The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

What if you already know enough?

Vinz

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
169%
Jun 12, 2021
213
360
As I said in Diego Lu's post, I want to thank you Andy also on this one.
I should have this as a daily reminder.
I'm the guy who searches the internet for a solution, books or courses when I'm faced with a problem instead of going in and start getting involved in it.
I want to focus on what I can create instead. What can I do ? Who can I help ?
Thanks again.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.
Last edited:

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,567
68,699
Ireland
As I said in Diego Lu's post, I want to thank you Andy also on this one.
I should have this as a daily reminder.
I'm the guy who searches the internet for a solution, books or courses when I'm faced with a problem instead of going in and start getting involved in it.
I want to focus on what I can create instead. What can I do ? Who can I help ?
Thanks again.
Thanks! Glad it helped.

Can you link to your reply in Diego’s post. I think Diego’s post and your reply will be very valuable to people.
 

Vinz

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
169%
Jun 12, 2021
213
360
Thanks! Glad it helped.

Can you link to your reply in Diego’s post. I think Diego’s post and your reply will be very valuable to people.
No problem ! Modified the message
 

Diego Liu

Don't worry, NOBODY CARES
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
383%
Apr 23, 2020
66
253
Taiwan
I learned slowly that the lad with the lawnmower (who may very well have dropped out of school) was street-smart where I was book-smart.

And that he was streets ahead of me.
This is such a beautiful and powerful wake-up call. I just added it to one of the favorite quotes I must constantly come back to review.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.
Last edited:

BAUCE

Bronze Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
183%
Jun 21, 2021
76
139
I definitely agree for the most part. I personally needed to see how others started businesses and got through tough situations before getting started or at least I thought I did. Before I paid for Shopify to get my business launched I listened to hours and hours of How I Built This podcast. I was at the time also working on getting healthy from years of alcohol abuse. I would do a 40-60 mile bike ride over 3-4 hours and that podcast got my through it.
 

Ytcho's

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
109%
Nov 9, 2021
23
25
Ressalto.


Seu objetivo não é “aprender” nada. É para ajudar as pessoas, depois ajudar as pessoas e ser pago.

Abaixe seus livros e gaste seu tempo ajudando as pessoas. Faça isso sem expectativa e sem se desesperar.

O melhor aprendizado está no trabalho de qualquer maneira.
O que funciona para mim é focar em ajudar os outros. Então você não precisa de livros de autodesenvolvimento, pois não está mais no seu caminho.
These 2 posts began to turn a key in me, I entered the final forum of 2021 and until then I was only consuming.

I believe that because I was overcoming a depression I ended up sinking in the comfort of studying (beware of that personal!).

I was analyzing here that the thoughts that come to my mind are always, if I do not have knowledge or ability how I will help someone, but now I perebo that I could think differently, as you made me understand, I will only know what skills to have and problems to solve if first I have someone to help, and not trying to learn things from nothing.

Thank you @Andy Black

Note: I hope you can understand, my English is still very limited, I use a lot of translators.
 

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,567
68,699
Ireland
These 2 posts began to turn a key in me, I entered the final forum of 2021 and until then I was only consuming.

I believe that because I was overcoming a depression I ended up sinking in the comfort of studying (beware of that personal!).

I was analyzing here that the thoughts that come to my mind are always, if I do not have knowledge or ability how I will help someone, but now I perebo that I could think differently, as you made me understand, I will only know what skills to have and problems to solve if first I have someone to help, and not trying to learn things from nothing.

Thank you @Andy Black

Note: I hope you can understand, my English is still very limited, I use a lot of translators.
Understood perfectly. I'm glad it's turned a key for you. Yes, the *key* is to "help people" rather than "learn things".
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

NeoDialectic

Successfully Exited the Rat Race
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
685%
Feb 11, 2022
402
2,754
Phoenix, az
The most obvious danger of consuming too much is that it turns you into a consumer.

A lot of that “free” (and paid) content out there is designed to turn you into someone else’s consumer. (And it’s not free btw... not unless you put zero value on the time it took to consume that “free” content.)

You probably knew this right?

But here’s something I’ve noticed from PMs with a few thousand forum members:

Many of you don’t think you know enough to get started.

Many of you are constantly looking for something else to consume so you can finally become a producer.


The more insidious danger of consuming is that it makes you think you don’t already know enough to start.

