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Future Fastlaner from Europe

Mr. Tusk

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One important thing about real estate investing. In our country the rental market for studio apartments has stalled. Luckily all my apartments are rented at the moment (although I took some empty months) but the market was flooded with Air BnB apartments + students didn't arrive last Autumn to capital region + institution investors are happy with smaller ROI and due to low interest rates are also buying rental apartments. This has caused a shortage of good tenants.

Ok, we all know the market is cyclical. So, I will just see the money piling in and not buying more apartments at the moment. In 3-4 years I have a change to either sell the whole portfolio or start to pay back the loans with will obviously decrease monthly NOI. Who knows - perhaps I use the money for the garage.
 
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Mr. Tusk

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Some interesting things happening. I was asked to join a start-up with almost similar idea that the one we are working with. They had pre-seed for more than 1meur, system doesn't exists and they are working for demo and the seed round. Already hiring for a sales director for 150keur+ per year.

The market is hothothot. One of our acquaintances just did a B or C round for circa 50meur and the valuations in our industry are sky-high.

Our ambition for the seed round is before summer next year and detach from the day job at the same time (after the sales bonuses are paid). We are now working with demo of the system and mapping the MVP (Minimum Viable Product). The core team is seasoned veterans. Everybody is over 45 and has hard core expertise in their field. Exciting for sure.

Btw when I mentioned before that I felt that I am not living up to my full abilities - I feel that I am narrowing the gap now.
 

Mr. Tusk

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Happy 2022!

Some updates:
*Two weeks of skiing cleared my mind pretty well at the turn of the year.
*It seems that everything is aligning well according to our new business. We have been focusing on planning the system further and started UX design. We should have the spend for the first year ready in two weeks. With that we can evaluate the needed funding better.
*Took 80k loan to build the garage. So that is still happening this year also. Will use 20k to purchase a piece of one particular property.
*I have been trying (trying!) to get my head right. In the same manner as you should take care of your body, you should use 30min to train your mind daily. I am using generative coaching approach for myself (long story, might share later).
*On mental side - I am sometimes amazed how majority of people don't seem to seize the opportunities even though they are staring at their face or even slapping them in the face. This was very true with our previous IT company when all the starts aligned and future customers even came to the home of the co-founder trying to give their money. But still he managed to decline and escape. Like Jim Rohn said: "some people do, some people don't. That's one of the mysteries of life." As I understand, Mr. Rohn means that you shouldn't use your time to figure why some people don't do but just focus of doing all you can yourself.
*Because of the above, I launched a term: "allow yourself to receive" and keeping focus that I am in relaxed state of mind, "allowing myself to receive" the opportunities appearing on constant basis. Don't misunderstand - you need to grind and be active as always. This is just that final tweak to your mindset to keep you in a peak state.
*During this month, I will start the seed round negotiations. My goal is 2.5m, other founders think few hundred k pre-seed with a runway to MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and then a proper seed round in the autumn.
*On personal finance level - I need to do my calculations. We are planning to have a modest salary which will cut my income by 2/3. Auch.... short term pain, long term gain...
 

Mr. Tusk

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Some interesting updates within a week.

I noticed that I was ruminating past missed opportunities and have made a continuous effort of starting each day as day 0 - the first day of the rest of my life. Added with some visualization will keep me operational in the right mood and with high clock speed. And things have certainly changed:

*I changed the model how I am running the sales unit in my daily work. I went back to basics with adding speed, pressure to the customer end and counting meetings weekly.

*Our local distributer contacted us and wanted to buy our manufacturing company. There is a lot of potential in the company but frankly we just don’t have time to run it and scale it properly.

*The MOST interesting thing. I got contacted by a startup situated in a warm location. They are ramping up before the A-round. They had a seed round for close to 40musd and now are going towards the A-round backed up by some serious VC players. They have 100 people onboard and I have now a chance to step in as leading sales and marketing and reporting directly to the CEO. I know the industry already very well since I was a part of the same development in our home market where the market leader was in the end bought by 2Busd. So, they are in the same process in their region right now and the big exits are coming in 3-4 years. They are putting a lot on the table to get me: relocation package, good salary (haven’t discussed it yet in detail) and a sizable chunk of the company. Here is an extremely good opportunity to make ten million or so in few years. If you compare to our startup in the works - this is like hopping on a moving train. In comparison, the risk is smaller, exit closer and I could just continue doing what I have perfected as four years as a sales director. This would also mean stepping out of the startup process I started myself. It would also mean moving to other country with my family. Some tough decisions to make when we get further to sign the agreement.

