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Struggling? Go Back to the Fundamentals of The Millionaire Fastlane

Vigilante

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Fundamentals

I was a youth football coach for one year. That year, my team of 8th grade misfits went undefeated. At the end of the year, I was asked to never come back and coach again, because I wouldn’t teach the kids the way the “system” wanted me to. I was one of eight teams at the 8th grade level within this system, and we were all supposed to follow the same system.

But I knew the system was broken.

Have you ever watched a children’s karate class? You see the kids progress from class to class, and get higher colored belts because their parents keep paying and dragging them to class every week. Eventually, the kid becomes a black belt, and puts on a demonstration for his cheering grandmother of breaking pre-scored boards. But nearly any grown man in the room you know could kick that “black belt’s” a$$ in a real fight. I always imagine those kids outside of the studio in a street fight, and someone punches them in the face and they try and call time out because their opponent was not using the proper form.

Back to my team. I was a first year coach, and the veteran coaches stuck me with all of the misfits. The fat kid whose pants fell down when he ran, the attitude kid that would as soon fight you as listen to you, and the other kids that didn’t make it to the top of the supposedly unbiased rankings. There were snickers in the room as the rosters were finalized. My team was literally the island of misfit toys.

Game on. The first thing we did was threw out the play book everyone else was using. Then we threw out the “lesson plans” that were designed to get all of the kids the same football knowledge. I didn’t want my kids to have the same knowledge as all of the rest of the teams. I wanted them to win. The moms were pissed after the first practice when I told them there would be no mom-provided “snacks” like all the other team moms provided.

Our kids needed three things.
  1. Discipline
  2. Fundamentals
  3. Unpredictability against competition

So we had to start from the beginning. We had to do conditioning. Sometimes during the conditioning, you have to fix the basics (like literally taping the fat kids pants with duct tape so his pants would stay on. ) It was ok early on to strengthen where we were weak until we weren’t weak any more. The other coaches could laugh all they wanted, but we were going to build. One building block at a time. Nobody had to see where we were going, but we had a plan.

We had to teach the fundamentals. While the other coaches were running “drills” we were teaching kids how to be intentional and repetitive and deliberate. We had to teach them how to get their fat asses into the right place at the right time. While the other coaches were having fun scrimmages, we were teaching our kids how to block. And while the other coaches were having snack time, our kids were learning how to protect each other like warriors.

One of the fathers of one of my kids wanted to fight me. Why? Because of the unorthodox methods we were using. The day he wanted to fight me on the field, it was because of the chainsaw and axe handle drill. We brought out a chainsaw (in it’s shealth) and an axe handle. We held them a few feet from the ground, and made our kids fire from their three point stance and stay low enough to clear the chainsaw and axe handle. Over and over and over again they fired out under the chainsaw and axe handle. The dad thought we should do something fun. But we knew the kids needed to get the basics down, and the fun would come later. We weren’t handing out participation trophies, because the only real trophy was for the winners. Our kids would fire out lower and faster than any other 8th graders ever had.

Long story short, their fundamentals, their discipline, and then unpredictable nature of how we executed unique plays lead to the first ever undefeated 8th grade team in school history. I was then called in after the season by the league officials and told based on the parent complaints we would never coach in the little league football system again. One and done.

I am coming back to the Millionaire Fastlane Forum after a long absence. I have had some great wins, and some epic losses since I have been gone. The reason I am coming back is to re-educate myself on the fundamentals. I will unpack for you all where I have been and what I have been up to, and get back in the business of sharing the journey with you all here at the forum.

Times are tough out there, and some of the razzle dazzle doesn’t work any more. But what will ALWAYS work towards victory is fundamentals. Blocking and tackling. The timeless principles of the Millionaire Fast Lane. Back to the basic message of business fundamentals that hallmark any business, with a roadmap simply contained within MJ’s original writings.

Methods change. Markets change. Some of you may be struggling, and being honest I have struggled with more than a few things over the past couple of years after my latest exit. I will share those details with you along the way. But this message was for ME, and for YOU.

The fundamentals are what you need to have etched in stone. They should be written on your white board, and your decision matrix should be revolving around the fundamentals. That’s the reason you originally came to the Fastlane Forum. And it’s the reason I am back.

We need three things.
  1. Discipline
  2. Fundamentals
  3. Unpredictability against competition
Talk soon...Vigilante
 
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Last edited:

Thoelt53

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Vig! Glad to see you back.

You probably instilled more wisdom and grit into those boys than you will ever know. I don’t know how long ago that was, but there could be one of those boys out there today leading and growing his own story.

Can’t wait to hear more.
 

Vigilante

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Vig! Glad to see you back.

You probably instilled more wisdom and grit into those boys than you will ever know. I don’t know how long ago that was, but there could be one of those boys out there today leading and growing his own story.

Can’t wait to hear more.

As they were classmates of my son, I have kept up with them vicariously. 1 of them went D1. Several (I think 5, which when you think about it is a crazy ratio) became... MARINES.

The discipline of staying in tune with TheFastLaneForum.com is great for the mindset of the entrepreneur. What I have to do differently now as it pertains to hanging out here is tuning out the noise, and taking in the focus. I will spend some time reading here to get caught up (at a minumum probably the inside) and plan to listen more than I talk for the next several weeks.