I always imagine a young lad knocking on the door with a lawnmower in tow.

“Hey mister. Do you need your grass cut?”

“Not today thanks.”

“No thanks. Maybe another time.”

“Oh wow. I was just thinking of finding someone to cut my grass. Yes please.”

(I live in a very polite little world.)


You know what that lad didn’t do?

He didn’t think:

“I need a logo.”

“I need a website.”

“I don’t know enough about cold calling.”

“I need to go to the library and get a heap of books on how to start a business.”


Many of us know to give ourselves a stern talking to when we catch ourselves action faking.

But did you know the hidden rabbit-hole lying in wait for you in the library?

“Oh boy. I didn’t realise I needed to know about marketing as well as just starting a business.”

“Uh-oh... I didn’t know I needed to create avatars of my ideal customers before I go knocking on doors. What if I go round the wrong estate?”

“USP?! Whoa. I’m glad I came into the library today. I wouldn't have known that I didn’t know about USPs.”

“Scaling? Growth? What’s that mean? Should I even try to start a grass cutting business?”

“OMG... look at all this stuff I didn’t know I needed to learn before I even step out of the house and speak to people this fine Saturday afternoon.”


Many of you are straight out of school or college.

You’ve been taught to consume and read your way out of problems.

Whenever a new challenge comes up you’ve been programmed to search for a book or course.

This is how deep the script has it’s claws in you. And the further you got into the education system the deeper those claws.

I get it. I was a good student. I got my degree. I worked a cubicle for nearly 2 decades. I took the courses. I Googled for “books on XYZ”. I took “evening classes on ABC”. I even decided I “needed” an MSc to get ahead.

I learned slowly that the lad with the lawnmower (who may very well have dropped out of school) was street-smart where I was book-smart.

And that he was streets ahead of me.


Then one day someone asked me a very simple question:

“Andy. What if you already know enough?”

Oh.


We all want to join team producer right?

The best way is to produce more, not consume more.

What if you already know enough?

What would you do then?

Do that.

...

PS: This was all *produced* on my phone on a coach to the airport.

I could have consumed a podcast for the hour, or I could have produced a post in that hour. I chose to gain clarity by producing, to help others by producing, and to not clutter up my head with yet more “knowledge”.

I chose to clear my head not fill it.

Excellent point. @fastlane_dad and I have went through the cycle of "overanalyzing" and "over consuming information" many times in our career. I guess lucky for us we have acquired a built in mechanism through the years that usually kicks us out of it. Almost like a sick to our stomach feeling of "OK I HAVE DONE WAY TOO MUCH RESEARCH AND THINKING ABOUT THIS" and completely cleans ourselves of any more books/articles/forums until we do something.

At the end of the day, now that I don't have as much NEED to build or do something successful. I just like learning, researching, and analyzing! So as long as I come into it with my eyes open of what the goal is, I'm fine with wasting a little bit of time. This shouldn't apply to aspiring entrepreneurs that are still in the pits and on their first journey though!
 

financemailer

Contributor
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
111%
Mar 31, 2022
18
20
I think everyone has their point. It's a little bit of everything, but do take action on what you know, and you might know more than you give yourself credit for....
 

Raju Zodiac

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
475%
Mar 10, 2022
16
76
To piggyback off of this, my favorite method is to learn through production.

I'm "transitioning" from physicist into a machine learning engineer, because I'm solidly in the camp of "code it yourself if you can". So what's my process for learning this new field?

Example: I wanted to learn to program a deep reinforcement learning algorithm called Deep Q Learning. In a nutshell, it's a way for artificial intelligence agents learn to play video games. These algorithms have applications far beyond trivial video games, but games are the most accessible to the new learner without access to Uber or Doordash levels of data. So how could I learn this?

Option 1) Watch someone else's video tutorial, blindly copy the code line for line without really thinking too deeply.

Option 2) Read some material on how the algorithm works, translate that into code, and turn it into a YouTube video series to teach others.

Option 1 would have gotten me functional code to play with, but if I wouldn't really know the why behind it. When I decide I want to learn something else, I would have to watch more videos and spend the same amount of time because I haven't learned anything that I can generalize.

