FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY - The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz

[MJ DeMarco]

FREE Book Giveaway, a signed copy of the hardbook, The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz!

I just finished this book and its a good read for anyone who is currently running a business, or looking to enter a new business. It reads very similar to The Blue Ocean Strategy and discusses the need for focusing on your best customers intermixed with the best value exchange, profitability, and time expenditure. It discusses the need for focus on certain clientele (or niches) while firing, or refusing business in other areas.

In other words, we want to maximize our time by working within the most profitable areas, while ignoring (or firing) those areas that aren't so profitable, either in terms of time, or money.

So, to be eligible to win this book, please post your favorite sentence from the my book, The Millionaire Fastlane .

If you are the first person to actually HIT my favorite sentence in the book, I will automatically award you the book.

If no one hits it, I will randomly draw a winner, weighted and influenced by likes.

Other eligibility requirements:
To enter: State your entry like this:
Page 33, "[Favorite Sentence Here"]
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You must live in the USA -- if you are outside of the USA, and you enter, and you win, you will need to pay for shipping. Please do not enter the giveaway if you do not wish to pay for the shipping costs, which will be $17.
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Contest can be closed at anytime.
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Likes on any particular quote, can influence my decision.
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[JAJT]

Well this is a shitty time to have lent the book out

I'm reading Blue Ocean right now - fantastic book. If you are comparing this one to Blue Ocean I'll likely buy this regardless

 

[Wuping]

I had no doubt, that the following is my favourite part of the book. It is a bit long, but definitely opened my eyes to how I/we perceive time.

"Fastlaners understand that time is the gas tank of life. When the gas tank runs dry, life ends. Time is the greatest asset you own, not money, not the 1969 restored Mustang, not grandpa's old coin collection. Time.
The fact is all of us are on a sinking ship. Is your time treated as such? Is it treated fairly or carelessly? Or is your primordial fuel squandered as if the tank will never run empty?"

And btw, Mike Michalowicz "Toilet Paper Entrepreneur" is F'in brilliant! Recommend it highly! Also has many great video blogs on his website.

 

[JASpinnato]

Page 23, "Wealth eludes most people because they are preoccupied with events while disregarding process."

 

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[socaldude]

I'll give it a shot.

Page 182, "Parasitic debt is the gluttonous pig that gorges on free time and shits it out as indentured time."

 

[The-J]

Page 216 (e-book edition): "Opportunity drives through your neighborhood frequently, and when it does, you have to grab that bitch."

Grab that bitch and spank it like the dirty little whore she is?

 

[tincho1492]

Page 207: "Businesses that solve needs win. Businesses that provide value win. Bussinesses that solve problems win profits. Selfish, narcissistic motives do not make good, long-term business models."

 

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[wade1mil]

I have a Kindle, so I don't know the page number. Don't DQ me

Last page in Chapter 38 ["You see, it isn't about your ideas and their potential speed, but about your execution!"]

 

[bernieshawn]

"People don't give a dirty dog-a$$ about your love for whatever." p212

Was just skimming through and it made my laugh so that'll be my entry.

 

[Niezbedny]

Page 197 at Kindle(61%), "The sweat of success is failure, and I am soaking wet."

MJ, there are just too many great quotes from your book to choose from.

 

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[Emo6126]

Page 95, "[I'd rather live in regret of failure than in regret of never trying]" - you

 

[Determined2012]

Page 285- 286 (iBook for iPad edition)

"The fabric of your life is sewn by the cumulative consequences of your choices- millions of them- that you set in motion. You act, react, believe, disbelieve, perceive, misperceive, and all of it engineers your existence. If you're dissatisfied with your life, your choices take full responsibility. Blame yourself and the choices you've made. Yes, you are as you have chosen."

EPIC, powerful, and true.

I have held on to this statement extremely well. I believe in this statement, and what it means. I think it is 100% true.

Everyday I specifically aim to make the best choices that I can for myself with this thought in mind. I feel obsessed with it, and the control it gives me over my life- which drives me and pushes me to fearlessly pursue MY idea of MY best life- no matter how big or small the choice may be. Or no matter how big or small something may be that I do or don't want in my life.

I feel like I can not function without ensuring that I am making the absolute BEST choices for myself. I feel like I know exactly what I'm aiming for, why I'm aiming for it, and how I'm going to accomplish it. Nothing feels better than this!!!

Every choice I make now is a DELIBERATE and INTENTIONAL choice made to coincide with what this statement means to me and for me. It has given clarity and focus to what was always inside of me, but was not yet so perfectly defined until now.

I have been choosing with distinct purpose and intent in EVERY aspect of my life since reading the book in June of this year- and I have never felt more sure of myself and what I am doing with my life... This is my RELIGION- I feel like I identify with trying to live in accordance with this thought process more than anything else that I have been exposed to. This just does it for me! It empowers me, and motivates me.

This philosophy checks and balances my life. It is something that I can see and measure with certainty as to why things in my life are the way they are, and what I need to do next regarding if I like something that is going on in my life or not.

I can honestly say that this one statement from the book has helped me to be and remain so present, alert and aware of every choice that I am making now. I have made a few big decisions with this thought in mind, and I KNOW in my heart I probably would have made different choices if I had not made a choice to let this govern me.

I am very thankful. Because while this may be so simple to some- it has really impacted and changed my life for the better. It makes everything CLEAR and UNDERSTOOD. I don't have any blame or excuse for anything or anyone. Its all on me, and all up to me. And I am up to the challenge, and I want to be the ONLY one with the power to dictate my life. I just keep making the best and right choices over and over- that's all I have to do and I will be owned by ME. My freedom, my choice, my life.

