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Do you feel stuck in a life that isn't right for you, needing an escape?
They say you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most of your time with. And not just the people. The media you consume, the culture you are in, and the environment as a whole. If you've been living one small town your entire life, you have no clue how the vibe and the culture of different cities can impact your energy levels, productivity, and happiness as a whole.
When I first joined the Fastlane forum, I was living in a small town of the East Coast that did not vibe well with me at all. People were always down and depressed when manufacturing plants kept closing down, people gossiping about small-town talk, politics, and waiting for the big thing to escape them. Fast food joints and deep fried cooking were the norm. Not a single hint of entrepreneurial spirit. I was living with my parents at the age of 25 who begged and screamed at me to get a job at Walmart...or the gas station down the road while mainstream news channels such as Fox News and MSNBC polluted the airwaves.
When I talked about my dreams of entrepreneurship, they told me I was crazy.
2012-2014: I had $250 to my name and packed my bags and drove to Scottsdale, Arizona. Eventually, in October 2013, I moved into a third story apartment with two other members from this forum called Project Scottsdale. Working a day job at the time of people talking my down from my entrepreneurial dreams, I came home to the mastermind accountability of likeminded Fastlaners, mentors, and positive encouraging people.
After six months, the three of us made that transition from Employee to full-time entrepreneurs for the first time. I went on to build a digital magazine business that finally started earning me a steady online income.
While my two roommates moved to New Mexico, I needed a break from the heat after two years of living in the desert of Scottsdale, Arizona; so I packed my car once again and moved to Boulder, Colorado with another member of this forum.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR8a8TDBUDc
Needing to de-stress from the really high-paced lifestyle of Scottsdale (day job for years, nights and weekends trying to build my first business), I decided to slow my life down and spend my days hiking through the mountains, partying with the college crowd until the wee hours of the morning, and get into a lot of personal development, zen, Buddhism, and other energy/power of the universe type of stuff that is common for those who attend CU Boulder and Naropa University.
Up until this point in my life, I've had few reference experiences of the cultures and vibes of different places:
Mount Shasta, California | September 2015
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PhD83gTu1M
After spending a few months living next to a State Park outside of Seattle, by the water, I traveled through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, back to Colorado, and out to the East Coast for the Winter, before moving back to Boulder for the Spring trying to relive the days of Project Scottsdale, renting out a sublet with a rooftop balcony overlooking the mountains. We called it Project Boulder.
Project Boulder quickly turned into an epic disaster, when the third room in this sublet was rented out by two high-school dropout ex-heroin addicts/potheads. They invited their other friends over to blast music, smoke weed, and party all the time; leaving myself having to buy a lock for my room so they wouldn't steal my stuff.
In this instance, I began to learn that it's not only the environment you surround yourself with, but the people that you surround yourself in that environment who impact your life as a whole.
After Project Boulder, I packed my bags and started traveling through Europe.
Malaga, Spain - Was full of traveling European college students, it had a seaport with cruise ships and was artificially touristy.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sn5mAvNJ6c
Milan Italy was full of great food, but somehow the vibe of the city wasn't welcoming to stay there for long.
Geneva, Switzerland - Was very high end, expensive, and upscale. The vibe of the city was great but the prices were insane.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azFaInyPhJ0
After going through London, Manchester, Eindhoven, Amsterdam, and other parts of Europe...
I began to realize that different cities, different countries, different cultures, and the people you surround yourself within each makes a huge impact on your life, who you become, your productivity, and happiness.
Whenever I needed that upbeat high-end living and working on the typical Fastlane business - I moved to Scottsdale. When I needed to relax and unwind, I would move back to Boulder. But when I lived in Boulder the previous times, I surrounded myself with the wrong type of people for the goals that I have.
Even with that being said, it's the place I love living in the most...out of everywhere I've been. It took a few years of traveling before I found my "home", but this is it...
Project Boulder 2.0
So this time, another Fastlaner and myself will be in Boulder, Colorado for September and October being very specific with the type of people we surround ourselves with. The two other times I lived in Boulder, I never really surrounded myself with the tech startup and entrepreneurial communities there. This time, I'll be surrounding myself in these communities and getting mentors, friends, and people to help each other succeed.
There's a meetup group 20 miles called Startup Longmont where a group of entrepreneurs have coffee once a week, and pitch practice (pitching investors/public speaking) once or twice a month.
There are entrepreneurial meetups in Denver, Boulder, and the surrounding areas. There's a core group of Fastlaners already here, which I don't know if they still do regular meetups as I've been traveling.