*About the power of visualization: the country where I would be located in the recent offer is the same county where we would need to live for few years after the exit (due some planning reasons that shall remain a business secret) if we start our own startup. I have been visualizing the end state where the company has been started, scaled and sold. Now, I get an offer to be located in the same place in few months. I have noticed the same thing before about how the visualization works - you should visualize your day and mid-term end state. If you visualize your long-term end state, you will get dragged towards that in some strange way. Ok - a luxury problem: now I utilize “allowing myself to receive”, get after it and see how it goes. I will keep you posted.
 
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Mr. Tusk

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It has been ups and downs.

*I messed up the start-up case. Totally my own mistake. I thought I was the only person they contacted and was too confident and didn't make my business plan in advance. And after meeting CEO, I learned there were five people they headhunted. I was HR's favourite but was not in the top three. Upside of this was 20-30mil in next 3-5 years when exiting. Took some time to recover from this as we were already checking out schools, living costs etc. for family relocation

*On the day job it seems that my sales unit will be dismantled and the sales managers and KAMs are allocated to delivery unit. I am not worried or unhappy. It's a time for a change in any case. Hopefully they will offer me a six month package but probably not.

*Very much increased demand for the manufacturing company due to war in Ukraine. We haven't sold the company yet and probably will not but will outsource retail sales to our distributor. Still the same problem with limited time.

*In general, I have come to conclusion that it is about a time to move abroad. The economic growth has just about stalled in Europe and the huge actions against climate change will kill the growth even more. The time plan is: build the garage, sell everything sellable, streamline, get stuff under control and sell the house in Spring 2023.

*On our own fintech, we have continued the work with both the design and the funding. We have local VCs and seed funds + few private investors in the loop. Looking good and let's see how it moves forward. Funny thing, I also had a meeting with a family office of a family that has 200bUSD networth. Let's see if something comes out of that.

Getting from slowlane to fastlane seems to tougher than I thought. I will keep you posted.
 

Mr. Tusk

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I feel you, always ups and downs, we need to relativize them



Which country are you thinking about?
A country that is in an upward trajectory but not too much of a developing country. UAE is my best bet at the current time.
 
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Mr. Tusk

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Some updates:
*Day job is done. I cannot disclose any details due to contractual reasons but from May I am a free man. Damn it feels good. Freedom feels good.
*Negotiations for funding still ongoing.
*I got offered a board position on one company closely connected to our Fintech. I gladly accepted. There is very little money in it but the learning experience and new connections will be enormous.
*I am personally starting to feel a lot better. There was some huge stress in the final weeks and after agreement to leave the day job was done but that is slowly evaporating.
*Outlook for the future is extremely bright in my mind. Let the fast lane journey begin!
 

Andy Black

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Andy Black

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heavy_industry

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@Mr. Tusk

Amazing story, very inspiring.

I bookmarked this thread and will read it a few times because there are a lot of gems of wisdom in here. Congratulations for everything and best of luck with anything that you will do in the future.

I have a few questions that are not directly related to business, but rather your lifestyle:
  1. You said you train in the gym in the morning. Do you do strength or cardio? Which one is better for mental benefits?
  2. Do you drink coffee or use any other stimulants to boost your performance?
  3. What are the most important things that enable you to live a highly productive life?

Thank you!
 

JasperDeMuynck

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@Mr. Tusk

Amazing story, very inspiring.

I bookmarked this thread and will read it a few times because there are a lot of gems of wisdom in here. Congratulations for everything and best of luck with anything that you will do in the future.

I have a few questions that are not directly related to business, but rather your lifestyle:
  1. You said you train in the gym in the morning. Do you do strength or cardio? Which one is better for mental benefits?
  2. Do you drink coffee or use any other stimulants to boost your performance?
  3. What are the most important things that enable you to live a highly productive life?

Thank you!
Also interested in that!
 

Mr. Tusk

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I have a few questions that are not directly related to business, but rather your lifestyle:
  1. You said you train in the gym in the morning. Do you do strength or cardio? Which one is better for mental benefits?
  2. Do you drink coffee or use any other stimulants to boost your performance?
  3. What are the most important things that enable you to live a highly productive life?
Thanks for your kind words. Let me try to answer:
1) I am doing strength 3-4 times per week and then running 2-3 per week. I try to keep it flexible e.g. I used to do a workout based around the three basic movements: Mon - benchpress Wed - squats Fri - deadlift, Tue and Thu 6km run and a longer and slower run on Sat. Now I am actually doing gym four times per week with special program designed to improve Alpine skiing. Don't forget yoga and stretching. My approach was originally based on a concept called "Corporate Athlete" but I have adjusted it during the years. Also check Hintsa performance. If they are good enough to run the human performance for McLaren-Mercedes, they are good enough for me ;).

2) Coffee in the mornings. I also take Omega3 (mornings) and B12 (evenings) for the brain, D3 and some other supplements.

3) Purpose. That keeps me going. Everything else is supplementary. Time will pass in any case - just keep getting after it.

Note that I am not doing everything all the time. If I do 80% then I am all good. I also like my cigars and cognac!
 