I know that I am 100% accountable, responsible, and ABLE to determine what MY life is going to be. I am willing to do what it takes to protect my choices, and put in work that it takes to pursue my best life.

So for me, THIS was the best part of the book. (CENTS is my second best part of the book).

 

[JayKim]

Page 23, "Wealth eludes most people because they are preoccupied with events while disregarding process."

 

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[DavidofMN]

Here it is for me: page 208

Stop chasing money - chase needs.
Never start a business just to make money. Stop chasing money and start chasing needs. Let me repeat that, because it's the most important thing in this book: 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.

I saw that line the other day while I was in the "library" taking care of business....

 

[Barry]

Not sure of the page but I think it is part 8 Chapter 38, Your quote "Ideas are nothing but neurological Flatulence" Execution makes it smell like a rose *Fingers crossed*

 

[redshep]

My favorite: pg. 236

"If you can't serve millions, you won't make millions."

That line clicked for me, for the idea of scale, but also for the word "serve". Not only do we need a large pool of customers to hit a home run, but we have to give them a ton of value too.

 

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[PatrickP]

Here it is for me: page 208

Stop chasing money - chase needs.
Never start a business just to make money. Stop chasing money and start chasing needs. Let me repeat that, because it's the most important thing in this book: 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.

I saw that line the other day while I was in the "library" taking care of business....

oooohhhhh I would have to say this is the one.

 

[EN_VY]

Yes, you are as you have chosen.
Page 171.
I would aalways make excuses putting the blame on others..bit tracing down everything, The only one responsible is myself. This changed me completely.

I don't want to start a new thread, but thanks MJ for the book. It's really life changing.

Sent from my iOS powered Android.

 

[G-man422]

Pg: 210
"Money is like a mischievous cat; if you chase it around the neighborhood, it eludes you."

This was one of my favorite sentences when I first read the book, and it still resonates deeply after my 3rd sitting. Thanks, MJ.

 

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[AllenCrawley]

MJ - There's no way I could pick just one! So, I bought The Pumpkin Plan yesterday and UPS just dropped it off. Thanks MJ for bringing this book to our attention. Almost finished reading Blue Ocean Strategy and will dig into this one asap.

 

[onialex1]

Page 216: Let me be clear if I haven’t been: There is never a perfect time. Someday is today. Today is now.
A week is 7 todays strung together while a year is 365. Today is all you’ve got! And if you wait,
opportunity passes. Your Fastlane journey never starts and year after year passes with new
preconditions being added while the old ones are satisfied. While opportunity passes, guess
what else passes? Time. Ring up the cheesy soap opera music. Yes, as time passes, so do the
sands of your life . . . and these are the days of our lives.


MJ, there were so many sentences i could have quoted from your book and i really had a hard time choosing one. I eventually chose the one above because it constantly reminds how little time we have all got. It constantly pushes me to act NOW, not later in the day, not tomorrow, not next week or when the time would supposedly be perfect but NOW. It really is incredible just how fast time flies. I have become a new man with this kind of approach and attitude towards time. I have stopped wasting my precious time watching reality TV, playing games, spending about 10 hrs a day on my favorite soccer website or just lying there on my bed thinking how in the next 40 years i might get to become the CEO of Exxon Mobil. WHAT??? i am laughing right now thinking just how LAZY i was, ,MENTALLY LAZY but not anymore. Thanks to MJ and TMF , i have started spending more time researching and reading. Within these past few weeks, i have learnt a lot more about entrepreneurship and business than i ever did my whole life. I have also just joined the fast lane INSIDERS forum as i am looking to learn from others. My fast lane journey has started and i am never going to look back.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

No one has hit the quote yet! Keep 'em coming!

 

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[dnice]

Here's a good one:

Page 177: "Folks, this is war and our life is in the balance. You need warriors who are impervious to the Death Star and can deactivate the Slowlane tractor beam, not fearful pansies who drop their cargo at the first sign of Imperial Slowlaners."

 

[wade1mil]

This is my favorite, "Wouldn’t it be wiser if you focused on owning a nice house in a nice neighborhood instead of leasing the tightest car in the Marbella Gardens apartment complex?"

 

[MJ DeMarco]

We have a winner! Dnice or Wad1Mil hit it. Guess? Ha ha

 

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[andviv]

I vote for wade1mil.

 

[Determined2012]

I think it was Dnice

 

[pdog]

if you are outside of the USA, and you enter, and you win, you will need to pay for shipping

I'm not entering for this reason, but found this line pretty hilarious

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

I'm not entering for this reason, but found this line pretty hilarious

I'm sorry, I don't make a habit of using twenty dollar bills to light fires.

 

[TheTruth]

We have a winner! Dnice or Wad1Mil hit it. Guess? Ha ha

I would think it would be dnice's because it seems to have so much passion behind it. You are a passionate guy and get "riled" up, which is why I made that choice.


Since I was too late for this, here are a few I have on my wall


"To Attract Money Is To Forget About Money" ~ MJ DeMarco

"The Fastlane doesn't care about your ends; it just wants to be the means" ~ MJ DeMarco

"Skip The Big Idea And Go For Big Execution" ~ MJ DeMarco



AND..... My Personal Favorite ......



"What's Chosen Today, Impacts Forever, You'll See" ~ MJ DeMarco