New guy from Michigan here, working on changing my mindset. Advice and insights greatly appreciated.

[ExecutionisKing]

Hey everyone, I’m Ryan, from Michigan, wanted to introduce myself after having been on here for a few months. I’ve found tons of gold nuggets of advice and experience strewn about on here, and am looking forward to finding more, and giving back some myself.
I’m a sophomore, at a local University, pursuing studies in “Business,” though I may focus on Finance, as well as Philosophy.
In case you didn’t scan for the length before you started, this is stupidly long. The two things I can’t do in writing are 1) stop writing and 2) stop editing my writing.

So, I realized after reading TMF that I’ve been raised as a die-hard slowlaner, pretty much all my life. My parents are huge Dave Ramsey followers/practitioners. I was watching his videos back when they were on VHS’s. I like the guy, and he teaches some good general money management habits, which are good for the majority of Americans who aren't smart with their money, but I have no issues managing money.

When I was little, I used to be so thrilled at what he showed the results of investing in the almighty-mutual-funds, reaped at the age of 65. It’s what MJ rightly calls “Wheelchair Wealth.” I’ve realized the odds of all these investments going according to plan is way against me, as well as the built-in assumption that I’ll have a consistent enough job that I can actually continue to invest over the course of my life...
While my parents have always encouraged college, and a career, I don’t know that they're against entrepreneurship. It’s just not something they’ve done before, and thus not passed to me.

My dad (head of finance/accounting/hr at a small business) has always told me college is the “best investment” I can make in myself. He’s too practical to be fully sold on the notion that college guarantees me a good-paying and long lasting career though... I think.

I think he just doesn’t want me to end up working at a dead end career, like so many people in their late teens/young 20’s do, for a low wage, and thinking that’s a success, because I could buy some nice things I wanted, and live a “semi-comfortable” lifestyle.
Like near me (since I'm a gearhead), where guys with low paying jobs flaunt “faux wealth,” with modded cars with rims that cost more than a month's pay. I have to be careful not to be drawn into that.

I've always been taught that the money now that they flashed was a terrible tradeoff compared to a college graduate's income from a good paying job, 5 years down the road.
This assumes I could get good paying job, but I understand the concept (which is true slowlane). I'm working on the mindset to take a step in a different direction, by creating my own roadmap of entrepreneurship. More on that later.

This book has really shattered and refreshed my mindset on how to approach/plan on having a successful life. Still re-wiring my mind, and learning lots from a lot on here in the process. I've also looked at changes in the industry I've always planned to be in, and have been trying to decide if it's a good decision.

I've always planned to be is an attorney. And I want to admit freely, but not unashamedly, that besides the fact that I’ve have many of the characteristics of a good attorney (in terms of reasoning, writing abilities, oral arguments, argument dissection/composition, or whatever else you want to make up), I really have always been highly driven by the money involved as well.

Please, no sighs of disgust yet. Stay with me!

I enjoy debating, writing arguments, dissecting cases- and enjoyed an internship with a commercial contracts attorney- but the top money that can be made in the top firms in the country (which I’ve planned my life around how to get into, it’s not just an unrealistic dream, though it is extremely hard) is what I’ve been chasing BIG TIME as well. More on this at the end, so you hopefully don't think I'm a lost cause...

[Hopefully without sounding like a sidewalker, I admit that I have an extremely strong desire to make money, coupled with a superb work ethic (some of which I credit to my upbringing), and I don't look for the short way out in life.

Essentially, I’m not looking for some get rich easy scheme (the book and this forum have made me a believer in the possiblity of getting rich quick ), but instead, I’ve chased things that were an exchange of lots of money (relative to most careers) and lots of time.
As an example, I’ve even chased things such as I-banking (since that’s in the finance field, which interests me), as that was an equally lucrative career, though I’m not sure I would find that as interesting. Insight on this and its relation to income in part two.

[Funny story, I remember calling into one of the top firms in the country (Skadden Arps) as a freshman in highschool (only like 5-6 years early…) and asking a whole sheet of questions. The lady asked at the end if I had an application in, and then definitely stifled a chuckle when I said I was in highschool still].

Back to business.