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Mr. Tusk

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Dear Friends,

It has been quite a ride. Let me update you what has happened in the few months. Didn’t actually go as planned but life never does.

Personal:
  • After getting rid of the day job, it was quite difficult to push forward with the start-up. I was a bit amazed where all the hesitancy came from.
  • I realized I was probably (and had been for some years) in a state of a slow burnout. I made test and I scored 60/75 on full burnout scale. I realized that is was just so F*cking frustrating to work with people who were managing 150musd business with more than 1000 employees that badly. It really really really pissed me off every day and I can now in hindsight see that I needed a month or two to recover.
  • I have lately started to do Wim Hof Method breathing and meditation and in general I seem to find my (true) self. I feel a lot more content and that feel that I have found my MOJO after several years.
  • However, I am still not 100% e.g. I worked a 16hr day and I was so exhausted I needed to rest the next day. I am currently 70-80% of capacity but I will eventually get back to 120% with full MOJO.
  • It is very important to be true to yourself and just be yourself, nobody else. I try to start each day by feeling: a) acceptance to everything in my current situation. It’s all on my responsibility and I don’t need to be accountable to anyone about everything. That is the only way I can start to do things without extra tension to fulfil anyone else’s ambitions. In short: just be yourself. B) curiosity toward everything. That also keeps the extra tension away and gets me better into the flow state. C) general happiness and gratitude. Just to feel good for no particular reason…
Business – start-up:
  • When we started the start-up, I started immediately negotiating with VCs (Venture Capital). Valuations were still sky-high but with the war in Ukraine, interest rates going up and general uncertainty in the world, the fintech start-up market crashed. You can google PayPal, KLARNA etc. to get more info.
  • We still had a good idea and if would have been 2019, we would get 2m pre-seed, 5m seed, 30m A round and push global in two years. So, we needed to pivot. We still had one very good co-op agreement negotiation on-going and decided to build on that. So, instead of massive launch, we decided to bootstrap the development out of our own pocket. The goal is that we would be employing two persons and the revenue from the company would cover the costs. Then we could do either organic growth or pivot after we have the first customer in production and a revenue stream up. This also means that I need additional sources of income – let’s get back to that later.
  • The founding team is a bit off: we are missing a guy who has done it before and is known in start-up circles. Even what you read in newspapers the circles are very small and VCs and founders are working with people they know.
Business – manufacturing company:
  • We have got good cases due to the war in Ukraine boosting up demand. Still bidding for the real big ones.
  • I am thinking of scaling this business. Somehow getting the revenue up to maintain two employees seems difficult. Need to get back to this later.
General economy and effects on investing
  • I feel a recession coming. I am liquidating my real-estate portfolio. In recession you need a lot of cash as you can buy things in bargain prices and after two years they are back to normal prices again. That’s why the rich get richer during recession and I would like to be a one of them.
  • Please keep in mind that my real-estate vehicle was a growth economy vehicle, it doesn’t work during higher interest rates, dropping housing prices and less demand
Back to the day job:
  • I started to look for a day job. First I thought that hey now is a good chance to actually change the country. So, I have been applying to interesting “VP sales” type of roles around the world. Here is also a good chance to put the salary in order. My goal is to get 250k fix + 100% bonuses on target without a cap. This would sustain ok lifestyle and actually would bring additional income to invest in businesses (or keep in a pocket waiting for the recession). However, it seems that just applying from linkedin and talking with headhunters isn’t going to cut it. You need to get into the company with your own relationships and actively sell yourself directly to these companies.
  • I do have a board position and few advisory positions that I get some income. I could expand this as a business. Remains to be seen.
  • In addition I have been doing some phone consultancy and have managed to push my hourly rate for more than 1.000usd. I could do this the whole day but unfortunately these are few in a month. Anyway few extra kilos of monopoly money per month.
  • In getting back to the day job, I have had some requirements for myself: person to company fit/ company to person fit => both need to fit, product to market fit => I don’t like to sell stuff in mature market with price competition, I need the extra hype and vibe. 3) compensation and future outlook. I am mainly looking on D series funded Fintecs that will be IPOd in few years to come.
  • I have started two projects to help companies going global. I seem to have this skill and knowledge that is scarce in the market.

I will keep you in the loop. Have a nice day all. It's morning and I will hit the gym. Just used an hour to write this instead of just going :) :) :)
 

JamesQB8

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Dear Friends,

It has been quite a ride. Let me update you what has happened in the few months. Didn’t actually go as planned but life never does.

