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:
- It looks safe even its not really safe to have a job
- Trading your time for money
- 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:
- Rental System – renting out properties or through licensing
- Distribution system – connecting buyers and sellers
- Software system – charging people on using the system
- 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