At some point, I will update my latest adventures on the Inside. I made some money on my last exit, spent most of it, and need to build out 1-2 more companies bigger and faster now to create a happily ever after.

I've burned through a lot of cash. Lesson for today - SAVE. Twice in my life I have hit the $$ and the famine always comes later.
 
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Andy Black

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Fundamentals

I was a youth football coach for one year. That year, my team of 8th grade misfits went undefeated. At the end of the year, I was asked to never come back and coach again, because I wouldn’t teach the kids the way the “system” wanted me to. I was one of eight teams at the 8th grade level within this system, and we were all supposed to follow the same system.

But I knew the system was broken.

Have you ever watched a children’s karate class? You see the kids progress from class to class, and get higher colored belts because their parents keep paying and dragging them to class every week. Eventually, the kid becomes a black belt, and puts on a demonstration for his cheering grandmother of breaking pre-scored boards. But nearly any grown man in the room you know could kick that “black belt’s” a$$ in a real fight. I always imagine those kids outside of the studio in a street fight, and someone punches them in the face and they try and call time out because their opponent was not using the proper form.

Back to my team. I was a first year coach, and the veteran coaches stuck me with all of the misfits. The fat kid whose pants fell down when he ran, the attitude kid that would as soon fight you as listen to you, and the other kids that didn’t make it to the top of the supposedly unbiased rankings. There were snickers in the room as the rosters were finalized. My team was literally the island of misfit toys.

Game on. The first thing we did was threw out the play book everyone else was using. Then we threw out the “lesson plans” that were designed to get all of the kids the same football knowledge. I didn’t want my kids to have the same knowledge as all of the rest of the teams. I wanted them to win. The moms were pissed after the first practice when I told them there would be no mom-provided “snacks” like all the other team moms provided.

Our kids needed three things.
  1. Discipline
  2. Fundamentals
  3. Unpredictability against competition

So we had to start from the beginning. We had to do conditioning. Sometimes during the conditioning, you have to fix the basics (like literally taping the fat kids pants with duct tape so his pants would stay on. ) It was ok early on to strengthen where we were weak until we weren’t weak any more. The other coaches could laugh all they wanted, but we were going to build. One building block at a time. Nobody had to see where we were going, but we had a plan.

We had to teach the fundamentals. While the other coaches were running “drills” we were teaching kids how to be intentional and repetitive and deliberate. We had to teach them how to get their fat asses into the right place at the right time. While the other coaches were having fun scrimmages, we were teaching our kids how to block. And while the other coaches were having snack time, our kids were learning how to protect each other like warriors.

One of the fathers of one of my kids wanted to fight me. Why? Because of the unorthodox methods we were using. The day he wanted to fight me on the field, it was because of the chainsaw and axe handle drill. We brought out a chainsaw (in it’s shealth) and an axe handle. We held them a few feet from the ground, and made our kids fire from their three point stance and stay low enough to clear the chainsaw and axe handle. Over and over and over again they fired out under the chainsaw and axe handle. The dad thought we should do something fun. But we knew the kids needed to get the basics down, and the fun would come later. We weren’t handing out participation trophies, because the only real trophy was for the winners. Our kids would fire out lower and faster than any other 8th graders ever had.

Long story short, their fundamentals, their discipline, and then unpredictable nature of how we executed unique plays lead to the first ever undefeated 8th grade team in school history. I was then called in after the season by the league officials and told based on the parent complaints we would never coach in the little league football system again. One and done.

I am coming back to the Millionaire Fastlane Forum after a long absence. I have had some great wins, and some epic losses since I have been gone. The reason I am coming back is to re-educate myself on the fundamentals. I will unpack for you all where I have been and what I have been up to, and get back in the business of sharing the journey with you all here at the forum.

Times are tough out there, and some of the razzle dazzle doesn’t work any more. But what will ALWAYS work towards victory is fundamentals. Blocking and tackling. The timeless principles of the Millionaire Fast Lane. Back to the basic message of business fundamentals that hallmark any business, with a roadmap simply contained within MJ’s original writings.

Methods change. Markets change. Some of you may be struggling, and being honest I have struggled with more than a few things over the past couple of years after my latest exit. I will share those details with you along the way. But this message was for ME, and for YOU.

The fundamentals are what you need to have etched in stone. They should be written on your white board, and your decision matrix should be revolving around the fundamentals. That’s the reason you originally came to the Fastlane Forum. And it’s the reason I am back.

We need three things.
  1. Discipline
  2. Fundamentals
  3. Unpredictability against competition
Talk soon...Vigilante
Welcome back Dave. I forgot how well you write and how much wisdom you have to go with those battle scars.
 

MJ DeMarco

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Great to see you Dave, I look forward to hearing the updates.

And the story you told was fantastic... it's a bit endemic of our culture where the focus is no longer about winning and being exceptional, but being a cog in the system -- blend in, don't blend out.
 

door123

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We need three things.
  1. Discipline
  2. Fundamentals
  3. Unpredictability against competition
Thank you, I needed this. Lately, I have lost focus & need to get back to the biz fundamentals.
 
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Vigilante

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Thank you, I needed this. Lately, I have lost focus & need to get back to the biz fundamentals.

write them down. Either on a whiteboard or legal pad, write down the road map. Anchor. Take things from 20,000 feet back to 1000 feet again.
 