Personal:
  • After getting rid of the day job, it was quite difficult to push forward with the start-up. I was a bit amazed where all the hesitancy came from.
  • I realized I was probably (and had been for some years) in a state of a slow burnout. I made test and I scored 60/75 on full burnout scale. I realized that is was just so F*cking frustrating to work with people who were managing 150musd business with more than 1000 employees that badly. It really really really pissed me off every day and I can now in hindsight see that I needed a month or two to recover.
  • I have lately started to do Wim Hof Method breathing and meditation and in general I seem to find my (true) self. I feel a lot more content and that feel that I have found my MOJO after several years.
  • However, I am still not 100% e.g. I worked a 16hr day and I was so exhausted I needed to rest the next day. I am currently 70-80% of capacity but I will eventually get back to 120% with full MOJO.
  • It is very important to be true to yourself and just be yourself, nobody else. I try to start each day by feeling: a) acceptance to everything in my current situation. It’s all on my responsibility and I don’t need to be accountable to anyone about everything. That is the only way I can start to do things without extra tension to fulfil anyone else’s ambitions. In short: just be yourself. B) curiosity toward everything. That also keeps the extra tension away and gets me better into the flow state. C) general happiness and gratitude. Just to feel good for no particular reason…
Business – start-up:
  • When we started the start-up, I started immediately negotiating with VCs (Venture Capital). Valuations were still sky-high but with the war in Ukraine, interest rates going up and general uncertainty in the world, the fintech start-up market crashed. You can google PayPal, KLARNA etc. to get more info.
  • We still had a good idea and if would have been 2019, we would get 2m pre-seed, 5m seed, 30m A round and push global in two years. So, we needed to pivot. We still had one very good co-op agreement negotiation on-going and decided to build on that. So, instead of massive launch, we decided to bootstrap the development out of our own pocket. The goal is that we would be employing two persons and the revenue from the company would cover the costs. Then we could do either organic growth or pivot after we have the first customer in production and a revenue stream up. This also means that I need additional sources of income – let’s get back to that later.
  • The founding team is a bit off: we are missing a guy who has done it before and is known in start-up circles. Even what you read in newspapers the circles are very small and VCs and founders are working with people they know.
Business – manufacturing company:
  • We have got good cases due to the war in Ukraine boosting up demand. Still bidding for the real big ones.
  • I am thinking of scaling this business. Somehow getting the revenue up to maintain two employees seems difficult. Need to get back to this later.
General economy and effects on investing
  • I feel a recession coming. I am liquidating my real-estate portfolio. In recession you need a lot of cash as you can buy things in bargain prices and after two years they are back to normal prices again. That’s why the rich get richer during recession and I would like to be a one of them.
  • Please keep in mind that my real-estate vehicle was a growth economy vehicle, it doesn’t work during higher interest rates, dropping housing prices and less demand
Back to the day job:
  • I started to look for a day job. First I thought that hey now is a good chance to actually change the country. So, I have been applying to interesting “VP sales” type of roles around the world. Here is also a good chance to put the salary in order. My goal is to get 250k fix + 100% bonuses on target without a cap. This would sustain ok lifestyle and actually would bring additional income to invest in businesses (or keep in a pocket waiting for the recession). However, it seems that just applying from linkedin and talking with headhunters isn’t going to cut it. You need to get into the company with your own relationships and actively sell yourself directly to these companies.
  • I do have a board position and few advisory positions that I get some income. I could expand this as a business. Remains to be seen.
  • In addition I have been doing some phone consultancy and have managed to push my hourly rate for more than 1.000usd. I could do this the whole day but unfortunately these are few in a month. Anyway few extra kilos of monopoly money per month.
  • In getting back to the day job, I have had some requirements for myself: person to company fit/ company to person fit => both need to fit, product to market fit => I don’t like to sell stuff in mature market with price competition, I need the extra hype and vibe. 3) compensation and future outlook. I am mainly looking on D series funded Fintecs that will be IPOd in few years to come.
  • I have started two projects to help companies going global. I seem to have this skill and knowledge that is scarce in the market.

I will keep you in the loop. Have a nice day all. It's morning and I will hit the gym. Just used an hour to write this instead of just going :) :) :)
Enjoying reading about your journey. I've had some similar experiences throughout this last year with different business and some experimental projects.

Keep us updated
 

Mr. Tusk

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Dear Friends,

Updates from the journey. It has been a bit bumpy but not dull.

