Progress Thread : CY's fastlane prerequisites journey.

[Carson Yim]

Hi all, CY here.

I've been thinking if I should record my progress towards the fastlane here, instead of wasting more time over-analyzing this I've decided to chart my progress using this thread.

Why do this?
-I hope what I'm going through can benefit others as well, it might not be much but I'm well on my way.
-It also serves to gain me a little altitude at the end of a day's work, and see if I have did indeed fulfilled my target of doing something to improve myself.
-It serves as an accountability switch for me, if I know I have put myself out here to let you guys know that I will stay away from things that waste my time. I will stay on track with the things that will benefit me and get more of the high priority things done.

Where I am now,
1. Ended a long term relationship during beginning of the year, huge wake up call that I had issues I needed to resolve on my own.
2. Recently quit my Mon-Fri 925 job, I am still working as a part time lecturer at my local college once a week at the moment for survival. Freeing up 6 days to work on myself.
3. Recently started a fitness routine 3 weeks back, committed to it ever since.
4. Have a bad habit of Facebooking for hours, and get distracted throughout the day by watching Youtube videos.
5. Am writing an ebook that I target to benefit at least 100 people. I consider this my very first step into making a difference. My work as a CG generalist have so far benefited pretty much only my employer, so pardon me for a modest aim of 100. I wish to take things one step at a time, I want consistent growth vs instantaneous growth that don't last.

Here's my take on moving towards the fastlane, in order for me to make a big difference in other's lives I must make a positive difference in mine first.

I will fulfill my 2 prerequisites before taking on other fastlane ideas I have written on my cupboard,

Prerequisite #1: Health - Mental, Physical, Emotional.
Prerequisite #2: Self-management - self-discipline, Speed of implementation, maintenance of prerequisite #1.

Prerequisite #1a : Mental Health,
-I have a shitty attitude even after 2 years of work on my mind. I realized the moment I stopped consciously watching my thoughts, my mind switches back to turd mode. I have been monitoring my own thoughts for 1 month now, and I will continue to put a lot of work into this part of my life.

Prerequisite #1b : Physical Health,
-I've been taking my body for granted for almost 2 years now, overworking it and sleeping little. Pure disrespect. I've recently quit my mon-fri 925 job, and have since started to put in the work to get ample rest, a better physique, watching my diet, and get stronger in terms of agility and stamina. Without health as a foundation, any wealth that follows will be wasted.

Prerequisite #1c : Emotional Health,
-Taking a huge rejection post breakup, I realized how lousy my emotional control was. I have taken the time to fix this part of my life, and get control of my emotions. Still a long way to go, but I know the effort will pay off in the future when I begin my journey into the fastlane.

Prerequisite #2a : Self-discipline,
-My self-discipline was a limp muscle, thanks to me always taking the easy way out in life. Asking for directions instead of thinking about what I want, and always looking to my leader to make decisions for me. Citing my uber excuse, "I'm better as a follower." Pure self-denial BS. I have been exercising my self-discipline for the first month, and will be monitoring my self-discipline in this thread as I go about prerequisites 1.

Prerequisite #2b : Speed of implementation,
-I have always taken the easy way out, the usual procrastination path. "I'll get to it tomorrow, I'm too tired to get it done now." Pure self-defeating BS. I have been immediately resolving problems that pops up on my mind on the spot. I will put in the progress here as I continue to catch myself trying to pull a self-deceiving thought and share what I have learned.

Prerequisite #2c : Maintenance of prerequisites #1,
-Starting something is always easier than maintaining it, so I will continuously monitor my continuation or evolution of prerequisite #1. It's either I improve it further, or maintain it.

It's been 1 month that I've been doing this, and here are what I've learned,

1. I can think better, and assess what is truly beneficial for my future when I am alone without all the noise and distractions such as negative people, naysayers, gossiping, and an overworked schedule. When I began 'evolving' my attitude to a more independent one, I noticed my peers growing uncomfortable with that subtle change. I learned that I have to, "keep your friends, but change your peers." I've been surrounding myself with successful 'people' ever since. They are all in various formats like books, audio programs, video programs and this forum. I've actively cut down hanging out with my old peers, I feel stronger without the noise.

2. Working on myself was the best investment I've ever made, everything I do now is for my own future and it feels great. It's no longer about working for someone, neglecting and sacrificing my own future to put more profits into their pockets. As long as today I do something different to generate a better tomorrow, I'm down for it.

3. After quitting my life-sucking 925 job only solving my employer's need, I have freedom to forge my own future through health of mind & body and start putting together a plan to satisfy a larger need than just my employer's.

4. When I have time for clarity of thought, I realized the more time I hesitate about doing the right thing the more I will die unsatisfied with life. Yes I think about death on and off now, it's scary but it's great motivation & reality check.

5. I learned that with a plan, things get done. Setting target dates helped a lot. I had a weak muscle when it came to planning prior to this, took me roughly about 3 months to get the hang of daily planning and review.