MTF

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Welcome back Dave. I was very happy to see this thread and read your story.
 

Black_Dragon43

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Fundamentals

I was a youth football coach for one year. That year, my team of 8th grade misfits went undefeated. At the end of the year, I was asked to never come back and coach again, because I wouldn’t teach the kids the way the “system” wanted me to. I was one of eight teams at the 8th grade level within this system, and we were all supposed to follow the same system.

But I knew the system was broken.

Have you ever watched a children’s karate class? You see the kids progress from class to class, and get higher colored belts because their parents keep paying and dragging them to class every week. Eventually, the kid becomes a black belt, and puts on a demonstration for his cheering grandmother of breaking pre-scored boards. But nearly any grown man in the room you know could kick that “black belt’s” a$$ in a real fight. I always imagine those kids outside of the studio in a street fight, and someone punches them in the face and they try and call time out because their opponent was not using the proper form.

Back to my team. I was a first year coach, and the veteran coaches stuck me with all of the misfits. The fat kid whose pants fell down when he ran, the attitude kid that would as soon fight you as listen to you, and the other kids that didn’t make it to the top of the supposedly unbiased rankings. There were snickers in the room as the rosters were finalized. My team was literally the island of misfit toys.

Game on. The first thing we did was threw out the play book everyone else was using. Then we threw out the “lesson plans” that were designed to get all of the kids the same football knowledge. I didn’t want my kids to have the same knowledge as all of the rest of the teams. I wanted them to win. The moms were pissed after the first practice when I told them there would be no mom-provided “snacks” like all the other team moms provided.

Our kids needed three things.
  1. Discipline
  2. Fundamentals
  3. Unpredictability against competition

So we had to start from the beginning. We had to do conditioning. Sometimes during the conditioning, you have to fix the basics (like literally taping the fat kids pants with duct tape so his pants would stay on. ) It was ok early on to strengthen where we were weak until we weren’t weak any more. The other coaches could laugh all they wanted, but we were going to build. One building block at a time. Nobody had to see where we were going, but we had a plan.

We had to teach the fundamentals. While the other coaches were running “drills” we were teaching kids how to be intentional and repetitive and deliberate. We had to teach them how to get their fat asses into the right place at the right time. While the other coaches were having fun scrimmages, we were teaching our kids how to block. And while the other coaches were having snack time, our kids were learning how to protect each other like warriors.

One of the fathers of one of my kids wanted to fight me. Why? Because of the unorthodox methods we were using. The day he wanted to fight me on the field, it was because of the chainsaw and axe handle drill. We brought out a chainsaw (in it’s shealth) and an axe handle. We held them a few feet from the ground, and made our kids fire from their three point stance and stay low enough to clear the chainsaw and axe handle. Over and over and over again they fired out under the chainsaw and axe handle. The dad thought we should do something fun. But we knew the kids needed to get the basics down, and the fun would come later. We weren’t handing out participation trophies, because the only real trophy was for the winners. Our kids would fire out lower and faster than any other 8th graders ever had.

Long story short, their fundamentals, their discipline, and then unpredictable nature of how we executed unique plays lead to the first ever undefeated 8th grade team in school history. I was then called in after the season by the league officials and told based on the parent complaints we would never coach in the little league football system again. One and done.

I am coming back to the Millionaire Fastlane Forum after a long absence. I have had some great wins, and some epic losses since I have been gone. The reason I am coming back is to re-educate myself on the fundamentals. I will unpack for you all where I have been and what I have been up to, and get back in the business of sharing the journey with you all here at the forum.

Times are tough out there, and some of the razzle dazzle doesn’t work any more. But what will ALWAYS work towards victory is fundamentals. Blocking and tackling. The timeless principles of the Millionaire Fast Lane. Back to the basic message of business fundamentals that hallmark any business, with a roadmap simply contained within MJ’s original writings.

Methods change. Markets change. Some of you may be struggling, and being honest I have struggled with more than a few things over the past couple of years after my latest exit. I will share those details with you along the way. But this message was for ME, and for YOU.

The fundamentals are what you need to have etched in stone. They should be written on your white board, and your decision matrix should be revolving around the fundamentals. That’s the reason you originally came to the Fastlane Forum. And it’s the reason I am back.

We need three things.
  1. Discipline
  2. Fundamentals
  3. Unpredictability against competition
Talk soon...Vigilante
Welcome back! Really cool what you achieved with the 8th grade team.
 
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ZF Lee

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Fundamentals

I was a youth football coach for one year. That year, my team of 8th grade misfits went undefeated. At the end of the year, I was asked to never come back and coach again, because I wouldn’t teach the kids the way the “system” wanted me to. I was one of eight teams at the 8th grade level within this system, and we were all supposed to follow the same system.

But I knew the system was broken.

Have you ever watched a children’s karate class? You see the kids progress from class to class, and get higher colored belts because their parents keep paying and dragging them to class every week. Eventually, the kid becomes a black belt, and puts on a demonstration for his cheering grandmother of breaking pre-scored boards. But nearly any grown man in the room you know could kick that “black belt’s” a$$ in a real fight. I always imagine those kids outside of the studio in a street fight, and someone punches them in the face and they try and call time out because their opponent was not using the proper form.

