Start

[Andy Black]

My favourite ever post in the forum is a response to someone asking "What is the the BEST piece of advice you've been given?".

You might not notice it - it's such a small, quiet post.

It was posted by @Vigilante here, and I'm dropping in a screenshot so you can see how small and unassuming that post is.


SCREENSHOT

Did you see it?





More importantly - do you believe it?




You're probably wondering what you should do first...

Find a need?

Raise money?

Create a website?

Incorporate a business?

Design a logo and business cards?

Hand out flyers?



There's only one thing you need to be in business, and that's a sale/customer.

You won't get one if you don't get out of your own way and go help people.

You won't help other people if you keep thinking about yourself.



Here's an example of me NOT starting, and then how I got out of my own way and managed to START (watch the video too, as it's an example of what I'm talking about):

A few months ago I decided to "learn to create talking head videos".

I got tangled up that first evening, because my goal was wrong.

My goal was to create a video.

My goal was not to say "thank you" to @SinisterLex for the videos he was adding to the forum.

I screwed up.

I over-complicated things.

I got in my own way.

I believed I couldn't add value to the forum.

All because I was thinking about "me", and not thinking about Lex.




After I gave myself a stern talking to, I created my very first talking head video.

Here it is:

Funnily enough, @Vigilante current favourite forum post is here.

Similar, no?

(Check out post #13 in that thread too.)




Further reading:

• Learnings from 700+ PMs with fellow forum members.

 

Don't like ads? Remove them while supporting the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Green Destiny]

Can relate to this so much. All the things we "need" are really just excuses we tell ourselves to prevent us from taking that great leap into the unknown and STARTING.

TBH i'm still guilty of this, especially the point of "needing" a flashy website with all the bells and whistles. I've been spending way too much time trying to add all these extra pieces of functionality or pretty design features not because any of my potential customers/users have told me that they needed these, but because it's what I think they need or because I think that's how an app/website should look or function.

What really hit this home to me was when I took a look at the www.craigslist.com website. I mean, look at it. It's hideous. But.....and it's a big but, it is used by millions of people every day because the functionality it provides is NEEDED by the millions of users that utilise it.

Thanks for posting this. Rams home a point I think I knew, but have somehow chosen to ignore for a while now.

 

[Andy Black]

Can relate to this so much. All the things we "need" are really just excuses we tell ourselves to prevent us from taking that great leap into the unknown and STARTING.

TBH i'm still guilty of this, especially the point of "needing" a flashy website with all the bells and whistles. I've been spending way too much time trying to add all these extra pieces of functionality or pretty design features not because any of my potential customers/users have told me that they needed these, but because it's what I think they need or because I think that's how an app/website should look or function.

What really hit this home to me was when I took a look at the www.craigslist.com website. I mean, look at it. It's hideous. But.....and it's a big but, it is used by millions of people every day because the functionality it provides is NEEDED by the millions of users that utilise it.

Thanks for posting this. Rams home a point I think I knew, but have somehow chosen to ignore for a while now.

Thanks for reading. Glad it's helped.

Yes, I wrote about what we "need" here:

I need a website!

I need more money!

I need to go on a course!

I need a logo!

I need a business partner!

I need a mentor!


Is it possible to run a business without all the things we think we need?

Maybe we're putting all these things in our own way?

To prevent us from starting? (aka procrastination!)

To prevent us from shipping? (aka perfectionism!)

Because we think we'll fail if we launch?

Because we don't think we're enough?



Whenever I find myself saying "I need ..." I catch myself and wonder:

Do I REALLY need it?

Is it possible someone else has done without it?

Is it possible *I* can do without it?​

The only thing we really need to be in business are sales/customers.

 

[Scot]

/slow clap

 

Don't like ads? Remove them while supporting the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Jake]

Design a logo

 

[Ika]

Thank you for talking about the thread (and posting it!). I will take a closer look on what is really usefull and what is not helping my specific goal. Your example in the video about creating the video is helpfull as well!