I'm not interested in the profession for the way Hollywood portrays it (inaccurately).
I have no issues with litigating, but am (was/have been) only interested in business disputes, if that makes sense. Besides not wanting to deal with the public sector, I"ll admit that my desire to not practice in any of those branches was encouraged by the severely lower income made (like by a state prosecutor or such).

I always planned to work at whatever firm I was hired by for 5-7 years, hope to make “equity partner” for a time, but leave within a decade, and start my own firm.
But drawing from the book, it looks to me like a corporate attorney is the epitome of “soul sucking corporate slavery” with how it violates the time commandment.
70 hours/week is considered normal, if not low, with hours regularly ranging from 85-100, with annual billable hour quotas (to blow past) if you ever want a chance at making partner (MJ did mention doctors/lawyer as being someone who could leverage time in their favor in a video, but I’m not sure that he was serious, since the biggest earners are also the biggest corporate slaves..?).

I realized that while A+A’s are mentioned as being an integral part of your business in TMF , they themselves are anything but Fastlane opportunities. There are always huge time commitments (at least for attorney's), even for a senior partner pulling in millions. Not to mention the violation of control (the partners who give you your work), and I think scale. I know there are some online “ask an attorney question” sites, but I doubt being "employed" there is Fastlane...
Luckily, that didn’t force me into what I am interested in (business related, like M&A’s, buyouts/takeovers, joint ventures, contracts, etc).
But, there has been a severe industry decline over the last few years (for quite a few reasons, won't get into that), and even though my whole life has been planned around it, I’m realizing that it really isn’t a wise decision right now.

Since I want to commit myself to solving needs via the Fastlane, it won't ever be a wise decision. So I'm working on parting ways with that, which is pretty tough, since it's been a life long plan. Again, this book has been an instrumental factor in making this decision.

So, that’s a lot of talk there. I’d appreciate any comments on it, or insights/suggestions for and/or about me anyone gets from reading this.

Now, on to part two. Told you this was long….

 

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[ExecutionisKing]

Why do I think I can become a successful entrepreneur? (and not turn into a wantrepreneur)
Forgive me for not having any mind blowing insights (seriously. I find them in so many other threads, but I don’t think there are any hidden here), as I’ve been engrossed in this school of thought for barely even 6 months (not an excuse! Or at least, it wasn’t supposed to be..)
Honestly, I’ve always loved making people happy, and finding out (secretly or by asking them offhand) about something they needed, and being able to give it to them, at the perfect time. That may seem to be a stark contrast to the first part of this, but it’s true. A love of giving gifts is the simple way to put it, I guess.

This, though, is heavily tied to my desire to earn money in that I love giving it away and solving someone’s problems with it as much as I love making it (since I’m a HUGE saver, making lots of it gives me a big adrenaline rush, but so does giving it away).
I’ve worked toward jobs that would have me making the “big money,” so I could enjoy my hobbies (I’m a car nut, among other things) later in life (since that would take up all my hours when I’m young, a time violation), and relax, but really, I want to be able to impact hundreds of thousands of people in giving money away to a number of organizations. Now, some personal characteristics that I think will help me in this.

-I’m a huge people person. Like crazy huge. I can initiate a conversation with anyone, at any time, for pretty much any length of time. I’m good at empathizing with people, and they will often drop hints and clues of things that are going wrong in their lives, even if we just met.

-I’m funny. This intro wasn’t meant to be funny at all, but I rarely meet someone that I didn’t make laugh within the first 15 seconds of meeting them. Not by making a dumb joke either, I usually draw from something they said. Quick witted may be a better term.

-Cliché, perhaps, but I’m an extremely self-motivating person, and am always driven to take that extra step, no matter the situation. Need to get the snowball started here, and let it chase me down the hill (or chase it, which is better?)

-I’m a hustler, but I still have amazing relational skills with people, and often make use of this in selling something. I remember 4th grade, at a new school, where it all started. Buying and selling things. One kid would give me a fruit roll up, I’d go to the other side of the cafeteria, and sell it to someone else for anywhere from 2-5 bucks depending on the kid, which was awesome to me, back then.
I did this with all kinds of food, constantly, where some days I didn’t actually remember to eat lunch.
There was also a counter in the cafeteria where people would put their full (unopened) milk cartons if they didn’t want them. I would always grab the one or two that were there, drink one, and sell the other one to someone else. Or, give the person a “deal” on the milk, in return for a “trade,” which I then went and sold to someone else.