Back to my team. I was a first year coach, and the veteran coaches stuck me with all of the misfits. The fat kid whose pants fell down when he ran, the attitude kid that would as soon fight you as listen to you, and the other kids that didn’t make it to the top of the supposedly unbiased rankings. There were snickers in the room as the rosters were finalized. My team was literally the island of misfit toys.

Game on. The first thing we did was threw out the play book everyone else was using. Then we threw out the “lesson plans” that were designed to get all of the kids the same football knowledge. I didn’t want my kids to have the same knowledge as all of the rest of the teams. I wanted them to win. The moms were pissed after the first practice when I told them there would be no mom-provided “snacks” like all the other team moms provided.

Our kids needed three things.
  1. Discipline
  2. Fundamentals
  3. Unpredictability against competition

So we had to start from the beginning. We had to do conditioning. Sometimes during the conditioning, you have to fix the basics (like literally taping the fat kids pants with duct tape so his pants would stay on. ) It was ok early on to strengthen where we were weak until we weren’t weak any more. The other coaches could laugh all they wanted, but we were going to build. One building block at a time. Nobody had to see where we were going, but we had a plan.

We had to teach the fundamentals. While the other coaches were running “drills” we were teaching kids how to be intentional and repetitive and deliberate. We had to teach them how to get their fat asses into the right place at the right time. While the other coaches were having fun scrimmages, we were teaching our kids how to block. And while the other coaches were having snack time, our kids were learning how to protect each other like warriors.

One of the fathers of one of my kids wanted to fight me. Why? Because of the unorthodox methods we were using. The day he wanted to fight me on the field, it was because of the chainsaw and axe handle drill. We brought out a chainsaw (in it’s shealth) and an axe handle. We held them a few feet from the ground, and made our kids fire from their three point stance and stay low enough to clear the chainsaw and axe handle. Over and over and over again they fired out under the chainsaw and axe handle. The dad thought we should do something fun. But we knew the kids needed to get the basics down, and the fun would come later. We weren’t handing out participation trophies, because the only real trophy was for the winners. Our kids would fire out lower and faster than any other 8th graders ever had.

Long story short, their fundamentals, their discipline, and then unpredictable nature of how we executed unique plays lead to the first ever undefeated 8th grade team in school history. I was then called in after the season by the league officials and told based on the parent complaints we would never coach in the little league football system again. One and done.

I am coming back to the Millionaire Fastlane Forum after a long absence. I have had some great wins, and some epic losses since I have been gone. The reason I am coming back is to re-educate myself on the fundamentals. I will unpack for you all where I have been and what I have been up to, and get back in the business of sharing the journey with you all here at the forum.

Times are tough out there, and some of the razzle dazzle doesn’t work any more. But what will ALWAYS work towards victory is fundamentals. Blocking and tackling. The timeless principles of the Millionaire Fast Lane. Back to the basic message of business fundamentals that hallmark any business, with a roadmap simply contained within MJ’s original writings.

Methods change. Markets change. Some of you may be struggling, and being honest I have struggled with more than a few things over the past couple of years after my latest exit. I will share those details with you along the way. But this message was for ME, and for YOU.

The fundamentals are what you need to have etched in stone. They should be written on your white board, and your decision matrix should be revolving around the fundamentals. That’s the reason you originally came to the Fastlane Forum. And it’s the reason I am back.

We need three things.
  1. Discipline
  2. Fundamentals
  3. Unpredictability against competition
Talk soon...Vigilante
Thank you for coming back Vig. Your posts are tough, but I miss them.

Thanks for that football story. Really struck a chord with me.
This is why I could never really mastered a sport (swimming, football, badminton) or craft (piano, painting) when I was young...no matter how many classes my Mum took me to.

For one, I was a kid that just didn't appreciate the sports or crafts. I just hated the shite that robbed me of my weekend time.

What too many of the music teachers do was to just throw me into endless scales and memorizing song-piece after song-piece. What is F*cking music if it's just all about knowing what F*cking key to press in the next few milliseconds? So after hours of drilling on a music piece, I can play it extremely well for one recital and forget it in a few seconds later...that is not a musician.

As for sports, I didn't get paired up with the right coaches to show me the many shortcomings of players...for football, it might be how to dribble, how to fake moves, how to maintain stamina, what to do if you feel like tiring out or how to see weaknesses in other players to exploit...so after every practice session, I felt I got nothing from it. Hence why I'm average at sports today.

When I started discovering how I could find online courses when I first left home to go to college, I realised I could choose my own teachers and compare their materials...and see if they truly catered for the fundamentals I want to master.


Back to my team. I was a first year coach, and the veteran coaches stuck me with all of the misfits. The fat kid whose pants fell down when he ran, the attitude kid that would as soon fight you as listen to you, and the other kids that didn’t make it to the top of the supposedly unbiased rankings.
I think the kids with attitude also realise (unconsciously) the system is broken.
Hence why they probably act out...they are, in their own way, calling BS on the system.
 
Last edited:

Andy Black

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I think the kids with attitude also realise (unconsciously) the system is broken.
Hence why they porbably act out...they are, in their own way, calling BS on the system.
That’s what I believe too.

