Warning: Long post
I just finished reading The Millionaire Fastlane last night after buying it about a month ago. I believe it's the best book on entrepreneurship that I have read, and MJ offered a lot of insights that helped me get my mind in a better place. I'm very happy that MJ wrote the book and I was lucky enough to come across it one day. When I read his book it felt like he was speaking to me on a level more personal than any other author I had read in years.
Just for some background, when I was a young child I was very creative and entrepreneurial--I spent much of my free time researching potential business opportunities, doing lemonade stands, buying and selling toys on eBay , and reading books on entrepreneurship, business, and finance. This instinct, this spirit--whatever you want to call it--slowly got stamped out of me as my parents encouraged me to apply to private schools with the hopes that I would be able to attend a good college and secure a high paying job at a prestigious company. I love them for it and they had the best intentions for me--they were uneducated and felt that in many ways they were held back financially by their lack of credentials--but I have always felt in retrospect that it put my mind in the wrong place. By the time I made it to my new school, that entrepreneurial drive was completely gone and I ended up with tunnel vision, focusing solely on how my learning related to my ability to put together a decent college application. Once I got to college I continued working hard, but after my first few semesters I became frustrated and disillusioned with the idea of professional life--it seemed like all of the money people made in these sorts of jobs always ended up going to loans, outrageous rents, etc. and they never really presented an actual road to freedom or wealth--and as a result just sort of unplugged from everything. I was constantly skipping classes, drinking at the crack of dawn every day, and generally engaging in behavior that was totally destructive to my wellbeing. After spending years of my life trying to fit into a culture, a way of thinking that wasn't in line with who I actually am or what my goals or interests are, I felt completely hopeless. When I was out of college I found myself showing up drunk every day to a dead-end job that I hated where I wasn't sharpening any useful skills or learning anything that I found valuable. I had resigned myself to misery at that point.
Luckily since the summer I was able to turn things around and get my drinking under control, develop a more positive outlook on life, and land a job where I am learning skills that I believe will help me on my Fastlane journey. Nonetheless, I still felt anxious about the future, about money, and about what my next move was. Eventually I came around to The Millionaire Fastlane and it drew me to a handful of realizations that were incredibly positive. I didn't know it until I came across the book, but I had been trapped with a Slowlane mindset that got pushed onto me during my tweens. Then I spent years wrestling with it in misery, trying to figure out why the road I saw before me didn't lead anywhere I wanted to go. After reading sections of The Millionaire Fastlane things just felt clearer and clearer to me, and over the course of completing the book I realized my mindset was slowly changing--I was turning back into that confident, eager, chubby 11 year old kid who would read, research, and learn aggressively to figure out what sort of business he would build. It feels like being home.
This post is already too long, but I think I have gotten my main points across and provided more than a long enough introduction. Even though I'm still in my early 20s, I wish I knew about MJ's book 10, 15 years ago because in some ways I think it could have saved me from years of negative thinking. MJ, your book gave me the courage and confidence to be myself again after trying to be someone else for so many years. It's a truly freeing feeling. I no longer dread the future. As the year comes to an end and I think about 2020, I can't help but smile. It's going to be great. Thank you MJ!
I just finished reading The Millionaire Fastlane last night after buying it about a month ago. I believe it's the best book on entrepreneurship that I have read, and MJ offered a lot of insights that helped me get my mind in a better place. I'm very happy that MJ wrote the book and I was lucky enough to come across it one day. When I read his book it felt like he was speaking to me on a level more personal than any other author I had read in years.
Just for some background, when I was a young child I was very creative and entrepreneurial--I spent much of my free time researching potential business opportunities, doing lemonade stands, buying and selling toys on eBay , and reading books on entrepreneurship, business, and finance. This instinct, this spirit--whatever you want to call it--slowly got stamped out of me as my parents encouraged me to apply to private schools with the hopes that I would be able to attend a good college and secure a high paying job at a prestigious company. I love them for it and they had the best intentions for me--they were uneducated and felt that in many ways they were held back financially by their lack of credentials--but I have always felt in retrospect that it put my mind in the wrong place. By the time I made it to my new school, that entrepreneurial drive was completely gone and I ended up with tunnel vision, focusing solely on how my learning related to my ability to put together a decent college application. Once I got to college I continued working hard, but after my first few semesters I became frustrated and disillusioned with the idea of professional life--it seemed like all of the money people made in these sorts of jobs always ended up going to loans, outrageous rents, etc. and they never really presented an actual road to freedom or wealth--and as a result just sort of unplugged from everything. I was constantly skipping classes, drinking at the crack of dawn every day, and generally engaging in behavior that was totally destructive to my wellbeing. After spending years of my life trying to fit into a culture, a way of thinking that wasn't in line with who I actually am or what my goals or interests are, I felt completely hopeless. When I was out of college I found myself showing up drunk every day to a dead-end job that I hated where I wasn't sharpening any useful skills or learning anything that I found valuable. I had resigned myself to misery at that point.
Luckily since the summer I was able to turn things around and get my drinking under control, develop a more positive outlook on life, and land a job where I am learning skills that I believe will help me on my Fastlane journey. Nonetheless, I still felt anxious about the future, about money, and about what my next move was. Eventually I came around to The Millionaire Fastlane and it drew me to a handful of realizations that were incredibly positive. I didn't know it until I came across the book, but I had been trapped with a Slowlane mindset that got pushed onto me during my tweens. Then I spent years wrestling with it in misery, trying to figure out why the road I saw before me didn't lead anywhere I wanted to go. After reading sections of The Millionaire Fastlane things just felt clearer and clearer to me, and over the course of completing the book I realized my mindset was slowly changing--I was turning back into that confident, eager, chubby 11 year old kid who would read, research, and learn aggressively to figure out what sort of business he would build. It feels like being home.
This post is already too long, but I think I have gotten my main points across and provided more than a long enough introduction. Even though I'm still in my early 20s, I wish I knew about MJ's book 10, 15 years ago because in some ways I think it could have saved me from years of negative thinking. MJ, your book gave me the courage and confidence to be myself again after trying to be someone else for so many years. It's a truly freeing feeling. I no longer dread the future. As the year comes to an end and I think about 2020, I can't help but smile. It's going to be great. Thank you MJ!
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