It exposes the reality of slower way in building wealth which almost everybody follows. This book exposes the truth on how the existing system works. This book doesn’t  give a get rich quick style of lesson but more of a real talk approach that will awaken you to the reality.

The Millionaire Fastlane is highly recommended.

• Side Walker

They are the ones who just spends what he earns right away. Most of the time, even before he receives his income. 

• Slow Lane

“Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now. There are only so many tomorrows. ~ Michael Landon” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

This is the common path in the society. Going to school and getting good grades to get a job. Climb the corporate ladder saving and investing portion of paycheck until you retire at old age. 

Here are the traps of slow lane:

1. It looks safe even its not really safe to have a job
2. Trading your time for money
3. The belief that it is hard to get rich is being fed

• The process and not the event

It was highlighted that most people think that rich people had it like overnight. The media and society focuses on the event without highlighting what happened in the background. The long process is not being shown. Building wealth is a process and not just an event. 

“All events of wealth are precluded by process, a backstory of trial, risk, hard work, and sacrifice. If you try to skip process, you’ll never experience events.” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

• Commitment

Be committed and not just interested. It takes hard work. It really takes intentionality and it takes massive consistent action up until you’ve full grown your money tree.

“There’s a profound difference between interest and commitment. Interest reads a book; commitment applies the book 50 times.” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

• Money Tree

The book encourages us to create income generating assets or investments that generates income without trading our time. Here are the different systems that works like money tree:

1. Rental System – renting out properties or through licensing
2. Distribution system – connecting buyers and sellers
3. Software system – charging people on using the system
4. Content system – creating content like book and you tube videos

• Consumer to producer

We were trained and exposed by the media and the society into being a consumer. We are always thinking what to buy. But the good mindset in attaining wealth is to have producer mindset. Always think of how can your produce something of value to sell.

“Instead of digging for gold, sell shovels. Instead of taking a class, offer a class. Instead of borrowing money, lend it. Instead of taking a job, hire for jobs. Instead of taking a mortgage, hold a mortgage. Break free from consumption, switch sides, and reorient to the world as producer.” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

• Fast Lane Commandments

Control

• We want to be in control. Our business should not be at the mercy of the other. MJ Demarco’s example is MLM wherein the distributors have not much control in the real business. One policy change could hardly affect their business. Another good example is relying your business in Youtube. 

Entry

• The harder the barrier of entry the better. Having barrier of entry in to your business means less competitor will take over your business.

Need

• Provides value that solves problems. It is a common advice to do business on what you are passionate about. MJ Demarco discusses that the most important consideration is it should solve other people’s problems. Soon your passion will subside.

“Stop thinking about business in terms of your selfish desires, whether it’s money, dreams or “do what you love.” Instead, chase needs, problems, pain points, service deficiencies, and emotions.” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

Time

• Your business should have a system on its own wherein it can operate or generate income without you trading your time. It is like your business is in auto mode even if you are not around. 

“Time isn’t a commodity, something you pass around like a cake. Time is the substance of life. When anyone asks you to give your time, they’re really asking for a chunk of your life. ~ Antoinette Bosco” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

Scale

• Your business should be able to scale. Meaning, you can grow it exponentially with no or very few barriers. For example, having a restaurant whose the only chef is the business owner is not scaleable because it can only serve so much in little time. But having a software business wherein you can get as many clients as you can is a very scalable business.

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Quotes from the book:The Millionaire Fastlane

“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. ~ Thomas Jefferson” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people!” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“I awoke to the epiphany that I was the driver of my life and my problems were the consequences of my choices.” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“If millions seek you, you will be paid millions.” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“If you have to think about “affordability,” you can’t afford it because affordability carries conditions and consequences.” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“My doctor’s preferred method of attack was prescription drugs. I refused because I wanted to fix problems, not mask symptoms.” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“Value your time poorly and you will be poor. When time is wasted as a lifestyle choice you will be stranded in places you don’t want to be.