It’s possible to teach differently, so people also understand WHAT to do and WHY, instead of just HOW.

When people are just taught HOW we often lose them.
 

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Great to see you back at the forum, Dave!
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Upgraded to NOTABLE... I had no idea you coached football! Nonetheless, the story was fantastic in classic Dave fashion.
 

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So it's Sunday, and 24 hours back on to the forum brings a revitalization of focus. Getting back to fundamentals for me means :

1. consolidation of focus. Having allowed myself organizational ADHD, I have too many disjointed projects going on, and mastering none. So I start by cleaning them up. Closing non-performing eCommerce properties. Rerouting domains. Consolidating domain providers. Clearing mental cobwebs by identifying them by name and reorganizing them and/or removing them. Distraction elimination.

2. crystalizing objectives. Formalizing task lists centered around major objectives. Remember that Steven Covey's principle of scheduling the BIG ROCKS and letting the littler things not dictate your schedule.


3. reinvigorating big rocks - the game changing things that are worth finalizing include engaging in the MASSIVE projects that are industry changing. If you are overstretched, this means getting rid of the smaller things that are NEVER going to change things, and concentrating on the things that can. I have TWO projects that when successful will become industry changing. Those are the ones I need to concentrate 80% of my energy on.

4. scheduling what @Kak calls CEO time. Strategy, intentional big picture thinking. Think big and then think bigger than that.

MJ posted a few days back that his best business productivity comes on the weekend while everyone else is F*cking around, playing weekend. So it's Labor Day tomorrow in the United States, a Federal holiday. The day when nothing should be able to distract you from getting done what YOU want to get done on the way to getting to where YOU want to be.
 

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Someone messaged me offline already about clearing out their own mental cobwebs. We're at an inflection point. Time to stop eating the mental bonbons we allowed ourselves while the world was f*cked up, and time to double down on the things that are really important.

If I spent as much time on my business over the past 18 months as I spent musing on how f*cked up the world was, I would care much less right now about how f*cked up the world IS because... Money solves problems. I've spoken at more municipal meetings than board meetings, and that's a problem. Municipal meetings don't buy yachts (unless you are on the receiving end, which I am not...)
 
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So it's Sunday, and 24 hours back on to the forum brings a revitalization of focus. Getting back to fundamentals for me means :

1. consolidation of focus. Having allowed myself organizational ADHD, I have too many disjointed projects going on, and mastering none. So I start by cleaning them up. Closing non-performing eCommerce properties. Rerouting domains. Consolidating domain providers. Clearing mental cobwebs by identifying them by name and reorganizing them and/or removing them. Distraction elimination.

2. crystalizing objectives. Formalizing task lists centered around major objectives. Remember that Steven Covey's principle of scheduling the BIG ROCKS and letting the littler things not dictate your schedule.


3. reinvigorating big rocks - the game changing things that are worth finalizing include engaging in the MASSIVE projects that are industry changing. If you are overstretched, this means getting rid of the smaller things that are NEVER going to change things, and concentrating on the things that can. I have TWO projects that when successful will become industry changing. Those are the ones I need to concentrate 80% of my energy on.

4. scheduling what @Kak calls CEO time. Strategy, intentional big picture thinking. Think big and then think bigger than that.

MJ posted a few days back that his best business productivity comes on the weekend while everyone else is f*cking around, playing weekend. So it's Labor Day tomorrow in the United States, a Federal holiday. The day when nothing should be able to distract you from getting done what YOU want to get done on the way to getting to where YOU want to be.
I've gone through the same process over the last couple years. I've deleted a lot of activities and consolidated a lot of others. I'm still too busy, but I'm working on putting the balance of my life on a diet. There's still more stuff to skinny down. I guess I was bored and exploring the other possibilities in that huge candy case of business ideas.

I have been amazed at what I've learned from my real estate career. So much of it can it applied in many different business situations. My decision making process has become instinctive rather than deliberative. What I learned from all of my side gigs is that I need to get back to my real estate basics. Even though I've "been there, done that", it's still an amazing business. Most of you wouldn't consider real estate to be fastlane, but I have spent 45 years honing my skills. Now I'm thinking about how to update and streamline them...
 

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So it's Sunday, and 24 hours back on to the forum brings a revitalization of focus. Getting back to fundamentals for me means :

1. consolidation of focus. Having allowed myself organizational ADHD, I have too many disjointed projects going on, and mastering none. So I start by cleaning them up. Closing non-performing eCommerce properties. Rerouting domains. Consolidating domain providers. Clearing mental cobwebs by identifying them by name and reorganizing them and/or removing them. Distraction elimination.

2. crystalizing objectives. Formalizing task lists centered around major objectives. Remember that Steven Covey's principle of scheduling the BIG ROCKS and letting the littler things not dictate your schedule.


3. reinvigorating big rocks - the game changing things that are worth finalizing include engaging in the MASSIVE projects that are industry changing. If you are overstretched, this means getting rid of the smaller things that are NEVER going to change things, and concentrating on the things that can. I have TWO projects that when successful will become industry changing. Those are the ones I need to concentrate 80% of my energy on.

4. scheduling what @Kak calls CEO time. Strategy, intentional big picture thinking. Think big and then think bigger than that.