Personal:
  • I had a bit of a slump and have been exercising that much
  • I am starting to get back my MOJO again but only lately. I have had some C-level meetings, but I have not been at my best until lately. Just stupid mistakes, not being on top of my game, and feeling diffident and reserved.
  • I also took some private lessons with “speech institute” for just sounding better, but I also got good advice on communicating better in general. You see, I am a big dude 6’2” and 200lbs (188cm and 90kg) with a deep voice. If I am too direct and perhaps add a “F*ck” of two, then people get easily, if not outright scared at least, tuned off. Very important learning and also useful at home. In my interactions after that I have been trying to be friendly and “test if the other person would be my best friend.” I learned that technique years ago – works always.
  • I am running out of money. The F*cking garage took 100k to build, interests are high and my package is running out.
  • I have been studying stoic philosophy. I greatly recommend this – it really helps to clear your mind. You can start by listening to the “Daily Stoic” book from Audible.
General economy:
  • I don’t understand the Central Banks raising interest rates. Well, I do understand since that’s what you do when the economy is overheating, and you have high inflation. However, in our case, the inflation is only caused by energy prices due to the Russian attack on Ukraine and the subsequent cut-off of Russian cheap natural gas (which Germany used to create electricity). So, when the high energy price goes upstream through the prices of all goods and services, you have inflation. But it’s not real inflation caused by an overheated economy but a market anomaly. The correct measure – in my opinion – would have been to subsidize the energy prices or dismantle the energy exchange in Europe (Nordpool) which is not operating properly now. I do have some understanding about this since I have M.Sc. in Economics, doing PhD and everything.
  • This got me, since I would have liquidated my real-estate portfolio in a heartbeat if I had seen higher interest rates coming. My original plan was to not mind about even the burst of the housing bubble since I had tenants and a steady stream of income, and I could have waited even 10 years for the prices to increase again BUT now I will have negative NOI in 2024 and that’s not good.
  • We are on the brink of a recession. There will be super-good deals for those who have cash. Just wait until the summer. I remember this from 2008-2009.
Business – start-up
  • The progress has been surprisingly slow. But we are bootstrapping this.
  • I have also concluded that I am not a start-up founder type (more on that later).
  • We have one interesting collaboration company that we are negotiating with. It’s basically a similar company to ours but with 10m of funding and 5 years of development.
Business – manufacturing company
  • We are going to reach 100k revenue this year, but we are just not getting big contracts.
  • I will need to decrease my commitment here if I get the new day job.
Back to the day job:
  • The processes have been very frustrating. I have my linked and CV SEOd but the market behaviour is very rude. Headhunters don’t typically get back, there is no transparency or any kind of feedback.
  • I have worked 3-4 days a week for my friend’s company to advise them on sales. With this work, I realized that consultancy is my way. In my previous work at one of the big five consultancy companies, I was the happiest and the most engaged that I have ever been in my work life. It feels like I am back!
  • Now I have one good offer from a US consultancy company’s local office in APAC. I turned the first offer down (the offer was more than 100k more per year than from my head of sales job) and asked for 50% more and a higher position (my wife thought I should have accepted in a heartbeat). I am hoping to negotiate fast and close this case in late Jan (as everybody is on holiday in the Southern hemisphere). It will, in any case, take 2-3months for the visa after the signing. The plan is that I would move first, and then the family would follow 6 months later.
  • This is a long road to finding out that I should have stayed in my previous job, which I left 6 years ago. Also, I would be a millionaire by now due to the stock program. Quite a learning, but I try not to bash myself for it.

Some learnings, frustrations, steps forward, steps backward. I also figured THE best way for a habit change. I am testing it first on myself and then will report back to you. I will keep you posted!
 
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Mr. Tusk

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Dear Friends,

Some of you have asked for pieces of advice on keeping your life in order, exercise routines, etc. Let me share a very good tool and approach that you can use to do a reality check of your life and surroundings.

First, your mental health is crucial to your life. It surpasses all “whys”, values, and you name it. Your mental health is even more important than your physical health since you can’t enjoy a good physique if you are f*cked up in your head. So, if you feel that your activities, habits, etc., are diminishing your mental well-being, change them asap.

Next comes your purpose (of "why"). Perhaps you want to save the world, save oceans, or cure cancer. My purpose is that I want to leave a legacy to my daughter and the rest of my family line of a person who lived true to his abilities and was able to grow throughout his life, and helped my daughter and family to do the same. As you might see, I don't have that strong "why" so I made up one from things that are important to me. Works for me.

Next comes your identity. This refers to a person's sense of self and their role in the world. You need to decide what your identity is to act according to it. My identity is “Resourceful business athlete philosopher doer.” You can’t just be a hobbyist on something, or you can, but then your identity is a hobbyist, and you never put your full effort into it. As an example, let me explain my identity:

Resourceful = I am resourceful, since I am smart, figure out solutions to problems, can build things with my hands, write books, you name it
Business = I am all business, like business, like to make money, like to understand how business and economy works
Athlete = there is no either or. If you want to be in shape until your 100s then you need to be an athlete, eat good food, sleep enough, don’t drink too much. A necessity.
Philosopher = I am a very practical stoic philosopher. It is my way of keeping true to myself and not having outside influences determine my reaction to things. This is so important in the current social media saturated world. I must remember that I can only control my mind and actions, nothing outside.
Doer = This is vital. Nothing happens without doing. An idea is worthless without execution. I can’t emphasize enough the virtue of being an action-oriented doer and accomplishing things through your actions.