This has transformed now into something I do with anything that I know I can make enough on for it to be worthwhile. Cars and bikes especially, but anything I’m interested in that I know can be profitable if I find the right deal. Phones, riding gear, electronic equipment, etc. Friends always want me to list their items, since I get more for them, and I take a small cut of the total deal.

I think I’ve been open so far, so I want to expose my other weakness (if money being a strong motivating factor is a weakness). I know ideas aren’t worth much, and the money is in the execution, so to speak.

For me, I actually have a hard time thinking of ideas that I don’t immediately “shoot down,” whether because I think they’re bad ideas, or because I can’t think of any way to implement them. I need to work on keeping my mind focused on one thing. It’s nearly impossible for me to stay on any one topic in my head without thinking of 100 different aspects of it, as well as 100 similar concepts. I’ve realize that a lot of the different angles are such intricate details that they aren’t necessary in the introductory stages.

I’ve forced myself to identify this as a wantrepreneur action, as it indicates a lack of commitment on my part, and while it’s bad, I’d agree with it. As I said, most of the ideas I think of, I shoot down. I need to develop ideas and plans to execute them, just to get into the habit, and then go into the real world and do the same thing in solving consumer needs.

I’ve read in a few spots on here that FEAR is the reason behind a lack of commitment in making a decision. I’m really not sure if that’s true or not for me. I mean I definitely need to find an idea, test and develop it, etc, but I’m not sure that fear is what stops me. I just tend to ridicule a lot of my own ideas as being useless (is that because I’m afraid of committing to them? Maybe fear and commitment are linked more closely than I thought)?

Last thing here, but unrelated. I was wondering the other day, what’s the point where reading business books becomes an action-faker move? I was going to order a few biographies written by some successful entrepreneurs that I’ve always admired, but don’t want to turn myself into a faker. But, I also don’t want to miss out on their good advice, since these are their own stories.

Thanks for reading this, even if you skimmed over it! I really appreciate all comments and feedback.

You now know why I could make an excellent contact attorney, if only for the document length…

 

[Elizabeth Shi]

What I’ve always planned to be is an attorney. And I want to admit freely, but not unashamedly, that besides the fact that I’ve have many of the characteristics of a good attorney (in terms of reasoning, writing abilities, oral arguments, argument dissection/composition, or whatever else you want to make up), I really have always been highly driven by the money involved as well.

Hey Ryan,
There's never really a "perfect time" when all of your house is in order.

For me when I decided to commit to my big project I basically realized that if I didn't, that I would hate myself forever for not having the guts to give it my everything(even if that meant failure).

Good luck buddy!

 

[yahdmon]

Easy to be a faker. You can look the part all you want but there are those who can tell a faker. Start to measure your wealth in free time or where you have something working for you... passive income. Reading entrepreneur books is separate from being one. You can read all you want but if you are not doing anything then you are Just a faker, an absorber of information with no plan to execute. Executing separate the Real from the fake. Fakers sit on the sidelines, outside of the game/process and generally never growing or advancing any further than from where they started. The ones that execute gain even when they fail or lose. They become mature entrepreneurs, they grow and learn and build up their sights, their business ability and are typically much better persons after the process compared to before they set out to execute what they perceived to be a business opportunity.

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[ExecutionisKing]

Shortened first post up a bit, hopefully it's more readable...

Hey Ryan,
There's never really a "perfect time" when all of your house is in order.

True enough. Do your risk taking before you settle down, because then it will be harder to motivate yourself to leave what's comfortable.

You can read all you want but if you are not doing anything then you are Just a faker, an absorber of information with no plan to execute. Executing separate the Real from the fake. Fakers sit on the sidelines, outside of the game/process and generally never growing or advancing any further than from where they started. The ones that execute gain even when they fail or lose.

Good reminder. Not trying to fake it, just enjoy learning things from different angles. Not going to spend my whole life obsessed reading books, but I feel like there are a couple that I need to check off my list.

 

[yahdmon]

Glad to hear it. You are in luck since there is thread with several books suggested for the fastlane minded person.

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