Exercise/Fitness - I'll start my mornings every day by hiking up through one of the trails of the foothills of the rocky mountains, or mountain biking through any of the hundreds of miles of trails of the city..
Writing my Books - Then, there is this coffee shop in town called Trident Coffee (owned by a man who is well known in the startup community), where I bring my laptop and write my books in the morning over a coffee and whatever that delicious thing is I keep eating
After that, I'll spend my days working from home on my business, eventually getting a desk at one of the local working spaces; getting my first business ready for sale and off my hands in 2018, and increasing sales and revenue for my current business.
Afternoon/Evenings - I'll mix it up between more mountain biking, farmers markets, going out with friends, networking events, and just living life. Surrounding myself with people I want to be around, doing the things I want to do.
After my current sublet is over at the end of October, I'll either get a long-term one bedroom apartment rental and make Boulder my permanent home, or pack my bags again and travel somewhere else for the winter before returning in the spring.
Project Boulder 2.0.
The reason I made this thread is to share my experiences of how different cities hold different vibes to it. When I first joined these forum and never left my comfort zone, I was surrounded by negative people in a negative environment who were holding me back from living the dreams that I had deep down inside.
After experiencing all sorts of different places, I noticed that each city and country I visited had a unique feel and uniqueness to it. And just like dating, when you go around and meet different people, you can finally decide what type of person you want to be with; it takes seeing different places, going out into the world and trying new things to see what works for you.
Because one day I'm going to die. And whereas each and every time I make this big move, I feel that nervousness of what might happen if I do it; looking back from my deathbed - all those fears I once had no longer matter and at least I wouldn't listen to the wishes of other people; and look back on a life of regret.
@Valor and I will be in Boulder until (at least) the end of October.
If anybody else is wanting a change of pace and surrounding yourself with likeminded entrepreneurs to really grow your network, you skills, your business, and your life...Project Boulder 2.0
This is not some official thing, just likeminded people moving together and individual sublets can be found on Craigslist.
If anybody else takes the leap - post on the thread here and we can meet up and form a mastermind of sorts when everyone is in town!
They say you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most of your time with. And not just the people. The media you consume, the culture you are in, and the environment as a whole. If you've been living one small town your entire life, you have no clue how the vibe and the culture of different cities can impact your energy levels, productivity, and happiness as a whole.
When I first joined the Fastlane forum, I was living in a small town of the East Coast that did not vibe well with me at all. People were always down and depressed when manufacturing plants kept closing down, people gossiping about small-town talk, politics, and waiting for the big thing to escape them. Fast food joints and deep fried cooking were the norm. Not a single hint of entrepreneurial spirit. I was living with my parents at the age of 25 who begged and screamed at me to get a job at Walmart...or the gas station down the road while mainstream news channels such as Fox News and MSNBC polluted the airwaves.
When I talked about my dreams of entrepreneurship, they told me I was crazy.
2012-2014: I had $250 to my name and packed my bags and drove to Scottsdale, Arizona. Eventually, in October 2013, I moved into a third story apartment with two other members from this forum called Project Scottsdale. Working a day job at the time of people talking my down from my entrepreneurial dreams, I came home to the mastermind accountability of likeminded Fastlaners, mentors, and positive encouraging people.
After six months, the three of us made that transition from Employee to full-time entrepreneurs for the first time. I went on to build a digital magazine business that finally started earning me a steady online income.
While my two roommates moved to New Mexico, I needed a break from the heat after two years of living in the desert of Scottsdale, Arizona; so I packed my car once again and moved to Boulder, Colorado with another member of this forum.
Needing to de-stress from the really high-paced lifestyle of Scottsdale (day job for years, nights and weekends trying to build my first business), I decided to slow my life down and spend my days hiking through the mountains, partying with the college crowd until the wee hours of the morning, and get into a lot of personal development, zen, Buddhism, and other energy/power of the universe type of stuff that is common for those who attend CU Boulder and Naropa University.
Up until this point in my life, I've had few reference experiences of the cultures and vibes of different places:
- Grew up 30 miles outside New York City - Bred for the slowlane 9-5 life.
- Lived in a small rural town in the south - depressing and negative environment.
- Scottsdale, Arizona - High-paced, positive, successful, and true Fastlane mentality.
- Boulder, Colorado - Relaxed, peaceful, more laid back culture; with a small pocket of very successful Tech Entrepreneurs and Venture Capitalists (which I didn't get to know on my first round there).