MJ posted a few days back that his best business productivity comes on the weekend while everyone else is f*cking around, playing weekend. So it's Labor Day tomorrow in the United States, a Federal holiday. The day when nothing should be able to distract you from getting done what YOU want to get done on the way to getting to where YOU want to be.
I did a big “stocktake” a few weeks ago after attending a cousin’s funeral. He was only 55 and full of life.

Deleted some social media and forum apps off my phone that I was spending more time on than I wanted.

Noted which clients were wrecking my head and let them know I was disengaging next month.

Pushed prices up slightly for prospects on the waitlist.

Stopped some activities that weren’t income producing.

Reduced the number of slots people can book calls in with me from 6/week to 4/week.

Realised I like figuring out new marketing channels and documenting that journey for others… but already know enough marketing channels. So will stick to what I know and scale that. (Seems obvious and dumb when I write that.)

Stopped doing weekly “office-hour” Zoom calls for students paying $15/mth. Only now doing this for the highest tier.

In short, focus on what will move my business forward by ruthlessly cutting activities and projects.

I’ve still a ways to go with this. The main thing I need to do now is take long walks and think about what I want my business to look like. CEO time.
 
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If I spent as much time on my business over the past 18 months as I spent musing on how f*cked up the world was, I would care much less right now about how f*cked up the world IS because... Money solves problems.
I’m pretty good at not worrying about what’s happening in the world.

It’s one of many things I learned off my dad:
 
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Fundamentals

I was a youth football coach for one year. That year, my team of 8th grade misfits went undefeated. At the end of the year, I was asked to never come back and coach again, because I wouldn’t teach the kids the way the “system” wanted me to. I was one of eight teams at the 8th grade level within this system, and we were all supposed to follow the same system.

But I knew the system was broken.

Have you ever watched a children’s karate class? You see the kids progress from class to class, and get higher colored belts because their parents keep paying and dragging them to class every week. Eventually, the kid becomes a black belt, and puts on a demonstration for his cheering grandmother of breaking pre-scored boards. But nearly any grown man in the room you know could kick that “black belt’s” a$$ in a real fight. I always imagine those kids outside of the studio in a street fight, and someone punches them in the face and they try and call time out because their opponent was not using the proper form.

Back to my team. I was a first year coach, and the veteran coaches stuck me with all of the misfits. The fat kid whose pants fell down when he ran, the attitude kid that would as soon fight you as listen to you, and the other kids that didn’t make it to the top of the supposedly unbiased rankings. There were snickers in the room as the rosters were finalized. My team was literally the island of misfit toys.

Game on. The first thing we did was threw out the play book everyone else was using. Then we threw out the “lesson plans” that were designed to get all of the kids the same football knowledge. I didn’t want my kids to have the same knowledge as all of the rest of the teams. I wanted them to win. The moms were pissed after the first practice when I told them there would be no mom-provided “snacks” like all the other team moms provided.

Our kids needed three things.
  1. Discipline
  2. Fundamentals
  3. Unpredictability against competition

So we had to start from the beginning. We had to do conditioning. Sometimes during the conditioning, you have to fix the basics (like literally taping the fat kids pants with duct tape so his pants would stay on. ) It was ok early on to strengthen where we were weak until we weren’t weak any more. The other coaches could laugh all they wanted, but we were going to build. One building block at a time. Nobody had to see where we were going, but we had a plan.

We had to teach the fundamentals. While the other coaches were running “drills” we were teaching kids how to be intentional and repetitive and deliberate. We had to teach them how to get their fat asses into the right place at the right time. While the other coaches were having fun scrimmages, we were teaching our kids how to block. And while the other coaches were having snack time, our kids were learning how to protect each other like warriors.

One of the fathers of one of my kids wanted to fight me. Why? Because of the unorthodox methods we were using. The day he wanted to fight me on the field, it was because of the chainsaw and axe handle drill. We brought out a chainsaw (in it’s shealth) and an axe handle. We held them a few feet from the ground, and made our kids fire from their three point stance and stay low enough to clear the chainsaw and axe handle. Over and over and over again they fired out under the chainsaw and axe handle. The dad thought we should do something fun. But we knew the kids needed to get the basics down, and the fun would come later. We weren’t handing out participation trophies, because the only real trophy was for the winners. Our kids would fire out lower and faster than any other 8th graders ever had.

Long story short, their fundamentals, their discipline, and then unpredictable nature of how we executed unique plays lead to the first ever undefeated 8th grade team in school history. I was then called in after the season by the league officials and told based on the parent complaints we would never coach in the little league football system again. One and done.

I am coming back to the Millionaire Fastlane Forum after a long absence. I have had some great wins, and some epic losses since I have been gone. The reason I am coming back is to re-educate myself on the fundamentals. I will unpack for you all where I have been and what I have been up to, and get back in the business of sharing the journey with you all here at the forum.

Times are tough out there, and some of the razzle dazzle doesn’t work any more. But what will ALWAYS work towards victory is fundamentals. Blocking and tackling. The timeless principles of the Millionaire Fast Lane. Back to the basic message of business fundamentals that hallmark any business, with a roadmap simply contained within MJ’s original writings.

Methods change. Markets change. Some of you may be struggling, and being honest I have struggled with more than a few things over the past couple of years after my latest exit. I will share those details with you along the way. But this message was for ME, and for YOU.