6. If I don't push myself, no one else would bother. It's mind-numbing some times when I'm trying to break an old destructive habit, takes a lot of will power. I just recently rearranged my room just so I can break my self-programmed habit of sitting down on my work desk at the old position and getting hooked off to surfing social networking sites, and watching countless videos on Youtube. It's working well so far, going to do whatever it takes to forge a new habit.

7. By using an accountability partner, I 'hired' my close friend to make sure I texted him before 10pm when I rest every night or else I'd have to pay him a 50 bucks penalty if I was late for bedtime. This is working great so far, lights are always out by 10pm. Of course if I had something important to do that would eventually delay my lights out time, I have to inform him. Keyword, important.

8. I realized one of the key difference between the successful vs the mediocre is 'conscious thought monitoring and control'. One consciously choose thoughts that propel them to the next level in life, while the other let their unconscious thoughts run their lives.

That's all for today, I will continue to update this thread with more useful information and techniques I will come across in my journey in easy-to-digest point forms instead of such a long post when I have something worthwhile to share I'm back to work!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Carson Yim]

Quick update on some realizations,

1. I still have what I call Fear Of Wealth Syndrome (FOWS) from time to time. It's when you fear having more wealth by having to let go of some old friends, beliefs, behaviors, routines that no longer serve you. Or even break your own record, it's scary to outdo yourself.

2. Be selective. Be selective with every single thing in your life. I've been a bit of a 'difficult' person lately because I'm very selective on how I do things, what I read, what I listen to, who I surround myself with. Guard your doors to your mental garden, some friends have more access than others. Be careful with them as well, they might just slip some weeds into your garden unintentionally.

3. Self-motivate. I use Youtube as my playlist. I collected motivational videos from movies and Porsche commercials. Water the plants in your mental garden, pull out the weeds. Only you will care enough to do that for yourself.

4. This journey/process is a lonely one. It's a fair sacrifice when looking long term. Your old peers most likely won't follow you on the hunt for new beliefs, new perception, and new behaviors that will serve you better. They love their comfort zones.

5. Received a call from ex-employer, he wants me back and he's willing to pay more and shower me with more benefits. Short term vs long term, I chose the latter. I'm willing to sacrifice this better pay for engineering a durable wealthy future. Don't chase money, create a machine that spins off money.

6. Emotional or Logical? I've made a lot of choices in the past based on emotions, it didn't get me far. It was for an instant gratification hit. Now I think long term, delaying gratification has an odd feeling to it. "It will all be mine one day, as long as I stick to the process." It's akin to a chinese saying, "Taste bitter first, sweetness comes after."

That's all for now, back to work!

 

[Carson Yim]

First roadblock,
1. Putting together information that came to my mind in bits and pieces is a real challenge, having to figure out where each will fit appropriately is a tough nut to crack. Like a rough sketch, I gotta figure out where each line will land aesthetically.

2. When I zoomed out of what I'm currently occupied with, I realized there is a multitude of things that I need to get done right after the first task of compiling the ebook such as the website, blog, SEO, squeeze-page, etc-etc. Figuring out how to task each one with sufficient time is a challenge too, since this is my first attempt.

3. Little voices in my head is singing me songs to give up and just take the easy way out, it's scary when you become aware of them. Like water sirens from the depths of darkness waiting to pull you down into the abyss with them. I'm going to persevere regardless, no one's going to get me there but myself.

I'm going to continue and push through until bedtime tonight, gonna grab me some food now.

 

[Carson Yim]

Quick update for personal reference.

1. I hit a realization that I must own myself first: own my thoughts, own my emotions, own my physical body. If I don't take full responsibilities for the thoughts, emotions and actions that I have, and not harness the hidden dormant potentials. Nothing outside of me will get done. Everything starts from inside of me, the act of owning this trinity is practicing willpower. Training my mind so my emotions and physical body will follow.

2. It's been a week without Facebook, I feel good. Nothing changed for the worse, in fact it has helped me stay focused at the task at hand. Favorable, now I plan to stay way from Facebook until the end of the year. The only time I will enter Facebook again will be to start my organization page.

3. I noticed how I have an addiction I now term as, information-snacking & entertainment-snacking. When I work throughout the day, I tend to have such thoughts creep into my head. This breaks focus that takes twice as long to regain.

4. Physical exercise is still on going, feeling great entering the 4th week. I feel more confident with myself. I guess it's because I can discipline myself to wake up and stick to the exercise routine. Favorable, I will keep this going until year end.

5. My aunt just recently passed on peacefully, it made me think about my own mortality. How time will dart me by, TIME IS KING. Waste not one second thinking of things that shackle you down, keep moving forward. Mortality is a great motivator, companion, and ego-checker.

6. Been getting rid of a lot of things I own, it's counter-intuitive. But I feel a lot lighter when I operate in the world, the lesser I own the faster I'm able to move.

That's all for now, full day of work ahead.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.