Next comes values/beliefs. This refers to the fundamental principles and beliefs that guide a person's thoughts, feelings, and behavior. These determine what’s right or wrong for me and are the basis of my actions. E.g., I believe that I can improve my circumstances with my own actions and the well-being of my family is one of my key values. I believe that with perfect practice you can learn any skill (more of that below).

Next comes capabilities. This refers to a person's skills, knowledge, and competencies, as well as their physical and mental abilities. What are my skills and competencies? The good thing is that I can learn needed new skills quickly and efficiently as I have learned a skill of learning quickly (you can read that again).

Then comes behavior. This refers to the actions and behaviors that a person engages in, including their body language, gestures, and facial expressions. Am I behaving according to my identity and values? Is some of my behavior not beneficial to myself, my health, and others? If not, that’s easy to change: I start to behave differently.

Last comes the environment. This refers to the external factors that influence a person, including their physical surroundings, the people they interact with, and the culture and society in which they live. All of the above are internal, and this is external. How are my surroundings in my home, in my workplace? Are the people I hang out with aligned with the above?

Some of you might notice that I am almost citing Logical Levels. That’s true, and you can use this approach to check is there something that you should change, do less, or do more. E.g throughout the years, I have changed my behavior, learned a ton of new skills, pushed myself to new environments, learned to keep my environment tidy and serene, changed from reactive to predictive, and even changed half of my identity and more than half of my values. I actually grew up in the rural countryside and I learned a lot from books, not doing stuff with people. So, needed to learn a lot about social game etc. when I moved to bigger cities and abroad in my mid 20s.

When doing the check, you will know that when something is not fitting, you feel it. Then you can change it. I am just in the process of letting some of my old friends go. Unfortunately, their behavior and beliefs don't fit my current personality and values, and being with them causes uneasiness. I notice the same from their side, so better to take some distance.

In summary, the above is a great tool to do a reality check from time to time on yourself, your behavior, and your surroundings.

Thanks for reading, and I will dive into some other topic the next time.
 
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heavy_industry

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Dear Friends,

Some of you have asked for pieces of advice on keeping your life in order, exercise routines, etc. Let me share a very good tool and approach that you can use to do a reality check of your life and surroundings.

First, your mental health is crucial to your life. It surpasses all “whys”, values, and you name it. Your mental health is even more important than your physical health since you can’t enjoy a good physique if you are f*cked up in your head. So, if you feel that your activities, habits, etc., are diminishing your mental well-being, change them asap.

Next comes your purpose (of "why"). Perhaps you want to save the world, save oceans, or cure cancer. My purpose is that I want to leave a legacy to my daughter and the rest of my family line of a person who lived true to his abilities and was able to grow throughout his life, and helped my daughter and family to do the same. As you might see, I don't have that strong "why" so I made up one from things that are important to me. Works for me.

Next comes your identity. This refers to a person's sense of self and their role in the world. You need to decide what your identity is to act according to it. My identity is “Resourceful business athlete philosopher doer.” You can’t just be a hobbyist on something, or you can, but then your identity is a hobbyist, and you never put your full effort into it. As an example, let me explain my identity:

Resourceful = I am resourceful, since I am smart, figure out solutions to problems, can build things with my hands, write books, you name it
Business = I am all business, like business, like to make money, like to understand how business and economy works
Athlete = there is no either or. If you want to be in shape until your 100s then you need to be an athlete, eat good food, sleep enough, don’t drink too much. A necessity.
Philosopher = I am a very practical stoic philosopher. It is my way of keeping true to myself and not having outside influences determine my reaction to things. This is so important in the current social media saturated world. I must remember that I can only control my mind and actions, nothing outside.
Doer = This is vital. Nothing happens without doing. An idea is worthless without execution. I can’t emphasize enough the virtue of being an action-oriented doer and accomplishing things through your actions.

Next comes values/beliefs. This refers to the fundamental principles and beliefs that guide a person's thoughts, feelings, and behavior. These determine what’s right or wrong for me and are the basis of my actions. E.g., I believe that I can improve my circumstances with my own actions and the well-being of my family is one of my key values. I believe that with perfect practice you can learn any skill (more of that below).

Next comes capabilities. This refers to a person's skills, knowledge, and competencies, as well as their physical and mental abilities. What are my skills and competencies? The good thing is that I can learn needed new skills quickly and efficiently as I have learned a skill of learning quickly (you can read that again).

Then comes behavior. This refers to the actions and behaviors that a person engages in, including their body language, gestures, and facial expressions. Am I behaving according to my identity and values? Is some of my behavior not beneficial to myself, my health, and others? If not, that’s easy to change: I start to behave differently.