Option 2 means that I have to struggle (almost 16 hours of coding, testing, debugging) to build something from scratch. At the end of that, I have to go through line by line and be able to justify it to an audience. Then spend a few hours recording, editing, and uploading. So it takes 20 hours when I could have just spent a few watching someone else's content.
I have to endure the pain of feeing stupid and inadequate; ride the wave of feelings from excitement, anxiety, despair, and ultimately triumph and pride. This is in contrast to the purely pleasurable feelings you get from consuming someone's content. This is not an easy path to choose.

But the end result is that I understand the topic inside and out. It means that when I want to learn the next topic I can leverage my slightly deeper understanding to learn it faster.

Repeated iterations of option 2 result in compound returns on learning. This allows one to arrive at a state of deep domain expertise in difficult things.

This is the difference between what Lex Deville would call Tier 1, and Tier 3 gurus. The Tier 1 gurus understand the why, because they have taken concepts from their brain into production. Knowing the why and not just the how allows them to generate new knowledge to sell to the tier 3 gurus. The tier 3 gurus gobble it up and then wonder how the Tier 1 guys come up with this stuff. Never stopping to think that perhaps they should step back and look at first principles.

It's also the reason why Biophase can go from one eCom success to another, as if he's blessed by some Archangel of selling shit online.

TL;DR

Follow Andy's advice and get started learning something by doing / producing
Don't wuss out and read tutorials, really learn how to do it and just take the pain
Become the tier 1 guru and then generate new knowledge in your domain

@404profound
Thank you so much lowtek. I have just recently graduated college and I have no job(by choice). I have been trying to get into the world of cryto and web3 (application production not trading) and I have been "learning" since the last 4 months and never took any action on it. Now that I have read your post I am able to reflect on myself and my "learnings" and I have realized that I have not learnt anything productive. I will now try to implement all the knowledge that I have gained to produce something and see where it goes although it feels like I don't have enough knowledge to get started yet. Thank you again for the awesome post
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

James007Hill

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
207%
Sep 29, 2019
86
178
The most obvious danger of consuming too much is that it turns you into a consumer.

A lot of that “free” (and paid) content out there is designed to turn you into someone else’s consumer. (And it’s not free btw... not unless you put zero value on the time it took to consume that “free” content.)

You probably knew this right?

But here’s something I’ve noticed from PMs with a few thousand forum members:

Many of you don’t think you know enough to get started.

Many of you are constantly looking for something else to consume so you can finally become a producer.


The more insidious danger of consuming is that it makes you think you don’t already know enough to start.

I always imagine a young lad knocking on the door with a lawnmower in tow.

“Hey mister. Do you need your grass cut?”

“Not today thanks.”

“No thanks. Maybe another time.”

“Oh wow. I was just thinking of finding someone to cut my grass. Yes please.”

(I live in a very polite little world.)


You know what that lad didn’t do?

He didn’t think:

“I need a logo.”

“I need a website.”

“I don’t know enough about cold calling.”

“I need to go to the library and get a heap of books on how to start a business.”


Many of us know to give ourselves a stern talking to when we catch ourselves action faking.

But did you know the hidden rabbit-hole lying in wait for you in the library?

“Oh boy. I didn’t realise I needed to know about marketing as well as just starting a business.”

“Uh-oh... I didn’t know I needed to create avatars of my ideal customers before I go knocking on doors. What if I go round the wrong estate?”

“USP?! Whoa. I’m glad I came into the library today. I wouldn't have known that I didn’t know about USPs.”

“Scaling? Growth? What’s that mean? Should I even try to start a grass cutting business?”

“OMG... look at all this stuff I didn’t know I needed to learn before I even step out of the house and speak to people this fine Saturday afternoon.”


Many of you are straight out of school or college.

You’ve been taught to consume and read your way out of problems.

Whenever a new challenge comes up you’ve been programmed to search for a book or course.

This is how deep the script has it’s claws in you. And the further you got into the education system the deeper those claws.

I get it. I was a good student. I got my degree. I worked a cubicle for nearly 2 decades. I took the courses. I Googled for “books on XYZ”. I took “evening classes on ABC”. I even decided I “needed” an MSc to get ahead.

I learned slowly that the lad with the lawnmower (who may very well have dropped out of school) was street-smart where I was book-smart.

And that he was streets ahead of me.


Then one day someone asked me a very simple question:

“Andy. What if you already know enough?”

Oh.


We all want to join team producer right?

The best way is to produce more, not consume more.

What if you already know enough?

What would you do then?

Do that.

...