 

[LiveHappy]

/slow clap

Clap gets stronger...

LiveHappy

 

Don't like ads? Remove them while supporting the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[devine]

Andy, the fact that we focus so much on starting out makes it seem like it's actually not so simple, that we talk so much about it.

I'll share something from the middle of a journey.

I started long time ago. Can't even remember the exact year, still was a kid when I started.
And I never looked back, never gave a second thought, never cared when my family, friends or anyone else doubted my choice. I was full on don't give a F*ck.

And it has paid out long time ago.
I can send my resume to any major company and get literally any job I want, without any competition (I'm so sure because I pulled that off countless times). But sweetest part is that today I don't need to work to sustain my living.

In last 10 months I have put 3 of my projects on passive rails.

I stopped being dependent.

TMF and TFLF made me open my eyes and see opportunities in places I didn't know they exist in.

I don't need to worry about money and can genuinely help people anytime I want.

I don't need to form relationships for the sake of forming relationships, I can just get along with people I truly want to get along with.

Last week I helped a photographer in his mid 50s to get on a passive income train and he's already making money, first time in his life without trading time for cash. I didn't charge a single dollar.
I have a 16 year old apprentice who helped me organize the workflow for this and many other projects, by the time he turns 17 - he will have more legit business production records in his resume than guys like Sam Ovens do. He'll get more work than I could dream of when I was his age.

I wish I had this kind of opportunity when I was 16, sleeping on mattress, with only a table and a laptop in my room, trying to make a dollar, living on 10 dollars a month.

Today I get calls from industry leaders executives (4 times in last month) willing to pay an equivalent of mid-to-high biannual salaries upfront so I could make their biz shine.

I don't have a single ad campaign running.
I have normal social network profile where a word "business" isn't mentioned even once.
I don't post motivational quotes and photos with me swimming in cash, even though I have plenty of resource for both.

But half of the city knows my number when it comes to business.

I now type all this text and years pass right before my eyes, with memories about times when everything was different.

A year from now I want to buy a house in Bahamas to live by the sea and do exactly the same thing I do now: enjoy life.

Always being in process of getting better, refining myself and exploring new ways to interact with this world effectively and positively.

I'm in a process of creating possibilities for kids that were previously unimaginable and I'm not going to earn a dollar on it, because I don't need to commercialize it. I don't see anyone doing it, having all resources and possibilities in the world. It must be something special about it if no one has executed even a slightest part yet.

History shows that a limitless number of things that could be brought to life aren't there yet.
And 2000 years later still won't be.

And that's the only reason I feel sufficient enough to walk the walk.
Your mission.
Your dream.
The reason why you're even there.
To get things no one but you would do.

If you start or not - it doesn't matter, life doesn't care about it. Sun will still shine.

The only thing will change is accomplishment. But not when you start - starting out doesn't change anything.
Neither walking down the road does.

The only thing that changes at least a slightest bit of actual reality, of how the sun makes objects draw their shadow, is when things are finally done and they function in real world.

Life is not about selling goods. Not about creating $50k websites. Not about running million-dollar companies. Not about making beneficial relationships. Not about walking the walk.
It's about getting things done.

Everything else is merely to get them done.

 

[Andy Black]

Andy, the fact that we focus so much on starting out makes it seem like it's actually not so simple, that we talk so much about it.

I'll share something from the middle of a journey.

I started long time ago. Can't even remember the exact year, still was a kid when I started.
And I never looked back, never gave a second thought, never cared when my family, friends or anyone else doubted my choice. I was full on don't give a F*ck.

And it has paid out long time ago.
I can send my resume to any major company and get literally any job I want, without any competition (I'm so sure because I pulled that off countless times). But sweetest part is that today I don't need to work to sustain my living.

In last 10 months I have put 3 of my projects on passive rails.

I stopped being dependent.

TMF and TFLF made me open my eyes and see opportunities in places I didn't know they exist in.

I don't need to worry about money and can genuinely help people anytime I want.