Last comes the environment. This refers to the external factors that influence a person, including their physical surroundings, the people they interact with, and the culture and society in which they live. All of the above are internal, and this is external. How are my surroundings in my home, in my workplace? Are the people I hang out with aligned with the above?

Some of you might notice that I am almost citing Logical Levels. That’s true, and you can use this approach to check is there something that you should change, do less, or do more. E.g throughout the years, I have changed my behavior, learned a ton of new skills, pushed myself to new environments, learned to keep my environment tidy and serene, changed from reactive to predictive, and even changed half of my identity and more than half of my values. I actually grew up in the rural countryside and I learned a lot from books, not doing stuff with people. So, needed to learn a lot about social game etc. when I moved to bigger cities and abroad in my mid 20s.

When doing the check, you will know that when something is not fitting, you feel it. Then you can change it. I am just in the process of letting some of my old friends go. Unfortunately, their behavior and beliefs don't fit my current personality and values, and being with them causes uneasiness. I notice the same from their side, so better to take some distance.

In summary, the above is a great tool to do a reality check from time to time on yourself, your behavior, and your surroundings.

Thanks for reading, and I will dive into some other topic the next time.
Amazing.
Please start a new thread and post this. Maybe it will get #gold. This wisdom is too valuable to be lost in the comments.
 

Mr. Tusk

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Amazing.
Please start a new thread and post this. Maybe it will get #gold. This wisdom is too valuable to be lost in the comments.
Thanks buddy, I have a lot of this stuff - how I have polished the best practice throughout the years. I will tackle the morning and evening routines next.
 
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Leguy

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Thanks buddy, I have a lot of this stuff - how I have polished the best practice throughout the years. I will tackle the morning and evening routines next.
Thanks @Mr. Tusk for a great multi-year thread. I am just starting out on my Journey and found this really useful and will certainly return to it.

On the missed stock options (and potential $millions) in your previous role 6 years ago. What made you make this decision at the time?
 
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fmvpinho

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Dear Friends,

Updates from the journey. It has been a bit bumpy but not dull.

Personal:
  • I had a bit of a slump and have been exercising that much
  • I am starting to get back my MOJO again but only lately. I have had some C-level meetings, but I have not been at my best until lately. Just stupid mistakes, not being on top of my game, and feeling diffident and reserved.
  • I also took some private lessons with “speech institute” for just sounding better, but I also got good advice on communicating better in general. You see, I am a big dude 6’2” and 200lbs (188cm and 90kg) with a deep voice. If I am too direct and perhaps add a “F*ck” of two, then people get easily, if not outright scared at least, tuned off. Very important learning and also useful at home. In my interactions after that I have been trying to be friendly and “test if the other person would be my best friend.” I learned that technique years ago – works always.
  • I am running out of money. The F*cking garage took 100k to build, interests are high and my package is running out.
  • I have been studying stoic philosophy. I greatly recommend this – it really helps to clear your mind. You can start by listening to the “Daily Stoic” book from Audible.
General economy:
  • I don’t understand the Central Banks raising interest rates. Well, I do understand since that’s what you do when the economy is overheating, and you have high inflation. However, in our case, the inflation is only caused by energy prices due to the Russian attack on Ukraine and the subsequent cut-off of Russian cheap natural gas (which Germany used to create electricity). So, when the high energy price goes upstream through the prices of all goods and services, you have inflation. But it’s not real inflation caused by an overheated economy but a market anomaly. The correct measure – in my opinion – would have been to subsidize the energy prices or dismantle the energy exchange in Europe (Nordpool) which is not operating properly now. I do have some understanding about this since I have M.Sc. in Economics, doing PhD and everything.
  • This got me, since I would have liquidated my real-estate portfolio in a heartbeat if I had seen higher interest rates coming. My original plan was to not mind about even the burst of the housing bubble since I had tenants and a steady stream of income, and I could have waited even 10 years for the prices to increase again BUT now I will have negative NOI in 2024 and that’s not good.
  • We are on the brink of a recession. There will be super-good deals for those who have cash. Just wait until the summer. I remember this from 2008-2009.
Business – start-up
  • The progress has been surprisingly slow. But we are bootstrapping this.
  • I have also concluded that I am not a start-up founder type (more on that later).
  • We have one interesting collaboration company that we are negotiating with. It’s basically a similar company to ours but with 10m of funding and 5 years of development.
Business – manufacturing company
  • We are going to reach 100k revenue this year, but we are just not getting big contracts.
  • I will need to decrease my commitment here if I get the new day job.
Back to the day job:
  • The processes have been very frustrating. I have my linked and CV SEOd but the market behaviour is very rude. Headhunters don’t typically get back, there is no transparency or any kind of feedback.
  • I have worked 3-4 days a week for my friend’s company to advise them on sales. With this work, I realized that consultancy is my way. In my previous work at one of the big five consultancy companies, I was the happiest and the most engaged that I have ever been in my work life. It feels like I am back!
  • Now I have one good offer from a US consultancy company’s local office in APAC. I turned the first offer down (the offer was more than 100k more per year than from my head of sales job) and asked for 50% more and a higher position (my wife thought I should have accepted in a heartbeat). I am hoping to negotiate fast and close this case in late Jan (as everybody is on holiday in the Southern hemisphere). It will, in any case, take 2-3months for the visa after the signing. The plan is that I would move first, and then the family would follow 6 months later.
  • This is a long road to finding out that I should have stayed in my previous job, which I left 6 years ago. Also, I would be a millionaire by now due to the stock program. Quite a learning, but I try not to bash myself for it.

