thomasc
New Contributor
Hi all. I would like to introduce myself and say hello to everyone.
I am Thomas, I grew up in Malaysia and I moved to Australia for uni. I am a full time Civil Engineer working in construction projects in the mine sites. I am currently still reading 'The Millionaire Fastlane ' and I am at Chapter 26. When MJ talked about how people around me can be disempowering slow lane influences, it just made sense to me, and that's how I found out about the Fastlane Forum. I signed up right away
I have always wanted to quit my full time job, I knew a job would not give me the wealth, freedom and the lifestyle I wanted. I realised that when
- I was stuck in Australia for work when a close family member was sick in Malaysia and I couldn't visit them
- My dad got into a massive fight and cut ties with his sister due to financial disagreement
- I ended a few long distance relationships due to my location and full time job's commitment
To try to quit my full time job, I started a small business on the side while working full time for the past 2-3 years. I am in the SEO and Lead Generation space, mainly helping local small-medium construction businesses (fencing, concreting, roofing, landscaping) get more customers. I consider myself 'Half' self taught. Been doing this by myself on a 'trial and error' basis, while buying different online courses (a couple that I no longer use and 1 of them doesn't even exist anymore... I am guilty of the shiny object syndrome) and trying different strategies to try to make things work. Have been making a lot of mistakes along the journey by not taking actions (or not quick enough), procrastinating, focusing on the wrong stuffs (making sure my website looks perfect instead of doing the sales) or avoiding uncomfortable tasks (making cold calls and pitching).
When I first started out in business, I often dwelled on my self-limitation and struggled with mental slumps and self doubt, due to the lack of success (alot of it caused by the mistakes mentioned above). Growing up in an Asian country as a second language English speaker, an introvert and someone with a STEM background, I avoided sales because I never thought I could do it well. So I spent 1-2 years doing SEOs and providing lead gen services for free to business owners that did not value what I was providing. I wasn't getting anywhere at all, which made me questioned my decisions and it wasn't great for my mental health.
Fast forward to a year ago, I decided that I wasn't going to quit and decided to confront the fear of doing what's uncomfortable to me. I started by reading books about sales and mindset (I will share them below if anyone's interested), a few of them helped me big time in breaking the introversion stereotypes and limitations I gave myself. I also listen to podcasts about business and sales, at the same time stumbled upon a few really cool communities in the same industry that helped me overcome the fear of making those sales calls and came up with sales processes that I could stick to. Since them, I am making progress that I am quite happy with (compared to the 2 years before I acquired my first real client).
I am nowhere near my goal yet and I am not planning on slowing down. I am constantly growing my business (although in a very slow but steady pace), have hired someone to help me full time last year and looking to hire one more person to help out. I am still trying to learn as much as I could, I still consider myself a beginner in the entrepreneurial space, so I am actually SUPER excited to learn heaps and connect with like minded people here. My first goal is to scale my business to 10x its current size and helping more clients. So I have recently been learning how to have a constant amount of potential leads by improving my prospecting process.
Extremely happy to have found this forum and community, as the people around me have very different goals and mindset (non fast lane). It is difficult to find someone that truly understands the journey I chose to take so I appreciate the opportunity to connect with like minded people here very much. Even my parents are low key doubting me when I told them I am about to quit my full time job to focus on business. As to my full time job, I am finishing up a construction project I am currently part of, as the team has some of the best people I have met in my life and I love them as coworkers, so I definitely have to do the right thing and help them succeed in this project for the last time. Looking to quit early next year when this project finishes and can't wait to put all my attention into growing my business.
Super excited to start making meaningful connections, learn and give back. Feel free to say hello to me, I would love a chat and open to making friends! Feel free to ask me questions too, I will definitely answer them and help out if I can.
***Sharing some of my favourite resources that helped me along my journey below, for anyone who might be interested***
- Book: The Introvert's Edge by Matthew Pollard (Taught me how and why introverts has the potential to sell better than extroverts)
- Book: Quiet by Susan Cain (The science behind introversion personality type, why it is not a limitation but a strength and how to utilise it)
- Book: Influence by Robert Cialdini (Science and the psychology of persuasion. Taught me how to recognise opportunities to 'influence' and persuade during a sales pitch)
- Book: Emyth by Michael Gerber
- Podcast/ Youtube: All of Alex Hormozi's contents
- Podcast/ Youtube: Jeremy Miner's NEPQ sales framework
- Others: My local Toastmaster club
and of course
- Book: The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco (I am still reading it but it has been given me multiple mini 'epiphanies' and made me ask myself the hard questions that I normally wouldn't pay attention to. I was still a little wishy washy with quitting my job before reading it, now I am very firm with wanting to quit and leave the slowlane for good. I can already say the book is life changing, and I am only halfway reading it).
*** And some random things about me and what I like, just want to leave it here***
- I'm in the digital marketing/SEO space
- I'm located in Australia (I am in Perth WA)
- I grew up in Malaysia and can speak Chinese
- I love ice cream, bubble tea with 0% sugar, gym, nasi lemak and bathroom karaoke
.