I don't need to form relationships for the sake of forming relationships, I can just get along with people I truly want to get along with.

Last week I helped a photographer in his mid 50s to get on a passive income train and he's already making money, first time in his life without trading time for cash. I didn't charge a single dollar.
I have a 16 year old apprentice who helped me organize the workflow for this and many other projects, by the time he turns 17 - he will have more legit business production records in his resume than guys like Sam Ovens do. He'll get more work than I could dream of when I was his age.

I wish I had this kind of opportunity when I was 16, sleeping on mattress, with only a table and a laptop in my room, trying to make a dollar, living on 10 dollars a month.

Today I get calls from industry leaders executives (4 times in last month) willing to pay an equivalent of mid-to-high biannual salaries upfront so I could make their biz shine.

I don't have a single ad campaign running.
I have normal social network profile where a word "business" isn't mentioned even once.
I don't post motivational quotes and photos with me swimming in cash, even though I have plenty of resource for both.

But half of the city knows my number when it comes to business.

I now type all this text and years pass right before my eyes, with memories about times when everything was different.

A year from now I want to buy a house in Bahamas to live by the sea and do exactly the same thing I do now: enjoy life.

Always being in process of getting better, refining myself and exploring new ways to interact with this world effectively and positively.

I'm in a process of creating possibilities for kids that were previously unimaginable and I'm not going to earn a dollar on it, because I don't need to commercialize it. I don't see anyone doing it, having all resources and possibilities in the world. It must be something special about it if no one has executed even a slightest part yet.

History shows that a limitless number of things that could be brought to life aren't there yet.
And 2000 years later still won't be.

And that's the only reason I feel sufficient enough to walk the walk.
Your mission.
Your dream.
The reason why you're even there.
To get things no one but you would do.

If you start or not - it doesn't matter, life doesn't care about it. Sun will still shine.

The only thing will change is accomplishment. But not when you start - starting out doesn't change anything.
Neither walking down the road does.

The only thing that changes at least a slightest bit of actual reality, of how the sun makes objects draw their shadow, is when things are finally done and they function in real world.

Life is not about selling goods. Not about creating $50k websites. Not about running million-dollar companies. Not about making beneficial relationships. Not about walking the walk.
It's about getting things done.

Everything else is merely to get them done.

Nice story. Thanks for sharing.

I agree 100%. The market doesn't pay for thinking, for activity, or for starting. It only pays for output and results.

We talk a lot about starting in the forum because so many people do everything BUT start. It could be frustrating to watch, but I think our schooling and work places have almost trained us that way... so I empathise and try to do my little bit to make some realise they can start already.

Personally, I just continue to move forward and document what I've done. ("Tell me what you've done and I'll tell you who you are.")

If it helps people then great. If it inspires people to also move and also give themselves "permission to suck", then great.

If people just consume it and go "that's nice" but don't take any action, then that's great too. I'll keep moving forward regardless.

For people with a bias for action it can be easy to wonder why other people aren't moving - especially when they say they want to.

For those of us in motion, the best thing we can do is keep on charging ahead and leave a trail behind us.


Yes, it's all about getting stuff done.


"Done is better than perfect." (Mark Zuckerberg)

 

[LiveHappy]

I'm in a process of creating possibilities for kids that were previously unimaginable and I'm not going to earn a dollar on it, because I don't need to commercialize it.

This is the sort of contribution that will really fulfill you. Thank you devine for selflessly helping the children in our communities. Rep xfrd

LiveHappy

 

Don't like ads? Remove them while supporting the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[devine]

Nice story. Thanks for sharing.

I agree 100%. The market doesn't pay for thinking, for activity, or for starting. It only pays for output and results.

We talk a lot about starting in the forum because so many people do everything BUT start. It could be frustrating to watch, but I think our schooling and work places have almost trained us that way... so I empathise and try to do my little bit to make some realise they can start already.

Personally, I just continue to move forward and document what I've done. ("Tell me what you've done and I'll tell you who you are.")