Take a look around. How do your friends, family, and peers value their time? Are they standing in line to save four bucks? Are they driving 40 minutes to save 10 dollars? Are they parked on the sofa anxiously waiting to see who wins Dancing With the Stars?” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“The owner of an idea is not he who imagines it, but he who executes it.” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“A market is never saturated with a good product ,but it is very quickly saturated with a bad one. ~ Henry Ford” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“For “do what you love” to work, you need two things: 1) Your love must solve a need and 2) You must be exceptional at it.” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“Wealth eludes most people because they are preoccupied with events while disregarding process. Without process, there is no event.” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“The King: Your execution – The Queen: Your marketing – The Bishop: Your customer service – The Knight: Your product – The Rook: Your people – The Pawn: Your ideas.” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“You could own the best hotel in the world located on the best beach in California, but if customers are treated like inconveniences and requests go unfulfilled, they won’t return.” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“Someday is dangerous and paralyzing. It traps you in land of Nowheresville. Someday is here, now, pristine and clean and begging no allegiance for tomorrow. The” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“Opportunity drives through your neighborhood frequently, and when it does, you have to grab that bitch. Evaluate” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“The global recession has exposed the Slowlane for the fraud it is. With no job, the plan fails. When the stock market loses 50% of your savings, the plan fails. When a housing crisis erases 40% of your illiquid net worth in one year, the plan fails. The plan is a failure because the plan is based on time and factors you can’t control. Unfortunately, millions of people have faithfully invested decades into the plan only to discover the ugly truth: The Slowlane is risky and insufferably impotent.” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“The average American watches more than four hours of TV each day. In a 65-year life, that person will have spent nine years glued to the tube. Why? Simple. Life sucks. Life needs an escape. Life is no good.

Show me someone who spends hours online playing Mafia Wars or Farmville, and I’ll show you someone who probably isn’t very successful. When life sucks, escapes are sought. I don’t need television because I invested my time into a real life worth living, not a fictitious escape that airs every Tuesday night at 8 p.m.

Again, majority thinking yields mediocrity, and for that majority, time is an asset that is undervalued and mindlessly squandered.” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“Change creates millionaires. Those who observe and take advantage of change will be the new millionaires and billionaires.” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“Debt needs a constant drip of blood, and that blood comes from your gas tank of life: time. And since time is fixed, an increase in indentured time comes from only one source: your free time.” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“Lead generation services often provide a service to consumers while simultaneously aggregating a non-homogeneous industry. This is what I did for the limousine industry. I pooled a highly fragmented industry into one centralized source, brought consumers into the mix, and sold that consumer information to limo companies.” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“People care about what your business can do for them. How will it help them? What’s in it for them? Will it solve their problem? Make their life easier? Provide” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

“Today is the starting line for the rest of your life. Yes, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. The problem with the past is that we remember memories we shouldn’t, and we don’t forget what we should“ If your eyes are stuck in the rearview mirror, you’re stuck in the past. If you’re stuck in the past, you’re not looking ahead. If you’re not looking ahead, you can’t hit the mark of your future.

The universe doesn’t care about your past. It is blind to it. The universe doesn’t care that I wore pink pants in high school. (Hey, remember Miami Vice?) The universe doesn’t care that I got in a fight with Francis Franken and lost. The universe doesn’t care about your MBA from UCLA, your drug-dealing father, or that you wet your bed in junior high. The universe simply doesn’t care. One person and one person only weaponizes past transgressions: you.” 

― M.J. DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane

Background

This book explains how rich people think and how rich people become rich and keep on getting richer. The author Robert Kiyosaki shared these lessons and stories of growing up with two dads. The poor dad is his biological, educated and government employed father while the rich dad is the father of his best friend who is into entrepreneurship and investing. 

I highly recommend that you read the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

Big Ideas

• Greatest Wealth

Many people are too focused on money but as Robert Kiyosaki said we need to focus on increasing our greatest wealth. The greatest wealth is our financial intelligence. We must keep on investing in our financial intelligence. When we do that, we will be more valuable, be flexible, be open minded and we will grow richer. We need to prioritize financial literacy.

• Thoughts and words

Our thought and words are powerful. We need to have a victor mindset and not a victim mindset. We have the power to choose our words, then choose the words of victor. Here are some of the examples:

Instead of saying “The reason Im not rich is I have kids”, say “The reason that I have to be rich is because I have kids.” Instead of saying, “Don’t take risk”, say “I will learn to manage risk”. Instead of saying, I”I can’t afford that”, say “How can I afford that.”

