money, six guys living in a three-bedroom apartment, sleeping on the floor, but I just went for it.

And it wasn’t because I was passionate about systems integration.

It wasn’t ‘cause I was passionate about computers even though I liked them.

I’d never really taken computers in school, but I got into it, and I was good at – you know, the more I worked at it, the better I got at it, the better I got at working with software and writing software and doing networking.

The better I got at it, the more passionate I became about it; the more passionate that I became about it, the better I got at it. But it was really putting in the time and my desire to be self-employed and to be an entrepreneur that really drove it.


James Altucher: And what’s great is – and I always tell people this: Don’t go for the billion. First go for a couple million so that you have some comfort, so the stress is reduced. Then you can go for whatever you want.

Mark Cuban:Let me give you kind of a preamble to that.

Mark Cuban:
So when I started MicroSolutions, I wanted to be profitable month to month to month. That was my short-term goal. I didn’t have money to absorb any losses. I wasn’t going out there looking for investors. I didn’t raise any money. It was all sweat equity.


So my initial motivation was surviving and paying my bills month to month, and literally, that’s why I lived six guys in a three-bedroom

apartment.

I mean, I had nothing. So I just wanted to make enough money every month to pay my bills, and then slowly, but surely, grow.


Then my next goal, once that started to happen and I got into Year 3 and 4 and 5, my goal really wasn’t to have $1 million in the bank or $2 million or $10 million.

My goal was to retire, but my parameters were that I was willing to live like a student. So I felt like, “Okay, if I could get to $1 million saved, then I could live like a student – ”


Source: https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/my-first-passion-was-getting-rich.53104/


wow that's almost exactly word for word how i feel. I care less about being rich versus just making enough to live comfortably working for myself.
 

Silverhawk851

Platinum Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
482%
Sep 22, 2012
861
4,154
Toronto/Traveling

Marcus1138

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
20%
Apr 22, 2016
5
1
Passion is an interesting thing when it comes to business. Sometimes you can make your existing passion a business - if your passion meets a market need, or you're truly exceptional at it, then by all means put your passion to work. Sometimes (most of the time), you need to get started with a business/offering and as you get good at it it becomes your passion, like the video posted by T-K discusses.

But what if your passion has no real earning potential, and your business doesn't become your primary passion? You're stuck in this situation of making good money, but pining to do something else. This is where you need to dig in and start making money as fast as you can - get your 10 million or whatever you need and then cut back so you can enjoy your passion without worrying about money. Which is basically what MJ DeMarco did.
 

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top