If it helps people then great. If it inspires people to also move and also give themselves "permission to suck", then great.

If people just consume it and go "that's nice" but don't take any action, then that's great too. I'll keep moving forward regardless.

For people with a bias for action it can be easy to wonder why other people aren't moving - especially when they say they want to.

For those of us in motion, the best thing we can do is keep on charging ahead and leave a trail behind us.


Yes, it's all about getting stuff done.


"Done is better than perfect." (Mark Zuckerberg)

It's not the easiness or simplicity that makes people start.
Emphasizing it is a counterproductive effort, it makes one notice a part of a process that he or she wouldn't notice otherwise.

When kids want to sing, they don't care about starting out, they just open their mouth and sing. They don't care if it sounds good or bad, they see their favourite artist and believe they will be like this one day.

Only then, years later, when asked "how did you start?" and "How did you learn it?" they say "I don't know, I just sing".
Because the desire is stronger than obstacles.

It's called the law of reversed effort - the most effective effort is that we don't notice.

People don't start not because they don't know how to start. They don't start because they don't see a point on the roadmap that they're eager to get to.
Those who ask "how to make money" will not make any, because it's nowhere on a roadmap for success.
And there is no connection between the point they are at and the point where the money is, hence why it ends where it starts.

We see limitless number of silly people trying to look into someone else's pockets after reading or watching something that is on a roadmap. But they're not interested in the thing itself, they're interested in attributes - amount of money per deal, traces that one's walk leaves, situation that is necessary for "success" to happen. They become fascinated when they see shortcuts. They see events and try to connect them with their point in life by drawing the shortest line.
This never works.

If I tell how I closed my latest deal people won't believe, because it seems too easy. What they won't realize is that it's not attributes that matter, it's you in the right place, in the right time, doing the right thing for the right people. It cannot be reproduced if you're not this person.
And when it starts to click, they will say "Oh, it's luck!".

All of this is directly connected to "start out" mentality. This mentality is driven by wrong things and it leads nowhere. People who can't start or start for a wrong reason are a complete different animal compared to people who do things seeing no other option.
It's so different that it can't be explained with words, it's like talking in another language.
Bird flies because it's born to fly. It's impossible to make a human understand what it's like.

People who found out about TFLF and are under impression of someone else making money - won't make any significant cash, or anything at all, until they transform.
Every successful story is a long story, and it doesn't start with a need, it starts with abundance.

All of it is not to argue with you, because I agree with everything you say. The whole picture is just significantly bigger.

 

[Andy Black]

It's not the easiness or simplicity that makes people start.
Emphasizing it is a counterproductive effort, it makes one notice a part of a process that he or she wouldn't notice otherwise.

When kids want to sing, they don't care about starting out, they just open their mouth and sing. They don't care if it sounds good or bad, they see their favourite artist and believe they will be like this one day.

Only then, years later, when asked "how did you start?" and "How did you learn it?" they say "I don't know, I just sing".
Because the desire is stronger than obstacles.

It's called the law of reversed effort - the most effective effort is that we don't notice.

People don't start not because they don't know how to start. They don't start because they don't see a point on the roadmap that they're eager to get to.
Those who ask "how to make money" will not make any, because it's nowhere on a roadmap for success.
And there is no connection between the point they are at and the point where the money is, hence why it ends where it starts.

We see limitless number of silly people trying to look into someone else's pockets after reading or watching something that is on a roadmap. But they're not interested in the thing itself, they're interested in attributes - amount of money per deal, traces that one's walk leaves, situation that is necessary for "success" to happen. They become fascinated when they see shortcuts.
If I tell how I closed my latest deal people won't believe, because it seems too easy. What they won't realize is that it's not attributes that matter, it's you in the right place, in the right time, doing the right thing for the right people. It cannot be reproduced if you're not this person.
And when it starts to click, they will say "Oh, it's luck!".

All of this is directly connected to "start out" mentality. This mentality is driven by wrong things and it leads nowhere.