• Working for money

Most people are staying in their job because of fear. Fear of not making it on their own. Fear that they may not be able to pay their bills. And when things go tough in their job, they blame and complain other people. 

There is nothing wrong about having a job. However, according to MJ Demarco, in his book Millionaire Fastlane, working on a job for money is a slow lane to wealth. Trading our time for money is not enough to achieve financial freedom faster because our time is limited.

Here is the guiding question that we may ask to ourselves:

What would you dare to do if you are guaranteed to succeed?

Go out and always do what you are afraid to do as when you do it often, the fear will vanish.

Another emotion that take over is greed. When poor people received income, they used it in buying things they don’t need to impress people that doesn’t even care.

• Accumulate Assets

The rich people focus on acquiring assets. Rich Dad Poor Dad book taught about the right assets that rich people acquire. Those are income generating assets. Before, I thought buying a house is buying an asset. I learned that a house can only be classified as an asset it generates income such as being used as rental property. But if a house is being used by the owner, it is more of a liability as owning it has related expenses such as interest payments on mortgage and repairs. On the side note, this is a different identification of assets and liabilities in accounting. 

In Rich Dad Poor Dad’s definition:

Asset is something that puts money in my pocket. Liability takes money out of my pocket.

In addition, purchasing a house requires use of large amount of cash as down payment which could have been used in starting a business or in investments. This is called opportunity cost.

I am not saying that buying a house is a bad decision. I agree that it is a personal decision. You may also check my other blog post on guide in buying a house to know if it is worthy to 

buy a house than to rent and vice versa.

To sum it up, the rich gets richer because they focus on acquiring income generating assets. 

Wealth is Time

How long could you survive if you stop working?

If you love contents like this, I invite you to join my book club and mentor tips newsletter for free, just visit KevinUmali.com/free

Quotes

from Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad Poor Dad

” The poor and middle class work for money. The Rich have money work for them.”

“God will not have his work made manifest by cowards.”

“I want to teach you to master the power of money. Not be afraid of it. And they don’t teach that in school.”

“ If you don’t learn it, you become a slave to money.”

“I am concerned that too many people are focused too much on money and not on their greatest wealth, which is their education. If people are prepared to be flexible, keep an open mind and learn, they will grow richer and richer through the changes. If they think money will solve the problems, I am afraid those people will have a rough ride. Intelligence solves problems and produces money. Money without financial intelligence is money soon gone.”

“This pattern of treating your home as an investment and the philosophy that a pay raise means you can buy a larger home or spend more is the foundation of today’s debt-ridden society.”

“In school we learn that mistakes are bad, and we are punished for making them. Yet, if you look at the way humans are designed to learn, we learn by making mistakes. We learn to walk by falling down. If we never fell down, we would never walk.” 

“Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success.” 

“An intelligent person hires people who are more intelligent than he is.”

“Leadership is what you need to learn next” 

“The poor and the middle class work for money. The rich have money work for them.” 

“I can’t afford it’ shut down your brain. it didn’t have to think anymore. besides, it also brings up sadness. a helplessness that leads to despondency and often depression.

‘How can I afford it?’ opened up the brain. forced it to think and search fro answers. it also opens up possibilities, excitement and dreams and created a stronger mind 

and dynamic spirit.” 

“Most people fail to realize that in life, it’s not how much money you make, it’s how much money you keep.” 

“Excessive fear and self-doubt that were the greatest detractors of personal genius.” 

“Stop blaming me, thinking I’m the problem. If you think I’m the problem, then you have to change me. If you realize that you’re the problem, then you can change yourself, learn something and grow wiser. Most people want everyone else in the world to change themselves. Let me tell you, it’s easier to change yourself than everyone else.” 

“In the real world outside of academics, something more than just grades is

required. I have heard it called “guts,” “chutzpah,” “balls,” 

“audacity,” “bravado,” “cunning,” “daring,” “tenacity” and

“brilliance.” This factor, whatever it is labeled, ultimately decides

one’s future much more than school grades.” 

“We all have tremendous potential, and we all are blessed with gifts. Yet, the one thing that holds all of us back is some degree of self-doubt. It is not so much the lack of technical information that holds us back, but more the lack of self-confidence.” 