The fundamentals are what you need to have etched in stone. They should be written on your white board, and your decision matrix should be revolving around the fundamentals. That’s the reason you originally came to the Fastlane Forum. And it’s the reason I am back.

We need three things.
  1. Discipline
  2. Fundamentals
  3. Unpredictability against competition
Talk soon...Vigilante
Nice speech
 

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Great to see you Dave, I look forward to hearing the updates.

And the story you told was fantastic... it's a bit endemic of our culture where the focus is no longer about winning and being exceptional, but being a cog in the system -- blend in, don't blend out.

The idea of playing just to play - because kids should be happy and competitive attitude is somehow taking away from happiness is flawed at its core. Yes, some kid will be fat and won’t win track and field events (or run at all), but what causes us humans happiness? It’s achievements! Small or big, becoming a better version of yourself is hugely satisfying and happy. At its core, winning brings happiness. It doesn’t have to be sports for the fat kid - it could be creative writing competition, or film or math. It doesn’t have to be always winning either. But I find lethargic “just playing” all wrong. I think it’s actually bad for kids.
Are you or @Vigilante or anyone else aware of any psychology studies on this? When a and why did the world turn to “just play, don’t keep score” attitude? What’s actually good for our kids?

I like the “fundamentals” approach and believe in discipline = freedom.
 
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Vigilante

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The idea of playing just to play - because kids should be happy and competitive attitude is somehow taking away from happiness is flawed at its core. Yes, some kid will be fat and won’t win track and field events (or run at all), but what causes us humans happiness? It’s achievements! Small or big, becoming a better version of yourself is hugely satisfying and happy. At its core, winning brings happiness. It doesn’t have to be sports for the fat kid - it could be creative writing competition, or film or math. It doesn’t have to be always winning either. But I find lethargic “just playing” all wrong. I think it’s actually bad for kids.
Are you or @Vigilante or anyone else aware of any psychology studies on this? When a and why did the world turn to “just play, don’t keep score” attitude? What’s actually good for our kids?

I like the “fundamentals” approach and believe in discipline = freedom.

I was down at a marina here in Tampa, Florida on Monday. I am a member of a local boat club, and the boat club lets you take out a variety of boats ranging from fishing boats to pontoon boats, deck boats and deep sea fishing boats. Some nice boats. It doesn't cost much to be a member of the boat club, and it's a way to get out on the water and enjoy the boating life.

When I got down to this particular arena, I was amazed at the yachts that were parked there. One of the larger boats was parked on it's own custom netting. You drive the boat up on to the netting, and then it cradles and lifts the entire boat up to drain the excess water from the boat. The owner of this boat had paid for this separate netting system to keep the boat in exceptional operating condition.

The most expensive yacht parked there is a $5,000,000 yacht. It takes a couple of hours to fill it up with gas, and costs more than $2,000 to fill it.

All in all, there were maybe 50 boats there that were worth $250,000 or more each. They ranged from nice to exceptional. There was a lot of money sitting on the water, tied to the docks. They all had one thing in common. They all cost money. Some, significant money. Some of the boats would have been large enough to require a professional captain. Some of the boats were probably seldom if ever even used. When you have $5,000,000 for a boat, it's not your only asset. It might be something you use once a year. You might have forgotten about it.

Life is a score, whether you want it to be or not.
 

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Life is a score, whether you want it to be or not.

Yes. Agreed.

Where I was going with it is from a personal perspective as a parent. My kid is born into wealth but that doesn't mean there is no competition. It just means you have more options. Want sports? Go for it. Want art, music, math, dance? Sure! What I can't tolerate is lethargic do-nothing comfort. That's where I am coming from, I do not understand the "fundamentals" behind letting kids just play. Maybe I am wrong but if you really let kids play, sooner or later (likely sooner), they WILL start competing! It's in our nature. Or am I wrong? Are we built to just reach some "potential" and then stop do F*ck all and die but not be buried? I don't think so.

Business is all about competition. Market will tell you if you got your shit together or not. If you aren't delivering value, you are out. There are no "participation points". Worse yet, I tell my team that the deal that we 98% got done still pays us $nil. Nothing. 2nd place is a first loser in our business. Maybe because of this I am biased. But again, I doubt it, I think I am right. I think we as humans derive happiness from achievements, from becoming a better version of ourselves. Competition helps. Sure it can be stressful on kids and adults alike. Then again, life isn't all sunshine and roses. Stress is just part of it.

You have another thread about raising funds. It must be stressful and hard - that's the whole point of it. If it was easy, it wouldn't give you same result both financially and emotionally (when you succeed!).

Didn't meant to turn this into a rant, but since I typed it up, might as well post it :).
 

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Welcome back Dave! Back with wisdom nuggets. Your threads helped me a ton with the fundamentals, thank you so much!
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Just a note... this thread is relevant to the other thread entitled "Is it easy to make money in 2021?" where surprisingly 33% of the respondents said "no, it isn't easy" -- of course I agree that "easy" is an interpretation so perhaps the wording is correct. However, "opportunities" and "access to markets and knowledge" is at a level never seen before in human history.
 

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I built two businesses over the years that scaled up primarily as a solopreneuer. I’m no longer convinced that you can build a significant empire without leverage in human capital.
 