Mount Shasta, California | September 2015
After spending a few months living next to a State Park outside of Seattle, by the water, I traveled through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, back to Colorado, and out to the East Coast for the Winter, before moving back to Boulder for the Spring trying to relive the days of Project Scottsdale, renting out a sublet with a rooftop balcony overlooking the mountains. We called it Project Boulder.
Project Boulder quickly turned into an epic disaster, when the third room in this sublet was rented out by two high-school dropout ex-heroin addicts/potheads. They invited their other friends over to blast music, smoke weed, and party all the time; leaving myself having to buy a lock for my room so they wouldn't steal my stuff.
In this instance, I began to learn that it's not only the environment you surround yourself with, but the people that you surround yourself in that environment who impact your life as a whole.
After Project Boulder, I packed my bags and started traveling through Europe.
Malaga, Spain - Was full of traveling European college students, it had a seaport with cruise ships and was artificially touristy.
Milan Italy was full of great food, but somehow the vibe of the city wasn't welcoming to stay there for long.
Geneva, Switzerland - Was very high end, expensive, and upscale. The vibe of the city was great but the prices were insane.
After going through London, Manchester, Eindhoven, Amsterdam, and other parts of Europe...
I began to realize that different cities, different countries, different cultures, and the people you surround yourself within each makes a huge impact on your life, who you become, your productivity, and happiness.
Whenever I needed that upbeat high-end living and working on the typical Fastlane business - I moved to Scottsdale. When I needed to relax and unwind, I would move back to Boulder. But when I lived in Boulder the previous times, I surrounded myself with the wrong type of people for the goals that I have.
Even with that being said, it's the place I love living in the most...out of everywhere I've been. It took a few years of traveling before I found my "home", but this is it...
Project Boulder 2.0
So this time, another Fastlaner and myself will be in Boulder, Colorado for September and October being very specific with the type of people we surround ourselves with. The two other times I lived in Boulder, I never really surrounded myself with the tech startup and entrepreneurial communities there. This time, I'll be surrounding myself in these communities and getting mentors, friends, and people to help each other succeed.
There's a meetup group 20 miles called Startup Longmont where a group of entrepreneurs have coffee once a week, and pitch practice (pitching investors/public speaking) once or twice a month.
There are entrepreneurial meetups in Denver, Boulder, and the surrounding areas. There's a core group of Fastlaners already here, which I don't know if they still do regular meetups as I've been traveling.
Exercise/Fitness - I'll start my mornings every day by hiking up through one of the trails of the foothills of the rocky mountains, or mountain biking through any of the hundreds of miles of trails of the city..
Writing my Books - Then, there is this coffee shop in town called Trident Coffee (owned by a man who is well known in the startup community), where I bring my laptop and write my books in the morning over a coffee and whatever that delicious thing is I keep eating
After that, I'll spend my days working from home on my business, eventually getting a desk at one of the local working spaces; getting my first business ready for sale and off my hands in 2018, and increasing sales and revenue for my current business.
Afternoon/Evenings - I'll mix it up between more mountain biking, farmers markets, going out with friends, networking events, and just living life. Surrounding myself with people I want to be around, doing the things I want to do.
After my current sublet is over at the end of October, I'll either get a long-term one bedroom apartment rental and make Boulder my permanent home, or pack my bags again and travel somewhere else for the winter before returning in the spring.
Project Boulder 2.0.
The reason I made this thread is to share my experiences of how different cities hold different vibes to it. When I first joined these forum and never left my comfort zone, I was surrounded by negative people in a negative environment who were holding me back from living the dreams that I had deep down inside.
After experiencing all sorts of different places, I noticed that each city and country I visited had a unique feel and uniqueness to it. And just like dating, when you go around and meet different people, you can finally decide what type of person you want to be with; it takes seeing different places, going out into the world and trying new things to see what works for you.
Because one day I'm going to die. And whereas each and every time I make this big move, I feel that nervousness of what might happen if I do it; looking back from my deathbed - all those fears I once had no longer matter and at least I wouldn't listen to the wishes of other people; and look back on a life of regret.
@Valor and I will be in Boulder until (at least) the end of October.
If anybody else is wanting a change of pace and surrounding yourself with likeminded entrepreneurs to really grow your network, you skills, your business, and your life...Project Boulder 2.0
This is not some official thing, just likeminded people moving together and individual sublets can be found on Craigslist.
If anybody else takes the leap - post on the thread here and we can meet up and form a mastermind of sorts when everyone is in town!
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