PS: This was all *produced* on my phone on a coach to the airport.

I could have consumed a podcast for the hour, or I could have produced a post in that hour. I chose to gain clarity by producing, to help others by producing, and to not clutter up my head with yet more “knowledge”.

I chose to clear my head not fill it.
Thanks Andy. I particularly liked the idea that "free content" is not free unless you value your time at 0. Reminded me too of the saying "if the product you are consuming is free, you are the product".
 

Albert KOUADJA

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
84%
Mar 13, 2022
309
259
The most obvious danger of consuming too much is that it turns you into a consumer.

A lot of that “free” (and paid) content out there is designed to turn you into someone else’s consumer. (And it’s not free btw... not unless you put zero value on the time it took to consume that “free” content.)

You probably knew this right?

But here’s something I’ve noticed from PMs with a few thousand forum members:

Many of you don’t think you know enough to get started.

Many of you are constantly looking for something else to consume so you can finally become a producer.


The more insidious danger of consuming is that it makes you think you don’t already know enough to start.

I always imagine a young lad knocking on the door with a lawnmower in tow.

“Hey mister. Do you need your grass cut?”

“Not today thanks.”

“No thanks. Maybe another time.”

“Oh wow. I was just thinking of finding someone to cut my grass. Yes please.”

(I live in a very polite little world.)


You know what that lad didn’t do?

He didn’t think:

“I need a logo.”

“I need a website.”

“I don’t know enough about cold calling.”
Il
“I need to go to the library and get a heap of books on how to start a business.”


Many of us know to give ourselves a stern talking to when we catch ourselves action faking.

But did you know the hidden rabbit-hole lying in wait for you in the library?

“Oh boy. I didn’t realise I needed to know about marketing as well as just starting a business.”

“Uh-oh... I didn’t know I needed to create avatars of my ideal customers before I go knocking on doors. What if I go round the wrong estate?”

“USP?! Whoa. I’m glad I came into the library today. I wouldn't have known that I didn’t know about USPs.”

“Scaling? Growth? What’s that mean? Should I even try to start a grass cutting business?”

“OMG... look at all this stuff I didn’t know I needed to learn before I even step out of the house and speak to people this fine Saturday afternoon.”


Many of you are straight out of school or college.

You’ve been taught to consume and read your way out of problems.

Whenever a new challenge comes up you’ve been programmed to search for a book or course.

This is how deep the script has it’s claws in you. And the further you got into the education system the deeper those claws.

I get it. I was a good student. I got my degree. I worked a cubicle for nearly 2 decades. I took the courses. I Googled for “books on XYZ”. I took “evening classes on ABC”. I even decided I “needed” an MSc to get ahead.

I learned slowly that the lad with the lawnmower (who may very well have dropped out of school) was street-smart where I was book-smart.

And that he was streets ahead of me.


Then one day someone asked me a very simple question:

“Andy. What if you already know enough?”

Oh.


We all want to join team producer right?

The best way is to produce more, not consume more.

What if you already know enough?

What would you do then?

Do that.

...

PS: This was all *produced* on my phone on a coach to the airport.

I could have consumed a podcast for the hour, or I could have produced a post in that hour. I chose to gain clarity by producing, to help others by producing, and to not clutter up my head with yet more “knowledge”.

I chose to clear my head not fill it.
Thank you for this article. Particularly, I needed to be that.
 

ethan34

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
150%
Apr 21, 2022
20
30
I appreciate this post so much and I wish I read it earlier. Constantly overthinking "Is this scalable?" "Should I read another book?" "Maybe I should focus on a different problem?" "Maybe I can't really help these businesses?" "What if I waste my time?" "What if I can't close clients?" I'm sure there's so many people out there like me who hop around and never stick to one thing, and then end up far behind the person who just stuck to their nonperfect business and didn't overanalyze all the time.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,567
68,699
Ireland
I appreciate this post so much and I wish I read it earlier. Constantly overthinking "Is this scalable?" "Should I read another book?" "Maybe I should focus on a different problem?" "Maybe I can't really help these businesses?" "What if I waste my time?" "What if I can't close clients?" I'm sure there's so many people out there like me who hop around and never stick to one thing, and then end up far behind the person who just stuck to their nonperfect business and didn't overanalyze all the time.
Ahhhh. Overthinking. The art of solving problems you don’t have.

Glad this thread helped.