Some learnings, frustrations, steps forward, steps backward. I also figured THE best way for a habit change. I am testing it first on myself and then will report back to you. I will keep you posted!
Energy prices were rising before the war in Ukraine. It started around August-21. In Europe coal was a substitute for gas and those energy sources leveled off each others prices. With the EU Taxonomy and the energy transition, coal plants were shut down and gas was the only backup energy for renewables. The war only escalated this.
 

Mr. Tusk

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Thanks @Mr. Tusk for a great multi-year thread. I am just starting out on my Journey and found this really useful and will certainly return to it.

On the missed stock options (and potential $millions) in your previous role 6 years ago. What made you make this decision at the time?
Thanks @Leguy - the decision at that time was quite easy. The next company offered a better salary, a lucrative signing bonus, an equity package with three year vesting period. And due to competition reasons, I was relaxing at home with a full salary for almost half a year. Sounded like a good idea at that time and it also gave me 6 months to work on the AI-IT company that we had at that time.
 
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Mr. Tusk

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Energy prices were rising before the war in Ukraine. It started around August-21. In Europe coal was a substitute for gas and those energy sources leveled off each others prices. With the EU Taxonomy and the energy transition, coal plants were shut down and gas was the only backup energy for renewables. The war only escalated this.
Yes, that is pretty much the story. You should also check German politics toward Russia. The gravest mistake was reducing nuclear power since you always need a backup for those non-windy days. But this starts to depart from the original topic.

However, there is a BIG LEARNING here - be prepared for inflation and the downturn of the bull market, spread your assets etc.etc. (learnings are probably a bit different for all of us).
 
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Last edited:

Necromant

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Hi fellows,

Greetings from Europe! Glad to be here and I have read MJ's both books which really made an impact.

A small intro: I have job as international sales director making around 170-200keur per year including bonuses (note that the taxman takes 50% here) in IT sector.

Some side hustles:
  • A small manufacturing business with my friend with annual revenue up to 30-50keur (no profit yet, all is put to R&D + filling the stocks). Here we are selling to consumers but lost earlier 5meur deal with 2.5meur margin which resulted few quiet years. Now we have another deal abroad for almost 10meur but the tender has been stopped due to Covid. Note that the big deals have a very small probability. The plan is now to hire one full time employee and sell 100keur to consumers in 2021.
  • Real estate investment. I figured out how to do this in 2020. Now I have around 1meur worth of new studio apartments with double leverage and very little own money. I still need to put around 50keur into the vehicle and then it will feed itself while making around 1meur in the next 10 years. This is the most that I canmy current income level. I see this as a vehicle where I will pump all the excess liquidity from other side hustles.
  • IT company. Here I am in a bit of trouble. The idea is great, even earthshaking but we have a bad team and it is keeping me back of putting my full effort here. IPR is there but with 0 sales.
  • Start-up investments. I am investing 10keur here and there through my holding company.

Some ideas that concern me at this time:
  • Why some people do and some people don't. Ok, Jim Rohn already answered this but this is still a problem with the IT company. I need to find a good solution here.
  • How to reach a level of passive income that would free up my time to do projects full-time. This would require an additional 1.5meur to the real estate vehicle or something else.
  • Small bonuses on the day job. We will break the all time sales record this year but my bonuses are capped so that I will get only around 200keur. With competitors where the bonuses are not capped, I would probably make 1meur or a lot more. The only problem is that working for a competitor would require a relocation to London where I certainly would not like to live nor raise kids.
  • Creating an additional income stream from writing a book and launching connected online trainings.
  • On a larger scale I think I have huge untapped potential and my aim is to focus that on making a lot more money and via that - freedom!

Here it is for the time being. Now I will indulge myself to the forum content. Looking forward!
Fullstack-Developer here, thanks for the inspiration :)

Currently as Employee with just 65k/Year
 

Mr. Tusk

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Fullstack-Developer here, thanks for the inspiration :)

Currently as Employee with just 65k/Year
Great! Nice to have you on board @Necromant . How much does 65k leave you after tax per month?

For the ones who want to build your basic conditioning by running (and we all should), please check out the other thread HERE
 

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