“I find so many people struggling, often working harder, simply because they cling to old ideas. They want things to be the way they were; they resist change. I know people who are losing their jobs or their houses, and they blame technology or the

economy or their boss. Sadly they fail to realize that they might be the problem. Old ideas are their biggest liability. It is a liability simply because they fail to realize that while that idea or way of doing something was an asset yesterday, yesterday is gone.” 

I have observed the works of nature. Such as waves in stock market, the elliot wave principle. It is manifesting as well in real waves.

I have tried surfing and learned about these 3 waves. I was stoked to realize that the elliot wave principle also works in nature. I ponder about it and I realise that since the players of stock markets are human, we human are part of nature. We humans are one with the nature. That is why the same principle in real waves can be observed in the stock market.

When you see these observations in nature you can ride the waves or you can go with the nature. Like in stock market, go with the trend. Or as we hear it often, go with the flow. The path of least resistance.

It is important to go out with nature to get in sync with it. This is also connected to the teachings in Taoism. The Wu Wei, art of letting go.

Going against with the nature is only an ego.

I have also noted the same in Stoicism as Seneca said “Man’s ideal state is realized when he has fulfilled the purpose for which he is born. And what is it that reason demands of him? Something very easy—that he live in accordance with his own nature.”

Agree and leverage with the nature.

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I learned in Mari Kondo book about organizing how to let go of gifts that you received. If you are decluttering, it is hard to let go of gifts because of guilt feeling.

 If you give a bike to a child and that child grew up already, will you feel bad if that kid doesn’t use the bike anymore? We give gifts to make the recipient happy and feel loved. If the gift you received doesn’t make you happy anymore then there should be no guilt on letting that go. That gift has served its purpose already. The giver of gift doesn’t want you to imprison yourself to that gift.

This may be applicable in relationship. We do not do good to other person just to set expectations of what we wanted them to do to us.  If we do good to others, then let it be done and serve its purpose. If someone does good to you, don’t feel guilty if you cannot return the favor. Just be grateful and better to pay it forward.

Join me in my newsletter for free and receive book reviews and mentor tips, just visit KevinUmali.com/free

The rich people focus on acquiring assets. Rich Dad Poor Dad book taught about the right assets that rich people acquire. Those are income generating assets. Before, I thought buying a house is buying an asset. I learned that a house can only be classified as an asset when it generates income such as being used as rental property. But if a house is being used by the owner, it is more of a liability as it has related expenses such as interest payments on mortgage and repairs. On the side note, this is a different identification of assets and liabilities in accounting. 

In addition, purchasing a house requires use of large amount of cash as down payment which could have been used in starting a business or in investments. This is called opportunity cost.

I am not saying that buying a house is a bad decision. I agree that it is a personal decision. You may also check my other blog post on guide in buying a house to know if it is worthy to buy a house than to rent and vice versa.

To sum it up, acquire assets that generates income. I invite you to join me in my newsletter for free, just visit KevinUmali.com/free

Many people are too focused on money but as Robert Kiyosaki said we need to focus on increasing our greatest wealth. The greatest wealth is our financial intelligence. We must keep on investing in our financial intelligence. When we do that, we will be more valuable, be flexible, be open minded and we will grow richer. We need to prioritize financial literacy.

Most people are staying in their job because of fear. Fear of not making it on their own. Fear that they may not be able to pay their bills. And when things go tough in their job, they blame and complain other people. 

There is nothing wrong about having a job. However, according to MJ Demarco, in his book Millionaire Fastlane, working on a job for money is a slow lane to wealth. Trading our time for money is not enough to achieve financial freedom faster because our time is limited.

Here is the guiding question that we may ask to ourselves:

What would you dare to do if you are guaranteed to succeed?

Go out and always do what you are afraid to do as when you do it often, the fear will vanish.

Join my book club and mentor tips newsletter for free, just visit http://kevinumali.com/free

I learned from the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius that we just died today and whatever future time that may be given to us is a surplus. I used to think that death is a destination in the future that everyone must prepare for. After learning this new perspective, I realised that we are not living towards an end, but we are living away from the moment that have just died.

It was very deep and meaningful.  The true happiness is in the now. Live moment by moment.