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I built two businesses over the years that scaled up primarily as a solopreneuer. I’m no longer convinced that you can build a significant empire without leverage in human capital.

You need both: leverage of humans and leverage of capital.

I’ve been raising capital and building teams for a decade. It’s been an amazing journey so far and I’m super excited about the future.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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I built two businesses over the years that scaled up primarily as a solopreneuer. I’m no longer convinced that you can build a significant empire without leverage in human capital.

Depends on what one defines as a "significant empire."

For some that can be $1M-$5M
Others $10M-$20M
Others 9 figures and more...
 

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Fundamentals

I was a youth football coach for one year. That year, my team of 8th grade misfits went undefeated. At the end of the year, I was asked to never come back and coach again, because I wouldn’t teach the kids the way the “system” wanted me to. I was one of eight teams at the 8th grade level within this system, and we were all supposed to follow the same system.

But I knew the system was broken.

Have you ever watched a children’s karate class? You see the kids progress from class to class, and get higher colored belts because their parents keep paying and dragging them to class every week. Eventually, the kid becomes a black belt, and puts on a demonstration for his cheering grandmother of breaking pre-scored boards. But nearly any grown man in the room you know could kick that “black belt’s” a$$ in a real fight. I always imagine those kids outside of the studio in a street fight, and someone punches them in the face and they try and call time out because their opponent was not using the proper form.

Back to my team. I was a first year coach, and the veteran coaches stuck me with all of the misfits. The fat kid whose pants fell down when he ran, the attitude kid that would as soon fight you as listen to you, and the other kids that didn’t make it to the top of the supposedly unbiased rankings. There were snickers in the room as the rosters were finalized. My team was literally the island of misfit toys.

Game on. The first thing we did was threw out the play book everyone else was using. Then we threw out the “lesson plans” that were designed to get all of the kids the same football knowledge. I didn’t want my kids to have the same knowledge as all of the rest of the teams. I wanted them to win. The moms were pissed after the first practice when I told them there would be no mom-provided “snacks” like all the other team moms provided.

Our kids needed three things.
  1. Discipline
  2. Fundamentals
  3. Unpredictability against competition

So we had to start from the beginning. We had to do conditioning. Sometimes during the conditioning, you have to fix the basics (like literally taping the fat kids pants with duct tape so his pants would stay on. ) It was ok early on to strengthen where we were weak until we weren’t weak any more. The other coaches could laugh all they wanted, but we were going to build. One building block at a time. Nobody had to see where we were going, but we had a plan.

We had to teach the fundamentals. While the other coaches were running “drills” we were teaching kids how to be intentional and repetitive and deliberate. We had to teach them how to get their fat asses into the right place at the right time. While the other coaches were having fun scrimmages, we were teaching our kids how to block. And while the other coaches were having snack time, our kids were learning how to protect each other like warriors.

One of the fathers of one of my kids wanted to fight me. Why? Because of the unorthodox methods we were using. The day he wanted to fight me on the field, it was because of the chainsaw and axe handle drill. We brought out a chainsaw (in it’s shealth) and an axe handle. We held them a few feet from the ground, and made our kids fire from their three point stance and stay low enough to clear the chainsaw and axe handle. Over and over and over again they fired out under the chainsaw and axe handle. The dad thought we should do something fun. But we knew the kids needed to get the basics down, and the fun would come later. We weren’t handing out participation trophies, because the only real trophy was for the winners. Our kids would fire out lower and faster than any other 8th graders ever had.

Long story short, their fundamentals, their discipline, and then unpredictable nature of how we executed unique plays lead to the first ever undefeated 8th grade team in school history. I was then called in after the season by the league officials and told based on the parent complaints we would never coach in the little league football system again. One and done.

I am coming back to the Millionaire Fastlane Forum after a long absence. I have had some great wins, and some epic losses since I have been gone. The reason I am coming back is to re-educate myself on the fundamentals. I will unpack for you all where I have been and what I have been up to, and get back in the business of sharing the journey with you all here at the forum.

Times are tough out there, and some of the razzle dazzle doesn’t work any more. But what will ALWAYS work towards victory is fundamentals. Blocking and tackling. The timeless principles of the Millionaire Fast Lane. Back to the basic message of business fundamentals that hallmark any business, with a roadmap simply contained within MJ’s original writings.

Methods change. Markets change. Some of you may be struggling, and being honest I have struggled with more than a few things over the past couple of years after my latest exit. I will share those details with you along the way. But this message was for ME, and for YOU.

The fundamentals are what you need to have etched in stone. They should be written on your white board, and your decision matrix should be revolving around the fundamentals. That’s the reason you originally came to the Fastlane Forum. And it’s the reason I am back.

We need three things.
  1. Discipline
  2. Fundamentals
  3. Unpredictability against competition
Talk soon...Vigilante
I love the story. I reminds me of my favorite video back in 2010 that motivated me at time. Just a short video, but a lesson that impacted me all the way through life since then. "Give your 100% best!" This goes very well with your story you've told.

Those kids you helped learned the same life lesson to become the best every time you trained them on the field. Best life lesson you learn to get to the end zone in Entrepreneurship, playing football, or the game of life. Amazing what happens when you discipline your self every day.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3wnK-Cphgs
 

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