.
.
See you guys around.
Thomas
I am Thomas, I grew up in Malaysia and I moved to Australia for uni. I am a full time Civil Engineer working in construction projects in the mine sites. I am currently still reading 'The Millionaire Fastlane ' and I am at Chapter 26. When MJ talked about how people around me can be disempowering slow lane influences, it just made sense to me, and that's how I found out about the Fastlane Forum. I signed up right away
I have always wanted to quit my full time job, I knew a job would not give me the wealth, freedom and the lifestyle I wanted. I realised that when
- I was stuck in Australia for work when a close family member was sick in Malaysia and I couldn't visit them
- My dad got into a massive fight and cut ties with his sister due to financial disagreement
- I ended a few long distance relationships due to my location and full time job's commitment
To try to quit my full time job, I started a small business on the side while working full time for the past 2-3 years. I am in the SEO and Lead Generation space, mainly helping local small-medium construction businesses (fencing, concreting, roofing, landscaping) get more customers. I consider myself 'Half' self taught. Been doing this by myself on a 'trial and error' basis, while buying different online courses (a couple that I no longer use and 1 of them doesn't even exist anymore... I am guilty of the shiny object syndrome) and trying different strategies to try to make things work. Have been making a lot of mistakes along the journey by not taking actions (or not quick enough), procrastinating, focusing on the wrong stuffs (making sure my website looks perfect instead of doing the sales) or avoiding uncomfortable tasks (making cold calls and pitching).
When I first started out in business, I often dwelled on my self-limitation and struggled with mental slumps and self doubt, due to the lack of success (alot of it caused by the mistakes mentioned above). Growing up in an Asian country as a second language English speaker, an introvert and someone with a STEM background, I avoided sales because I never thought I could do it well. So I spent 1-2 years doing SEOs and providing lead gen services for free to business owners that did not value what I was providing. I wasn't getting anywhere at all, which made me questioned my decisions and it wasn't great for my mental health.
Fast forward to a year ago, I decided that I wasn't going to quit and decided to confront the fear of doing what's uncomfortable to me. I started by reading books about sales and mindset (I will share them below if anyone's interested), a few of them helped me big time in breaking the introversion stereotypes and limitations I gave myself. I also listen to podcasts about business and sales, at the same time stumbled upon a few really cool communities in the same industry that helped me overcome the fear of making those sales calls and came up with sales processes that I could stick to. Since them, I am making progress that I am quite happy with (compared to the 2 years before I acquired my first real client).
I am nowhere near my goal yet and I am not planning on slowing down. I am constantly growing my business (although in a very slow but steady pace), have hired someone to help me full time last year and looking to hire one more person to help out. I am still trying to learn as much as I could, I still consider myself a beginner in the entrepreneurial space, so I am actually SUPER excited to learn heaps and connect with like minded people here. My first goal is to scale my business to 10x its current size and helping more clients. So I have recently been learning how to have a constant amount of potential leads by improving my prospecting process.
Extremely happy to have found this forum and community, as the people around me have very different goals and mindset (non fast lane). It is difficult to find someone that truly understands the journey I chose to take so I appreciate the opportunity to connect with like minded people here very much. Even my parents are low key doubting me when I told them I am about to quit my full time job to focus on business. As to my full time job, I am finishing up a construction project I am currently part of, as the team has some of the best people I have met in my life and I love them as coworkers, so I definitely have to do the right thing and help them succeed in this project for the last time. Looking to quit early next year when this project finishes and can't wait to put all my attention into growing my business.
Super excited to start making meaningful connections, learn and give back. Feel free to say hello to me, I would love a chat and open to making friends! Feel free to ask me questions too, I will definitely answer them and help out if I can.
***Sharing some of my favourite resources that helped me along my journey below, for anyone who might be interested***
- Book: The Introvert's Edge by Matthew Pollard (Taught me how and why introverts has the potential to sell better than extroverts)
- Book: Quiet by Susan Cain (The science behind introversion personality type, why it is not a limitation but a strength and how to utilise it)
- Book: Influence by Robert Cialdini (Science and the psychology of persuasion. Taught me how to recognise opportunities to 'influence' and persuade during a sales pitch)
- Book: Emyth by Michael Gerber
- Podcast/ Youtube: All of Alex Hormozi's contents
- Podcast/ Youtube: Jeremy Miner's NEPQ sales framework
- Others: My local Toastmaster club
and of course
- Book: The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco (I am still reading it but it has been given me multiple mini 'epiphanies' and made me ask myself the hard questions that I normally wouldn't pay attention to. I was still a little wishy washy with quitting my job before reading it, now I am very firm with wanting to quit and leave the slowlane for good. I can already say the book is life changing, and I am only halfway reading it).
*** And some random things about me and what I like, just want to leave it here***
- I'm in the digital marketing/SEO space
- I'm located in Australia (I am in Perth WA)
- I grew up in Malaysia and can speak Chinese
- I love ice cream, bubble tea with 0% sugar, gym, nasi lemak and bathroom karaoke
.
.
.
See you guys around.
Thomas
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today