I realize that not many will even understand what I say now, but a person who does will escape the rat race like ~immediately.

All of it isn't to argue with you, because I agree with everything you say. The whole picture is just significantly bigger.

We're fearless as kids, but over time society drills into us that we can't "just do it".

I create these threads to point to when I see someone getting in their own way.

 

[Andy Black]

Some more quotes to help you start.

 

Don't like ads? Remove them while supporting the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Blaise84]

My favourite ever post in the forum is a response to someone asking "What is the the BEST piece of advice you've been given?".

You might not notice it - it's such a small, quiet post.

It was posted by @Vigilante here, and I'm dropping in a screenshot so you can see how small and unassuming that post is.


SCREENSHOT

Did you see it?





More importantly - do you believe it?




You're probably wondering what you should do first...

Find a need?

Raise money?

Create a website?

Incorporate a business?

Design a logo and business cards?

Hand out flyers?



There's only one thing you need to be in business, and that's a sale/customer.

You won't get one if you don't get out of your own way and go help people.

You won't help other people if you keep thinking about yourself.



Here's an example of me NOT starting, and then how I got out of my own way and managed to START (watch the video too, as it's an example of what I'm talking about):

A few months ago I decided to "learn to create talking head videos".

I got tangled up that first evening, because my goal was wrong.

My goal was to create a video.

My goal was not to say "thank you" to @SinisterLex for the videos he was adding to the forum.

I screwed up.

I over-complicated things.

I got in my own way.

I believed I couldn't add value to the forum.

All because I was thinking about "me", and not thinking about Lex.




After I gave myself a stern talking to, I created my very first talking head video.

Here it is:

Funnily enough, @Vigilante current favourite forum post is here.

Similar, no?

(Check out post #13 in that thread too.)




Further reading:

• Learnings from 700+ PMs with fellow forum members.

@Andy Black
This post hasn't seen any action for several months, but I just came across it and found it helpful. I'm definitely struggling with paralysis through analysis. In MJ's two books, there is SO MUCH information. All of it is excellent, but I'm considering so many angles that I'm having trouble getting real traction. SO, my goal is to help athletes. That's it. Just help athletes. I keep letting all the details derail me into paralysis through analysis. What about a logo? Website? Branding? Fonts? Copy? Gaahh. And on and on. It's a lot to contend with. But, if I just keep that one thing in mind -just help athletes- that can cut through all the other stuff and result in real action.

 

[Deleted50669]

This is so damn true. The difference between planning and doing is palpable. I’ve always been a planner. As of today (literally three hours ago), I have my first independent client. Ironically, I do not have a website or marketing materials. I just went looking for a problem and proposed a solution to the right person.

Start, and trust your ability to adapt along the way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Andy Black]

@Andy Black
This post hasn't seen any action for several months, but I just came across it and found it helpful. I'm definitely struggling with paralysis through analysis. In MJ's two books, there is SO MUCH information. All of it is excellent, but I'm considering so many angles that I'm having trouble getting real traction. SO, my goal is to help athletes. That's it. Just help athletes. I keep letting all the details derail me into paralysis through analysis. What about a logo? Website? Branding? Fonts? Copy? Gaahh. And on and on. It's a lot to contend with. But, if I just keep that one thing in mind -just help athletes- that can cut through all the other stuff and result in real action.

Haha. Gaahh indeed. All you need to be in business is a customer. All that other stuff isn't necessary.

This is the story of how I got into my current business:

• Notable! - The biggest reason websites suck

Thanks for the reps.
Have some reps back for seeing the light.

This is so damn true. The difference between planning and doing is palpable. I’ve always been a planner. As of today (literally three hours ago), I have my first independent client. Ironically, I do not have a website or marketing materials. I just went looking for a problem and proposed a solution to the right person.

Start, and trust your ability to adapt along the way.

Feck planning. Go! Go! Go!

As my sprint coach used to say: "Go on the B of Bang."

Have some reps for your last sentence.

 

Don't like ads? Remove them while supporting the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.