What will you do to make a sale this coming week?
 

ethan34

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
150%
Apr 21, 2022
20
30
Ahhhh. Overthinking. The art of solving problems you don’t have.

Glad this thread helped.

What will you do to make a sale this coming week?
I want to contact a bunch of ecommerce stores about email marketing. I feel like so many stores and agencies place so much importance on advertising and completely underestimate the power of email. I will email the ecommerce stores saying I've designed newsletter templates I'd like to show to them. For the ones that respond, I'll subscribe to their newsletter, see how they do it, and make it better.
 

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,567
68,699
Ireland
I want to contact a bunch of ecommerce stores about email marketing. I feel like so many stores and agencies place so much importance on advertising and completely underestimate the power of email. I will email the ecommerce stores saying I've designed newsletter templates I'd like to show to them. For the ones that respond, I'll subscribe to their newsletter, see how they do it, and make it better.
Or subscribe to their newsletters and give immediate and quick feedback on them?

I find it best to start by helping people, and without their permission.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,567
68,699
Ireland
Thank you Andy this advice is gold. I just got my first client.
Good for you. That’s great!

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.

It starts with helping people.

Asking people if you can help them is not helping them.

I get it in my LinkedIn and Facebook messenger inbox all the time.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Can I send you some helpful tip?”

Ffs… just ask the question or send the tip.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

ethan34

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
150%
Apr 21, 2022
20
30
Good for you. That’s great!

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.

It starts with helping people.

Asking people if you can help them is not helping them.

I get it in my LinkedIn and Facebook messenger inbox all the time.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Can I send you some helpful tip?”

Ffs… just ask the question or send the tip.
It seems like every successful entrepreneur starts by just helping a few people. MJ started by making websites for people. One guy I read about started in grade school by selling the cafeteria food for a discounted price. It makes sense why business owners are sick of 30 emails a day all saying “(personalized first line) you’re leaving a lot of money on the table not running Facebook ads”
 

kommen

Bronze Contributor
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
121%
Apr 14, 2022
143
173
Damn. I feel guilty about asking others or googling on how to do XYZ as my first instinct when solving a problem. This thread definitely changed my mindset, glad you made this post.
 

calebbschilling

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
129%
Apr 25, 2018
21
27
25
Waterloo, IL
The most obvious danger of consuming too much is that it turns you into a consumer.

A lot of that “free” (and paid) content out there is designed to turn you into someone else’s consumer. (And it’s not free btw... not unless you put zero value on the time it took to consume that “free” content.)

You probably knew this right?

But here’s something I’ve noticed from PMs with a few thousand forum members:

Many of you don’t think you know enough to get started.

Many of you are constantly looking for something else to consume so you can finally become a producer.


The more insidious danger of consuming is that it makes you think you don’t already know enough to start.

I always imagine a young lad knocking on the door with a lawnmower in tow.

“Hey mister. Do you need your grass cut?”

“Not today thanks.”

“No thanks. Maybe another time.”

“Oh wow. I was just thinking of finding someone to cut my grass. Yes please.”

(I live in a very polite little world.)


You know what that lad didn’t do?

He didn’t think:

“I need a logo.”

“I need a website.”

“I don’t know enough about cold calling.”

“I need to go to the library and get a heap of books on how to start a business.”


Many of us know to give ourselves a stern talking to when we catch ourselves action faking.

But did you know the hidden rabbit-hole lying in wait for you in the library?

“Oh boy. I didn’t realise I needed to know about marketing as well as just starting a business.”

“Uh-oh... I didn’t know I needed to create avatars of my ideal customers before I go knocking on doors. What if I go round the wrong estate?”

“USP?! Whoa. I’m glad I came into the library today. I wouldn't have known that I didn’t know about USPs.”

“Scaling? Growth? What’s that mean? Should I even try to start a grass cutting business?”

“OMG... look at all this stuff I didn’t know I needed to learn before I even step out of the house and speak to people this fine Saturday afternoon.”


Many of you are straight out of school or college.

You’ve been taught to consume and read your way out of problems.

Whenever a new challenge comes up you’ve been programmed to search for a book or course.

This is how deep the script has it’s claws in you. And the further you got into the education system the deeper those claws.

I get it. I was a good student. I got my degree. I worked a cubicle for nearly 2 decades. I took the courses. I Googled for “books on XYZ”. I took “evening classes on ABC”. I even decided I “needed” an MSc to get ahead.

I learned slowly that the lad with the lawnmower (who may very well have dropped out of school) was street-smart where I was book-smart.

And that he was streets ahead of me.


Then one day someone asked me a very simple question:

“Andy. What if you already know enough?”

Oh.


We all want to join team producer right?

The best way is to produce more, not consume more.

What if you already know enough?

What would you do then?

Do that.

...

PS: This was all *produced* on my phone on a coach to the airport.

I could have consumed a podcast for the hour, or I could have produced a post in that hour. I chose to gain clarity by producing, to help others by producing, and to not clutter up my head with yet more “knowledge”.

I chose to clear my head not fill it.
This has been me for the past couple years. Eventually it led to me to paralysis.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

mikecarlooch

Apprentice & Student Of The Game
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
343%
Jan 28, 2022
888
3,049
Florida
Whenever I'm spending too much time reading and wasting time I always get led back to this thread. ALWAYS.
 

Naman

New Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
100%
Aug 20, 2022
4
4
The most obvious danger of consuming too much is that it turns you into a consumer.

A lot of that “free” (and paid) content out there is designed to turn you into someone else’s consumer. (And it’s not free btw... not unless you put zero value on the time it took to consume that “free” content.)

You probably knew this right?

But here’s something I’ve noticed from PMs with a few thousand forum members:

Many of you don’t think you know enough to get started.

Many of you are constantly looking for something else to consume so you can finally become a producer.


The more insidious danger of consuming is that it makes you think you don’t already know enough to start.

I always imagine a young lad knocking on the door with a lawnmower in tow.

“Hey mister. Do you need your grass cut?”

“Not today thanks.”

“No thanks. Maybe another time.”

“Oh wow. I was just thinking of finding someone to cut my grass. Yes please.”

(I live in a very polite little world.)


You know what that lad didn’t do?

He didn’t think:

“I need a logo.”

“I need a website.”

“I don’t know enough about cold calling.”

“I need to go to the library and get a heap of books on how to start a business.”


Many of us know to give ourselves a stern talking to when we catch ourselves action faking.

But did you know the hidden rabbit-hole lying in wait for you in the library?

“Oh boy. I didn’t realise I needed to know about marketing as well as just starting a business.”

“Uh-oh... I didn’t know I needed to create avatars of my ideal customers before I go knocking on doors. What if I go round the wrong estate?”

“USP?! Whoa. I’m glad I came into the library today. I wouldn't have known that I didn’t know about USPs.”

“Scaling? Growth? What’s that mean? Should I even try to start a grass cutting business?”

“OMG... look at all this stuff I didn’t know I needed to learn before I even step out of the house and speak to people this fine Saturday afternoon.”


Many of you are straight out of school or college.

You’ve been taught to consume and read your way out of problems.

Whenever a new challenge comes up you’ve been programmed to search for a book or course.

This is how deep the script has it’s claws in you. And the further you got into the education system the deeper those claws.

I get it. I was a good student. I got my degree. I worked a cubicle for nearly 2 decades. I took the courses. I Googled for “books on XYZ”. I took “evening classes on ABC”. I even decided I “needed” an MSc to get ahead.

I learned slowly that the lad with the lawnmower (who may very well have dropped out of school) was street-smart where I was book-smart.

And that he was streets ahead of me.


Then one day someone asked me a very simple question:

“Andy. What if you already know enough?”

Oh.


We all want to join team producer right?

The best way is to produce more, not consume more.

What if you already know enough?

What would you do then?

Do that.

...

PS: This was all *produced* on my phone on a coach to the airport.

I could have consumed a podcast for the hour, or I could have produced a post in that hour. I chose to gain clarity by producing, to help others by producing, and to not clutter up my head with yet more “knowledge”.

I chose to clear my head not fill it.
Thanks for providing this different perspective.
 

Leyshon8r

Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
550%
May 2, 2018
4
22
Gold!

Consume less, do more.

The best way to learn is practice. Practice brings your pseudo-understandings to the surface. It shines the light on your limitations.

That's said, learning from others is also important. Learning from books and podcast or blogs.. Has it place.

And if so, what is the solution?
1. Have a bias for action.
2. Just in time learning

PS: "The average CEO reads 60 books a year". Have you heard that before? It might be true. I don't know. What I know is this phrase made me focus on quantity over quality for a while. Beware!

This is one of those beautiful lines of copy that makes you go: "Oh all the CEOs are doing it, I'd better." It's social proof and status all wrapped in one with a nice little bow.

There is evidence that quantity leads to quality over the long term. But we want to do better quality work, not become better quality readers. Therefore we should aim for quantity in action taking not in reading.

I really need to stop reading and go do something. Thanks for all the great advice and thoughts here.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,567
68,699
Ireland
But we want to do better quality work, not become better quality readers
Exactly.

We get better at what we do more of.

Do we want to be better readers, or better business operators?

Also...

"The market doesn't pay for input."
(Blaise Brosnan)

Reading is input.

Good luck invoicing someone because you read some books.
 

Leyshon8r

Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
550%
May 2, 2018
4
22
"The market doesn't pay for input."
(Blaise Brosnan)

Reading is input.

Good luck invoicing someone became you read some books.
Oh man, the amount of time I've spent on input is ridiculous. I'm tempted to invoice someone for all those hours of reading but... I don't know where to start (jk).

Thanks @Andy Black for the quote, I need to get that tattooed somewhere.

Back to it.
 

Nyavix

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
138%
Nov 21, 2022
16
22
Canada
The most obvious danger of consuming too much is that it turns you into a consumer.

A lot of that “free” (and paid) content out there is designed to turn you into someone else’s consumer. (And it’s not free btw... not unless you put zero value on the time it took to consume that “free” content.)

You probably knew this right?

But here’s something I’ve noticed from PMs with a few thousand forum members:

Many of you don’t think you know enough to get started.

Many of you are constantly looking for something else to consume so you can finally become a producer.


The more insidious danger of consuming is that it makes you think you don’t already know enough to start.

I always imagine a young lad knocking on the door with a lawnmower in tow.

“Hey mister. Do you need your grass cut?”

“Not today thanks.”

“No thanks. Maybe another time.”

“Oh wow. I was just thinking of finding someone to cut my grass. Yes please.”

(I live in a very polite little world.)


You know what that lad didn’t do?

He didn’t think:

“I need a logo.”

“I need a website.”

“I don’t know enough about cold calling.”

“I need to go to the library and get a heap of books on how to start a business.”


Many of us know to give ourselves a stern talking to when we catch ourselves action faking.

But did you know the hidden rabbit-hole lying in wait for you in the library?

“Oh boy. I didn’t realise I needed to know about marketing as well as just starting a business.”

“Uh-oh... I didn’t know I needed to create avatars of my ideal customers before I go knocking on doors. What if I go round the wrong estate?”

“USP?! Whoa. I’m glad I came into the library today. I wouldn't have known that I didn’t know about USPs.”

“Scaling? Growth? What’s that mean? Should I even try to start a grass cutting business?”

“OMG... look at all this stuff I didn’t know I needed to learn before I even step out of the house and speak to people this fine Saturday afternoon.”


Many of you are straight out of school or college.

You’ve been taught to consume and read your way out of problems.

Whenever a new challenge comes up you’ve been programmed to search for a book or course.

This is how deep the script has it’s claws in you. And the further you got into the education system the deeper those claws.

I get it. I was a good student. I got my degree. I worked a cubicle for nearly 2 decades. I took the courses. I Googled for “books on XYZ”. I took “evening classes on ABC”. I even decided I “needed” an MSc to get ahead.

I learned slowly that the lad with the lawnmower (who may very well have dropped out of school) was street-smart where I was book-smart.

And that he was streets ahead of me.


Then one day someone asked me a very simple question:

“Andy. What if you already know enough?”

Oh.


We all want to join team producer right?

The best way is to produce more, not consume more.

What if you already know enough?

What would you do then?

Do that.

...

PS: This was all *produced* on my phone on a coach to the airport.

I could have consumed a podcast for the hour, or I could have produced a post in that hour. I chose to gain clarity by producing, to help others by producing, and to not clutter up my head with yet more “knowledge”.

I chose to clear my head not fill it.
Love this post

I spent the last 4 years consuming a ton and just very slowly producing some music and a game. I'm now mainly on team producer and I feel a ton better!
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,567
68,699
Ireland
Printing this out on a motivational poster to hang in my office!
You can print out another line under it"

"You can't invoice for input."
(Blaise Brosnan)
 

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top